Kiev City Council decided that the petition for the transfer of the Lavra to the Kiev Patriarchate is illegal
February 17, 2016. The City Council of Kiev (Ukraine) withdrew without consideration the petition on the transfer of Kyiv Pechersk Lavra from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) to Kiev Patriarchate, as this initiative is not in conformity with current legislation, as the website prochurch.ua reports.
The e-petition is out of responsibility of the City Council, and its content is contrary to the existing legislation. Therefore, the Standing Committee of Kiev City Council has decided that that the e-petition “for collection of signatures on transitioning Kiev Pechersk Lavra from the Moscow Patriarchate to Kiev Patriarchate” is not in accordance with law without consideration.
This emphasized the special Committee of Cabinet members who, on behalf of Mayor Vitali Klitschko, considered the content of the petition.
The Kiev City Council said that the e-petition does not meet the standards of the law, because its implementation may inflame religious hatred among the followers of the Kiev Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Recall that the petition for the collection of signatures for the transfer to the Kiev Patriarchate gathered 13,538 votes, while the petition for carrying out collecting signatures for the preservation of the sanctuary in the submission of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church 20,495 votes in less than a day.