Abbot: Allowed into shrines by Muslims and Catholics but persecuted at home

Metropolitan Pavel at the last service in the Refectory Church. Photo: a screenshot of the broadcast

Metropolitan Pavel, the abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, commented on the situation around the expulsion of the UOC by the authorities from the Upper Lavra during the last service in the Refectory Church. The service was broadcast by “1Kozaktv”.

"Today we’re leaving the territory of the Upper Lavra. We’re leaving the temples that we have prayed in at the behest of willful lords. Muslims have always allowed us to pray at St. Nicholas’s tomb. Catholics allow us to pray at the holy apostles' tomb, at St. Nicholas's relics. But our people, who think they are the navel of the world, are driving us from our shrines in our land," said the Lavra’s abbot.

He warned the faithful that the SBU and police may organize provocations, but people should not pay attention to them.

According to a statement by the Legal Department, the UOC has every reason to serve in the Upper Lavra in 2023.

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