Belgrade, September 14, 2026
Photo: mospat.ru
His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia has sent a message of condolence to His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine following the killing of a monk at the Holy Dormition-Svyatogorsk Lavra.
Monk Varsonofy (Turyansky) was killed on August 23 when a group of unidentified individuals attacked members of the monastic community near the Lavra’s St. Nicholas Church. Novice Grigory and Andrei Kiriyenko, a refugee living at the monastery, were injured in the attack.
Hierarchs and clergy from across the Orthodox world have condemned the killing and called for justice, though Ukrainian authorities have been largely silent on the matter. Some hierarchs, just as His Grace Bishop Job of Stuttgart of ROCOR, have gone so far as to call Monk Varsonofy a martyr.
In his statement, Patriarch Porfirije says the following, in the name of the fullness of the Serbian Orthodox Church and in his own name, to Metropolitan Onuphry:
Your Beatitude, dear brother and concelebrant in Christ,
It’s with pain that we received the news of the murder of Monk Varsonofy at the Holy Dormition-Svyatogorsk Lavra and of the serious wounding of two of his brethren. We pray for the repose of the slain and for the healing of the wounded. In the name of the fullness of the Serbian Orthodox Church and in our own name, we extend to you, to Metropolitan Arseny, and to the whole brotherhood of this holy community our condolences over the death of Monk Varsonofy, confessing: Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints (Ps. 115:6). A monastery isn’t only a place of prayer. It’s also a refuge. The Svyatogorsk Lavra has for years taken in the displaced and the homeless, and one of the wounded is precisely a man who found shelter in this holy place as a refugee. Violence within a house that has protected people wounds more deeply than broken walls. Whatever the results of the investigation may be, we can say one thing already: No man should ever be put in a position where confessing their faith is the price of survival.
Your Beatitude, we pray that this violent death doesn’t become anyone’s weapon. We pray to the Lord Who has conquered death that He will settle the slain monk in the Kingdom of His unfading love, and grant comfort to the wounded and to all the victims of this war.
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