The Ukrainian court ruled on the return of the Assumption Cathedral, which belongs to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UPC (MP)), into state property. During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that the transfer of the cathedral to the church was illegal due to its status as a cultural heritage site.
"Prosecutors in court proved the illegality of the transfer of the Dormition Cathedral building. After all, the legislation establishes a direct prohibition of the alienation of monuments of cultural heritage that are in state ownership," the message says.
Thus, in 2003, the executive committee of the Kaniv city council violated Ukrainian legislation and granted permission to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) to issue the right of ownership to the archeological monument, which became the basis for registering the right of collective ownership.
"The court recognized as illegal and annulled the decision of the executive committee of the Kaniv city council, the certificate of ownership of the building for the UOC (MP), and also annulled the state registration of the real right to the object of cultural heritage of national significance," the OGP noted.
The estimated cost of the Assumption Cathedral building is over UAH 8.5 million.
Since the district prosecutor's claim was approved by the court, the Kaniv City Council and the Kyiv Metropolitanate of the UOC (MP) are obliged to comply with it.
We will remind you that on January 5, the Commission for the reception and transfer of the Assumption Cathedral and the Tabernacle Church in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to the state completed its work. However, at that time there was no binding court verdict regarding the Dormition Cathedral.
On December 26, 2023, the Vicar of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Pavlo (Lebyd), wrote an appeal to the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, in which he complained that two churches on the territory of the monastery complex were being taken from the church. In his address, the bishop claimed that the Dormition Cathedral and the Tabernacle Church were once restored by the efforts of the brothers of the monastery and the faithful.
On January 4, the press service of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine reported that on January 7, Metropolitan Epiphany, the head of the OCU, will perform a liturgy on the occasion of Christmas in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. It was noted that the service will be performed in accordance with the relevant permit.
