The archbishop called the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra a spiritual center that is dear not only to Ukrainians, but also to Russians, Belarusians, Moldovans, and Orthodox residents of the Baltic countries and Georgia.
“From there began Russia, the spread of spirituality, holiness in our lands. Therefore, it is impossible for the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra to become an object of political games, pressure, striving to achieve its goals. It’s not good, it’s wrong. This will not bring results, it will intensify disputes, confrontation, will bring trouble not only to Ukrainian society,” the Metropolitan emphasized.
In February, “Christian Vision” reported that Metropolitan Venyamin was involved in the criminal persecution of two 15-year-old girls from Minsk. The yararch allegedly personally demanded to hand over to the Investigative Committee a video from the church’s surveillance cameras, on which the girls are holding a burning paper icon near the Orthodox Cathedral of Minsk. Benjamin himself denies that the Orthodox Church insists on persecution.
In January, it became known that Metropolitan Benjamin awarded a certificate to the head of colony No. 14 in Navasad, where political prisoners are kept. At least six political prisoners are held in this colony – Zmytro Dashkevich, Syarhei Detsuk, Mikhail Zubkov, Pyotr Konstantinov, Yevhen Kuzmyankov, Stanislav Mikhailov.
In October 2020, the hierarch banned the performance of the hymn “Mighty God”, saying that it “divides society”.
What is happening around the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra
In March, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine notified the representative office of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine (it is registered as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, UOC. — RS) about the termination of the agreement on the free use of the Kiev-Pechora Lavra. According to him, the basis for this decision was the recorded violations of the conditions of use of state property.
- At the end of November, the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra was searched. On November 15, the Security Service of Ukraine started a criminal case on the article about the justification of Russian aggression after the song sung by the parishioners of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. In the text of the song, the words “motherland – Russia” were mentioned.
- The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights noted in its recent report that the actions of the Ukrainian authorities in relation to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church may be discriminatory. In response, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine called on the UN to refrain from unbalanced political assessments.
- The UOC is one of the two largest Orthodox religious organizations in Ukraine, along with the autocephalous OCU. After the war, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church declared “independence” from the Moscow Patriarchate, but this independence was not legally formalized. The authorities believe that a number of priests and hierarchs of the UOC de facto take a pro-Russian position.