From the Moscow Times, Ukrainian Monks Seize Monastery of the Caves.
Posted on April 28, 2003 09:12 AM. Filed under: religion.KIEV -- Ukraine's Orthodox monks are resorting to sit-ins to regain church property seized by the Soviet government and still occupied by secular organizations.
For the past week, about a dozen monks have occupied the State Archaeological Institute's archives, housed in the gold-crested, onion-domed Monastery of the Caves, demanding the government return the building to the church. The holed-up monks refuse to allow entry to outsiders.
It was the second such occupation in a month.
On Friday, a thin bearded face appeared in the open window of the dilapidated building at the monastery, but the monk refused to speak to a reporter.
"They won't give up until they receive what's theirs," said a young novice who refused to give his name. He was bringing the group food, climbing in and out of a second-floor window reached by a ladder.
Ukrainian media quoted Metropolitan Volodymyr, leader of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to which the monastery belongs, as saying the institute had "desecrated" the premises. Volodymyr denied the monks were breaking the law, saying they were simply reclaiming their property.
The nearly 1,000-year-old Caves Monastery -- a UNESCO world heritage site -- spreads over two large hills in central Kiev overlooking the mighty Dnieper River. Kilometers of underground tunnels containing crypts and ecclesiastical objects attract thousands of visitors each year.
Originally, the dilapidated building the monks occupy was a church and inn for pilgrims.
In the 1920s, Soviet authorities declared the monastery a state reserve and drove out all the monks. [continue]