The buildings of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, which housed the Kyiv Theological Academy and Seminary, have been taken from the seminarians of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

The buildings of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, which housed the Kyiv Theological Academy and Seminary, have been taken from the seminarians of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

This was reported by the press service of the National Reserve “Kyiv Pechersk Lavra.”

On September 12, a commission from the National Reserve “Kyiv Pechersk Lavra” sealed off buildings No. 63 and No. 64 within the monastery, which had previously served as educational and administrative facilities for the Kyiv Theological Academy and Seminary.

The report asserts that the reserve “continues, through legal means, to work towards the actual return of premises belonging to the state.”

“The position of the reserve remains unchanged: all objects of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra must be returned to the state, and this will be done,” the press service declares.

According to the director of the reserve, Maxim Ostapenko, the monks and faculty of the academy “peacefully handed over the premises.”

In late August, the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine banned seminarians from being on the Lavra’s territory.