Recently, Russian Patriarch Kirill cynically called on the world to protect the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. In this regard, Pope Francis expressed his concern.

Thus, the Pope cynically called for respect for places of religious worship. He stated this during a collective audience on March 15.

The Pope reacted to the events around the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra

The pontiff asked the “warring parties” (in Ukraine – Channel 24) “to respect religious objects”, and also praised people who devote their lives to prayer, “regardless of confession.”

I ask the parties to the conflict to respect religious places. People of any denomination who devote themselves to prayer are a support for the people of God, said the Pope.

The reaction of the Ministry of Culture to the complaints of Cyril to the Pope

The head of the Ministry of Culture, Alexander Tkachenko, called Kirill's statement “a shot in the leg.” Thus, he commented on the complaint of the Russian Patriarch to foreign religious figures and representatives of international organizations.

“This is a classic manipulation of the Kremlin: when they need, they turn to democratic norms, democratic states. When they need, they organize a war against Ukraine and do not take into account the democratic norms of the civilized world. You should not pay attention to this story, he (Kiril – Channel 24) sanctioned person in many countries of the world. But in this way he is trying to make a fuss,” Tkachenko said.

How Patriarch Kirill cynically called on the world to protect the Lavra

• Recently, in his speech, Russian Patriarch Kirill recalled the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra – the first monastery in Kievan Rus. And that it has existed since the 11th century. According to him, the Lavra is “the founder of the common spiritual and monastic tradition of the Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian peoples.”
• Kirill also admitted that the atheistic authorities in the 20th century drove the monks of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra from the monastery. That is, he does not deny the crimes committed by the “soviets”.
• Then the whining of the patriarch spread to the work of the commission to search for violations in the economic activities of the monastery. Like, she had an opaque character. Moreover, it had a repressive goal – to completely expel monasticism from the Lavra.