Showing posts with label Orthodoxy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Orthodoxy. Show all posts

Monday, March 16, 2015

Serbian Orthodox Church Dismisses Controversial Bishop



According to Serbian media reports, the highest governing body of the Serbian Orthodox Church has decided to dismiss the right-wing nationalist Bishop Filaret (Micovic). An official statement of the Church did not exist initially
Belgrade(kath.net/KNA) The Serbian Orthodox Church has dismissed the bishop of Milesia in the southwest, affected by several scandals. According to Serbian media reports from late Thursday evening, the highest governing body, Patriarch Irinej I. who heads the Holy Synod in Belgrade, has decided to dismiss the right-wing nationalist Bishop Filaret (Micovic) against his will. An official statement of the Church is not forthcoming.

Recently there were protests in January protests against Filaret, because he had given an ecclesiastical distinction to anf the alleged Serbian war criminal, Vojislav Seselj. Three human rights groups, including the Serbian Helsinki Committee, called on the Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Irinej I, to distance themselves from the bishop. A person like Seselj, who was responsible for genocide, should not be worshiped as a model. There has been a process against Seselj before the International Criminal Court in The Hague for years.

Filaret, who has been bishop for more than 15 years, posed during the 1991 Balkan War for photographers with a machine gun in front of a tank. He has repeatedly emphasized his sympathy and solidarity with Serbian defendants in The Hague. Last summer, Filaret said he no longer belongs to the church. IRINEJ I admonished him and then asked him successfully to withdraw his statement. In addition, the bishop has been accused of sexual abuse of children.

His followers praise him, however,  among other things, that his episcopal palace, which originates from the 13th century monastery Mileseva, is a stately residence and has also established a radio station.

Link to Kath.net...
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

East Ukraine: Russian Orthodox Firing on Protestants



Christians from Germany visited oppressed evangelical churches

Slavjansk / Schorndorf (kath.net/ idea ) National Russian Orthodox circles have also become involved in the fighting in eastern Ukraine. They have attacked targeted Protestants. This was reported by former entrepreneur Karl Schock (Schorndorf near Stuttgart) after a trip to the region. The 80-year-old visited, together with the Eastern European missionary, Hugo Kleinknecht (Tostedt near Hamburg) and a translator to six municipalities in Slavjansk and Kramatorsk belonging to the Ukrainian Pentecostal union. In eastern Ukraine, since September 5, a ceasefire has been in effect. "We wanted to be the first Christian group immediately after the armed conflict, after the liberation of the oppressed communities, to convey our support and assistance," said Schock to the Protestant News Agency, idea. The separatists, who had attacked Slavjansk, have been composed, among others, of Russian Orthodox radicals and regular Russian soldiers.

An Orthodox priest allowed shooting from his church

An Orthodox priest named Vitaly had set up an ammunition dump in his church and allowed firing at houses. In addition, he had caused the destruction of two factories of Protestant entrepreneurs. Here people were severely injured. On the same evening Russian television had accused the Ukrainian army, of being responsible for the attacks. The troops were not even involved at this point in the fighting.

All evangelical pastors and church leaders had to flee or fear for their lives and had been robbed in part. In the battles alone, 200 civilians were killed. The occasion for the solidarity trip was the murder of four Ukrainian Christians by radical nationalist, Russian Orthodox separatists on 8 June.

The victims are the deacons, Vladimir Velitschko (father of eight children) and Viktor Barodinsky (three children) and two sons of the church leader Alexander Pavenko, Ruben (three children) and Albert (single). They have been exhumed said Schock, later with 15 other victims from a mass grave and buried at the memorial of the Revolution in the center of Slavjansk.

The wife of the President of Ukraine, Marina Poroshenko, have laid down flowers there a few weeks ago with a silent prayer flowers for the martyrs [sic]. Germans can afford to contribute to the reconciliation in view of the conflict Schock said: "The long history of unholy alliances between nationalist power politics and regime-supporting ideology - where here the Russian Orthodox claim to be the sole representation - repeats itself tragically. Germany has to make an important contribution to reconciliation through its experience with totalitarian regimes here."

