Patriarch Kirill, Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, lamented the change in control of one of Kyiv’s most prominent Orthodox churches. For the first time in centuries, the church held an Orthodox Christmas Mass in Ukrainian on Saturday.
The Dormition Cathedral, part of the historic Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, has returned to direct control of the Ukrainian government following a contract for the use of the building by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), a branch of the Ukrainian Church. I was. Forged closer ties with Moscow and used the complex as its home base — expired on December 31, 2022.
The Ukrainian government ended the UOC’s lease to the Assumption Cathedral and Refectory Church (also known as the Tabernacle Church), returning them to state control in January.
In a Christmas video message, Patriarch Kirill, a staunch supporter of the war, asked for prayers “for our Ukrainian brethren who are about to be expelled from the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.”
“That abbey…for centuries was the patron of true illiterate orthodoxy,” he said, also known as the Kyiv Monastery of the Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Added about the complex.
The Ukrainian government also announced that another major church branch, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), has been granted permission to celebrate Christmas services at the Assumption Cathedral on January 7. The service was led by Epiphanius I of Ukraine, head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, capital of Kyiv and all Ukraine.
Metropolitan Epiphanius called Mass a “historic event” held “in a historic place and in a historic setting”.
“God has given us a wonderful gift in difficult and trying times. Christ is born! We celebrate him,” Metropolitan Epiphanius said in a Facebook statement on Saturday.
Until Saturday Mass, services were held in Old Church Slavonic, the liturgical language of some Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches.
SBU Raid: Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) attacked of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra in late November As part of efforts to combat alleged “sabotage of Russian special services” in the country. The SBU said “to prevent the abbey from being used as a prison cell for the ‘Russian world'” and “to prevent the use of Ukrainian Orthodox facilities to hide subversive activities, reconnaissance groups, foreigners and to store weapons.” The SBU stated that it aims to statement.
The SBU has conducted searches for facilities belonging to the UOC in several regions.
December 25th and January 7th: Last October, OCU announced that it would allow churches to celebrate Christmas on December 25, in addition to January 7, which commemorates the birth of Jesus according to the Gregorian calendar. Deepening rifts with the Julian calendar, the Russian Orthodox Church and other Orthodox believers who adhere to the Julian calendar.
In May last year, the leaders of the UOC, another major branch of the Russian Orthodox Church formally subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate, announced they were severing ties with Moscow, although some of the churches remained loyal to Russia.
Uliana Pavlova contributed a report to this post.
