Kiev, May 2, 2023
Photo: spzh.news
As the head of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church and beloved primate of those who profess holy Orthodoxy in Ukraine, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine is an obvious target for the schismatics and radical nationalists.
And indeed, on Saturday, a group of men rushed the Metropolitan, trying to physically assault him.
The incident occurred following the All-Night Vigil that His Beatitude celebrated in the St. Agapit Church in the Kiev Caves Lavra. The attempted attack was caught on camera by a correspondent of the Union of Orthodox Journalists:
Seeing Met. Onuphry leaving the Lavra, the men rushed at him, shouting: “Saboteurs in cassocks!”, “Shame!”, and “Exchange for Onuphry,” meaning he should be sent to Russia in exchange for Ukrainian POWs—a nonsensical slogan considering that His Beatitude is a citizen of Ukraine.
Thankfully, the police and his attending subdeacons and the faithful were able to prevent the attack.
In 2018, at a time when the Patriarchate of Constantinople was openly preparing to create the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” which was resisted in Orthodox Christians in Ukraine, Met. Onuphry was added to the government’s Mirotvorets website that compiles personal information on anyone dubbed an “enemy” of Ukraine. He was warned to leave Ukraine and received death threats, and in fact, some who have appeared on Mirotvorets have been killed.
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