Revelations of Lotysh and the psychology of Judas
The only one of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra brethren who betrayed the Church, Avraamy Lotysh gave an interview to the Priamyi channel. The psychology of Judas can be traced very clearly.
Many thinkers have tried to understand the psychology of Judas over the past two thousand years. Why did he betray Christ? What motives guided him? What in his character, mindset, and worldview led him to take this desperate step?
These are by no means idle questions or abstract philosophising. Often, though not always, they are asked with the purpose of recognising and seeing in oneself the traits of Judas in order to correct them before they lead to the tragedy of betrayal. Sometimes a person may think that everything is fine with their spiritual life, that they are on the right path, while in fact, sin is already taking root in their soul, and the thoughts and desires that may eventually entail the most sinful and dishonourable actions are already forming.
The holy prophet David wrote about this: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:23-24). St Theodoret of Cyrus, in his commentary on this passage of the Scripture, says: "... I implore You, the best Physician of souls, to thoroughly examine my life, to investigate the movements of my heart. If You find anything in me contrary to Your laws, I pray that Your wisdom correct it and guide me on the path of eternal journey."
Avraamy and Judas
In an interview with the the Priamyi (Direct) channel, Lotysh mentions the Gospel episode of the betrayal of Christ by Judas of Iscariot. He does it so awkwardly, inserting this mention so out of place, that it creates the impression that this episode haunts him, breaking through from his subconscious, repeatedly coming back to his mind.
Quote: “When all this was happening, I remembered this story from the biblical history, when the Lord was suffering, when everyone was near Him, when Apostle Peter said: “If everyone betrays you, I will never betray you”, and he was one of the first to deny Him. And in the Garden of Gethsemane, when the soldiers came and asked, ‘Where is Jesus?,’ and Judas showed where Jesus was with a kiss”.
By the way, these words confirm that Lotus was very worried when he said them, because there is no word in the Gospel that the soldiers asked such a question. Judas' kiss was a sign, agreed upon in advance. The theologically educated Lotus knows this perfectly well. So why did he say that? Is it not because this particular Gospel episode rebukes him?
This article about the unfortunate Lotysh, who is trying hard to prove to everyone and above all to himself that he is not a Judas but a true Ukrainian patriot, and who almost with his every word shows this very psychology of betrayal – is not gloating or condemnation; it is an attempt to show how exactly such psychology manifests itself in and to warn against this destructive path.
Why do we have grounds to call Lotysh's transition to the OCU a betrayal? Firstly, this is a fundamental point in understanding the whole attitude towards the OCU.
This religious organisation was created from the schismatic denominations of the UOC-KP and UAOC in 2018. Until this year, absolutely all Local Orthodox Churches, and, therefore, we can say, the whole Church of Christ, recognised them as being outside the Church, guilty of the sin of schism. In 2018, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, for some reason, thought that by signing a piece of paper about their ‘reunion’ with the Church, he would really bring them back into the Church and heal the sin of schism that they had committed in their time.
But Christianity knows no other means of healing sin and reuniting with the Church except for repentance. It was with these words that Christ's sermon began: “...repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). Without repentance, the healing of any sin, including the sin of schism, is ontologically impossible. And since there was no repentance on the part of the UOC-KP and UAOC (at least not even before the Patriarch of Constantinople), the Phanar's document on their “reunification” does not change anything, in fact, the schismatics were outside the fence of the Church and remain there until today. And now Avraamy Lotysh has left the Church of Christ (and the fact that the UOC is the Church of Christ is not denied today by anyone, not even Lotysh himself) and went to a religious organisation that is outside the Church.
Secondly, the Lavra brethren number about 140 people, but only Lotysh defected for the OCU. Is he the only one out of 140 people who is patriotic? Is he the only one who is for Ukraine, and all the others are against it? The rest of the Lavra brethren are not less patriotic than Lotysh and not less in love with Ukraine. And they prove it by deeds, buying and sending cars, means of defence, food and other humanitarian cargoes for our soldiers and civilians, blessing the believers for the defence of Ukraine, praying for them and helping them in any way they can. But none of them considered it possible for them to go to the OCU.
So, it is not patriotism that is the reason for Lotysh's action, but something else. By the way, in the interview Lotysh himself touched on this topic: why he was the only one of all the Lavra brethren to leave the persecuted Church, why no one followed him. He explained it by saying that... the UOC is in better conditions than the OCU.
Quote: “I am often asked: Vladyka, why don't brothers from the Moscow Patriarchate come to you? Because their conditions are more favourable than ours.”
Is this when the UOC was deprived of the Upper Lavra temples and not only?! When they were kicked out of many buildings?! When every service at the Church of St. Agapitus of Kyiv Caves can be the last for the brethren? When the law about the de facto UOC ban was adopted? When the Church was harassed in the media? When an atmosphere of hatred was created around the UOC? Is the UOC in better conditions? Seriously?!
