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On November 5, 2018, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, addressed a congratulatory letter to His Beatitude, Metropolitan Onufry of Kyiv and All Ukraine on the occasion of his birthday.
Elected Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in August 2014, Metropolitan Onufry is well remembered by the Orthodox Church in America for his presence at the 18th All-American Council in Atlanta, GA in July 2015, at which he delivered a moving banquet address highlighting the life and ministry of Saint Tikhon of Moscow during his decade-long tenure in North America.
The text of the letter appears below. A PDF is also available.
Congratulatory Letter of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon to
His Beatitude, Metropolitan Onufry of Kyiv and All Ukraine
November 5, 2018
Your Beatitude,
Dear Brother in Christ and Concelebrant:
On this, the anniversary of your birth, it is with joy that I sincerely greet Your Beatitude on this special occasion. May your anniversary be filled with peace and good cheer, and may you be granted the blessings of strength and wisdom from our Lord.
I would like to use this occasion to extend to Your Beatitude, and through you, to all the bishops, clergy, monastics and faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under your archpastoral care, the love, support and solidarity of the members of the Holy Synod, Clergy, Monastics and faithful of the Orthodox Church in America as you travel through the troubled waters which our Lord has given to you to navigate. It is our prayer that these storms and turbulent waters will subside in a manner which brings honor to our Lord, Jesus Christ and His Holy Church.
When you visited us four years ago in Atlanta for our All-American Council we were blessed to hear your teaching on mission as related to the work being accomplished here in North America. You said, “Orthodox mission must be both internal and external” and that “the Holy Spirit guides us in understanding that our mission is about who we are and what we do, thus necessitating that we ourselves become examples of holiness.” I remind Your Beatitude on this day of your own words because the challenges facing the Orthodox Church today are very much challenges of mission, of how we represent ourselves to a world which knows neither the Orthodox Church nor our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We pray that all Orthodox hear your call to be that example of holiness to each other and to the world.
We ask Your Beatitude for your holy prayers, and assure You of our prayers for You and all the Orthodox faithful of the Church in Ukraine.
With love in the Lord,
Your brother and concelebrant,
+ Tikhon
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada
