The Russian Patriarchate published a letter from the Metropolitan of Gori and Ateni, Andria Gvazawa, in which the member of the Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church, in connection with the developments around the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, expresses support for the Metropolitan Onofre of the Church under the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine.
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According to the statement published on the official webpage of the Moscow Patriarchate on April 2nd, the hierarch of the Georgian Patriarchate responded to the message received from Metropolitan Luke of Zaporizhia and Melitopol, in which he wrote on “the ongoing pressure and persecution against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church”.
According to Reverend Andria, the Georgian church is deeply saddened by the tragic events unfolding in Ukraine.
“Unfortunately, the condition of multi-million parishioners of the Ukrainian orthodox church is worsening with the severity of the ordeal faced by Ukraine’s Orthodox Church. Many believers are drawing parallels with the persecution of the church during Bolsheviks,” Moscow Patriarchy quotes Andria’s words.
The Metropolitan emphasizes that “the current forceful influence on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is unacceptable both by theological and civil legislation.”
“We will offer a prayer for God's mercy and peace for your Christ-loving homeland to settle in peace as soon as possible, for the unity of the Church and the people, for the strengthening of the spirit and body of all members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, spearheaded by his Beatitude Metropolitan Onofres, members of the Synod, co-servant brothers and believers,” reads Metropolitan Andria's letter.
For years, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate was located in the state-owned Kyiv Pechersk Lavra on a lease basis. The lease agreement between the Ukrainian state and the church under the Moscow Patriarchate expired on March 29. The authorities gave the clerics until March 30 to leave the area, but almost no one left the Lavra. The Commission of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, which was supposed to begin inventorying the property, was not allowed into the Lavra. On Sunday, April 2, Metropolitan Onofre also held a service in the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross of Kyiv Pechersk Lavra.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church states that they have filed a lawsuit and they are not going to leave the Lavra until a final decision is made.
The Secretary of the State Security Council of Ukraine, Oleksi Danilov, said that the clerics will not be taken out of the Lavra by force: “This is the property of our state, which should be released based on the existing normative-legal documents. If someone thinks that they are not obligated to follow the laws of our country, they are very wrong. We will not use any force, they will gradually leave of their own volition”.
The Orthodox Church, which is part of the Moscow Patriarchate, is accused of inciting pro-Russian sentiments in Ukraine, which the church denies and claims to be independent. On April 1, the Kyiv court sentenced the former ruler of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra to Paul, who is suspected of inciting religious hatred and justifying Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine, under house arrest until May 30, as a preventive measure. According to the information of the investigation, after the start of the war, Paul justified the armed aggression during his interactions with the believers and negatively referred to the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which may have caused aggression toward his parishioners.
On March 26, the Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia Ilia II addressed a letter to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and asked him to help ease the tension in the Ukrainian Church. As Ilia II writes, “The fact that Onofre separated from the Russian Church by a synodal decision and took certain steps for negotiations is extremely important."
“According to the current situation, Metropolitan Onofre has been stripped of Kyiv Pechersk Lavra. There are problems with other churches and monasteries under his jurisdiction as well. It is clear that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine has found itself in a very difficult situation from many angles," said Ilya Miori's letter.
There are two Orthodox churches in Ukraine - the Ukrainian Orthodox Church within the Moscow Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, which received the Tomos of the Poles of Autocephaly from the Ecumenical Patriarch in 2019. The autocephaly of Ukraine was recognized by the Patriarchate of Alexandria and Africa, as well as the churches of Hellas (Greece) and Cyprus. The Autocephalous Church of Ukraine is headed by Metropolitan Epiphane.
After the start of the war, at the end of May 2022, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church declared its complete independence from the Russian Orthodox Church, although it did not withdraw from its membership. Metropolitan Onofre said that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has been condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine since day one, but their voice was not heard.
