Hierarch of the OCU Drabinko: “Life used to be bustling in the Lavra, but now there is silence”

Former bishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, who joined the OCU in 2018, Alexander Drabinko actually acknowledged the crisis in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, which came to the monastery along with the OCU. Drabinko noted that when the Lavra belonged to the canonical Church, it was “bustling with life,” but after the monastery was expropriated by the state in favor of the OCU, the monastery became “silent, with only five OCU monks and some animation.” He spoke about this in a comment to the publication Glavkom.

«Previously, life was bustling: nine liturgies were served every day, there were pilgrims, candles were bought, notes were taken. And now in the Lavra there is silence, animation, five newly tonsured monks. Bishop Abraham is not given any rights, everything is completely under the control of the museum. The same is true of many other cities – churches stand empty. And we still want to take away the Pochaiv Lavra? Until the leadership of the OCU and the UOC-MP sit down at the negotiating table, it will be impossible to resolve the issue,» — Drabinko said.

Earlier, the head of the Ternopil Diocese of the OCU, Nestor Pysyk, commented on the possible expulsion of the Pochaiv Holy Dormition Monastery of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the Pochaiv Lavra. Pysyk is convinced that the Lavra should become a “place of unity for Orthodox Ukrainians.” At the same time, he hopes that there will be pro-Ukrainian forces among the monastery’s brethren and even “their own Avraam Lotysh.”