I hope that the entire Lavra will be opened soon, - Metropolitan Pavel

The abbot of the Holy Dormition Kyiv Cave Monastery, Metropolitan Pavel, gave an interview before Easter in which he commented on the events taking place around the monastery. The bishop spoke about the number of monks who remained in the Lavra, expressing hope that the monastery will be reopened soon. The interview was published on the website of the Kyiv Cave Monastery.

«Unfortunately, some of them left the monastery for various reasons or for no reason, according to the word of St. John the Theologian: “They went out from us, but they were not ours: for if they had been ours, they would have remained with us; but they went out, and because of this it turned out that not all were ours” (1 John 2:19). Those who remained, and these are almost two hundred workers of the Mother of God’s Dormition, are being expelled from their home, these Ukrainian citizens are being deprived of the right to pray in their Church, in their monastery. Yes, our spiritual homeland is in heaven, but we remain citizens of Ukraine who have the right to freedom of religion,» — said Metropolitan Pavel.

The hierarch expressed hope that in the near future the Lavra will make it possible to visit the Caves, where the imperishable relics of the Kyiv Cave Monks are kept. In addition, Metropolitan Pavlo expects that in the future the entire monastery will be reopened to visitors.

«I asked to open the caves to people, and I am sure that this will happen soon. I hope that the entire Lavra will be opened in full. After all, only prayer can help those in power and the state, so we should not close churches but open them so that the people of God can offer a common prayer. Only the enemies of Ukraine can destroy and take away churches, transferring them to someone unknown,» — he added.

Earlier, we reported that the commission of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, which will take an “inventory” of the relics of the Kyiv-Pechersk monks, will include representatives of exotic specialties. According to the official data of the Decree of the Ministry of Culture, the commission will include, among others, embalming specialists, biologists, zoologists, and even veterinarians. The commission will work with the relics of the Kyiv Cave Saints until May 2025.