The head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has once again laid claim to the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv

The leader of Ukrainian Greek Catholics, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, has stated that his denomination has the right to use the Holy Dormition Kiev-Pechersk Lavra and St. Sophia Cathedral on an equal footing with other religious organizations. Shevchuk considers it unacceptable that there are privileged religious associations in Ukraine that exclusively use “Ukrainian national shrines.” He stated this in an interview on the YouTube channel “Apostrophe.”

«This is the cradle of Kyiv monasticism, from which all the monastic communities of all our churches belonging to this Kyiv tradition of monasticism originated. Therefore, if we think this way, then we will be able, on the one hand, to free ourselves from the monopoly of the Russian world on our history. Because many of them wanted to appropriate our Kyiv Mother Church for themselves. And on the other hand, we can build our inclusive identity, which would not marginalize anyone, but would create a space of freedom for all,» said the head of the UGCC.

Earlier, the head of the OCU, Epiphanius Dumenko, stated that he would not allow representatives of the UGCC to perform religious rites and events at the Holy Dormition Pochaiv Lavra. Dumenko is convinced that the Pochaiv Lavra is an Orthodox shrine, so there is no place for Uniates there.