Pochaiv Lavra abbot to authorities: Don't repeat Bolsheviks’ mistakes

Metropolitan Volodymyr, the abbot of the Pochaiv Lavra. Photo: a screenshot of the Pochaiv Lavra YouTube channel

On May 2, 2023, Metropolitan Volodymyr, the abbot of the Pochaiv Holy Dormition Lavra, appealed to Mykhailo Holovko, the head of the Ternopil Regional Council, not to repeat the mistakes of Soviet rulers and not to create enmity and discord on religious grounds in the shrine. The video message was posted on the YouTube channel of the Pochaiv Lavra.

The bishop recalled the history of the monastery, particularly focusing on the crimes of the Bolsheviks in the twentieth century.

"In the premises where the monastery's printing house and iconography workshop were located, your predecessors in office, employees of the regional party committee, arranged a regional neurological hospital, which still functioned under independent Ukraine until 1998. Eventually, after many requests from the monks, the building was returned in a state of disrepair. The laundry room for the neurological hospital and Polyclinic #2, which was rendered unusable by the state, were placed in the Archpriest's House. It is only through the efforts of the monastic brethren that this historic building has been restored.

At the holy gates of the monastery building, a company responsible for the extermination of mice and rats was placed. In the hospital church of the Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon, they sampled the stored materials kept in the altar area. This continued until 2020. The Therapeutic and Infectious Department was located in the adjoining buildings of this church, which was eventually reduced to a state of disrepair that could not be restored," said the Lavra abbot.

He reminded the authorities that recently there has been a mortuary, a pig farm, a lunatic asylum, a laundry, an agricultural chemical factory, a farm machinery store, a calf shed of the common farm and many other organizations located on the territory of the world shrine. And in the place of the new Transfiguration Cathedral, there were two granaries, a furnace room and a club. All of the above-mentioned buildings were in extremely poor condition.

Today, with the help of the monastery, everything that needed restoration has been renovated.

"Do you want to expel Ukrainian monks, your fellow countrymen, who in the past defended the shrine at the cost of their lives from complete destruction and ruin?" the Pochaiv abbot asks the governor.

The bishop urged the official not to listen to those who tell him that something has been built in the Lavra without the necessary permits.

"All the restored buildings on the Lavra's territory have the necessary permits from the Ministry of Culture and construction organizations. There are a number of documents and certificates attesting to this, including for the Transfiguration Cathedral, which as of 2012 was the fourth largest in Europe. All official documents have been issued," Metropolitan Vladimir said.

"In this difficult time that we are experiencing, religious issues should not create enmity and discord. Our Church prays every day for our Ukrainian land. Like you, we are concerned about the fate of our Homeland and ask God for peace to come to our Ukrainian land. As a believer and head of the regional council, please do not repeat the mistakes that Lenin, Stalin, and Khrushchev made during their rule," the abbot of the Pochaiv Lavra concluded his appeal to Mykhailo Holovko.

As earlier reported, the Ternopil Regional Council found "violations" in the Pochaiv Reserve.

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