Monks of Athos condemn desecration of relics in Kiev-Caves Lavra

Mount Athos—The statement, published on the Athonite bureau of the UOJ website, expresses sharp disapproval of what the monks describe as a desecration of sacred remains and calls for a response from the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

On March 28, 2025, a commission from Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture—comprising anatomists, biologists, and even veterinarians, and escorted by law enforcement—entered the Lavra’s Caves to take samples from relics of the monastery’s saints for DNA analysis, under the pretext of assessing their historical and scientific value. 

The monks likened the act to the persecutions of the Soviet era, saying: “These actions tragically echo the deeds of the Soviet atheistic authorities.”

They also questioned how other Christian traditions would respond to similar intrusions: “Would the Vatican accept it if Italian authorities examined the relics of the Apostles Peter or Andrew? Would Mount Athos tolerate the Greek government interfering with relics in our monasteries?”

The monks provided a theological defense of relic veneration, citing St. Gregory Palamas: “Just as Christ’s divinity did not leave His body during His burial, so too the Grace of the Holy Spirit remains in the bodies of the saints even after death. We venerate relics to receive this grace.”

Calling the examination a “deliberate blasphemy,” the statement urges an immediate response from the Orthodox world, especially the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Holy Kinot—the governing body of Mount Athos. The monks referenced the Kinot’s previous condemnation of sacrilegious art on display at the National Gallery of Greece as a precedent for action.

“It is no longer possible to pretend nothing tragic is happening in Ukraine’s Orthodox Church and its holy places,” the monks warn. “We must ask: How—and more importantly, why—should the ‘scientific value’ of holy relics be determined? Are these actions being committed [simply] in order to test how Orthodox Christians around the world will react to yet another deliberate blasphemy?”

UOJ-America has previously reported on the sharp condemnation of the of the Ministry of Culture's actions by Archimandrite Roman (Krassovsky) of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.

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