DESS to issue order to Pochaiv Lavra over ties to Russian Orthodox Church

If the monastery refuses to comply, the DESS will file a lawsuit seeking the termination of the religious organization’s activities, DESS Head Viktor Yelenskyi said in comments to Ukrinform.

"Under the Law On the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Sphere of Activities of Religious Organizations, we conducted a review of the affiliation of the religious organization Pochaiv Holy Dormition Lavra with the Russian Orthodox Church, which is banned in Ukraine. Since signs of such affiliation exist, we will issue an order requiring this religious organization to eliminate this connection. If the organization removes this affiliation, it will be able to operate freely in Ukraine and carry out its activities. If it refuses to comply with the order, as, for example, the Kyiv Metropolia of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church did, we will file a lawsuit seeking the termination of this religious organization," Yelenskyi said.

He added that the DESS will continue examining other religious organizations in Ukraine to determine whether they show signs of affiliation with the ROC.

"Yes, we will conduct these reviews. We cannot carry them out simultaneously. We have completed the Pochaiv Lavra review and are beginning new investigations, apparently already next week," he said.

At the same time, the Head of the DESS recalled that the Kyiv Metropolia of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate had already received an order from the Service. He said that all efforts by the UOC Kyiv Metropolia in courts, as well as the involvement of lawyers and foreign lobbyists, are aimed solely at preserving its subordination to the ROC.

"I want to emphasize that when you read about court hearings regarding the lawsuit filed by the UOC Kyiv Metropolia against the DESS or something similar... all these lawsuits, efforts, the entire line of lawyers defending the UOC Kyiv Metropolia, all the money paid to foreign lobbyists to discredit Ukraine, and so on – all of this is done solely to remain part of the Russian Orthodox Church, whose leadership openly sets as its goal the destruction of Ukraine, its statehood, culture, and identity," Yelenskyi said.

The DESS Head once again stressed that subordination to the Moscow Patriarchate of the ROC is not part of Orthodox religious doctrine.

"I held a number of consultations with theologians who have serious reputations in the Orthodox world. Not a single one of them – not one, I emphasize – told me that the order issued by the DESS, for example, to the Kyiv Metropolia, places a burden on believers’ consciences, that its implementation could somehow contradict canon law or be impossible to fulfill from the perspective of Christian conscience," Yelenskyi said.

He added that the Kyiv Metropolia of the UOC is only required to adopt a decision through its authorized bodies to withdraw from the Russian Orthodox Church. According to him, this does not involve changing liturgical traditions, the calendar, or the language of worship, joining the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, or appealing to Patriarch Kirill.

As reported by Ukrinform, on July 22, the DESS published the findings of its review regarding signs of affiliation between the Pochaiv Holy Dormition Lavra and the Russian Orthodox Church – a foreign religious organization whose activities are banned in Ukraine.

In particular, the DESS stated that the Pochaiv Lavra is a structural unit of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and part of the UOC Kyiv Metropolia, which, under Ukrainian law, is recognized as affiliated with the ROC.