Pochaev, Ukraine, August 3, 2021

On July 15, a monastic congress of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was held at the historic Holy Dormition-Pochaev Lavra, with 310 participants from 258 monasteries and sketes.

A number of presentations were made about various historical, theological, and Church life issues, and two addresses were also adopted: to Patriarch Bartholomew, and to the Orthodox faithful. OrthoChristian will publish a translation of the full text of the address to Pat. Bartholomew tomorrow.

In their address to the faithful, published on the site of the Kiev Caves Lavra, the monastics appeal to all to preserve unity in Christ and to work to solve issues related to the purity of the faith and the canons with a conciliar mind.

The address begins by recalling the special place that monasticism occupies within the Orthodox Church as “the epitome of the purity and truth of the faith.” St. Anthony the Great left his place of repentance in order to combat the heresy of Arianism, and it was largely monastics who preserved the truth against the iconoclasts. And in Kievan Rus’, monasticism has contributed both to the development of the Church and the formation of the state, the UOC monastics remind.

“Following the instructions of the Holy Scriptures and Tradition, guided by the achievements of the Holy Fathers and teachers of the Church, by their own example monastics instructed their spiritual children to live in truth and righteousness, warning them, according to the Apostle Paul, against following the spirit of the world (1 Cor. 2:12).

Unfortunately, however, “the modern world is increasingly immersed in sin,” the monastics write. The crusade for human rights and freedoms turns into a battle against the person himself, debasing his dignity with the propagation of all kinds of sins and perversions. Public figures today “stubbornly refuse to accept” that the root of man’s problems is our tendency to sin, but the Lord warns to abandon such blind guides.

“True freedom is freedom from sin,” the appeal reads.

Unfortunately, however, this spirit of world can fill the hearts of both laity and clergy today, as they serve politicians in pursuit of personal ambitions. Some clergy trample upon the canons and attempt to rend the seamless robe of Christ. But, as St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) writes, such high-minded Church figures who see some dignity in themselves “cannot overcome the devil’s temptations from the outside, overwhelmed by them from the inside.”

In particular, the Ukrainian monastics are sorrowful to behold the destructive work of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and his servants in Ukraine. Of course, the so-called tomos of autocephaly did nothing to heal the schism, but only deepened the wounds, the appeal emphasizes.

At the same time, despite immense pressure, none of the monasteries of the canonical UOC have abandoned Orthodoxy and gone into schism, the text continues. Rather, the monastics continue to preserve the purity of the Orthodox faith. They also labor in social service, feeding the poor, helping the sick, and supporting the needy.

All Orthodox faithful, both monastics and laity alike, must remain the light of the world and salt of the earth, the monastics call, that others might see our God-pleasing lives and so too unite themselves to Christ. We are called to live lives that strengthen the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Eph. 4:3).

The appeal continues:

And today we appeal to all the Orthodox of the world to preserve unity in Christ and respectfully ask you to solve important issues that relate to the purity of faith and the canonical structure of world Orthodoxy not alone, but with a conciliar mind, so there would be no divisions and complaints against each other between us, so that the unity of the Body of Christ would not suffer because of personal ambitions, and so that the Mysteries of God would not be stolen by others.

The monastics conclude by expressing their gratitude to the faithful children of the Ukrainian Church who have withstood the pressure of these trying times and call upon them to be witnesses of the Lord’s sacrificial, Golgothic love: “He who does not have the gift of the witness of blood is called to bear witness to it by the bloodless martyrdom of conscience. Because, it is by this sacrificial love of Christ, attested by the Blood of Christ Himself and the blood of millions of martyrs—His faithful witnesses—that our deeds, thoughts, our whole life will be judged at the Last Judgment” (Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro).

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