Lavra abbot comments on “expulsion” of monks commemorating Patriarch

Metropolitan Pavel, the abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, commented for the UOJ on the information of some Russian media about the "expulsion" from the monastery of the monks insisting on the commemoration of Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church.

"No one has expelled or is expelling anyone for such actions," the Lavra abbot said. “There are people who said after the UOC Council that we are now allegedly schismatics. They stopped receiving communion, going to church and communicating with the brethren. As a result, they themselves left the monastery, but they did it without my blessing. These are monk Lazar, Fr Eleutherius and Fr Clement.”

According to the abbot, all the monastics pray for the patriarch, but during the services the decisions of the Council are being implemented. As for those who disagree, the metropolitan stressed that they left on their own initiative.

"I didn't kick anyone out, I paused. Then I invited them to my place and asked - why aren't you taking communion? After all, they went to churches, where the Patriarch is commemorated, but even there they did not take communion. I think it is a very alarming sign for a monk and a priest. After all, according to the canons, if a clergyman does not receive communion for three Sundays, he should be expelled from the clergy. Now just imagine where is May (the UOC Council was held on May 27 – Ed.) and where is November," said Metropolitan Pavel.

He said that the departed clerics for a long time paid a lot of attention to the topics that were not worth talking about: "When the Patriarch met with the Pope (in Havana – Ed.), they insistently told me that the Patriarch is a heretic, now here is the other extreme. When it was popular to fight against codes, they were against codes; when the coronavirus appeared, they were against the brethren taking tests".

Since the monks left without a blessing, they are now under a ban: "But if any abbot or vicar agrees to take them in, he can write me a letter, and then I will lift the ban. This is done so that there is no vacillation of the monastic and priestly ranks."

As reported, Metropolitan Pavel spoke about the situation with COVID-19 in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

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