The Ministry of Culture explained why the OCU has so few monks in the Lavra
According to Ostapenko, the OCU community in the Lavra has so few people because the clergy of this structure "consciously joined the Ukrainian army."
The director of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve, which is subordinate to the Ministry of Culture, Maksym Ostapenko, explained the small size of the OCU community in the monastery. He spoke about this in an interview with the LB Live channel.
According to the official, if counted together with the Feodosievsky Monastery, there are "about 25 people" from the OCU in the Lavra, including monks and novices. The journalist noted that "in fact there are fewer of them there" — Ostapenko did not object.
The reserve's director attributes the small size of the community to the fact that OCU clergy have gone to the front: "A huge number of priests of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine are people who consciously joined the Ukrainian army, are fighting, and are serving as chaplains." He also explained the negligible number of OCU monks by the fact that "a huge number of people who could have strengthened the Orthodox Church of Ukraine are now defending all of Ukrainian society from the enemy." In his opinion, had these people not gone to the front, they would have become monks in the OCU.
At the same time, he lamented that representatives of the UOC "serve nowhere," "are not engaged in chaplaincy service," and "are not subject to military duty." Ostapenko did not explain how the mobilization of OCU clergy prevents those who wish to take monastic vows in the Lavra.
As the UOJ reported, the head of the reserve named the number of the brotherhood residing in the Lavra.
