State Ethnopolitics explains why it refused to register OCU in the Lavra

The State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience has published an official statement in response to the “synod” of the OCU, which is outraged that the authorities are slow to register the Dumenko’s “Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra” Monastery. The schismatics complained that the registration of their "lavra" had been delayed for four months "under various formal pretexts."

In response to this, the State Service stated that they could not register the OCU organization “due to the lack of documents on its location that comply with the law.”

“A charter was presented containing an address identical to that of the monastery and the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC (Primate – Metropolitan Onuphry), without documents regarding the ownership or right of use for the new organization of the OCU at this address. Therefore, registration was impossible,” the State Ethnopolitics explained. “Later, statutes were presented with other addresses that can be associated with the St. Theodosius Monastery of the OCU, but again there were no documents confirming the existence of ownership or use. <...> The OCU can register two monasteries at the same address. However, there must be documents confirming valid ownership. Without this, legal registration is impossible.”

At the same time, the State Ethnopolitics noted that they even applied to the Kyiv city military administration and the Pechersk district state administration in Kyiv city to make sure that the OCU would not be able to have their own monastery in the Lavra.

As reported by the UOJ, Dumenko demanded from Zelensky to let the OCU into the Kyiv Lavra.