Orthodox Reflections

By Nicholas – member of the Western Rite Vicariate, a part of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese in America

Orthodox Reflections has a reputation, deservedly so, for being hard on certain Orthodox Hierarchs and academics. It really isn’t a fun job, necessary though it may be, which is why we are so elated when we get to stand up and shout “AXIOS!” in support of worthy actions by Orthodox hierarchs and synods.

Sister Vassa is a long time podcaster (Coffee with Sister Vassa), ROCOR riassaphore nun, and a professor of liturgical studies at the Catholic Theological Faculty of the University of Vienna in Austria. She has been a problem for the Orthodox Church for years, as she boldly embodies the absolute worst tendencies of academic Theologians.  From her enthusiasm for Neoliberal democracies, to her soft pedaling sexual sins, to her oblique endorsements for female ordination and much more, Sister Vassa has never met a progressive cause she didn’t like. You would think such behavior would have gotten her into serious trouble with ROCOR well before now. As any Orthodox Christian is aware, ROCOR is one of the most traditional of the Western Orthodox jurisdictions.

She was censured once by the ROCOR Synod in 2017. The move came after she had advised a mother to allow her teenage son to engage in homosexual activity at home. In her reply to the mother, Sister Vassa said that if he were to be excommunicated for it, he could be an inspiring example like St. Mary of Egypt, who lived in the desert for years without receiving Holy Communion. How all she received for that was a censure is anybody’s guess. Somehow or other though, Sister Vassa was not only able to survive for a long time in ROCOR, but to thrive.

Until now.

ROCOR has finally had enough. The final straw appears to have been her scandalous behavior on a recent trip to Ukraine in which she brazenly embraced violent schismatics. Here is a summary of her trip:

During her time in Kiev, she met with several schismatic clerics who had themselves apostatized from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and were under canonical suspension, attended Liturgy with a schismatic community, and interviewed the head of the governmental department that is tasked with shutting down all Orthodox churches and monasteries in the country, giving him a platform to blatantly lie and deny the persecution.

 

She also gave lectures to students of the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine’s” Kyiv Theological Seminary, and it was then announced that she is joining its faculty next year.

Left: Barbara Lerin with Viktor Yelensky, head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience, open enemy of the UOC whose department is working tirelessly to outlaw the canonical church. Barbara said she was glad to interview this persecutor of Christ’s Church. Right: Barbara with Evstraty Zorya, a leading OCU propagandist.

All of that was too much for ROCOR, which is firmly on the side of Metropolitan Onuphry and the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In a move announced on 5/16/2025 from London, the ROCOR Synod finally took disciplinary action against her:

Discussing church disciplinary matters, the archpastors reviewed the correspondence of His Grace Bishop Luke of Syracuse with Varvara Georgievna Larina, formerly Nun Vassa, in which His Grace informs her of the removal of her cassock and veil for disobedience. The Synod confirmed Bishop Luke’s decision prohibiting the former Nun Vassa from wearing monastic clothing (thus removing her from the ranks of the monastics) and using the name given at her tonsure, as well as from representing herself as a nun of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia in her statements.

No more ROCOR coffee for you, Barbara Larin! But, of course, a rebel like Barbara couldn’t take such discipline in silent humility and repentance. Taking to social media, she posted a reply to her being laicized. In it she rejected ROCOR’s discipline, announced she had joined the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, and attempted to turn herself into an antiwar martyr. Some excerpts from her post:

For the last two years, the ROCOR hierarchy has attempted to silence me on the issues connected to Patriarch Kirill’s vocal and even heretical support of the criminal Russian aggression against Ukrainians. And his jurisdiction’s uncanonical defrocking of clerics for “disobedience” to his anti-Christian agenda and teaching on “Holy War.” Now the ROCOR has issued a decree (that was sent to me in Russian, using the old, pre-revolutionary Russian orthography, which is the only not-Soviet aspect of the decree) that is meant to unmake-me a nun and to tell me how to dress. For some reason it has been posted on the ROCOR website, perhaps to assure the Kremlin that the ROCOR has nothing to do with me anymore.

 

My vocation, which is from God and not from men, is that of a nun living and working (and even tonsured into the ryassofor-status, which does not involve the taking of any vows) outside any monastery, in “the world.” I have been living and working in “the world” for 27 of the 34 years of my monastic life. What I wear or do not wear is dictated by common sense as it is in the case of any adult living in the free world. I don’t consult a bishop across the ocean about it, because I am not mentally impaired.

