Metropolitan Pavlo, the director of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, attends a court hearing in Kyiv on Saturday. (Sergei Chuzavkov/AFP/Getty Images)
An Orthodox church leader at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery is under investigation, according to a statement Saturday from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), who accuses him of “inciting religious hatred” and “justifying and denying Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine.”
As part of the investigation, the SBU said it found that Metropolitan Pavlo, Petro Lebid, “in his public speeches repeatedly insulted the religious feelings of Ukrainians, humiliated the views of believers of other faiths and tried to create hostile attitudes towards them, and made statements justifying or denying the actions of the aggressor country.”
“Investigative actions” were taken at the metropolitan’s place of residence, the SBU said. The operation was conducted under the supervision of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office, according to the SBU.
“The enemy is trying to use the church environment to promote its propaganda and split Ukrainian society. But we will not give him (the enemy) a single chance! The SBU systematically blocks all attempts by Russian special services to use their agents to harm the interests and security of Ukraine,” SBU head Vasyl Malyuk said in the statement.
Here’s what led up to the investigation: Metropolitan Pavlo is the abbot of the 980-year-old monastery, home of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), a branch of Orthodox Christianity in Ukraine that has been traditionally loyal to the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill.
Kirill is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and a supporter of his war on Ukraine.
Tension over the presence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra have risen after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and an agreement that allowed the UOC to occupy the historic complex was terminated on March 10. The UOC was instructed to leave the premises by March 29.
In May 2022, the UOC cut ties with Moscow and declared “full independence,” but some members have maintained their loyalty.
The metropolitan attended a court hearing Monday but felt unwell and had to go to a hospital, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church said.