The Lavra’s lawyer expressed his indignation that the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and Information Policy sent the demand without there being a court decision on it yet.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture and Information Policy has demanded that monks from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate leave Kiev’s Monastery of the Caves by July 4, according to a document released Saturday by the Lavra’s lawyer, Nikita Checkman.
The document noted that the Kiev Monastery of the Caves national park, which depends on the Ministry of Culture, “decided to suspend access to the rooms to the monks of the monastery” and created a commission that will begin to work on July 4 to close the buildings.
“In this sense, we ask to release the rooms and deliver their keys to the national park,” he said. According to another document published by Chekman, the Ukrainian authorities demand that the monks release five buildings in the so-called lower area of the Lavra.
“In case of a refusal of the monastery to hand over the keys to the buildings, according to a list, the locks will be changed and the buildings will be boarded up“he reported.
For his part, the Lavra’s lawyer expressed his indignation at the fact that the Ministry sent the demand without there being a judicial decision in this regard.
- At the end of March, the Ukrainian authorities requested that the monks leave the Kiev Monastery of the Caves, while the Ukrainian Minister of Culture, Alexander Tkachenko, said that his ministry will carry out an audit of the pieces of the museum, including the relics of saints. , which are located in the Lavra.
- For their part, the religious of the historic monastery, founded in the 11th century, persist in their refusal to leave the place until there is a judicial decision that revalidates the unilateral breach of the lease by the Ministry of Culture.
Source: RT
