On July 22, 2023, the Primate of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Porfiry, sent letters to the heads of the Orthodox Churches, the Pope of Rome, the Secretary General of the United Nations, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Council of Churches, Amnesty International, Freedom House, etc., in which he called addressees to use their great authority in the world and make every effort to release Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshgorod “so that he can continue his evangelical mission.” Pravblog writes about this with reference to the Serbian media.

In the message of Patriarch Porfiry, among other things, it is said that “in times of large-scale, difficult and dangerous historical changes, which certainly are today, every just person is obliged, regardless of his religion, nation, ideological or political conviction, to point out the injustice committed against individuals and their fundamental rights”.

Such an example at the moment, “of course, is Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshgorod, whom the Ukrainian court sent to prison.” This decision, on the one hand, is the result of a difficult situation in Ukraine, where there is a military conflict, and on the other hand, an expression of the intentions of the current authorities to seize the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, one of the most significant shrines of the Orthodox world as a whole.

Serbian Patriarch Porfiry is convinced that the viceroy of the KPL was imprisoned because he is an Orthodox hierarch. Moreover, it acts as “an insurmountable obstacle to the capture of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra by another structure that has the guise of a church,” which should give this lawlessness “the appearance of legality and legitimacy.”

Therefore, the Primate of the SOC urges the religious and public leaders of both Europe and the world to make all necessary efforts to release Metropolitan Pavel.