Thirdly, the psychology of betrayal is clearly evident in both words and actions of Lotysh, a psychology familiar not only from the Gospel story but also from psychologists' observations of other traitors. After all, Judas hanged himself and didn’t live long enough to show all the consequences of his act in his later life. Now, let us consider what these traits of betrayal are.
Who is a traitor?
The Gospel gives us a description of Judas in relatively few words, but they nevertheless reveal the key traits of his worldview. This is the story of how Mary anointed Christ's feet with precious ointment on the eve of His Passion, and Judas rebuked her for it.
"Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, ‘Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the three hundred denarii given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.’ He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it." (John 12:3-6).
St Theophylact of Bulgaria, in his commentary on this passage, notes that "the Lord reproaches Judas for his betrayal and for delivering Him to death out of covetousness." In other words, betrayal often follows a selfish motive.
Let's examine the motives of Lotysh. He tries to convince everyone, and first of all himself, that he left for the OCU due to the lack of patriotism in the UOC, particularly among the Lavra brethren, as well as due to the use of Church Slavonic in the liturgy.
The UOC and the war
However, facts, along with Lotysh's own words, prove otherwise. In the early hours of the full-scale war, when many – including our Western partners – believed that Kyiv would be captured within three days, the Primate of the UOC, Metropolitan Onuphry, called this war the sin of Cain and urged everyone to defend Ukraine's independence and sovereignty. The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, like almost all UOC monasteries and churches, began helping the Armed Forces of Ukraine, territorial defense units, refugees and anyone in need. They provided food, clothing, shelter, raised funds for the front, bought vehicles for soldiers, and more. Lotysh himself mentioned this in an interview.
Quote: "When the war began, right from the start, I had friends who were volunteers and soldiers, and we helped them and continue to help. My room, where I lived, near the St. Agapitus Church, was completely packed with military gear, which we sent to the East."
Let us recall that Lotysh joined the OCU in March 2023, meaning he remained with the UOC for a full year after the war started. The gear he referred to was collected by the Lavra and sent to the front. Lotysh confirms that the brethren were helping the Ukrainian military, and they were doing so on a large scale. Therefore, it was not a lack of patriotism that led to his betrayal.
Is Church Slavonic a problem?
A separate topic in the interview was the complaint that the UOC does not hold services in Ukrainian. Both the interviewer and Lotysh complained how difficult it was for them to endure services in Church Slavonic and how they felt uplifted when they heard prayers in Ukrainian. But here’s the catch: the interviewer herself admits that she attended services at the Lavra for a full eight years and suffered through it the entire time.
Why suffer if the nearby St. Theodosius Monastery of the OCU (formerly of the UOC-KP) held services in Ukrainian? Lotysh’s situation is even more straightforward – he was born into a priest’s family and attended Church Slavonic services from a young age. How did he come to despise a language that was native to him? Moreover, Lotysh tells an utterly implausible story about his prayer in Ukrainian.
Quote: "I always had patriotic feelings, and I was outraged by what was happening in the Lavra. And when the war started, and when I prayed in Ukrainian in my cell, I immediately received a call from Metropolitan Pavel, who said: 'They’ll deal with you, and when our people come, I won’t protect you.' (When asked by the interviewer, 'By our people, do you mean the Russians?' Lotysh answered in the affirmative.) After that, I decided that something needed to change."
However, it’s worth noting that Lotysh only joined the OCU a year after the full-scale war began. This timeline doesn’t quite add up.
How are betrayal and Lotysh’s career related?
What can be clearly traced is the rapid rise in Lotysh’s career after his betrayal. Immediately after leaving the UOC for the OCU, he was appointed as acting abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Monastery under the OCU. Soon after, he was "consecrated" as a bishop and confirmed in his position. Lotysh himself admits that Serhiy (Epifaniy) Dumenko pays him special attention. Of course, such valuable "assets" aren’t found just anywhere. The Gospel parallel is obvious!
Judas Iscariot didn’t live long enough to reveal all the traits of betrayal, as he took his own life. But psychologists note that nearly all traitors go out of their way to discredit the community they betrayed.
This is fully evident in Lotysh’s interview with the Pryamyi (Direct) channel. He desperately tries to promote the blatantly false narrative that the UOC is deeply tied to the "Russian world". He uses a simple method to achieve this: he attempts to generalise specific cases to the entire Church.
Here’s one example: "Recently, when the exchange of Jonathan Yeletskikh was made, and we saw him to be joyfully welcomed by the so-called Patriarch Kirill in Moscow, it speaks of the close co-operation of this Church with Moscovia." In reality, this only speaks of the personal relationship between Patriarch Kirill and Metropolitan Jonathan, and nothing more.
Why, for example, didn’t Lotysh mention how, in the early days of the war, Metropolitan Yevlohy of Sumy wrote a strongly worded letter to Patriarch Kirill, declaring his refusal to commemorate him and explaining his reasoning? Why didn’t he mention the bitter words directed at Patriarch Kirill by Metropolitan Longin of Bancheny in those early days? Why did he stay silent about the many other hierarchs who voiced similar views? Lotysh knows all of this, but it doesn’t fit into his narrative.
