A Ukrainian court has placed the head of the world-famous Kiev Cave Monastery, Metropolitan Pavlo (Lebyd), under house arrest for two months. The minister of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is suspected of fueling religious disputes and justifying Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Ukrainian media reported from the courtroom.
Pavlo has to wear electronic ankle bracelets
Pavlo has to wear electronic ankle bracelets. Contact with believers is forbidden to him. The 61-year-old denies the allegations and speaks of a political process.
The background to this are disputes about 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 away from the patriarchate after the beginning of the conflict, she is still suspected of espionage and agitation for Moscow by the political leadership in Kiev.
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine, independent of Moscow, was founded in Kiev in 2018. In this context, the state has now withdrawn the right to use the cave monastery from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. But the monks living there refuse to move out. 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 monastery head on the site. However, the clergyman has to serve the house arrest at his registration address. This is not in the monastery.
