Father Victor was interviewed about Brother Joseph by a member of the staff of the magazine Russian House, which is published in Moscow. In 2001, the interview was printed in Issue #10. The text is presented below.
On October 31, 1997, Jose (Joseph) Munoz-Cortes, curator of the Myrrh-streaming Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, was martyred. The following is an interview with someone who was well acquainted with him.
A discussion with Fr. Victor Potapov, rector of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Washington, DC
Fr. Victor, when we in Russia learned of the murder of Brother Joseph and of the fact that the Miraculous Iveron Icon of the Mother of God had been lost, we were shaken. How could this have happened, how did it happen, and where might the Icon now be?
It was a satanic murder, and I am absolutely convinced that it was, because Satan concentrates hatred on wherever there is holiness. Brother Joseph was killed on the night of October 30/31. You probably know that e.g. in the USA and in Europe, that night is Halloween, the Satanists’ principal festival. For the Catholic Church, it is the eve of the Feast of All Saints, while Satanists consider the day to be their Pascha. Joseph was not simply murdered; he was tortured to death. We think that he was tortured in an attempt to learn the whereabouts of the Icon. The Icon was in Greece; he had taken it there. We believe that even now it rests in trustworthy hands – of course, we do not know where. We strongly suspect that the murderers wanted to either steal the Icon or destroy it, and so they were torturing Joseph to find out where it was. A young Romanian who took part in the murder was caught. Upon his seizure and arrest, they found $5,000 in cash in his pocket. Тime will tell what the external circumstances of the murder were. However, that will not alter the essence of the murder. Joseph was killed because he had been the faithful curator of the Miraculous Icon for exactly 15 years. Just imagine: The Icon had abundantly streamed Myrrh for 15 years. Joseph carried that most difficult of obediences – he was the chosen one of the Mother of God, a Confessor. A sick man, he traveled all over the world. He would immediately go to whatever country invited him; he would refuse no one. He had been to Australia, to South America, to the United States; he had traveled to Europe, and had very much wanted to visit Russia.
In that regard, Fr. Victor, why did he never manage to go to Russia?
Whenever he came to Washington, we would spend long hours talking in our kitchen. I would tell him: “Joseph, how wonderful it would be for you to go to Russia, where the Iveron Chapel is being rebuilt. By the way, in the past, no one could have imagined that something like that could ever happen. Yet now, in Moscow, not only the Iveron Chapel, but also the Church of Christ the Savior has been rebuilt. He dreamed of making a pilgrimage to Russia, and believed that the Icon was meant to be in Russia.
Fr. Victor, we were told that brother Joseph had been forbidden from visiting Russia.
Yes, the First-hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad had always forbidden him to do so. You know, of course, that unfortunately our respective churches do not have any communion in prayer. Although of course, this pained Joseph to the depths of his heart, he was obedient, and would never do anything for which he had not received a blessing.
Tell us, Joseph was born into a Catholic family, and yet he later converted to Orthodoxy. How did he explain that?
Quite simply. In Orthodoxy, he found the fullness of Christianity. Moreover, he was the chosen one of the Mother of God; she brought him to Orthodoxy. Joseph was absolutely convinced of that. It is interesting to note that, having been raised in a pious Catholic family, he took such a serious step, the decision to convert to Orthodoxy, at the age of 14, and that he became the spiritual child of Archbishop Leonty, who in turn was the spiritual brother of Archbishop John Maximovitch. Тhus, as you can see, here we are dealing with a very lofty spirituality and succession. Of course, Joseph immediately felt the spiritual beauty of the Icon. After all, he was a painter; he studied the subject of icons and iconography. Thus, he was attracted by the fullness of revelation, which we treasure in the Orthodox Faith.
Fr. Victor, I know that miracles began to happen at Brother Joseph’s grave after his burial. Tell us about that.
Even before his burial. His body was brought from Greece to America, to Holy Trinity Monastery in New York, a week after his murder. Joseph’s funeral was held 13 days after his murder. Everyone was moved by the absence of any sign of corruption. They were also shaken by the fact that, while the blood in a cadaver congeals after 3 hours, there was fresh blood on the towel under his neck. At his grave, my matushka and two other parishioners witnessed how candles ignited by themselves and burned for seven hours. This took place on the crest of a hill.
Tell us, is nothing yet known about the Icon?
So far, we have learned nothing. Only what I have told you: we suspect that it is on the Greek Island of Aegina, the resting place of the Holy Relics of St. Nektarios of Aegina. We of course hope that the Icon will return to us.
So it could not have fallen into the hands of the Satanists?
I think that the Mother of God would not permit such a thing to happen. By the way, I need to tell you one more interesting thing. On the eve of his murder, Joseph and Fr. Alexander Iwashewicz, a priest of ours from Argentina and Joseph’s good friend, took a trip to the Greek Island of Andros. On that island, in the Monastery of St. Nicholas, one of the most ancient of monasteries, there is an Icon that has been streaming Myrrh for 17 years. When Joseph entered the church, the Icon was weeping. This clearly had to do with Joseph, who immediately said to Fr. Alexander, “Father, I sense that something awful is about to happen in our Church. I do not know what, but it is something awful.” In fact, a tragedy took place in our Church: we lost one of our Holy Icons, and that is awful. When such a great Holy Treasure hides itself from us, we need to repent.