On June 29, 2023, a court hearing was held in the Solomensky District Court of Kyiv in the case of Metropolitan Pavel, the Vicegerent of the Lavra. This is reported by the Telegram channel Pervy Kozatsky.

At the trial, the bishop stated that he had never been and would not be against his state. He added that the prosecutors had never been to church and had not heard his sermons, and the torn lines from his sermon are “evidence of disrespect for the holy order, for believers.”

“The prosecutor’s office, the SSU, the museum called me and said ‘compromise, recognize Epifaniy.’ This never happened and never will. I know what a schism is. We have a Supreme Judge,” Metropolitan Pavel said at the trial.