The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, a chief Ukrainian monastery that until recently was the seat of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC MP) in Ukraine, is at the epicenter of conflict in Ukraine. Defying eviction orders, it has decided to fight to stay at the UNESCO site at a time when nearly 80% of Ukrainians want it to leave, and nearly 60% want the denomination banned. Upping the ante, Ukraine’s Security Service has charged the UOC MP abbot of the Lavra with inciting religious hatred and denying Russian aggression, ordering him under house arrest.
However, in May 2022, hopes were high that the UOC MP would break ties with Moscow, shaken by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and even move towards unity with the independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which emerged at the hands of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in 2019. What went wrong? Is the UOC MP a hotbed of “Russian world” ideology that Moscow Patriarch Kirill has used to bless Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? Or is the Ukrainian state persecuting a perfectly patriotic church, as the UOC MP claims? Cyril Hovorun, PhD, Senior Lecturer at Stockholm School of Theology, explains.
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