“Archimandrite” Avraamy Lotysh, who was banned from ministry, gave an interview in which there are false statements, distortions of facts and slander on the Holy Archimandrite of the Holy Dormition Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine. It appeared on the resources of Radio Liberty and Scheme. In this regard, the KPL refuted Lotysh’s statements.
First of all, the Lavra noted that from the very beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into the territory of Ukraine, the monastery has been actively engaged in the provision of humanitarian and material assistance.
“From the first day of the war, the Kiev Theological Academy, which was recently located on the territory of the monastery, handed over its own food warehouses for the use of volunteers for the needs of the terrorist defense and the affected residents of the Kiev region, Chernihiv region, Sumy region, Kharkiv region. The churchyard of the Resurrection Afghan Church of the Lavra became the point for recruiting and distributing this assistance , which was clearly visible from the cell of the former inhabitant of Archimandrite Avramy Lotysh, who at the same time never expressed even the slightest desire to help in loading / unloading aid to the affected Ukrainians and was not seen in manifestations of charitable initiatives in order to show his patriotism in practice, about which he is speaking now,” said the brethren.
Statements about “enemy agents” in the Lavra were called absurd, because immediately with the start of the war, the territory of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra was guarded by representatives of the Security Service of Ukraine and other services. The appeal also emphasizes that in the first weeks of the war in the Lavra, all residential buildings were inhabited by Kievans who did not have time to leave the capital.
The brethren draw attention to the fact that “on the eve of Holy Easter in 2022, with the blessing of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry, the clergy traveled to Mariupol in order to free the Ukrainian defenders and defenders. The delegation of clerics of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church included Archimandrite Avramy, who about this initiative of the Church, neither as a resident of the monastery, nor even as the third-ranking member of the Spiritual Council of the monastery, and had the opportunity to actually show his patriotism, which he is talking about now.
The monks called the demonstration of the residence of the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as a private residence a frank manipulation with an undisguised goal to discredit the name of the Holy Archimandrite of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra: “Building No. 70 was never used as a place for His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry Feofaniya. This building was the working residence of the Head of the Church, where the house church, the office of the Primate, the reception room, the office of the secretariat, the award and protocol departments, and the office of the press service were located.
The commentary emphasizes that Lotysh manipulates facts when he talks about a visit to the residence of Russian prisoners of war: “Firstly, the Primate of the Church constantly prays for the defenders and defenders of Ukraine. Secondly, the visit of prisoners of war to the ancient shrine of our state was the initiative of journalist Vladimir Zolkin in agreement with the relevant state services and law enforcement agencies, but not the leadership of the Lavra or the Primate of the Church. Thirdly, during the visit, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry not only spoke with the prisoners of war who had been brought in, but also directly pointed out to them the criminality of their actions in relation to Ukraine and its inhabitants.
The monastery pointed out that today there are no agreements on the use of property between the OCU and the reserve, and Lotysh himself is a full-time employee of the reserve who receives a salary, so he has access to the sealed premises not as an “acting governor”, but as employee of this government agency.
The brethren also expressed annoyance at the fact that “the former resident of the holy monastery has betrayed the priestly oath and continues to throw mud at the Lavra, in which he made monastic vows to God.”
