Pay to Pray? Ukrainian Authorities Set Prices for Access to Holy Relics in Kiev Pechersk Lavra

This was reported by the Union of Orthodox Journalists.

In Ukraine, Christians will now be required to pay money if they want to enter the caves of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra (Monastery), even if they are simply pilgrims who have come there to pray.

The minimum price that has been set to venerate the relics of the saints is 150 Ukrainian hryvnia.

On August 18, the Union of Orthodox Journalists reported that the SBU did not allow a bus with pilgrims of the canonical UOC to the city of Kamenets-Podolsky, Khmelnitsky region, out of fear that they were going to participate in a religious procession in Pochaiv.

The Ministry of Culture of Ukraine has banned teachers, students and staff of the Kiev Theological Academy and Seminary from being in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.