Czech-Slovak Primate Mourns Monk Killed at Sviatohirsk Lavra

PREŠOV, SLOVAKIA — Metr. Rostyslav of the Czech Lands and Slovakia expressed condolences to Metr. Onuphry of Kyiv and All Ukraine following the August 23 attack on the Holy Dormition Sviatohirsk Lavra that killed the monk Varsonofy (Turyansky). In his message, the hierarch described the attack as a “barbaric” assault on a holy place and mourned the death of the monk.

Metr. Rostyslav said the violence had transformed a place devoted to monastic labor and prayer into a scene of bloodshed. He compared the death of the monk to the biblical murder of Abel by Cain, writing that innocent blood had stained the grounds of the monastery. He also invoked the traditional Christian teaching that “the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church.”

Despite the tragedy, Metr. Rostyslav emphasized Christian hope amid suffering. He wrote that earthly sorrow was accompanied by spiritual joy in the knowledge that “God is always with us,” identifying Christ as Emmanuel, or “God with us.”

The hierarch expressed his sympathy to Metr. Onuphry and said he was praying for the repose of Monk Varsonofy. He also asked God to grant comfort and speedy healing to those who were injured in the attack.

Metr. Rostyslav concluded his September 1 message by entrusting the departed monk to the mercy of God, recalling Christ’s teaching that God is “not the God of the dead, but of the living,” and expressing hope that Varsonofy would be received into the abodes of the righteous.

Previously, the UOJ reported that Metr. Timotheos said a society that accepted the killing of monks was defenseless.