UOC Monastery Appeals to U.S. Leaders Over Eviction Threat
Brotherhood of the historic St. Nicholas Monastery asks Vice President J.D. Vance and Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna to help defend religious freedom.
MYLTSI, UKRAINE — The brotherhood and parishioners of the St. Nicholas Monastery in Myltsi in the Volyn region have appealed to U.S. authorities for protection of their religious rights, warning that the historic monastery faces the threat of eviction.
In a video message published on the Telegram channel Kozak TV, the monks addressed their appeal to U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and U.S. Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, asking them to draw attention to the situation and help defend freedom of religion.
According to the monastery’s abbot, Archimandrite Leontiy, the monastery — which has a history spanning about 700 years — is now under the threat of removal after the expiration of its lease.
He said that although the brotherhood restored monastic life at the site after the fall of Soviet power, the state did not transfer ownership of the monastery to the Church and is now demanding that the monks vacate the property.
“And now, when the lease has ended and the monastery has already been rebuilt, they tell us to leave,” the abbot noted.
The appeal also refers to pressure from certain political figures. According to Fr. Leontiy, Member of Parliament Ihor Huz previously expressed his intention to force the monks to leave the monastery.
“Recently he seized the cathedral in Volodymyr. He gathered 250 people armed with automatic weapons. Perhaps he wants to do the same to us. There is no one to put this deputy in his place and point out his rights and responsibilities,” the cleric said.
The brotherhood said the monastery was revived after decades of Soviet-era persecution, during which the sacred buildings were severely desecrated.
Archimandrite Alexander, a priest of the monastery, said that during the Soviet period the cathedral of St. Nicholas was converted into a dining hall for a boarding school.
“The church was buried under nearly half a meter of rubble and construction debris. We had to remove everything ourselves. The atheist authorities had no interest in preserving the sacred site, even though the church was nearly five hundred years old,” Archimandrite Alexander said.
He added that many parts of the monastery complex had been damaged or altered during those years, requiring extensive restoration work by the monks and faithful to return the churches to their original form.
Previously, the UOJ reported that Huz had threatened UOC monasteries while standing next to Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) head Sergei Dumenko.
