Ternopil Regional Council asks National Guard to take Pochayiv Lavra under protection
Ternopil Regional Council urged the Ministry of Interior to ensure round-the-clock protection of the Pochayiv Holy Assumption Monastery because of the turmoil around the shrine.
This is stated in an appeal to the Ministry of Interior, voted for today, November 6, at a meeting of the regional council, IA ZIK reports.
The deputies express their conviction that the decision to establish the one Ukrainian Orthodox Church will promote inter-confessional and church-state dialogue in Ukraine, will be an important step for securing the rights, freedoms and religious needs of citizens.
At the same time, they note that "certain involved entities are trying to aggravate the contradictions between believers of Orthodox confessions, resort to artificial inflating of religious situation and speculation about the legal affiliation of the Holy Assumption Pochayiv Lavra.”
“An additional concern was the appeal of Metropolitan Volodymyr Moroz, the governor of the Holy Assumption Pochayiv Monastery, who, referring to the death threat to the monks, published a request of parishioners to prepare for the physical protection of the shrine. Placing on the Internet and disseminating inaccurate information among citizens about plans for the seizure of this religious object leads to massive artificially created panic, which in the long run may be reflected in illegal activities,” the statement reads.
The deputies expressed their request to arrange for a round-the-clock protection of the religious facility with the involvement of the units of the National Guard of Ukraine in order to ramp up security of citizens in the territory of the Pochayiv amalgamated territorial community and prevent the bloodshed and seizure of property.
The councilors also upheld the request to the Ministry of Justice, the SBU's administration in the Ternopil Oblast and the Prosecutor's Office to assess the fact of the illegal registration of the right to use 6 buildings of the Holy Assumption Pochayiv Lavra related to the monument of national significance architecture which was carried out by the Registrar of the Strushivske State register of real rights to real estate.
