"The UOC let in laity there": Lotysh explains why OCU received Lavra church
Sealed entrance to the "Life-Giving Spring" church at Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Photo: t.me/kozakTv1
Avrahamiy Lotysh, the OCU "Prior" of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, explained in an interview with We are Ukraine the transfer of the "Life-Giving Spring" church under the jurisdiction of Epifaniy Dumenko.
According to him, the church had been used by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), but access for laity was restricted due to legal proceedings. However, representatives of the UOC still allowed laypeople to enter the church.
"This became the impetus to transfer this church to the military and designate it as a garrison church," Abraham Lotysh noted.
As the UOJ reported, on the evening of August 13, photos of the sealed "Life-Giving Spring" church appeared online. Shortly thereafter, a letter from the Director of the National Reserve, Maksym Ostapenko, was published, proposing that the monks hand over the keys to the public reserve.
Read also
UOC Kryvyi Rih Eparchy marks 30th anniversary
Metropolitan Yefrem led the anniversary Divine Liturgy in Kryvyi Rih.
Ostapenko: Everyone in UCCRO feels fine except the “FSB UOC”
The director of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve called the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches “a wonderful organization.”
Khmelnytskyi Eparchy donates funds for treatment of 12-year-old girl
UOC believers raised UAH 20,000 for Anastasiia Mamchur as part of an eparchial charity campaign.
Shevchuk: We had to convince world UOC ban does not violate religious freedom
The UGCC head claims that by banning the UOC, the state is not violating religious freedom but merely protecting the Church’s faithful from Moscow propaganda.
Lavra reserve head estimates damage to Dormition Cathedral at €15 million
Maksym Ostapenko said restoring the Dormition Cathedral would take at least a couple of years and require major funding.
DESS official says state should not govern the Church
A DESS official called for cooperation between the state and the Church for the benefit of citizens.