Archimandrite Kirill Govorun has said that some monks from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church are dissatisfied with the situation in their church and are considering the possibility of transferring to the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. He said in an interview with the DF.

“I know that also many monks, in particular from the UOC (MP), who are not satisfied with the situation in this Church, they are considering for themselves the possibility of going under Constantinople. They are not yet ready to move under the jurisdiction of Metropolitan Epifaniy, but as an intermediate stage we could consider the possibility of establishing a third community of the Ecumenical Patriarchate on the territory of Lavra. The Lavra is very large – it is a giant complex that can accommodate many, all those who wish to live there,” the theologian said.

Govorun believes that the initiator of this model, which he outlined, “could be the state. That is, the owner of the Lavra complex itself. And the owner could do just that. So far, the owner has taken the course to allow only one community to exist on the territory of the Lavra – it is the community of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.”

He added that monasteries often act as “nuclear reactors” for the Church, providing energy, but can also become a source of cataclysm. He called for avoiding such catastrophes and suggested that the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra be used as a model for positive constructive cooperation between the UOC and the OCU.

“That is, historically, as history teaches us, church divisions, conflicts, they begin with monasteries and often end with monasteries. That is, monasteries are the nuclear reactors of the Church. You could put it this way. On the one hand, they give energy to the whole Church, but on the other hand, they can become a source of cataclysms. Especially now we live with such fears about the cataclysm at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, and just this can illustrate what is happening in the Church life. Lavra is like a reactor, it gives energy to the Church, and it can become a source of catastrophe for the Church. It seems to me that we need to avoid this catastrophe and instead of Lavra being a source of this danger, that it should become a source of positive constructive cooperation between the two churches. It is up to the state to ensure this,” summarized Archimandrite Kirill.