Pochaev Privatization Proposal Provokes Protests

A bill in the Ukrainian Parliament proposing the privatization of the Pochaev Lavra, which is inhabited by monks belonging to the autonomous Ukrainian Orthodox Church, has, unsurprisingly, been met with protests from Ukrainian nationalists and members of the hierarchy of the independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The Lavra, which has been a bastion of loyalty to the Moscow Patriarchate in western Ukraine, is seen by the Kiev Patriarchate and others as a Ukrainian national shrine that should remain under the oversight of the Ukrainian government. More here.