Link to Kathnet... Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Number of Christians Has Quadrupled in Russia Since the End of the Soviet Union

(Moscow), 25 years after the collapse of communism and 23 years after the end of the Soviet Union, the number of Russians who profess to be Christians, quadrupled. The critical  situation of religious freedom remains in some countries of the former Soviet power.
In 1989 it was known  that not more than  17 percent of Russians professed Orthodox Christianity. Since then, it has grown as much as four times. Today, 68 percent of Russians refer to themselves as Russian Orthodox.The most recent ones were released by the independent Levada Center on the 15-18th November of the previous year conducted a survey in 130 cities.
Until a few months before the dissolution of the Soviet Union atheism was regarded as the official state ideology. 75 percent of the population of Russia at that time described themselves as atheists. As early as 1991, that number had fallen to 53 percent. According to the results of the Levada poll today,  not even 19 percent confess as atheists. In third place are professing Muslims, whose number has increased from six percent in 1991 climbing to seven percent in 2013.
Despite the impressive return of Orthodox Christianity, 70 years of state atheism has left strong traces, as the Historian and Political Scientist Andrei Zubov emphasized: "70 years of state atheism can not be overcome in  one day."  The number of Christians actually practicing  is still low. The commitment to Orthodox Christianity is above all cultural and historic in nature.  It is part of Russiandom. The Levada poll found that only four percent of Orthodox Christians attend the Divine Liturgy every Sunday. 17 percent attend the Divine Liturgy only at the high festivals. 35 percent of respondents said that they had never set foot in a church in their lives. Since 1991  83 percent of all respondents said they have never received the Holy Communion, but they are  now considerably fewer, but still 62 percent.
The Russian Orthodox Church has been building years many new churches and have tried  to rechristianize those cites which became "atheist" during the Soviet era. "We are not able to build as many churches as we would like and would need", says the "State Department" of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Religious freedom at risk

While Russia's commitment to Orthodox Christianity is experiencing a renaissance, the free exercise of religion in several Soviet Republics, which are sovereign independent States today, remains underdeveloped. In the name of "national security", Kazakhstan restricted freedom of religion in 2011.  An infringement can be severely punished.  Religious publications are subject to government censorship. The construction of churches is strictly regulated. Bibles and other religious books are confiscated, as well as icons and religious representations. They are what the state classifies as "extremist materials".
The situation in Uzbekistan is even more critical. The population is mainly Muslim, Christians are a minority. Their religious life is subject to a number of limitations. In 2013 Christians complained that reading the Bible is forbidden even in prison. The situation is similar in Turkmenistan.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Tempi


Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMGD

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Oldest Russian Church in Istanbul Threatened: Moisture and Large Turkish Projects

(Istanbul) On 2 August Christians gathered in the ancient Russian Elias chapel to celebrate the feast of the Old Testament prophets, according to the Julian calendar, the Catholic, Orthodox and Armenians commit it to the 20th of July. But in Turkey all Christian affairs are complicated. The chapel, which is located in the attic of a former monastery, may not be used for the liturgy for about 40 years. The Russian community of Istanbul, the ancient Constantinople, now wants to revive the chapel. The movement came into being as plans became known to demolish the former monastery and chapel.

In Istanbul there are three Rus Kiliseleri associated along ethnic lines. All three belong to the small Belarusian community on the Bosporus. And all three are in the possession of the monastery of St. Panteleimon on Mount Athos, better known as Rossikon. However, they are administered by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The Elias chapel is the oldest of the three Rus-chapels Istanbul. It was built 135 years ago in the typical style of the 19th Century. As the Rossikon, the Russian monastery on Mount Athos of monastic Russian refugees was founded after the Mongol invasion, was the Elias chapel after the October Revolution of 1917 the spiritual center of the Russian exiles in the city.

Russian Elias chapel in the attic of a former monastery, which is now availed business.

