The Ukrainian Prosecutor’s Office today requested the house arrest of a religious leader, interrogated under the accusation of having ties to Russia, which also caused dozens of faithful to gather in front of the famous Kiev monastery that he heads.
Many faithful -among them religious- gathered in front of the Caves, a splendid kyiv monastery that houses an Orthodox Church historically linked to Moscow.
The spiritual leader of the monastery, Metropolitan Pavlo, was questioned today by the Ukrainian authorities, three days after he and his monks were subject to an expulsion order, in the context of the war in Ukraine launched by the Kremlin.
In front of the worshipers, a small group of pro-Ukrainian activists brandished blue and yellow national flags.
According to the Ukrainian security services (SBU), the abbot is suspected of “justifying, denying the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and glorifying its participants”, as well as “violating the equality of citizens based on their racial, national, regional or religious affiliation”.
The religious official was taken to a kyiv court for a hearing attended, among others, by a journalist from the AFP news agency. However, this was postponed until Monday, as Pavlo was not feeling well.
“The house arrest of Metropolitan Pavlo on false charges is, unfortunately, a natural continuation of the anarchy created by the Ukrainian government,” the head of relations with the media of the Orthodox Church in Moscow, Vladimir, denounced in a statement. Legoid.
Founded in the 11th century and declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, the Monastery of the Caves – which dominates the banks of the river – houses the headquarters of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, subject to the Patriarchate of Moscow before the Russian invasion launched in February of 2022.
This confession announced in May the severing of its ties with the Russian Church, whose Russian patriarch, Kirill, supports the invasion.
But the Kiev government considers that this Church is still de facto dependent on Moscow and, despite the order of the authorities to leave the place, the monks refuse to leave.
Source: Ambito
