October 7, 2026
At the memorial service in
Vienna, the faithful recalled the life, courage in confessing the faith, and
spiritual legacy of Archimandrite Paisios (Jung).
On October 7, 2026, the second
anniversary of the blessed repose of Archimandrite Paisios Jung was
commemorated with a memorial service at his grave. As the UOJ
correspondent reports, today's sermon focused on the life and faith of Father
Paisios, particularly his fidelity to the holy Orthodox Faith and his
unwavering courage to say what needed to be said, regardless of whether others
liked it or not. It was further emphasized that Father Paisios serves as an
example to us, since he never lost his cheerful disposition even amid life's
difficulties and, like a new Chrysostom, was able to inspire people through his
sermons. Father Paisios was known to many through his lectures and sermons on
YouTube. He also had many spiritual children throughout the world.
We present to our readers a few
brief facts from the life of the well-known missionary Father Paisios, compiled
by our journalist together with the faithful who today commemorated his blessed
repose – A Biographical Sketch of Archimandrite Paisios Jung.
From Birth to Life in a
Catholic Monastery
He was born Michael Jung on July
8, 1962, in Saarland, to Anton and Waltraut, and was baptized Roman Catholic.
He later entered Weltenburg Abbey, received the monastic name Maximilian, and
began studying theology and philosophy at the university college of
Heiligenkreuz Abbey and the University of Vienna. After completing his studies,
he was ordained a deacon and subsequently a priest, and worked in pastoral
ministry and education.
Path to Orthodoxy
After years of searching, he
discovered the rich treasure of Orthodoxy and went to Greece to convert and
become an Orthodox monk. This took place at the Monastery of St. Arsenios in
Chalkidiki, where he was also ordained a hierodeacon and subsequently a hieromonk.
Founding of a Monastery in
Burgenland
From there, he was sent with
fellow monks in 2015 to establish a monastery in Austria. Father Paisios was
appointed the first abbot of this monastery and was installed on October 11, 2015.
In 2016, the monastery was canonically established by Metropolitan Arsenios of
Austria in St. Andrä am Zicksee, Burgenland, and placed under the protection of
the Most Holy Theotokos and St. Paisios of Mount Athos. The monastery attracted
pilgrims from near and far. His sermons were much sought after, and many
pilgrims turned to him for counsel and confession. Some of his spiritual sons
became priests and passed on his teachings to their congregations.
On the Ukrainian Church
Question
On the day of the recognition of
the Ukrainian pseudo-church, Father Paisios preached firmly against it. Among
other things, he stated: “With this Tomos, a great schism has begun.” He
further explained: “This schism is worse than the schism between the Western
and Eastern Churches, because it is a schism among Orthodox Christians in our
own time. And unfortunately, it originates from the Phanar.” In his view, the
recognition was a product of American, or more broadly Western, anti-Russian
policy, through which the Patriarch and the bishops of the Phanar had been
influenced by large sums of money.
In his sermon, he had explicitly
called upon the assembled faithful to remain with their canonical Metropolitan
Onuphrios. He maintained that the Russian Church was entirely justified in
responding to the changed stance on the Ukrainian Church question by expanding
its ecclesiastical activities, among other places, in Africa and Turkey. His
position was widely known, and from that point onward, problems with
Metropolitan Arsenios began. Nevertheless, Father Paisios maintained a good
relationship with his Metropolitan at the time.
The Beginning of Tensions: The
Manner of Administering Holy Communion
During the difficult period of
the coronavirus pandemic, Metropolitan Arsenios was the first bishop in the
entire Ecumenical Patriarchate, and possibly in the entire Orthodox world, to
change the traditional manner of administering Holy Communion. At that time, he
instructed his priests no longer to administer the precious Body and Blood of
Christ to the mouths of the faithful in the traditional manner with the holy
spoon, but instead to place Holy Communion in their hands.
Father Paisios refused to comply
with this instruction after consulting his spiritual father, the well-known
Greek Elder, Father Theoklitos. For, as the Holy Fathers teach, obedience is
superior to fasting and prayer. There are, however, two things to which
obedience must never be given: heresy and sin. This is precisely what Father
Paisios explained to his bishop. For the bishop, this action crossed a red
line, and he characterized Father Paisios’ refusal as disobedience.
The Confession of the Orthodox
Faith
As is well known, Father Paisios
was a prominent preacher and had a great influence on Orthodox Christians of
various nationalities, including Greeks, Serbs, Russians, Romanians, Arabs,
Bulgarians, and Antiochians.
Many people who had not
previously been Orthodox were brought to Orthodoxy through his sermons.
Orthodox Christians, in turn, were strengthened in their faith through his
preaching. During the coronavirus pandemic, he provided spiritual encouragement
to the faithful, particularly through his live videos.
One day, he was asked whether he
could explain how the schism between the Western and Eastern Churches had come
about. In a lecture lasting approximately 30 minutes, he explained the Orthodox
teaching on this subject, insofar as this was possible within the time
available.
Only about 30 minutes later, the
Metropolitan called, extremely upset, and reported that three Catholic bishops
had contacted him and complained about the sermon.
