“Why disgrace the Church?” It’s time for the leadership of the UOC to retire
"Every man for himself".
These are the words that can briefly describe what is currently happening in the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This is precisely the position observed among some of the senior bishops toward their fellow priests, monks, and flock, monasteries, and parishes. There are, of course, exceptions to the rule : remarkable cases can be cited of the clergy coming to the aid of their subordinates and flock, supporting them. They set an example of courage and fortitude worthy of the warriors of Christ. Like, for example, Metropolitan Theodosius, head of the Cherkasy Diocese, who, even under house arrest and under the weight of false accusations, was not afraid to secure permission to visit the brutally beaten abbot of the Cherkasy Monastery in the hospital. The Nazis, who recently attacked the monastery, beat this priest so severely that his skull was fractured, requiring titanium plates to be implanted. The entire atrocity was captured on video, which quickly spread on social media. But, naturally, none of them were punished, despite the clear evidence, and all her threats continued. However, the bishop who oversaw him was undeterred and came to the hospital to offer support.
Unfortunately, such incidents are in the minority. More often than not, the clergy shrugs off the matter with silence. And the tone of this silence is set by none other than the Primate of the UOC, Onufriy, a metropolitan once considered practically a saint. He has not uttered a single word of public condemnation regarding the unlawful detention of Metropolitan Pavlo, abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, and other bishops—the same Theodosius, Jonathan, and Ioasaph—or the opening of spurious criminal cases against Bishop Longin, the father of 400 orphans. Nor has he spoken about the arrests and abuses of church human rights activists, nor about the hundreds of instances of unlawful seizures of churches, the abuse of priests and parishioners, or the mockery and blasphemy of the Church's sacred relics by the Satanists in power.
However, let's be clear: some words were spoken. But they were spoken so vaguely, so generally, so vaguely, that they seemed a mockery of the feelings of the faithful, who were worried about what was happening. People increasingly sense a duplicity and deceit in the speeches of both the primate and some other bishops. Moreover, this duplicity is often concealed by quotations from Holy Scripture...
Following the adoption of the unconstitutional law banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, a new and brutal phase of persecution against the Holy Church began. The attack on the Cherkasy Monastery and dozens of other incidents bear witness to this. Yet, once again, no clear condemnatory reaction from the episcopate, led by Metropolitan Onufriy, followed these atrocities. Just as there was none to all the previous egregious atrocities of the satanic Ze-government and its fringe accomplices. Yet, many believers await such a reaction. They expect actions similar to those of Saint Patriarch Tikhon, who denounced the Bolsheviks, and Saint Patriarch Hermogenes, who was tortured in captivity by Polish-Lithuanian invaders during the Time of Troubles but did not betray the Church. From his imprisonment, Saint Hermogenes addressed his final message to the Russian people, blessing the war of liberation against the invaders.
Here is what our longtime friend, parishioner of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra Oleg, says about all of the above:
“I’ll be honest: I’m very sorry for Metropolitan Onuphry and other elderly bishops. It's a pity! They are old and sick, God bless them. I don’t want to judge them and demand heroism from them, I myself am a timid person and I understand them very much. But why don’t they retire, put younger and braver people in their place?.. Finally, why don’t they at least stop licking Zelensky’s Satanists - can they just remain silent and not sing their praises?.. And you also know what I need I remembered. Some of them were very brave when it came to things other than the authorities. For example, the rector of the Lavra Pavel. I remember very well how he loudly, in front of all the people, cursed one remarkable fighter for the purity of Orthodoxy (I don’t want to give his last name) at a service when he dared to loudly remember the Holy Russian Patriarch. And, by the way, this man is a sincere Christian and unmercenary, his apartment was burned by the Nazis for defending the Church, he has no money, he is not like some bishops with bags of “dough”.