 

Today I thank God for my vocation, and for His people whom I am privileged to serve in the small ways that I do, mostly online, and who continue entirely to support through crowd-funding our little online mission of Coffee with Sister Vassa, which was never supported by the ROCOR in any way. God bless us all, at this time of robust growth in faith, in our Lord Jesus Christ and our Father in heaven, Who does not abandon His Church by the abundant grace of His Spirit. Thank You, God, for all of it.

If ROCOR has been attempting to silence her for the past two years, the Synod has done a very poor job of it. For someone being “silenced”, and who relies only on “crowd funding” for an “online mission”, Barbara has sure made a big splash in the world. Clearly, she has no plans to go away now. In an ironic twist of fate, this disciplinary move could make her an even bigger “star”. The schismatic OCU is (sadly) recognized by Constantinople, Alexandria, Greece, the United States Government, and most every other Western power. Don’t be surprised to see a lot more of her in the future. On the plus side, however, she can no longer pretend to be a canonical nun under ROCOR. No matter how she chooses to play “dress up” in the future.

A few more comments about her post.

Her discipline was not about the war. ROCOR never endorsed the war, and several ROCOR hierarchs have explicitly condemned it. Being against the war, even blaming the Russians for it, is not going to get you into any serious trouble in American Orthodoxy. It is a common enough position, and falls in line with Orthodoxy’s natural pro-peace inclinations. All war is a tragedy. When both sides are Orthodox Christians killing each other for ridiculous reasons, it is an immeasurable one.

Americans in general, and Orthodox Christians in particular, want the Ukraine War to end. President Trump campaigned heavily on the issue of ending the war, promising a swift halt to the fighting followed by a lasting peace. The Russians have been trying to negotiate an end to this conflict since before it even began (see the Minsk I & II agreements which NATO never allowed Ukraine to honor). The Russians have quantifiable, limited aims that they have made clear will be achieved either on the battlefield or at the negotiating table, with a preference for the latter.

The willingness to negotiate an end to the conflict on Russia’s part exposes Barbara’s “Holy War” comment for the lie it is. Americans associate “Holy War” with either a crusade or a Jihad. The term smacks of an all-out, existential conflict that only one side is going to survive. It would be characterized by the desire, blessed by a deity, to completely destroy or, at the very least, completely conqueror the opponent. Kiev is still standing, even after massive drone strikes carried out in retaliation for Ukraine literally attempting to assassinate Russian President Putin. In five days between May 20-25 2025, Ukrainians fired the largest barrage of drones and missiles recorded so far during the conflict into Russian territory. Including at the Russian President’s helicopter. Russian sources have said they believe the reason for the massive attack was to derail peace negotiations. The Russian retaliation came on May 24 and 25, lasting for more than six hours and causing extensive damage.

However, Kiev is still largely intact, even after years of conflict and this specific retaliatory strike. As are the other major Ukrainian cities. Ukrainian prisoners of war are well treated. If you objectively compare Russia’s conduct of the conflict in Ukraine with Israel’s actions in Gaza and the Middle East, you will quickly see the difference between a military operation fought for specific, realizable objectives and a “Holy War” of annihilation.

Years into a purported “Holy War” the major cities of Ukraine such as Kiev, Lwów, and Odessa are largely still standing. Russia’s retaliation after the attempted assassination of President Putin was brutal, but even that was carefully targeted and not designed to cause widespread civilian deaths and destruction of civilian areas.

Ukraine has modern military forces capable of fighting Russia hard in the field, and of launching drone attacks into Russian territory. Yet, compare the Israeli destruction of Gaza with the situation in major Ukrainian cities. It is clear from the results on the ground who is fighting a “Holy War” seeking the complete death, removal, and/or subjugation of a viciously hated opponent, and who is fighting a war for much more limited aims.

In reality, if either side in Ukraine is fighting a “Holy War”, that would be the rabidly nationalistic Ukrainians of the Nazi persuasion. These are the fanatics who despise the Russian language, Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine, Russia, and authentic Orthodoxy. Which means, ultimately, that they despise themselves and their own heritage.

Which is the whole point of what the “Russian World” idea is trying to convey. Ukrainians, Byelorussians, and Russians are ultimately really one people. They are all Orthodox daughters of the Kievan Rus. Russian World is just a statement of fact, which should really be no more controversial than observing that the United States, Canada (outside Quebec), Australia, New Zealand, and England are ultimately daughters of Anglo-Saxon England. Except that, in all the ways that count, we Anglo-Saxons are way more diverse than the Russians, Ukrainians, and Byelorussians.

Twisting the Russian World concept, which Barbara and other pro-war Orthodox repeatedly have done and continue to do, into a call for a war of conquest is nothing but pure propaganda. It is part and parcel of the government in Kiev struggling to build a viable “Ukrainian nationalism” in a nation where, pre-war, more than 17% of the citizens identified as ethnically Russian. To get to where we are today, it was necessary to culturally, linguistically, and religiously divide Ukrainians and Russians.

