The court sent Metropolitan Pavel under house arrest for two months

02:29 02.04.2023 CIS

A court in Kyiv sent the vicar of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) Pavel, under house arrest for two months. This is reported by TASS with the wearing of an electronic bracelet.

The clergyman was also put on an electronic bracelet. Metropolitan Pavel will serve the measure of restraint away from the Lavra, at his place of residence in the village of Voronkov, Boryspil district, Kyiv region. At the same time, according to Ukrainian media, the clergyman was allowed to record and publish videos - the prosecutor's office insisted on a ban on these actions.

The governor of the Lavra complained about health problems

According to Ukrainian media, Metropolitan Pavel complained about his health during his speech in court and when he was wearing a bracelet. In particular, according to a church minister, they wanted to poison him twice: in 2012 and in 2014, because of this, his spleen was removed. In addition, he stated that a 13.2 mm cyst was found in his head. Due to health problems, the governor asked the court, when choosing a measure of restraint, to appoint it in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Later, the lawyer of Metropolitan Pavel said that the defense of the clergyman would ask the court to cancel the wearing of an electronic bracelet for the clergyman due to his state of health.

Earlier it was reported that in the courtroom, the governor of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra said that his blood sugar level had dropped and that he did not feel well. The Metropolitan was sent to the hospital, but later the court forcibly returned him to the meeting, which took place at 18:30 (coincides with Moscow).

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According to one of the inhabitants of the Lavra, the decision to place the abbot of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Pavel, under house arrest is an attempt to replace the abbot of the canonical UOC with a defector appointed by the schismatics, while keeping the monks in place.

Metropolitan Pavel himself considered the decision of the Kyiv court on his arrest a political order. However, he accepts everything as the will of God and accepts the situation "absolutely calmly and with honor." At the same time, the clergyman added, he had previously received threats.

Earlier, the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra reserve ordered representatives of the UOC to leave the territory of the Lavra until March 29. The reason allegedly was the violation by the monastery of the terms of the document on the use of state property. On March 29, the head of the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), Metropolitan Epiphanius, appointed Archimandrite Avraamy (Lotysh) as Acting Viceroy of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.

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President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky called the actual seizure of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra by the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) "another step towards strengthening the spiritual independence of the state", aimed at protecting society from "Moscow manipulators of religion."

In Russia, the West was caught in the absence of a reaction to the situation with the UOC

In Russia, they reacted to the situation with Metropolitan Pavel. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, accused Kyiv of mocking Orthodoxy. She noted that the violence against religion in Ukraine takes place with the silent indulgence of the civilized West.

The Russian ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, also pointed to this. According to him, the participants of the "Summit for Democracy", which was organized by the United States, are silent on the situation with the UOC and do not respond to repressions against its representatives, which contradicts the declared goals of the forum. “Is this indifference, double standards, or confirmation of blind adherence to US guidelines?” he asked.

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