The chapel houses frescoes, icons, traditional iconostasis, but the damage from moisture and lack of maintenance. The frescoes are largely lost. Preserved is a crucifix and a depiction of Christ near the altar. For the restoration 100,000 Turkish liras are estimated according Kazmir Pamir, spokesman for the Belarusian Association PAE Fukaraperver, says the Turkish press.

The Athos monks have a Turkish company for the repair. Exactly how and when the restoration is to be done, there are no details from Turkey. "The liturgy on the 2nd of August is the first step," said Pamir. "Maybe we can soon celebrate a baptism or a wedding. The Church is alive, she has just made another first breath."

The repair is not the only problem for the Belarusian community. How Kazmir Pamir explains the chapel in the Turkish official registers will be seen as business premises. In fact, the former monastery now houses shops and offices.

The chapel could soon fall victim to the Turkish construction boom. The city administration has a plan for a large project in Galataport on its desk that will transform the historical neighborhood of Karaköy radically, situated on the European shores of the Bosphorus. The project envisages the privatization of the existing port of Salipazari, the construction of a tourist harbor front, plus hotels and a large shopping center. The Dogus Holding is active in banking, construction and communication sector, has received the contract last May to implement the project, which is currently estimated at 702 million dollars.

Galata port is only one of several government projects whose the appearance is the sign of Istanbul tourism, large infrastructure and re-Islamization. These projects gave the initial impetus for the anti-Erdogan protests that erupted in May in Gezi Park and on Taksim Square. The Government remains committed to the projects and speaks of the "inevitable necessity" because of population growth and to stimulate the economy.

Efforts to rescue and repair of Elias chapel could also lead to a rapprochement between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Holy Mass on the 2nd August was celebrated as a Greek priest. "The Russian Church recognizes the authority of the Patriarch Barthalomeos over the chapels of Karaköy," says Kazmir Pamir.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
 Image: Vatican insider / Bora Arasan
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMGD

Link to katholisches...

Thursday, July 25, 2013

The Kidnapped Bishops: Three Months and No Word

Wikicommons.
Edit: just a word from Notes on Orthodoxy:


by Claire Lesegretain

In the absence of proof of their death, it is not possible to confirm that they were killed by their kidnappers.

But we can wonder why international authorities, who are in contact with the Syrian rebels, are not demanding proof that they are alive or evidence that negotiations are ongoing.

This past Monday, July 22, made three months that we are without any news of Bishop Paul Yazigi, Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Aleppo, and Bishop John Ibrahim, Syriac Orthodox bishop of the same city. “We have no information,” confirms Mgr Pascal Gollnisch, director of Œuvre d’Orient, who emphasizes the urgency and seriousness of this question. “Since seizing bishops demonstrates that priests and faithful are no longer safe in Syria, it threatens all the Christians of this country,” he says.


Notes on Arab Orthodoxy: The Kidnapped Bishops: Three Months and No Word

Monday, May 20, 2013

Counter Demonstration Against Gomorrist Propaganda -- Obama's New Cultural Imperialism

Edit: If you're an American citizen, Obama is using your tax dollars to fund immorality in other countries on an anti-Crusade for the dictatorship of relativism.
(Tbilisi) U.S. President Barack Obama is running a new form of cultural imperialism. He announced that the U.S. Foreign Policy promotes gay rights around the world and to measure the implementation of human rights in the individual countries whether the "rights" for homosexuals can be guaranteed. What is meant by these "rights" corresponds one to one to the LGBT list of demands, most notably the introduction of the "gay marriage" and adoption in the law.  A similar statement was issued to all the diplomatic missions of the United States. However, not all countries share the opinion of the current U.S. government.
This also applies to Georgia. Thousands of Orthodox priests protested in the Georgian capital against a rally of homosexuals who were demanding these "rights". The priests carried banners reading "No to Spiritual Genocide" and "No to Homosexuality." The  counter demonstration had occurred after the government did not ban the Gomorrah rally, as  was requested by the Georgian Orthodox Church.
The priests were accompanied by many laymen. Young men threw eggs and stones at the gay demonstrators. The police invited them on yellow minibuses to bring them to safety. The minibuses were also attacked by counter-demonstrators. Three policemen and nine aberro-protesters had to get medical treatment.
Georgia's new prime minister Bidsina Ivanishvili condemned the violence in a statement to the press on Friday evening. On Wednesday, Ilia II, the Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church had compared Gomorrists with drug addicts. Public demonstrations of homosexuals he described as a "violation of the rights of God and of the majority" of the Georgians.
"We will protect our orthodoxy and not allow that someone wipe his shoes on our faith,"  said one Orthodox participant in the counter demonstration to the New York Times.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Photo: BBC screenshot



Link to katholisches...

