Expert: What is happening to the Lavra looks like an insult and desecration

Filming of a talk show in the Lavra. Photo: TSN

The OCU does not know what to do with the "returned holy sites," stated political analyst Oleksiy Kushch while commenting on the filming of a culinary talk show in the Refectory Church of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

"You can shout all you want, 'foaming at the mouth,' about the 'return of holy sites,' but if the OCU tolerates such incidents – like hosting shows in a church – it only reinforces its status as a 'state church' that 'sacralizes the nation' and secularizes faith, replacing God with the nation and spirituality with secular ideology," said Kushch.

He emphasized that the OCU "has almost no monks and no spiritual fervor."

"This is why the Lavra caves remain closed during wartime, films are shown in churches, and the ancient refectory is turned into a banquet hall and a stage for shows – taking the word 'refectory' in its modern, literal sense. This all started with events featuring 'canapés' on the grounds of Saint Sophia of Kyiv," the political analyst wrote emotionally.

According to him, such treatment of national holy sites would be unimaginable abroad.

"It is impossible to imagine anything like this happening at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. In the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, even speaking loudly is forbidden, and periodic announcements of 'silenzio' can be heard," Kushch noted, concluding that "for an Orthodox Christian, all this is undeniably perceived as an insult, an abomination, and a desecration."

Previously, the UOJ reported that a culinary show was held in the Refectory Church of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

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