On the temple seizures and Lotysh’s lies
Another eloquent silence. When the reporter asked about the conditions put forward by the UOC for negotiations with the OCU, Lotysh mentioned only the cessation of church seizures. At the same time he admitted that such seizures take place but tried to justify it by saying that the people who seize churches are outraged by the fact that the UOC priests pray not for the AFU but for the ‘Russian army’.
This is another and brazen lie! If something like this could happen somewhere, these are isolated cases that are condemned by the entire UOC. To speak about it in the sense that it is allegedly a common practice in the UOC is to sin against the truth. The whole Church prays for Ukrainian soldiers, there is even an officially approved prayer in the Liturgy. But Lotysh is silent about it.
He also did not mention the other two conditions of negotiations with the OCU: the solution of the issue of non-canonicality of the cherotonies, when almost all the OCU clergy were “ordained” in a state of anathema, recognised by all the Local Churches, and the recognition that the OCU is not essentially an autocephalous church but is dependent on the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The first is a well-known fact, and to be convinced of the correctness of the second statement, it is enough to read the text of the OCU's Tomos.
A candle as a bullet for the warrior and another lie by Lotysh
Here are a few more examples of how Lotysh crudely defames the Church that gave him everything and which he betrayed. He resorts to long-discredited, absurd and absolutely false accusations, such as claiming that “a candle in a UOC church is a bullet for a Ukrainian soldier”.
Quote: “For me, it is unacceptable that people still attend churches of the Moscow Patriarchate (i.e., the UOC). These missiles flying at us are all your donations that you bring to the services.”
In other words, Lotysh seriously claims that donations collected in UOC churches are sent to Russia and used to fund missile production. Such nonsense is now even dismissed by long-time enemies of the Church. But Lotysh needs to justify his betrayal.
Another example of Lotysh trying to portray the UOC as obscurantists fixated on petty rules is his claim that people are not allowed into UOC churches if they are not dressed correctly. Quote: “In our Church, there is none of what is common in the Moscow Patriarchate: ‘How did you come in, why without a headscarf, and so on.’ A person will never enter the church again.” This is a blatant lie; such accusations are rarely heard in UOC churches. And if they do occur, they are addressed by both clergy and parishioners. And the answer to the question: which temple a person will enter and which one he will not, is given by our Ukrainian people. The temples of the OCU are mostly empty while the temples of the UOC are overcrowded.
Lotysh claims that the UOC teaches people not to “speak with anyone” and “not to get IDs (identification codes – Ed.), as they are the mark of the Antichrist”. He is attempting to prove that various church misconceptions, which have largely faded away, are still held by the entire Church today.
This is false, and Lotysh knows it well. UOC believers are not banned from speaking with anyone, and the idea that “codes are the mark of the Antichrist” was an outdated topic from the 1990s, for which there are many clarifications from clergy and official documents of the Holy Synod stating that codes are not the mark of the Antichrist.
Another lie: Lotysh claims that UOC clergy serve with the clergy from those Local Churches that have recognised the OCU (Constantinople, Greece, Alexandria and Cyprus) and thus indirectly recognise the OCU. But he knows very well that the UOC does not serve with them precisely because of their recognition of the OCU. He also knows that there are hierarchs in the aforementioned Churches who do not recognise the OCU, making joint services with them possible.
From lies to nonsense
Finally, in his quest to defame the Church, Lotysh descends to complete absurdity: “We noticed that when our soldiers suffer defeats, they (UOC – Ed.) spread their wings, they behave very brazenly, very confidently. ‘See, we told you so.’ When our forces advance, as in the Kursk region – that's it, they crouch down and lay low until a certain time. This can often be observed. As soon as our side suffers defeat, again, sermons in Russian, quotes from Russian elders, and all the rest.”
Not a single example, even if it's a bit far fetched. What kind of a sick state of mind must a person have to be capable of such nonsense?!
In general, the former monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Avraamy Lotysh, is a sad sight: he speaks utter nonsense, he argues as if to hurt the Church, which raised him and which he left, he spews insane accusations against the Church, which he cannot prove, he engages in simple manipulations, designed only for ordinary people who do not want to think. Why does he do this? He just can't help himself. By all this, he desperately wants to drown out the voice of his conscience, which tells him that he has gone the wrong way.
It is pointless to try to persuade such people, but they should be pitied, prayed for, and we should sincerely wish for them to come to their senses, repent and return to God. We should also look at ourselves and see if we have the same thoughts, motives and attitudes that led Lotysh to his lamentable state. Are we ready to follow Christ to Golgotha? Do we want to be in the Church that is persecuted by the powers that be?
Do we desire the blessedness that Christ speaks of: “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets” (Luke 6:22-23)? Or do we value the external, worldly and mundane more?
If we notice anything like this in ourselves, let us cry out to the Lord as the prophet David did: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24).
