A Ukrainian court has placed the head of Kyiv’s most prominent monastery under house arrest on charges of justifying Russia’s armed aggression.
Ukraine’s security services also searched Pavlo’s residences Saturday, according to a statement detailing the charges against him.
Orthodox Christianity is one of the largest Christian communions in the world — after Catholicism and the Protestant church. Most of its roughly 260 million adherents are concentrated in Europe, Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union. It is the dominant faith in both Russia and Ukraine.
For days, Ukrainian officials were locked in a standoff after Pavlo and other monks living at the Lavra — the nearly 1,000-year-old complex known as the Kyiv Monastery of the Caves — ignored an eviction notice and parishioners barred government officials from entering the site. The Ukrainian government owns the site, a portion of which is leased by the church.
“This is religious discrimination,” said Volodymyr Kantsevych, a 23-year-old university student and member of the Orthodox Church linked to Russia.“We see clear support from the ruling government for the Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” he said referring to the independent branch. “It’s because of the war. We are being denied our freedoms and the country is becoming authoritarian.”
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Ukraine asks court to put Orthodox leader under house arrestUkraine’s top security agency has notified a leading Orthodox priest that he is suspected of justifying Russia’s aggression, which is a criminal offense. Metropolitan Pavel is the abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery, Ukraine’s most revered Orthodox site. He has resisted an order from Ukrainian authorities for his monks to vacate the monastery. Earlier in the week, the metropolitan cursed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, threatening him with damnation. During a hearing on Saturday the priest rejected the claim by Ukraine's Security Service that he condoned Russia’s invasion. Prosecutors asked to have him put him under house arrest pending an investigation. The hearing was adjourned until Monday after the metropolitan said he was feeling unwell.
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Ukraine asks court to put Orthodox leader under house arrestIn a bitter dispute over a famed Orthodox monastery, Ukraine's top security agency notified a leading priest on Saturday that he was suspected of justifying Russia's aggression, a criminal offense,
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Ukraine court puts Orthodox leader under house arrestA Ukrainian court ordered a leading Orthodox priest who is accused by authorities of condoning Russia’s invasion to be put under house arrest on Saturday. Ukraine’s top security agency had made the accusation agains Metropolitan Pavel. He is the abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery, Ukraine’s most revered Orthodox site. Pavel has resisted an order from Ukrainian authorities for his monks to vacate the monastery. During a hearing Saturday the priest rejected the claim by Ukraine's Security Service that he condoned Russia’s invasion. The hearing had adjourned until Monday after the metropolitan said he was feeling unwell.
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Ukraine asks court to put Orthodox leader under house arrestIn a bitter dispute over a famed Orthodox monastery, Ukraine’s top security agency notified a leading priest on Saturday that he was suspected of justifying Russia’s aggression, a criminal offense,
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Ukraine charges Moscow-backed orthodox priest with inciting religious hatePetro Lebid, the abbot of the 980-year-old Kyiv Pechersk Lavra — also known as the Kyiv Monastery of the Caves — was sentenced to 60 days of house arrest amid a crack down on the Ukrainian Orthodox…
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