Religious scholar Filipovych: No one will forcibly evict nuns from Korets Monastery

The State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) has officially established that the Korets Holy Trinity Stavropegic Women’s Monastery in Rivne region is a structural part of the Russian Orthodox Church. Based on this conclusion, an order was given to take measures to terminate its activities. However, according to religious scholars, it will be problematic to completely close the monastery.

According to Suspilne, the examination of the DESS revealed the direct canonical and organizational dependence of the monastery on the ROC. Its charter states that it is subordinate to and part of the structure of the Russian Church. This means that the ROC has influence on the monastery’s management decisions, appoints its head, approves the charter and controls the property. The document explicitly states that the monastery operates under the guidance of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia and the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Religious scholars note that these findings are not new. Lyudmyla Fylypovych, head of the Department of Philosophy and History of Religion at the Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and a well-known lobbyist for the OCU in the media, emphasized that the monastery’s connection with the ROC has been known for more than 30 years. «Since 1992, the Korets Holy Trinity Monastery has positioned itself as a structural part of the Russian Orthodox Church. […] Another question is what to do about it. Because it will most likely not be possible to simply close the monastery,» she said in a commentary to the publication.

In her opinion, the state may deregister the religious organization, which will deprive it of benefits and the right to rent, but the nuns will be able to continue their activities on donations.

«The activity of the monastery can be stopped, for example, by taking the nuns out of there by force. Obviously, no one will do this. But the state can deregister this religious organization. Then it will not be possible to rent premises, there will be no benefits for utilities, etc. But the monastery can continue to function. They will live on donations. That is, the state has no answer to this question, just as it has no answer to the 40 monks who still live in the lower caves of the Kyiv Cave Monastery,» Filipovych said.

As reported earlier, the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) has completed a study that revealed signs of affiliation of the Korets Holy Trinity Stavropegic Monastery of the Moscow Patriarchate with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). The activities of the Russian Orthodox Church are prohibited in Ukraine under the Law of Ukraine «On Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Field of Activities of Religious Organizations». Based on its findings, the DESS ordered measures to terminate the monastery’s activities.