00:49Ukraine: UOC worshippers unfurl national flags as OCU supporters demand monks' eviction from Kiev-Pechersk Lavra
Parishioners of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) unfurled Ukraine's national flags near the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra while Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) supporters demanded the eviction of the monks were seen in Kiev on Friday.
Footage shows UOC parishioners lined up in front of a barrier, carrying a giant Ukrainian flag and icons while singing liturgical songs. Supporters of the OCU gathered in front of the worshippers, chanting 'Let the Moscow priest go away!', 'Suitcase, station, Russia!', among others.
Altercations erupted between UOC worshippers and OCU supporters on the territory of the monastery earlier in the day.
According to media reports, believers did not allow members of the commission for the acceptance and transfer of property into state ownership to execute their work on that day.
On the eve of the incident, the UOC published a statement warning its parishioners about the the commission's arrival together with a group of 'provocateurs' and urged 'not to pay attention to them.'
Responding to the actions of the parishioners of the UOC, Ukrainian Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko said that the authorities would go to court in case of a repeated obstruction of the work of the commission.
Mykhailo Podolyak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said in a TV interview on Friday that , the country's authorities had a chance 'to surgically eliminate this abscess' during the initial three to six months of the conflict in Ukraine. "In Ukraine, there will be an OCU, an OCU only," he added.
On Thursday, the Kiev Economic Court dismissed the canonical UOC in its lawsuit to suspend the termination of the lease agreement for the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.
Russian presidential press secretary Dmitri Peskov said on Thursday that Moscow strongly condemned Ukrainian ministry’s actions to evict the monks.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the situation with Kiev-Pechersk Lavra a protection for society from 'religious manipulation' on Wednesday.
The UOC monks were first told they would have to leave on March 10, due to what the Ukrainian Culture Ministry called a 'breach of the terms of the agreement on the use of state property'.
In 2022, the Security Service of Ukraine opened 50 criminal cases against priests of the UOC, including one against Metropolitan Pavel. The process of transferring the churches from the UOC to the Kiev-backed Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), set up in 2018, was launched.
00:49Parishioners of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) unfurled Ukraine's national flags near the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra while Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) supporters demanded the eviction of the monks were seen in Kiev on Friday.
Footage shows UOC parishioners lined up in front of a barrier, carrying a giant Ukrainian flag and icons while singing liturgical songs. Supporters of the OCU gathered in front of the worshippers, chanting 'Let the Moscow priest go away!', 'Suitcase, station, Russia!', among others.
Altercations erupted between UOC worshippers and OCU supporters on the territory of the monastery earlier in the day.
According to media reports, believers did not allow members of the commission for the acceptance and transfer of property into state ownership to execute their work on that day.
On the eve of the incident, the UOC published a statement warning its parishioners about the the commission's arrival together with a group of 'provocateurs' and urged 'not to pay attention to them.'
Responding to the actions of the parishioners of the UOC, Ukrainian Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko said that the authorities would go to court in case of a repeated obstruction of the work of the commission.
Mykhailo Podolyak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said in a TV interview on Friday that , the country's authorities had a chance 'to surgically eliminate this abscess' during the initial three to six months of the conflict in Ukraine. "In Ukraine, there will be an OCU, an OCU only," he added.
On Thursday, the Kiev Economic Court dismissed the canonical UOC in its lawsuit to suspend the termination of the lease agreement for the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.
Russian presidential press secretary Dmitri Peskov said on Thursday that Moscow strongly condemned Ukrainian ministry’s actions to evict the monks.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the situation with Kiev-Pechersk Lavra a protection for society from 'religious manipulation' on Wednesday.
The UOC monks were first told they would have to leave on March 10, due to what the Ukrainian Culture Ministry called a 'breach of the terms of the agreement on the use of state property'.
In 2022, the Security Service of Ukraine opened 50 criminal cases against priests of the UOC, including one against Metropolitan Pavel. The process of transferring the churches from the UOC to the Kiev-backed Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), set up in 2018, was launched.