Lavra comments on Lotysh's interview at UOC Primate’s residence

The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra has refuted the false and manipulative statements made by the former superior of the monastery and current "acting abbot" from the OCU, Avraamiy Lotysh, in an interview with the "Schemes" programme. The interview was recorded on the territory of the residence of the UOC Primate, which was sealed by the administration of the "Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra" National Reserve.

In a comment published on the monastery's website, it is emphasized that the former monk's statements contain false comments, distortions of facts, and slander against the Very Reverend Archimandrite of the Holy Dormition Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kyiv and All Ukraine, and the brethren of the monastery.

"Statements about the presence of 'enemy agents' or 'Russian agents' in the monastery are absurd, as from the very first month of the war... the territory of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra was under the close protection of representatives of the Security Service of Ukraine and other agencies who regularly checked the Lavra's territory," noted the monastery. "We would also like to reсall that in the early weeks of the war, all residential buildings in the Lavra were occupied by Kyiv residents who did not manage to leave the capital. During those days, many volunteers also came to the Lavra for food supplies. It is possible that all of them were unknown to Archimandrite Avraamiy as he recalls in his interview."

The residents of the monastery also reminded that " since the very beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra has been actively involved in providing humanitarian and material aid and served as a place where mobile groups of blood donors are stationed".

"From the very first day of the war, the Kyiv Theological Academy, which until recently has been located on the territory of the monastery, has given its own food stores to the volunteers for the needs of the territorial defence forces and the affected residents of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Kharkiv regions. The churchyard of the Resurrection (Afghan) temple of the Lavra, which was clearly visible from the cell of the former monk, Archimandrite Avraamiy (Lotysh), became the point of collection and distribution of this aid. However, he never once expressed the slightest desire to help in loading/unloading aid for the affected Ukrainians and was not noticed in charitable initiatives to demonstrate his patriotism, which he is talking about now," the Lavra’s message says.

It was also noted that before Easter in 2022, with the blessing of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry, the clergy of the UOC travelled to Mariupol to liberate the Ukrainian defenders. The delegation included 10 representatives of the Lavra, but among them "for some reason there was no Archimandrite Avraamiy, who could not have been unaware of this initiative of the Church, both as a monk of the monastery, and even more so as the third ex-officio member of the Spiritual Council of the monastery and had the opportunity to show his patriotism".

The monks note that Lotysh, "who unreasonably accuses the entire clergy of the Lavra of promoting political ideas hostile to the Church and the state, should not forget that he himself was recently among them and held a leading position".

The Lavra emphasised that the "excursion" around the UOC Primate's residence, which Lotysh gave to journalists, was of a manipulative nature.

"Demonstration of the residence of the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as private housing is a blatant manipulation with an undisguised purpose to discredit the name of the Holy Archimandrite of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Building 70 has never been used by His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry as a place of residence because he lives on the territory of the monastery in Feofaniia. This building was the working residence of the Head of the Church, where there was a house church, the office of the Primate, reception, secretariat, award and protocol departments, and the office of the press service," the commentary says.

According to its authors, Lotysh manipulates facts even when he talks about the visit of Russian prisoners of war to the residence: "Firstly, the Primate of the Church continually prays for the defenders of Ukraine. Secondly, the visit of POWs to the ancient shrine of our state was initiated by journalist Volodymyr Zolkin and was coordinated with the relevant state services and law enforcement agencies, but not with the leadership of the Lavra or the Primate of the Church. Thirdly, during the visit, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry not only communicated with the prisoners of war but also directly pointed out the criminal nature of their actions towards Ukraine and its residents."

"It is regrettable that the former monk of the holy monastery has violated his priestly oath and continues to slander Lavra, where he took monastic vows to God," resumed the monastery.

As previously reported, on the morning of July 6, 2023, representatives of the Reserve, under the protection of the police, broke into the residence of the Primate of the UOC at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and sealed it. On August 14, Avraamiy Lotysh broke the seals of the Reserve and entered the residence with a group of students from the Theological Academy of the OCU, who removed furniture belonging to the UOC from the building.