DESS Alleges 'Signs of Foreign Affiliation' at Pochaiv Lavra

KYIV — Ukraine's State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) announced on July 22 that it has completed an official assessment concluding that the Holy Dormition Pochaiv Lavra shows "signs of affiliation" with a foreign religious organization prohibited under Ukrainian law.

This is typically used as a pretext for either seizing or shutting down a parish or monastery of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC).

According to the agency, its findings are based on the monastery's place within the structure of the UOC and its subordination to the UOC's Kyiv Metropolis, which DESS has previously determined to be connected to a foreign religious organization. The agency said the Lavra's relationship to the Kyiv Metropolis is established through its statute and other governing documents regulating the monastery's activities.

DESS also cited provisions of the Statute of the Russian Orthodox Church that, in the agency's view, provide for the abbot of Pochaiv Lavra to participate in the governing bodies of the Moscow Patriarchate. As reported by UOJ-Ukraine, the assessment was conducted under Ukrainian legislation and formally began on June 24.

The agency's announcement did not include a response from either the Pochaiv Lavra or the UOC regarding the conclusions of the assessment. The findings come as the UOC continues to challenge a series of actions by DESS in Ukrainian courts, including ongoing litigation over efforts to dissolve the Kyiv Metropolis.

Pochaiv Lavra, one of the largest and most revered Orthodox monasteries in Eastern Europe, has remained at the center of legal and ecclesiastical disputes as Ukrainian authorities continue reviewing the status of religious organizations under legislation adopted during the country's ongoing conflict with Russia.

The Ukrainian government has yet to prove accusations of "ties to Moscow" in court.

Previously, the UOJ reported that Patr. Daniel appealed to the court in the UOC dissolution case.