After long maneuvers, the leadership of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra nevertheless decided to fight for their " “Mobilized” (for the most part, as usual, women) are being pulled into the Lavra, who should block the work of the commission on transferring the premises of the KPL to the reserve. Metropolitan Pavel proclaimed a curse on President Zelensky and his family up to the seventh generation. Believers are forbidden to talk to journalists. Visor down. Horses beat their hooves.

However, not too many people come to the Lavra. Metropolitan Pavel even made an appeal in the style of " But the capital did not respond. This in itself should make church leaders think about the success of their mission - the church in general and a particular monastery in particular.. But in the church it is not customary to admit their mistakes..

Under siege.

No matter how few believers gathered to defend the premises of the monastery on the first day of the " The commission arrived, walked from one closed door to another, and left the territory of the Lavra without gaining access to the premises. “The believers drove the godless commission! "

It was not true - members of the commission walked around the Lavra, talked with churchmen and distributed comments to the press. They looked surprisingly calm - as if they had plenty of time and no threat around.. When asked if they were going to contact the police, the representative of the reserve answered in the negative.. However, just a few hours later, the Minister of Culture stated that a statement to the police “about obstructing the work of the commission” had nevertheless been filed.. But the feeling that no one is in a hurry has not disappeared: the authorities are not going to storm the Lavra. So she wants to starve her out.

But will the prolongation of the conflict benefit at least one of the parties

It can be assumed that while the commission is talking to the “Lavra” people in front of TV cameras, hard work is going on far behind the scenes — negotiations are underway with everyone and everyone who might want to stay in the Lavra, regardless of its confessional affiliation. If the negotiations are crowned with at least partial success, it will be a defeat for Metropolitan Pavel. Therefore, he makes every effort to anger and provoke the enemy.. Everyone knows that our president really does not like to look like a “weakling”. You look, he will raise his glove, get into a fight.

And his opponent will make every effort to make this fight look as ugly as possible and be broadcast as widely as possible.. Metropolitan Onuphry’s UOC-MP treats the domestic media market with deep contempt (no wonder he reciprocates). But never neglects the external media market. And now the leadership of the church is counting mainly on a campaign in the Western media and on the fact that one fine day - when the Lavra still belongs to Vladyka Pavel - the president will be called and advised in good English to stop the "

Imposter Hero.

Therefore, the authorities also take risks. And she can only blame herself for this.. She could have avoided this risk.. If Pasha-Mercedes did not go “under sanctions” (which, apparently, did not interfere with him too much), but sat at least under house arrest, it would be much easier to follow the orders of the authorities in relation to the Lavra state property. It is even possible that the UOC-MP would simply agree to the conditions that the authorities offered her..

If the National Security and Defense Council is sure that Pavel poses a threat to national security, why did they leave him the opportunity to continue muddying the waters and “lead” something? Why the SBU wasted time and resources investigating the activities of secondary figures and spitting “strawberries” on third-rate ones, instead of taking on the “main characters”?

I don't know what the reasons were. But the consequences are obvious: Metropolitan Pavel is in the Lavra, and his supporters and opponents are becoming stronger in the opinion that “Pasha is unsinkable”. Everyone closed ranks around his compromised and unsympathetic figure - from semi-literate witnesses of the " Where only yesterday there were different opinions, where it was possible to count on the free choice and withdrawal from the MP of at least some of the worthy representatives of this church, we have the opportunity to observe rare solidarity. Now they have a common " There are also own " But more on that below..

Vladyka Pavel is, of course, an impostor hero. Suffice it to recall that the authorities did not require either the monks or the Theological Academy to leave the Lavra, as Vladyka Pavel himself asserted.. Only he and the leadership of the UOC-MP should have left the Lavra. For Metropolitan Onufry of Kyiv, this is not a problem - he has long preferred a residence in the St. Panteleimon Monastery in Theophany Lavra, where there is too much Bishop Paul.

