Is it true that the crosses on the refectory temple of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra turned black after worships of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine?

In the Russian -speaking segment of the Internet, the news of blackened crosses parted very widely - both in social networks and in the media. We decided to check the reliability of such messages.

After suddenly blackened crosses over the refectory of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, after the expulsion of representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate and the worship of the “schismatic” Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the largest Russian media were written there: ”“ ”“ ”RIA Novosti" Lenta.ru, "Vesti.ru", "Moscow Komsomolets","Evening Moscow" And DR. Posts about this can be found on the blog platforms (for example, "Zen" And "Live magazine"). Many users of social networks wrote about this - in Facebook, "VKontakte" And Telegram. 

The first about blackened crosses on March 13 wrote The portal "Union of Orthodox Journalists" with reference to the words of the governor of the monastery of the Metropolitan of the Vyshgorod and Chernobyl Paul. The representative of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC MP) stated the publication: “Today, even on the refectory church, crosses darkened after the“ worship ”of such“ great ”grief-Ukrainians.” 

Since 2016, the Assumption Cathedral and the refectory temple have been on rent At the UOC MP, however, its term ended on December 31, 2022 and the Ukrainian authorities decided not to renew. January 5, 2023 Ministry of Culture of Ukraine declaredthat the temples of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra turn back to state property. Already on January 7, Christmas worship, carried out by Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Ukraine Epiphanius - representative of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (PCU) independent of the Moscow Patriarchate. It is with this event that Metropolitan of Vyshgorod and Chernobylsky Paul and connects the supposedly sudden change in the color of the crosses over the domes of the temple. However, in the photographs of the press service of the Kyiv Metropolis of the PCU, laid out after the service on January 7, it is clear that the crosses over the refectory temple were already black. 

If you go to YouTube and watch the video of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra over the years, you can see that the crosses did not blacken at all "after the worship of the Ur-Ukrainians." So, on the video 2021, removed from the copter, it is clear that the crosses above the refectory temple are dark. The same thing - on the video 2020. This is even better in photographs - for example, 2017 Or even 2006. As you can see, the crosses did not darken at all “today”, as Metropolitan Pavel claimed on March 13, 2023, and long before the clergymen of the PCU received the opportunity to perform worship in the Assumption Cathedral.

Metropolitan Evstrotiy Zorya, who is subordinated to the Kyiv Patriarchate, reacted to resonant messages by the post in Facebook, where he also applied several photos of different years, in which darkened crosses on the refectory temple are visible - "just from those times when the refectory owned Pavel and the Moscow Patriarchate."

Deputy General Director for the Scientific Work of the National Reserve "Kiev-Pechersk Lavra" Konstantin extreme told The Ukrainian news portal of TSN, that the crosses look like this for at least 20 years, since they have not been restored for a long time-the last time in the 60–70s. Therefore, atmospheric precipitation, including acid rains, damaged the gilding of the crosses. And, apparently, in the case of a gilded coating, such really more than more than Maybe, since this material is unstable before external influence.

Thus, the crosses on the refectory temple of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra darkened many years ago-this is evident in the photo and videos of different years. Of course, the governor of the monastery could not not know about it, so his words said in March 2023, that the crosses were blackened by “today” is a conscious attempt to mislead people. In addition, this phenomenon has a scientific explanation that is in no way connected with any worship and generally supernatural forces. Over time, gilding on the crosses was damaged due to external natural factors, and the last restoration was carried out about 50 years ago. 

Photo on the cover: @brunocoelho, canva.com

Fake

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