Monday, May 6, 2013

Patriarch of Moscow Positive About Ecumenical Course with Rome

Moscow Patriarch Kyrill I on "gay marriage": In a consumer society no one wants to relinquish his vice: "On the contrary, vice is legalized and legitimized."

Moscow (kath.net/KNA) The Moscow Patriarch Kyrill I. is expressed himself hopefully for ecumenical collaboration.  The Russian Orthodox Church is in "open dialog with the Roman Catholic Church" and hopes, that this dialog will continue to develop together with the Pope, said the Patriarch in a television interview on Orthodox Easter.

Patriarch Kyrill stressed the positive development already begun under Benedict XVI. He hopes that this trend will continue and deepen with Francis.  The new Pope is "open to social problems and sensitive to social injustice."

Under Benedict XVI. (2005-2013) relations are to have essentially improved between the Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, because it was decided, to put aside some "extravagant projects", said the Patriarch with a view to an earlier proposed visit to Moscow.  There is a common challenge for both churches.

As for so-called gay marriage, Kyrill I said, in the consumer culture no one wants to give up his vices: "On the contrary, vices will be legalized and legitimized."  All this leads to a "destruction of personality" and to possible economic, financial, political or ecological crises.  The enormous protest in Paris against "gay marriage" had been a "joyous surprise", said the Patriarch.  He had not expected such a powerful, religiously motivated protest.

Link...

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Religious Leaders Demand the Release of Syrian Bishops


Edit: earlier it was reported from many different sources that two Bishops who were kidnapped in Syria were to be released.  It turns out that they are still in captivity, and increasingly, the reports of this tragedy have aroused even the major news media.

[charismanews] Religious leaders from around the world have stepped up their pleas for the safe return of two Syrian bishops who were kidnapped April 22 by armed men as they were driving near the war-torn city of Aleppo.

The kidnappers, who have not been identified, abducted Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Boulos Yazigi and Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan Youhanna Ibrahim, both of Aleppo, while they were undertaking a “humanitarian mission” to help Syria’s Christian minority, according to Syrian Christian expatriates in the U.S.

The bishops’ Syrian Orthodox driver was killed in the attack.
Since 2011, more than 70,000 Syrians have died in fighting in the bloody civil war between forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad and rebels seeking to oust Assad’s strong-arm regime.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Both Syrian Bishops Released by Rebels

(Damaskus) Two Syrian Bishops who were kidnapped yesterday, the Syrian-Orthodox Bishop Yohanna Ibrahim and the Greek Orthodox Boutros Yazigi should be free again and released in Aleppo. This was reported by by the Orthodox Partriarcate to Reuters. Already this afternoon there was a report released by Arabic section of Catholic News Service Zenit. Zenit states that the release had been made possible through negotiation by "the head of the Russian Orthodox Curxh, the Greek Foreign Minister and the UN special envoy for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi".

From Aleppo there has been no report this far. In any case the communication with the embattled city is difficult. The report of the release has been released by another important source, the Oeuvre d’Orient, a Christian relief organization from France, which traditionally has good contacts to Syria's Christians. "According to our Surian sources both bishops were released around 2pm and can be found in the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Elias of Aleppo", is what the Internet site of Oeuvre, that was "pleased" over the release of the Bishops. "At the same time the relief organization condemned the murder of the Syrian-Orthodox Deacon, who was driving the car for both bishops.“. The perpetrators had shot him immediately at the time of the abduction..

