Abbot Tryphon: 'We Need to Speak Out in Defense' of UOC
In his latest reflection, the beloved figure in American Orthodoxy provides a call to action for those in the U.S.
VASHON ISLAND, WA — Abbot Tryphon of the Russian Church Abroad's (ROCOR) All-Merciful Saviour Monastery on Vashon Island spoke forcefully on Tuesday about the persecution of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) in a reflection posted to his YouTube channel.
The video, titled "The Ukrainian Wake Up Call," begins with Abbot Tryphon saying that in every service at the monastery they commemorate and pray for the Ukrainian land and its people.
"My own Bishop Theodosius of Seattle is a Ukrainian," he said. "He was a member of the largest Ukrainian monastery until it was confiscated by the government, and all the monks were thrown out, and their Metropolitan was arrested, put in chains, and put in prison."
The monastery he is speaking of is the Kyiv Caves Lavra, and the Metropolitan who has been arrested and suffers persecution daily is Met. Pavel.
Abbot Tryphon also said that he has seen videos of priests who were vested for liturgy being attacked and having buckets of paint thrown on them. The UOC churches are confiscated by the government and given to the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), which he said is a "tiny church" compared to the UOC.
"All because the canonical Church was in communion with the Moscow Patriarchate," Abbot Tryphon said. "Mind you, they were a separate church — self-governing. But because they were in communion with Moscow, the government decided to persecute them."
Many churches that were thriving were closed, and those that are open are in court proceedings battling to keep their property.
"We Americans can have a lot to say in what happens over there if we would just speak up," he said. "But most Americans have no idea — they simply think that Russia is persecuting everyone in Ukraine, including the Ukrainian Church. It's simply not the case. We need to open our eyes to what is really going on, and we need to speak out in defense of the canonical (UOC)."
The Ukrainian Orthodox people are suffering, Abbot Tryphon said, with their own government persecuting them — a government that is not Orthodox, let alone Christian. Most Americans, he said, have no idea about the truth of Volodymyr Zelenskyy because they "have never paid attention."
"It breaks my heart to see him with our president and with the Pope and other world leaders as though he is a hero, but he's not," he said. "It's unbelievable to me that a man who claims to be Jewish will align himself with a party that has Nazi roots. We need to remember that during World War II, it was the Nazis of Ukraine who fought against Russia, and yet we don't remember that, because we are devoid of memory.
"We need to say, 'Enough is enough! End the persecution of the (UOC). Bring peace to the land.' We need, as a nation, to stop supporting people who are anti-Orthodox, anti-Christian, and in fact, Nazis. We need to wake up."
Informing the government won't make much of a difference, Abbot Tryphon said, but as Christians we can pray and fast for the Ukrainian land and its people, we can join in prayer with people in our parishes and commemorate the UOC during our services, and we can talk to our friends and neighbors who are Orthodox and let them know the truth.
"May God help us all," he concluded.
Previously, UOJ reported that the SBU had accused His Beatitude Met. Onuphry of opposing "canonical independence" from Moscow.
