A Ukrainian court has placed the head of the world-famous Kiev Cave Monastery, Metropolitan Pavlo (Lebyd), under house arrest for two months. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church cleric is suspected of fueling religious disputes and justifying Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Ukrainian media reported at the court.
Portal/Ukraine State Security Service
Pavlo has to wear electronic anklets
Pavlo has to wear electronic anklets. Contact with believers is forbidden for him. The 61-year-old denies the allegations and speaks in a political lawsuit.
The background to this is disputes over the use of the cave monastery and the position of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the country in general. Until the beginning of the war, the church was subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate. Although she broke with the patriarchy after the conflict broke out, she is still suspected of spying and agitating for Moscow by the political leadership in Kiev.
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine, independent from Moscow, was founded in Kiev in 2018. In this context, the state has already withdrawn the right to use the cave monastery from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. But the monks who live there refuse to leave. A court case is ongoing.
At least Pavlo has to leave the monastery now. In the morning, the police had searched the house of the head of the monastery on the spot. However, the clergyman must serve house arrest at his registered address. This is not in the monastery.