The Oeuvre d’Orient appealed to the international community of nations, to work for the release of two abducted priests who have been held for months at an unknown location.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Bild: Missionline

http://www.katholisches.info/2013/04/23/die-beiden-in-syrien-entfuhrten-bischofe-sind-frei/

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Moscow Patriarchate Warns Anglican Church Against Deviations From Christian Values

Edit he’s not asking, he’s telling him.  These radicals will talk all day about ecumenism, until it actually does something to unify Christians.  They’d much rather divide Christians and keep them in Schism.  There are a few characters in the Bible who were like that.

If anything, it looks like the Orthodox are growing closer to the Catholic Church, as the Patriarch of Constantinople suggested the plausibility that the Great Schism could be drawing to a close.
Russian Church hopes new head of Anglican Church will not allow female bishops, same-sex marriage

Moscow, March 25, Interfax - The Moscow Patriarchate expects Justin Welby, the new Archbishop of Canterbury, to adhere to the norms of Christian morals and the church system. He didn’t strike a conciliatory tone, no.

"We know that the Anglican Church is now going through a difficult time and various views, positions, and parties co-exist in it. However, we really hope that the traditional understanding of Christian morals and the church system will prevail in this polemic," Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, the head of the Synodal Department for External Church Relations, said during a meeting between Welby and representatives of the Orthodox Churches who attended his enthronement.

The introduction of the institution of female bishops will lead to the elimination of even a theoretical possibility of the Moscow Patriarchate recognizing the church hierarchy of the Anglican Church, the communications service of the Department for External Church Relations reported on Saturday. [I should think women’s ordination had already done that long ago.]

"I would like you to know about that and take our opinion into account when this issue arises again," Metropolitan Hilarion said.

Metropolitan Hilarion also said he is hoping Justin Welby will firmly defend the traditional biblical understanding of marriage as a union between a man and a woman "to prevent secular society from forcing on the Church of England the recognition of some forms of cohabitation which were never considered marriage by Christian churches."

Welby responded by saying he appreciates the comment, adding that the position of the Church of England on the issue of marriage is absolutely clear and it has recently confirmed that marriage is a life-long union between a man and a woman.

Link to Interfax-Religion...

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Pope and Patriarch of Constantinople Will Travel Together to Jerusalem

Pope Francis has accepted the Orthodox Leader’s offer to make a common trip to Jerusalem, in addition  he will publicly visit the See of the Patriarchate in Constantinople.

Athens/Vatican City (kath.net/KNA)  Pope Francis (76) and Bartholomew I (73) of Constantinople will make a common trip to Jerusalem. next year.  The Pope has accepted the corresponding proposal of the Greek Orthodox Head, reports the Greek news site "NewsIt" this Wednesday.  This trip will commemorate the historic meeting between Patriarch Athenagoras and Pope Paul VI. 50 years before.  Their meeting in Jerusalem lead to the lifting of the mutual excommunications, which had stood since the schism of 1054.

At the same time Bartholomew I. invited the Roman Pope according to the report, to visit the Phanar, the seat of the Patriarch in Constantinople.  Francis has also accepted this visit.  An official invitation still has to go through diplomatic channels, it says.  Both Church leaders had met in the context of an ecumenical meeting for the new Pope in the Vatican on Wednesday.

Additionally, the two Church leaders, “NewsIt” says, agreed to develop common initiatives for the protection of the environment.   Patriarch Bartholomew I. urged that Francis and he might go together to open a planned event in 2015 for the defense of creation on Mount Athos.  The outcome should be shown in an exhibition in the Quirinal Palace.

Bartholomew I. is known for his ecological engagement. For this reason, he is also known by the media as the “Green Patriarch”.  Francis had mentioned the protection of the environment in the sermon for his inaugural Mass.  Francis of Assisi (1181/82- 1226), for whom he chose his name, is the Patron Saint of environmentalism.