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Which is how we got the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Spliced together from pre-existing schismatic bodies by Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, in service to the Western National Security State, OCU is a violent manifestation of malignant nationalism. OCU is not an Orthodox Church. It is a state-sponsored organ of religious oppression. And a failing one at that, as evidenced by the fact that most Orthodox temples seized by OCU raiders stand padlocked and empty. Who wants to worship in a fake church, devoid of God’s grace, whose mission is not to save souls but rather to further virulent nationalism on behalf of the West’s publicly stated plan to “stretch” and “isolate” Russia?

RAND is a U.S. government funded thinktank that published a report in 2019 on how to extend and unbalance Russia. One method proposed was to provide more lethal aid to Ukraine, and support Ukraine’s membership in NATO. Two U.S. policies that led directly to this war. 

One of our contacts in Ukraine just posted this plaintive cry along with multiple videos of the ongoing persecution:

The UOC is more persecuted, they mock the UOC, they spit on the UOC, as people-demons once spat in the Face of Jesus Christ. Our hierarchs of the UOC are sitting either in a pre-trial detention center or under house arrest … OCU raiders are still capturing the temples of the UOC. And the terrible devilish performances and events take place in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra

 

My heart is flooded with blood, my heart is crying, I feel very wounded … But I believe in Christ, that He will help us to go through this difficult time of persecution.

In May 2025 an act of arson was committed against the Holy Ascension-Bancheny Monastery when an outbuilding was set on fire. This act accompanied a slanderous, fake media campaign against the monastery founder His Eminence Metropolitan Longin. The media campaign has resulted in Chernivtsi Province police opening a criminal case against the staff of the orphanage operated by the monastery. This is just the latest in a string of physical and legal assaults against Metropolitan Longin and many other hierarchs of the UOC. I highly recommend viewing the videos posted by Tetyana to get a detailed picture of just how much persecution the UOC is suffering for Christ.

It wasn’t disagreeing over the war that got Barbara laicized. It was cuddling up to schismatics who beat, torment, insult, imprison, and dispossess canonical Orthodox Christians. It was providing a platform for a minister of the Kiev regime to lie about the persecution of the UOC, and the government’s plans to outlaw her completely. Thanks be to God for ROCOR taking a firm stand with her, even if she lands on her feet with a lucrative gig funded by American tax payers. Sometimes you just have to do the right thing, and let God handle the rest.

The conflict over OCU has been devastating for the Orthodox Church. In addition to the persecution in Ukraine, the founding of this schismatic body has led to multiple schisms – between Russia and Constantinople, and between Russia and Alexandria. Even within Orthodox Churches, there have been divisions. The Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus recently removed His Eminence Metropolitan Tychikos as ruling hierarch of the Diocese of Paphos. His Eminence appears to have had several conflicts with the ruling primate of Cyprus, Archbishop Georgios. His Eminence’s removal seems to have been prompted by a complaint letter from Constantinople over an insistence on rebaptizing Protestant converts – a practice which Constantinople considers “archaic”.

However, the conflicts between Metropolitan Tychikos and Archbishop Georgios date from the Metropolitan refusal to concelebrate Divine Liturgy with the Archbishop over the primate’s stance of communion with the OCU schismatics. Strangely, when commenting on the letter from Constantinople and the removal of Metropolitan Tychikos, Archbishop Georgios’ remarks mentioned American governmental authorities:

“Because of this complaint, we have been discredited before the Orthodox Church in America [i.e., the Archdiocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate – Ed.] and American governmental authorities.”

The U.S. Government does have a policy of promoting ecumenism, but that usually doesn’t extend this far over what is an internal Orthodox matter. One has to wonder if the dispute over OCU, a U.S. Government-supported project from the start, looms at least as large as a dispute over rebaptizing Protestants in this case.

Just like the war in Ukraine, Orthodox divisions over OCU can’t end fast enough. Unfortunately, it looks as if both will be with us for a while yet to come. The fate of OCU, and that of the regime in Kiev, are likely to be decided by Russian “success” on the battlefield. I put that word in scare quotes because mutual slaughter between Orthodox brothers can hardly be thought of as “success”, regardless of how it all ends. One can only pray for saner heads to prevail, and that our canonical bishops will continue to support the UOC during this time of trial.

One welcome method of support is to cut off those from the Church who give aid, comfort, and support to the persecution of the Body of Christ. Goodbye, Barbara. May she not be the last Judas to receive justice.