“He argued that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine had chosen dialogue and reconciliation rather than stricter canonical measures.

“According to Metropolitan Epifaniy, the Tomos granted by the Ecumenical Patriarchate provides the canonical foundation for the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, irrespective of whether Moscow accepts it.

“the Lavra serves as vivid testimony to the depth of the spiritual roots of our Ukrainian identity.

“But now, thanks to the joint efforts of the Ukrainian state – the president, the government, the Verkhovna Rada – and the Ukrainian Church, the Lavra is breaking free from the shackles of the ‘Russian world’ and returning to its roots