The head of
the Ukrainian State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience Elena
Bohdan said that more than a hundred churches that belong to the Ukrainian
Orthodox Church and have been seized by schismatics of the so-called Orthodox
Church of Ukraine (OCU) are now standing empty.
"There
are not even dozens, but more than a hundred of closed, empty churches," the
official said at a conference themed "The Religious World or the 'War of Civilizations”.
According
to Bohdan, despite the persecution UOC remains the largest religious
organization in Ukraine, its churches in Kiev are crowded at every Sunday
service. The OCU, too, has churches in Kiev, she added, and services are held
there, but these have never seen as many people attending the service, as the
UOC churches.
Elena
Bohdan also explained why the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra shall hardly be transferred to
the OCU.
"Has
anyone wondered how many OCU monks there are in Kiev? Less than fifty. And how
many monks are there in Kiev-Pechersk Lavra alone? More than two hundred. All
in all, there are about 600 residents in Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, including those who
teach and study at the Theological school," Bohdan said, adding that the
utility bills of Kiev-Pechersk Lavra and restoration costs "are very large
amounts, they are paid not by the state, but by the religious organization
called UOC."