Some 100 People Seen Near Kiev Pechersk Lavra Taken To Police Station - Statement

KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th October, 2018) Some 100 people who were seen near the Kiev Pechersk Lavra have been taken to the police station, local police said Sunday in a statement without disclosing the reasons for this action.

Father Superior of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra Metropolitan Pavel repeatedly said that nationalists threatened to seize the monasteries and churches belonging to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate on October 14, when the Protection of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary as well as the Defender of Ukraine Day are celebrated.

"About a hundred people were found near the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, who were taken to the police department to establish their personal data and conduct preventive conversations," the statement reads citing Andriy Krischenko, head of the Main Bureau of the National police in Kiev.

He did not elaborate on the reasons why those people were near the monastery and why they were taken for to the police station.

Krischenko stressed that the police generally reserved the right to react and inquire the purpose of the presence of "suspicious persons" in certain locations.

On Thursday, the Synod of the Constantinople Patriarchate announced that it would proceed to the granting independence to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, which is currently split into three major churches � the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) of Moscow Patriarchate, the non-canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kiev Patriarchate (UOC-KP), which was created after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the so-called Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.

The synod announced that it lifted the anathema from the heads of the two non-canonical churches that had been excommunicated by the Russian Orthodox Church for their schism. The Constantinople Patriarchate also revoked its decision to grant Moscow Patriarchate the right to ordain the Metropolitan of Kiev, which dates back to 1686.

The synod's decision has been welcomed by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who looks to establish a single independent church in the country.

The Russian Orthodox Church called the synod's decision the "legalization of schism," saying that it would have catastrophic consequences and would affect millions of Christians in Ukraine and other countries. The Moscow-affiliated Ukrainian Orthodox Church said that the synod's decision was a hostile act, interfering with the Ukrainian church's affairs, and threatened the Constantinople patriarch with anathema.