Talk:Vitaly Ustinov

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Biography

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Hostage

Are the rumors on the internet true that in his final years he was practically held hostage at the monastery? -- R

They are cited by the obit. -- Secisek (talk) 19:33, 9 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

This is absolutely NOT true that he was being held hostage at the monastery.  I was there and close to Vladika Vitaly at the time and it was 100% his will that he wanted to be THERE and nowhere else.  The ROCOR wanted to take him to Novo Divyeyevo to live out his final years and he completely opposed this.  This was the main reason for his being taken to Mansonville - to avoid an unwanted retirement at Novo Divyeyevo.  It was also true that he completely opposed the reunion of the ROCOR with the Moscow Patriarchate as long as the Moscow Patriarchate continued to allow the bishops who ruled under the KGB times to retain power.  Had these bishops retired and given their sees to new non-Soviet bishops, I believe that Metropolitan Vitaly would have welcomed a unity, but this was not the case.  He was often open and forthright with his opinon on this without any instigation of others.

I am sure that Metropolitan Vitaly would have been willing to speak to other ROCOR hierarchs - however, his secretary feared that they would also attempt to kidnap him and he would not be able to be where he wanted to be - i.e. Mansonville. His secretary was less concerned with politics than with fulfilling the Metropolitan's will. His will guided her decisions. This was a reasonable assumption since ROCOR strongmen did attempt to kidnap him against his will early in his retirement.

There were, however, some factions that did try to take advantage of Metropolitan Vitaly's situation and attempted to take over the Mansonville Monastery - namely, the so called Archbishop Anthony Orlov and his charming sociopath supporter who shall remain unnamed (but known to those who were involved), who systematically tried to eliminate everyone close to the Metropolitan. Unfortunately, others close to the Metropolitan only came to see the problems with "Abp. Anthony" and his friend too late - only a few months before his repose.

It should be known and emphasized, however, that Metropolitan Vitaly completely wanted to live out his final days in Mansonville and was happy to be there. He repeatedly condemned with his own will and without provocation the actions of the Laurus led ROCOR. The Metropolitan was often able to rise to the occasion when necessary and perform clerical duties. Even when seated and hearing services, he would often correct mistakes - he never missed a beat, so to say. There were times that I personally saw him in services bathed in light. He always knew what his will was and it is false to say that he was unduly influenced by others.

The true retirement of Metropolitan Vitaly was the Nativity before his repose. He knew his time was limited and he objected to our singing of the Many Years at Trapeza, stating that he had already had enough years. The Metropolitan was a loving, trusting man - sometimes trusting too much in others - and this included Metropolitan Laurus, whom he trusted to NOT reunite the ROCOR with the Moscow Patriarchate. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Katya Peters, resident of Mansonville Monastery from 2002-March of 2006209.6.89.145 (talk) 22:37, 11 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]