“the idea of closing any active church, ending its use as a place of worship, or demolishing it cannot be considered appropriate for a Christian cultured nation

“it could seek the return of Moldova’s government building because a metropolitan residence belonging to the Romanian Church once stood on the site

“Of particular concern to believing citizens of Ukraine is the fact that in recent years, under the pretext of ‘preserving cultural heritage,’ religious communities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church have been deprived en masse of the right to pray in their historic churches

“Of course, all cultural monuments must be respected and protected. However, the Lavra is not merely a historical site. The Lavra is a place of prayer

“the state's decision to seize the churches and property of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra from the UOC is shameful

“our Orthodox Church never actually forbids people from doing anything

“This raises a rhetorical question: when terminating or refusing to extend agreements with UOC religious communities, is the state truly concerned about the condition of churches that the believers themselves restored from ruins and never allowed to fall into disrepair?

“if the building were returned, the Church could rent it back to the Moldovan authorities