The topic is continued by another friend of ours, a former teacher of Russian literature, Elvira:
“It’s bitter for me to say such words, but the betrayal is obvious. Look at this: Onuphrius remains silent when his inner circle is arrested, and thereby sets an example for his subordinates lower in rank. In exactly the same way, Metropolitan Pavel remained silent when the SBU began to “attack” a wonderful monk in the Lavra, at whose service they sang an old Russian Orthodox song where Russia was mentioned... However, no, he did not remain silent. On the contrary, he immediately “leaked” this monk to the media and the SBU, promised that he would be punished... Well, now he himself found himself under arrest. I wish him well, I'm just stating a fact. Hypocritical duality does not lead to good things. But, alas, it is present more and more often in the words of some bishops. That is, when you need to say an honest and correct word in defense of the Church, to denounce the authorities, they begin to sweetly quote the Holy Scriptures about how you need to love everyone. But this is just “type”, because behind such quotes they hide their reluctance to defend the Church - effectively, and not verbally. Never and nowhere did Christ praise the Pharisees, nor Herod, nor Pilate, nor the other authorities who persecuted Him, and did not bow down before them!”
Our third interlocutor, Nikolai, who, as we remember from previous publications, was always worried if he had to even mildly criticize the clergy, today utters the following words:
“The position of the episcopate often confuses the flock, misleads them, and creates confusion in their minds. I will give you a new and completely blatant fact. I mean the visit of the scumbag and apostate Drabynko to the rector of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, who was placed under house arrest. It was simply a shock for many believers! Pavel spent a lot of time with him, and then began to “smoke incense” for the media, saying that “Metropolitan” Drabynka was so wonderful, gave him the Gospel in Ukrainian language, and, in general, all white and fluffy. How could such a thing be said against the backdrop of how all these fools and bastards are persecuting the Church?! Against the background of the fact that this homosexual Drabinko insulted the great holy righteous woman Blessed Matrona of Moscow and other Russian saints?! It is absolutely clear that this visit was part of driving the UOC into the OCU. I feel sorry for Pavel, he looks bad, he is sick, God bless him. But if he cannot fulfill his duties, why didn’t he retire? Just like Onufriy, by the way. Why disgrace the Church? Why this duality? By the way, it was always inherent in Pavel. He could only famously curse the person you mentioned, and he was always very tolerant towards those in power. The truth burst out from him a couple of times about “Zelensky’s pack,” but then everything returned to normal...”
Meanwhile, while Metropolitans Jonathan, Longin, Theodosius, and Pavel await their verdicts, while such horrific persecution of the Church continues, other senior UOC officials are quite cheerful and upbeat. This applies in particular to Archbishop Viktor (Kotsab), previously responsible for international relations and recently appointed ruling bishop of the Khmelnytsky Diocese. He frequently travels abroad, where parish after parish is being established (are they preparing backup airfields?). Such independent actions are generally prohibited by the statutes of the Russian Orthodox Church, since only the Church has the right to establish them, but after the Theophanievsky Synod of 2022, these figures believe that the Moscow Patriarchate has no say in their matter.
Kotsaba recently celebrated his name day. The celebrations were so lavish that the tables groaned with delicacies, and many bishops and other dignitaries attended. Everything resembled a presidential-level celebration, no less. The bishop himself, posed majestically in vestments next to a luxurious throne, resembled nothing less than the Sultan of Brunei.
“Why was this feast needed during the plague? - Nikolai laments. – Why is this bringing confusion into the minds of believers, especially those who stand in hunger and cold, stand in prayer for the churches that are taken away from them, suffer hardships and disasters? By the way, this Archbishop Victor is even similar in appearance to the traitor Avraamiy, the former sacristan of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, who has now become its “viceroy” from Dumenko... Many are tipping Victor to be Onuphry’s successor. By the way, he seems to be the only one from the authorities for whom Onuphry publicly spoke out and asked to support him. And now he is throwing a “feast for the whole world” when this happens to the Church and his brothers. He publicly boasts of his position and his luxury. How is this possible? How should ordinary believers perceive all this?
English version :: Read in English "Why Shame the Church?" It's Time for the Leadership of the UOC to Retire