But Vladyka Pavel understands only too well that without the Lavra and the position of vicegerent, he becomes uninteresting and too vulnerable to anyone.. I think he went through a lot of unpleasant moments - after all, many, including those from the Lavra, persuaded Metropolitan Onufry to sacrifice Pavel for the common good. But Onufry said "

It may seem strange - what is so valuable in the Pasha-Mercedes, which irritated everyone - both the authorities, and the public, and the Kyiv Metropolitan himself? But it's not all about Paul.. And in Metropolitan Onufry himself. Who for nothing in the world will give a reason to think that he "

Therefore, the struggle for the main shrine (and the most profitable enterprise) of the UOC-MP was led not by the Metropolitan of Kiev - a purely spiritual figure - but by Metropolitan Pavel.

Life after \!

The future of the Lavra is another question to which there is no clear answer yet.. Well, let's say everyone left the Lavra - monks, bishops, students. What's next?

It would seem that the answer is obvious, and popular rumor has already given it: the vacated square meters will go to the OCU. Metropolitan Epiphany willingly picked up: yes, they are ready to accept and master. You could say we already started.

But at the most interesting point, Minister of Culture Tkachenko dreamily rolls his eyes and promises that the Lavra will be “accessible to everyone” (as if it had not been accessible until now).! ) and that it is necessary to develop a state program for the use of the premises of the Lavra. For example, you can hold art events there.. That is, the monastery, of course, yes, but.

the government does not yet have a program and, in general, an idea of \u200b\u200bhow to fill a huge area liberated from the UOC-MP - the minister improvises on the go. At the moment, the “program” is described in short and beloved by us, Ukrainians, the word “get! » With the modality of the future tense, everything is, alas, not so simple.

But without the OCU, of course, it will not do. Spiritual life must remain in the monastery - otherwise the eviction of the monks will really look like “persecution of the church”. And besides, it is precisely such an act of "

(Post) Soviet.

The OCU has already lent its shoulder to the authorities and, at the same time, its foot in the half-opened door. Before the ringing of bells in honor of the “last day” of the UOC-MP in the Lavra had subsided, Metropolitan Epiphanius of Kiev had already appointed his own governor (so far acting) of the Lavra monastery. They became Archimandrite Abraham, one of the monks - the inhabitants of the Lavra. Thus, the OCU has already “entered” the Lavra. So far, she has only one monk there, but the worst of it is the beginning. In the light of this decision, the story of the Lavra no longer looks like a "

The haste with which the OCU squeezes into the still “warm” walls arouses far fewer objections from the public than the readiness to accept those who were known as “Moscow agents” only yesterday. So the leadership of the OCU now has to answer a lot of uncomfortable questions and fight off the " But the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra is a prize for which no effort is spared. In addition, excessive scrupulousness has never been inherent in the chicks of the nest of Patriarch Filaret.

However, their opponents look no better: the leadership of the UOC-MP. Abrahamia. The haste of this decision is justified: if about one monk is not punished, others will follow him. But " Judge for yourself: collaborating priests and entire dioceses of the UOC-MP moved to the ROC, but in the Kyiv Metropolis no one was “banned” for this, and they didn’t even express condemnation aloud. But as soon as the Lavra monk declared his desire to stay in his monastery (regardless of his confessional affiliation), he “flew” on the same day. This is all you need to know about the place that Ukraine and its interests occupy in the hierarchy of values \u200b\u200bof the leadership of the UOC-MP.

It is not surprising that the UOC-MP is being deprived of its privileges in front of everyone's eyes, and no one is in a hurry to defend it.. She used these privileges not “by the right of the canonical church” - as she convinced her friends and foes, but by the right of post-Soviet continuity, thanks to cooperation with the same post-Soviet authorities (and not only Ukrainian) and other powerful people of this world. And now, when the USSR, reluctantly, with great resistance, but still sliding into the grave, church structures, which have always been deeply integrated into the Soviet system, are experiencing a painful crisis.. They may not survive it if they cling too tightly to their (post)Soviet roots.. Or they can survive - and come out of this test renewed.

The plural is not accidental.. After all, this is a test not only for the UOC-MP. Other churches will have to go through it. First of all, the OCU, which is now in a hurry to pick up everything that falls from the dilapidated colossus, without neglecting any means if they help achieve the desired goal. OCU is likely to win the current race for property and privileges. But will she be able to learn from the mistakes of a defeated opponent