Initially reported by Rome Reports:




Friday, March 15, 2013

Epoch Making: Patriarch of Constantinople WIll Come to Popes Inaugural Mass

For the first time since the Great Schism, ecumenical patriarch to attend pope's inaugural Mass

The metropolitans of Argentina and Italy will accompany Bartholomew. Moscow Patriarchate hopes in closer cooperation with Rome but excludes for now a meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill.

Istanbul (AsiaNews) - The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I will attend Pope Francis's inaugural Mass. The Ecumenical Patriarchate Press Office informed AsiaNews about the decision, noting that this is the first time such an event occurs since the Catholic-Orthodox split in 1054, an important sign for Christian unity.

The ecumenical patriarch will be accompanied by Ioannis Zizioulas, metropolitan of Pergamon and co-president of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox Church, as well as Tarassios, Orthodox Metropolitan of Argentina, and Gennadios, Orthodox Metropolitan of Italy.

Relations between Catholics and Orthodox have been improving since the Second Vatican Council through mutual visits, acts of friendship and theological dialogue.

Under Benedict XVI, the dialogue picked up in earnest after a lull. In trying to promote it, the pope suggested ways to express the primacy of Peter's successor that could be acceptable to the Orthodox, finding his inspiration from the undivided Church of the first millennium.

Catholic ecumenism has met however with great resistance from the Russian Orthodox Church and the Moscow Patriarchate, seat of the 'Third Rome'.

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church's Department for External Relations, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, said on Thursday that a meeting between the pope and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow was "possible but the place and timing will depend on how quickly we will overcome the consequences of the conflicts from the turn of 1980s and 1990s".

The issue of the Ukrainian Catholic Church is at the core of the "conflicts" to which Hilarion was referring. Although it was unbanned following the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was left without its original churches, which had been seized by the Communists under Soviet rule and later transferred to the Orthodox Church.

Still, "on several occasions, Pope Francis has shown spiritual sympathy towards the Orthodox Church and a desire for closer contacts," Hilarion said.

It is his hope that under the new pontificate "relations of alliance will develop and that our ties will be strengthened."

H/t: Badger Catholic

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Austrian Television Worried About Rebirth of Czarist Russia

A television program “Orientierung" by Austria’s national broadcaster ORF has addressed conservative Orthodox groups in Russia, which was concerned with the continuous counter wind against the Sodomite question.
What is good for the Church, is good for the State -- The movement “Holy Russia”
is defending against the desecration of Russian Sacredness and social perversion.
[Photo: Swajataja Rus]

[Edit: the article as follows from kreuz.net.] “Orthodox Faith, absolute sovereignty and Russiandom -- these were the three pillars of Czarist Imperial Russia before the Revolution”.  It is ORF’s opinion that it will be brought about again by Putin.  A good sign for Russia!

As an indication for this, the homo-lobby is facing an upswing, take the conservative, orthodox groups like for instance, “Moscow is the Third Rome”, the movement “Holy Russia” or the orthodox “Flag Bearers”.

The ban on homo-propaganda in Russia with only a dissenting vote among the several hundred member Duma has horrified the homo-lobby and Left journalists --- also that of the Religion Department of the Leftist Austrian State Broadcaster.

Hard times are coming in Russia for gays, lesbians and other minorities.  The problem is, says a “religion expert” of the clearly even for Russia, Left Humanities Faculty (if Marxism is also taught as part of the curriculum?), that Liberalism and the secular Freemasonic State is in danger.

In the Duma it is completely understood what “Orthodoxy and the healthy popular feeling” expects.

In addition there is a law in preparation that the defamation of the feelings of the Faithful is penalized (up to two years imprisonment), included discussed is a law outlawing abortion.

“Aids and Hepatitis -- Gays Suffer this 40 Times More than normal Males.”

Dmitri Enteo, one of the “stars” (according to ORF) of the group “Moscow is the Third Rome”,  will also be quite clear:  “Our country was built upon the Orthodox Church and homosexuality destroys our home -- morally, ethically and demographically!  Propaganda for homosexuality means also an advertisement for AIDS and Hepatitis.  Gays suffer from this 40 times more frequently than normal men.  We do not want such a future for us and certainly not for our children!”

