Lavra’s abbot about Dumenko: A terrible man for Ukraine

The head of the OCU, Epifaniy Dumenko, feels anger towards his own people. Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshhorod, abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, stated this to the UOJ.

Commenting on Dumenko’s call to the monks of the Lavra to “refuse to serve the Russian world,” the UOC hierarch noted that most of the monks would remain with their Church and would not transfer to the OCU.

“There was a bishop in Soviet times, he served in the western regions. When he had to answer a phone call, he would say, ‘What else (referring to a shrine – Ed.) to close?’ Dumenko is the same. This is a terrible person for Ukraine, a person of enmity, hatred, anger. He has satanic malice towards the people of Ukraine and the inhabitants of Ukraine,” he said.

At the same time, Metropolitan Pavel advised Dumenko to read The Tale of Bygone Years before ranting about the “Russian world.”

“Dumenko is an illiterate person, an ill-mannered person. A mere simpleton. He cannot know what the ‘Russian world’ is, he has not read anything. He should hence read The Tale of Bygone Years. Nestor the Chronicler spoke very well on that matter. There was no Ukraine, Russia yet, but there was Rus'. And the Chronicler said, ‘I want there to be the Rus’ world." Not the Russian world. Why? Because Prince Vladimir the Red Sun was a shining grace. There was so much love initially in Baptized Rus' that Nestor wanted this love to uplift the world of the soul, the world of salvation.”

As reported by the UOJ, Dumenko called on the brethren of the Lavra to abandon their ministry of propaganda of the Russian world and join the OCU.