About Athos Monks at Dumenko's "Service" in the Lavra
The PCU's patrons paid for the visit of a magnificent Byzantine choir led by the Archon Protopsaltis of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
On July 9 and 10, a parody of the celebration of the 975th anniversary of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra took place in the Dormition Cathedral. The event was attended by Serhiy Dumenko with his clergy, several Athonite monks, and a Greek choir.
Why do we call it a parody? Because none of those gathered have any connection to the Lavra.
Politicians and their security personnel with service weapons (and this in a church!), bussed-in "parishioners," and Dumenko himself with his colleagues — these are all people who do not appear at the monastery on "ordinary" days. That is, we witnessed a media PR stunt intended to create the impression that the PCU are the legitimate owners of the monastery. Unfortunately, the central role in this spectacle was played by several Athonite monks led by the abbot of the New Esphigmenou Monastery, Archimandrite Bartholomew.
Just a few years ago, he came to Kyiv to meet with Metropolitan Onuphrius and serve with the clergy of the UOC. Today, together with the Byzantine choir, he played the role of the main protagonists, who were meant to underscore the legitimacy of everything taking place: no small thing — Athonite monks themselves participated in the service! The patrons also paid for the visit of a magnificent Byzantine choir led by the Archon Protopsaltis of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
The scriptwriters invited precisely these guests for a reason — the Venerable Anthony of the Caves labored on Athos in the 11th century at the very monastery of Esphigmenou. And even though the monks who arrived represent not the "real" Esphigmenou but only its small "clone" (the "old" Esphigmenou refused to submit to Patriarch Bartholomew), a line of "succession" was constructed in which the Athonites were positioned as "brethren" of the Venerable Anthony.
Archimandrite Bartholomew delivered a lengthy speech in which Dumenko and the PCU were pompously portrayed as the rightful owners of the Lavra and successors of the Venerable Fathers of the Caves.
"The creation of the independent Church of Ukraine is not a political act. It is not merely an administrative change. It is a profound spiritual movement, a return to truth, a reunion with one's own soul. The Church, seeking itself, turns to where it all began: to Kyiv, where the light of faith was kindled, to Saint Anthony," declared the archimandrite. He also called upon the people of Ukraine to "rally around the Lavra, to support the fathers and the Church itself."
And if one does not know what is actually happening to the Church and the Lavra, these words appear profound and truthful. But the point is that Archimandrite Bartholomew is perfectly well aware that the true community was expelled from the Lavra, that the churches were closed, that people are not allowed into the shrine. That the creation of the PCU, which only plunders and seizes, is precisely that very "political act." Therefore, the words of the Athonite abbot are classic cynical hypocrisy, for which one feels ashamed on the archimandrite's behalf.
There was also a speech by Dumenko, read from a paper in his customary manner. Apparently it was written by his staff speechwriter, since it contained all the same worn-out phrases he repeats in every address: about the "false teaching of the Russian world" that allegedly reigned in the Lavra under the UOC, about how Dumenko is heroically "liberating" the Lavra and "returning" it to true service to God.
The crowning statement was that under the UOC the faithful were spiritually perishing in the Lavra, but then the great ascetic Epiphanius arrived — and led the people "toward salvation."
Yet already tomorrow the shrine will be empty again: the "parishioners" will be driven home, the Athonites will return to the Holy Mountain, and the Byzantine choir will head back to Istanbul. And there will once again be no one for Dumenko to "lead toward salvation" in the Lavra.
