Epiphaniy Dumenko expects monks of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra to join OCU

Epiphaniy Dumenko expressed hope that the monks of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church who inhabit the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra will transfer to the OCU and join the ranks of the “brotherhood” of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery of the OCU. Dumenko claims that there are already many monks of the UOC who are willing to transfer to the OCU, but they need time to come to terms with the idea that the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra “will serve the interests of the Ukrainian people.” He said this in an interview with the TSN television channel.

“There are different ones (monks, ed.). There are those who are ready to join, but they are waiting. I met with many of them, even talked to them. But they are waiting – ‘we want to be together’. It will not be together, because there is a neutral part, and there is a part that is quite aggressive and will never join. But there are also those who will join over time and form the monastic brotherhood of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. It takes time… Because they are fed promises: ‘Wait! Don’t betray us! Ukraine will not win!’ and so on. That is, they are fed these lies and they believe them. But they must understand that this will not happen. The Lavra will be a true Ukrainian shrine that will serve the interests of the Ukrainian people,” – said Dumenko.

Earlier, Avraam Lotish, an employee of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve and, concurrently, the abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Monastery of the OCU, accused the monks of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of “abandoning the reverend.” According to Lotysh, this manifested itself in the fact that the monks of the UOC did not participate in the religious events recently held in the caves of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra by the head of the OCU, Epiphany Dumenko.