Lavra and OCU signed agreement to hold Christmas service
The reserve "Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra" and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine signed an agreement to hold a service on January 7 from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
This was reported by at. general director of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra national reserve, Oleksandr Rudnyk, Censor.NET informs with reference to BBC News Ukraine.
"In the afternoon (January 5. - Ed.) I received an appeal from the OCU about holding a divine service and obtaining permission from the Ministry of Culture. I gave permission and made an agreement to hold the service on January 7. All the documents are now available, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church published outdated information in the evening," Rudnyk said.
Thus, as he explained, the information about the OCU's lack of permission to hold a religious service, which was previously made public by the UOC MP, is already out of date.
Currently, it is a one-time rental for worship.
Law enforcement will ensure that the event takes place without any excesses, Rudyk added.
BBC News Ukraine also received a document confirming the Ministry of Culture's consent to the OCU service in the Assumption Cathedral.
The Ministry of Culture is the administrator of the state property on the territory of the Lavra, which is managed by the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra State Reserve.
We will remind you that until the end of 2022, the Assumption Cathedral of the Lavra and the Tabernacle Church were rented by the UOC MP by the hour.
However, the state did not renew the contract of use. On January 5, the Minister of Culture Oleksandr Tkachenko announced that a special commission had completed the inspection of the property of the two buildings and they were finally returned to the state. At the same time, the vicar of the Lavra, Metropolitan Pavlo of the UOC MP refused to sign the inspection report.
