OCU actually supports resignation of Maksym Ostapenko

The press service of the OCU issued a statement in which the organization actually supported the resignation of the former director general of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve, Maksym Ostapenko. The OCU expressed surprise at the fact that the monks of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church were not evicted from the Lavra under Ostapenko. This is stated in a statement by the press service of the OCU.

“The Kyiv Metropolis shares the concern of the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine, which is subordinate to the reserve, about the long unjustified stay of representatives of the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine in a number of buildings of the Lavra. Despite the formal termination of all contracts that gave grounds for such a stay, which was confirmed even by court decisions, representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate continue to live and operate on the territory of the Lavra on unclear grounds. Moreover, in fact, it is these representatives who block the access of the clergy and believers of the OCU to the relics and shrines stored in the caves,” – the statement says.

In addition, according to the OCU, the leadership of the “reserve” has repeatedly ignored appeals from representatives of the organization with a request to “normalize the life of the OCU monks in the Lavra.” At the same time, no one restricted the monastic community of the UOC, which, in their opinion, is a direct failure to comply with the legal requirements to evict the monastery’s brethren from the monastery.

“The leadership of the Lavra monastery of the OCU and personally its abbot, Bishop Abraham, have repeatedly raised the issue of normalizing the activities of the OCU monastery in the Lavra and the grounds on which representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate occupy part of the Lavra premises and block access to the caves. Unfortunately, the issues have remained unresolved for a long time. Therefore, the process of cleansing the shrine from the influence of the “Russian world” is being delayed, giving its supporters the impression that soon the structures of the Moscow Patriarchate will be able to return to the Lavra, in particular under the influence of foreign pressure on the Ukrainian state in the context of peace negotiations. The Kyivan Metropolitanate is forced to state that for a long time attempts to find a solution to the problems in dialogue have been unsuccessful. We hope that the new management of the reserve will act more decisively, using all the rights granted by law, so that the shrine is fully liberated from the yoke and influence of the structures of the Moscow Patriarchate, whose activities are expressly prohibited by the legislation of Ukraine,” – the OCU concluded.