Metropolitan Pavlo (Lebid), the superior of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, said, "The Lord will not forgive" Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for evicting the clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) from the monastery.
Metropolitan Pavlo stated this on March 29 through the official Lavra YouTube channel, directly addressing Zelensky.
"I tell you, Mr. President, and your entire pack, that our tears will not fall to the ground. They will fall onto your head."
"You believe you can come into power on our backs and our desire and do this to us. The Lord will not forgive you or your family for this act. At this moment, 220 monks are being thrown out onto the street," declared Metropolitan Pavlo (Lebid), the superior of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, in a video appeal.
In response to the eviction, the former abbot of the monastery called out Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko, who had previously stated that all monks and ministers of the UOC-MP should vacate the premises of the Kyiv Cave Monastery by the end of March. The abbot accused Tkachenko of being "obsessed with devilish demonization."
"You have not been able to stop the Minister of Culture, who is obsessed with violence, anger, hatred and devilish confusion, which means he does everything with your permission. Woe to you, be afraid," Pavlo said to Zelensky.