The head of the OCU monastery called on the monastic community of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra to sever ties with the Moscow Patriarchate

An employee of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve and, concurrently, the abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Monastery of the OCU, Avraam Lotysh, issued a public appeal to the monks of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church who remain at the monastery, calling on them to renounce their unity with the Moscow Patriarchate and join the OCU. This statement was made in an interview with TSN.

In his address, Lotysh described his position as a “search for dialogue and unity” based on recognition of the OCU. He emphasized that he was calling on the monks to turn “toward holy, universal Orthodoxy,” effectively issuing an ultimatum demanding that they demonstrate “courage” in making the decision to leave the jurisdiction of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Despite his stated lack of intent to use direct coercion, the OCU representative insists that every resident of the Lavra must make a choice and publicly say “no” to the Moscow Patriarchate. Earlier, it also became known that the OCU leadership supports the idea of creating a pantheon of heroes on the grounds of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

As a reminder, we previously reportedthat approximately 140 monks and novices of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church continue to reside on the grounds of the Lower Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, despite the termination of the agreement with the monastery. This was announced by Maksym Ostapenko, head of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve, who noted that the issue of the monks’ continued residence must be resolved in court.