Dumenko brings to Lavra the body of a Russian monk “canonized” by Filaret

Image of the abbot of the Russian Orthodox Church Merkury (Matvienko) “canonized” by Filaret. Photo: OCU's Facebook page

On October 22, 2023, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) celebrated the anniversary of the "discovery" of the body of Archimandrite Merkury (Matvienko), who was previously the abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, and his "canonization" by Filaret Denisenko. On this occasion, Serhiy Dumenko led a "service" in the Assumption Cathedral of the Lavra, as reported by the press service of the OCU.

Archimandrite Merkury (Matvienko) served as the abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra until 1926. Following the Bolshevik seizure of the Lavra, he moved to his homeland in the Chernihiv region, where he managed to establish the Trinity Church (later seized by the UOC-KP). In 1949, he was awarded a commendation by Patriarch Alexy I of the Russian Orthodox Church. In the early 1950s, he was consecrated as an hegumen. Archimandrite Merkury passed away in 1956.

In October 2011, representatives of the UOC-KP secretly exhumed the body of Archimandrite Merkury. This was done without permission, and even without the knowledge of the Bryhyntsi village vouncil. This was stated in the village council in 2016 in response to an official request from the Union of Orthodox Journalists.

“The decision of the Bryhyntsi village council regarding the exhumation and reburial of the body of Fr. Merkury (Maxim Moiseyovych Matvienko ) was not accepted in 2011. Exhumation and reburial of Fr. Merkury occurred in October 2011 without permits from the village council,” says the document signed by the village head N. Kalyuzhna.

It'll be recalled that parishioners for the “service” of the OCU were brought to the Lavra from the regions.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that in Vaslovivtsi, the “hierarch” of the OCU broke into the seized church through the parishioners of the UOC.

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