Metropolitan Varsonofy of Vinnytsia: Russian Orthodox Church didn't hear us
The head of the Vinnytsia Eparchy said that the Ukrainian and Russian priests were not able to reach an understanding.
On October 21, 2022, Metropolitan Varsonofiy of Vinnytsia and Bar spoke about how Ukrainian priests tried to talk to the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church after the start of the war, but they did not hear them. Vladyka spoke about this in an interview with the First Cossack.
According to Metropolitan Varsonofiy, personally he did not communicate with representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, but his assistants called the Russian Federation. “But, unfortunately, they didn’t hear us,” Vladyka stated, adding that “many different fakes” interfere with communication.
“They didn’t hear us ... And even this sounded like we had to be patient, everything will end. They did not understand our experiences,” Metropolitan Varsonofiy stressed. He explained the mutual misunderstanding by the fact that "we have different arguments." In particular, according to him, the priests of the Russian Orthodox Church said that "NATO threatens Russia, so we are going to defend ourselves against NATO."
"I said, ‘Well, if NATO, then what does Ukraine have to do with it? What does the territory of Ukraine have to do with it? If NATO threatens, then you can go from the other side, from the Far East. You can go from there to fight with them,’" the hierarch said UOC. He expressed regret that people from both sides, “Orthodox from one side and the other,” are dying, and said that many believers of the Vinnytsia diocese went to the front, “for example, sextons from our churches are fighting.” Some of them, according to Vladyka, perished: “We, our Church, have lost the best people of the Orthodox faith.”
Metropolitan Varsonofiy called communication with the priests of the Russian Orthodox Church fruitless. “So, to no avail, as they say, we talked with our brothers, of whom most do not understand us. Why? Because a person who is in other conditions cannot understand a person who is here, where there are active ongoing hostilities, where we are being shelled,” he noted, adding that “we pray and believe, we hope that God will help in this difficult time."
As the UOJ wrote, crosses were consecrated in Vinnytsia and a dome was erected on the Candlemas church of the UOC.
