The head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Archimandrite of the Kiev-Pechersk Holy Assumption Lavra, Metropolitan Epiphanius published an appeal to the brethren of the Lavra and the public, in which he explained the situation around the Lavra.
In it, he refuted fears about the possible closure of the monastery and the termination of monastic life in it.
According to the metropolitan, everyone “who lives according to the requirements of the canons and Tomos and rejects the lawless power of Moscow” will be able to continue serving in the Lavra.
The current affairs of the monastery will be managed by those who know the traditions and life of the monastery, who are known to you, because they belong to the brethren, who have the appropriate abilities and have not stained themselves with devotion to the “Russian measure,” he assured. – The ancient Slavic language, together with the modern Ukrainian language, will be the liturgical language of the Lavra – we know that this issue is also important for many of you.
Epiphanius also assured that he is open to dialogue and communication as the Holy Archimandrite of the Lavra.
Our goal is to preserve and renew the monastery of our fathers Anthony and Theodosius, to cleanse it from the delusion of the “Russian world”. We are ready to cooperate with everyone who shares this desire, he stressed.
The head of the OCU also called the comparison of current events with the past persecution of the communist authorities on the church in general and the double closure of the monastery in particular, “baseless manipulation” the comparison of current events.
According to Epiphanius, such comparisons sound especially cynical “from the lips of a hierarch who is closely associated with the Communist Party and even tried to be nominated for an elected position from it.” Probably, the head of the WTO is referring to the scandalous governor of the Lavra, Metropolitan Pavel.
According to Epifania, the UOC-MP is trying to mislead the state and society by declaring its separation from the Moscow Patriarchate while actually maintaining subordination to it.
Both Metropolitan Onufry and the Synod headed by him did not react in any way to the numerous facts of the collaboration of their hierarchs and clergy with the Russian occupiers, to the annexation of religious structures located in the temporarily occupied territories by Kirill Gundyaev, Epiphanius notes. “In the spirit of Russian propaganda, they focused on accusations against Ukraine.
According to Epifania, the society knows numerous examples of how, under the leadership of the current head of the monastery, the Lavra “consistently and consciously turned into a center for propaganda of the ideology of the “Russian world”.
The ideology that became the foundation and justifies Russia’s war against Ukraine. For this, the head received an award from the Kremlin dictator, and the Russian leadership is now trying with all its might to prevent the liberation of the Ukrainian shrine from Moscow’s spiritual occupation, the head of the WTO emphasized.
Source: Racurs
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