Ovruch, Zhytomyr Province, Ukraine, September 11, 2023
ovruch.church.ua
“I feel that I will have the opportunity to defend the Truth, the Church of Christ, in court,” writes the Metropolitan of Ovruch in a new address to his flock.
Last week, His Eminence Metropolitan Vissarion of Ovruch became the latest hierarch of the canonical Ukrainian Orthdox Church to be targeted by Ukrainian authorities for “inciting national and religious enmity.”
In his new address, the Metropolitan quotes from some of his festal epistles that authorities have zeroed in on and explains why he cannot join the schismatics.
In the end, he welcomes the opportunity to stand up for the Church admidst persecution.
Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life (Rev. 2:10).
Dear priests, brothers, and sisters!
I, Metropolitan Vissarion, the ruling hierarch of the Ovruch Diocese, took an oath before the Cross and the Holy Gospel before being ordained to holy orders to be faithful to the one Church established on earth, whose Head is the Lord Jesus Christ (see Mt. 16:18: I will build My Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.). The beginning of its existence was the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles in Jerusalem, ten days after the Ascension of Jesus Christ to Heaven.
In the oath I took, it is stated that I pledge to spread the teachings of Christ, guarding the faithful from heresies and schisms. By schisms, we mean those Christians in Ukraine who have departed from the legitimate Church of Christ and have created their own religious organizations.
Before my episcopal consecration, I also said: “I promise to visit and oversee the faithful according to the Apostolic tradition, to observe how the faithful abide in faith and in the practice of good deeds, especially the clergy, and to diligently teach and prohibit, so that schisms, superstitions, and heresies do not multiply, and so that customs contrary to Christian piety and morality do not damage Christian life.”
Missionary work is our duty, both for me and for the priests, and it is also allowed by the Constitution of Ukraine (Article 35).
I have been a clergyman in the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (UOC) for over 30 years and have received gratitude from the clergy and many believers. Here is what one teacher wrote to me after reading one of our publications: "… I have a great desire to know God better. I read the book Orthodox Teachings with your blessing, and its content deeply moved my soul. I feel guilty before God for not knowing the truth and not fulfilling God’s will. By reading this book, I started to understand the Bible better. I want to learn to live a godly life… I kindly ask for your help in obtaining this book for my daughter. With gratitude, Lesya Shabotenko.” Such thanks and other similar ones bring me great joy and inspiration in my ministry.
Some governing structures have tried to persuade me and our priests to join the “Philaret” church, and later, to join the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), which, by the way, Philaret Denisenko himself did not want to join. After we refused, we soon felt various harassments: threats, raiding seizures of certain churches, confiscation of various liturgical literature, brochures, and missionary leaflets... In response to my Nativity Message for the Orthodox of the diocese in 2017, an expert group from Kiev, led by Professor A. Sagan, wrote: “The Nativity message… is not a religious but a political propagandistic product, where pro-Moscow and anti-Ukrainian models of behavior, perception, and interpretation of historical facts are imposed on readers, which can be characterized as the spread and even imposition of the ideas of the ‘Russian World’ in Ukraine.” We were surprised by such an interpretation. In my message, after the dogmatic-moral word, I greeted the Orthodox of the diocese and reminded them of the Cross Processions in Ukraine, emphasizing that our canonical UOC remains with its people in all trials.
I also wrote that 2017 would be an anniversary year for our Church in connection with the 25th anniversary of the Kharkiv Bishops’ Council; Metropolitan Vladimir (Sabodan) was elected as the primate by God’s providence, and it was also reported that five churches were opened and consecrated in the diocese during the preceding year…
On August 31, 2023, in the criminal investigation, I received an Indictment Act...
My opponents also dislike this text from my Paschal Message (2019): “We and global Orthodoxy, together with Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem, mourn in these Paschal days that some Ukrainians have departed through temptations and enticements from the ‘powerful of this world’ to the OCU, which is supported by non-church and de-churched individuals. The dead unlawful ‘tomos’ given to Ukrainians possesses the power of the forbidden fruit of Paradise, and those who accept it will experience the bitterness of Adam’s expulsion from Paradise, who believed the devil’s slanderous insinuation together with Eve.”
I am glad that I am defended by the canons of the Holy Orthodox Church, the Holy Fathers, and Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem, who said: “The unity of the Church of Christ is a gift of the Holy Spirit, and we are called to protect and preserve it. The violation of this unity is a serious crime. We strongly condemn actions directed against the canonical Church in Ukraine, headed by His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry. The Holy Fathers of the Church remind us that the destruction of the Church’s unity is a mortal sin.”
Other heads of Local Churches have made similar statements on this matter…
I feel that I will have the opportunity to defend the Truth, the Church of Christ, in court.
I ask for the prayers and blessings of the saints of our Holy Church.
Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!
