Arbitrariness: UOC comments on the Reserve actions in the Lavra

The Legal Department of the UOC commented on the actions of the Reserve in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra on July 6, the Information and Education Department of the UOC reports.

The Legal Department of the UOC said that on July 6, 2023, at about 7 a.m., representatives of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve came onto the territory of the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, who stated that they were members of the sealing commission.

“Before the arrival of the workers of the reserve, a number of buildings of the monastery were surrounded by police and special forces, who blocked the passage of believers who were on the territory of the monastery. For other people who were outside the monastery and tried to enter the territory of the Lavra and the temples, the police restricted access and did not let them in, referring to the order of the reserve,” the Legal Department said.

The UOC recalled that at the moment there is a valid Agreement No. 2 dated July 19, 2013 on the gratuitous use by a religious organization of religious buildings and other property that is state property, concluded between the National Kyiv-Pechersk Historical and Cultural Reserve and the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

“This agreement has not expired. Currently, the Economic Court of Kyiv is considering a case filed by the monastery against the reserve to invalidate the unilateral refusal to fulfill the contract, and a case filed by the reserve against the monastery to remove obstacles to the use of property. These cases are pending in court, and not a single decision on the merits of the dispute has been made so far,” the UOC said.

That is why, according to the Legal Department, the actions of the representatives of the reserve can be called "arbitrariness", as a result of which "without a corresponding court decision, the locks were broken and the doors in the 70th building, which is the residence of the Primate of the UOC, and the 69th building, through which the workers of the reserve penetrated inside, changed the locks and sealed the building data. Also, by damaging the door, Building 71 was sealed, into which the representatives of the reserve no longer penetrated.

“Considering the above, on July 06, 2023, the reserve arbitrarily, without a corresponding court decision, restricted the monastery’s access to the three buildings of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra,” the UOC Legal Department said and added that “regarding violations of the rights of citizens and the commission of a number of crimes, reports will be submitted about crimes to law enforcement.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that the court refused to order a review of the conclusions of the Ministry of Culture about "violations" in the Lavra.