Father Paisios then asked him
whether he had watched the video himself and pointed out that what had been
said in it was in accordance with the teaching of the Orthodox Church. The
bishop then made it unmistakably clear to him that he did not want any ὁμολογία
πίστεως – any public confession of faith – in his Metropolis.
Just as the manner of
administering Holy Communion had been a red line for the Metropolitan, this
statement became a red line for Father Paisios. He had always taught that we
must confess our Orthodox Faith at all times and in all places.
From that point onward, he was
forbidden to continue his activities on the internet. He was also no longer
permitted to receive guests or novices at the monastery or to preach publicly.
In addition, he was forbidden to receive Catholics into the Orthodox Church through
Holy Baptism. This had originally been one of the conditions, agreed upon with
his spiritual father, under which Father Paisios had come to Austria in the
first place, and which had been accepted at the time.
Father Paisios himself had been
received into the Orthodox Church through Holy Baptism and had passed through
all the stages of monastic life (novice, rassophore, small schema, ordination
to the diaconate and priesthood, great schema, elevation to the rank of
archimandrite, abbot, and spiritual father), even though he had already passed
through these stages in the Catholic Church. He was firmly committed to
receiving Catholics into the Orthodox Church through the Holy Mystery of
Baptism.
The Ukrainian Church Question
and the Growing Estrangement
Over time, Metropolitan Arsenios
became increasingly active in supporting the Ukrainian pseudo-church, as well
as in ecclesiastical and state-sponsored anti-Russian propaganda. During this
period, several uncanonical so-called “priests” from the Ukrainian
pseudo-church were also received into the Metropolis in Vienna. Father Paisios
strongly disapproved of this. In protest against the Ukrainian pseudo-church
and the presence of these “priests,” he ceased concelebrating at the cathedral
in Vienna from that point onward. This, too, caused considerable displeasure.
Father Paisios was a staunch
opponent of Ecumenism, in accordance with the teaching of St. Justin Popović of
Ćelije, who described Ecumenism as the “pan-heresy,” but he advocated true
ecumenism. His heart and the doors of his monastery were open to everyone.
The Path to the Serbian
Orthodox Church
In the final years of his life,
Father Paisios was seriously ill. For seven years, he battled severe cancer
with seven metastases in its terminal stage. Despite his serious illness, he
always remained cheerful, grateful, and full of hope. He even called cancer his
“best friend” and thanked God for his illness.
Together with him, the
brotherhood decided to seek another place where they could continue to live and
carry out their work as a spiritual community. One of the first bishops to come
forward was Bishop Sergius of Bosnia, of the Serbian Orthodox Church. He wished
to receive Father Paisios and his brotherhood into his diocese. The brotherhood
obtained the necessary letters of release from the Ecumenical Patriarchate
without difficulty and was subsequently received directly into the Serbian
Orthodox Church.
Departure from the Monastery
in St. Andrä am Zicksee
A few days before the final
Divine Liturgy was to be celebrated at the monastery and the brotherhood was to
bid farewell to the faithful, the Metropolitan’s secretary, Athanasios Buk,
appeared in person. He informed them that they had to leave the monastery
within just four hours. What made this particularly distressing was that Father
Paisios was seriously ill at the time, suffering from terminal cancer with
seven metastases. Despite the bad weather and rain, no one even asked whether
he or the brotherhood had somewhere to go.
Father Paisios and his monks took
only their most essential personal belongings and left the monastery. Within a
few days, they were already in their new diocese.
From Bosnia to Serbia
The brotherhood spent ten months
in Bosnia. Due to the monastery’s unfavorable location and the monthly trips to
Vienna for Father Paisios’ cancer treatment and the pastoral care of his
numerous spiritual children, the brotherhood moved to a monastery in central
Serbia, within the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Braničevo. These visits to
Vienna greatly displeased Metropolitan Arsenios, and he repeatedly attempted to
persuade the Serbian bishop to forbid them from traveling to Vienna. In doing
so, he made various false statements and attempted to exert pressure on their
bishop. But glory be to God, the bishop was not influenced by this. When
Metropolitan Arsenios realized that these efforts were not producing the
desired results, he resorted to making defamatory accusations before the civil
courts. Through God’s help, however, this attempt also failed, and the
proceedings were discontinued, since all the accusations proved to be
groundless and false. He then attempted to destroy Father Paisios’
relationships with Greece, particularly with his spiritual father. Although he
succeeded in this with some bishops, his efforts had no effect on the ordinary
priests, monks, and faithful.
The Repose of Father Paisios
Three months before his death,
Father Paisios’ health deteriorated severely, and he became bedridden. He spent
the last month of his life in a hospital in Belgrade, where his fellow monks
visited him daily and brought him Holy Communion.
His final wish was that his
funeral and the associated divine services be conducted by Archpriest Slađan
Vasić, who at that time was serving as a priest under the Russian Orthodox
Church Outside of Russia. On October 7, 2024, he reposed in the Lord in
Belgrade.
The Funeral Became a Political
Issue
The services surrounding the
laying out of the body took place at the Church of St. Nicholas in Mödling,
with the blessing of Metropolitan Mark and Metropolitan Irinej. The funeral at
Vienna Central Cemetery became a testimony to a faith lived in practice,
although Metropolitan Arsenios attempted to prevent this. Memory eternal,
beloved Geronda!
German source:
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