“The Goal of these … Sodomites, Gays and Lesbians is the decay of the Traditional Family”

Iwan Otrakowski, formerly a Captain in the Airborne Infantry, spent several years in the war in Chechnya, found a way to the Faith and became the founder of the movement “Holy Russia”:  “We are  a society of Orthodox Christians, who would like to serve God, the people and the Fatherland.  We want to be strong and moral.  We meet together for sport, train in operating weapons and go to church.  Thus we find our way to God.  Evil, jealously and hate fall away from us.  … The goal of these so-called Sodomites, gays and lesbians is the decay of the traditional family.   They provoke us, call us Orthodox Fascists, for that they are actually paid by the West, and if the Faith is defamed, we will turn to violence.  Not to demean people, but to bring them to reflection, so that they will not live in sin any more.”

Orthodox “Flagbearers”: “Homosexuality is a Sickness”

The Orthodox Flag Bearers also protested against gays and lesbians, in the summer of 2012 during the attempt of a gay march in Moscow.  Igor Morisnitshenko, Orthodox Flagbearer:  “We don’t want any gays and lesbians in Moscow.  Because Moscow is a city, which is holy to all Russians.  … Homosexuality should be punishable by the law and then: deportation.  Our country is great: to Magadan on the Kolimar.  There they should work, because work heals.  Homosexuality is a sickness which leads to despicable sins.”

Their attention was also drawn to a photo they burned, which showed the Pop-granny “Madonna” in underwear with spread legs, and described her as a witch.

Ecumenism With Orthodoxy and Not With the Zeitgeist Confessions!

Archpriest Vsevolod, chaplain accurately described the character of the Orthodox:  “The Orthodox Christian is a fighter, he must be to defend his homeland and his church.  Naturally within the bounds of the law.  An Orthodox Christian must be prepared to defend his homeland and his Faith with weapons in his hand.  Pacifism is an anti-Christian worldview and the Orthodox Church has always nurtured its faithful to be warriors.”

And: All of the churches of the world which are against homosexuality, it is said from the Moscow Patriarchate.  Western churches are only too cowardly to also say it.

One gladly hears the Humanities religious expert:  “The official position of the Orthodox Church toward homosexuality, for example,  does not differ essentially from that of conservative Catholics.”

Quod Erat Demonstrandum

To draw a contrasting program the Left’s papabile Vienna’s Archbishop, Cardinal Schönborn is cited, as he reported with a creased face about gays in the parish community of Stutzenhofen:  “As I have heard, he is a candidate who lives in a civil partnership, so I said: That won’t do, it is not compatible, Parish Counsellors have to hold the teaching  of the Church and the discipline of the Church” -- and then took, “impressed” by the gay, him under his wing.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Words of Praise from Russian Orthodox Leaders for Benedict XVI

Kyrill I: In the “difficult situation”, in which western Christianity today finds itself, the Pope “courageously” defends the positions and moral values of his church.

Moscow(kath.net/KNA) The Head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kyrill I, has recently found words of praise for Pope Benedict XVI.. In the “difficult situation” in which western Christianity finds itself, the Pope has defended “courageously” the positions and moral values of his church said Kyrill II according to church reports of Sunday evening during a meeting with the new Russian Ambassador to the Holy See, Alexander Awdrejew. Without these positions the Church would not be able to endure any longer and be transformed into a “mixture of various Christian organizations”.

The Patriarch stresses at the same time the stand points of the Russian Orthodox and the Catholic Church agree in the “most significant questions of the past”. Both churches should continue to work together, so that the Christian message as much in the East as also in the West will be convincingly preached. Kremlin Chief, Vladimir Putin had named the former Russian Culture Minister Awdejew as Ambassador of to the Holy See in January.

Since the election of Benedict XVI., the diplomatic and ecumenical relations between the Russian Orthodox and Catholic Church have been remarkably improved. According to the political change of 1989, the Moscow Patriarchate reproached Rome for building of Catholic church structures in the states of the earlier Soviet Union, to serve to proselytize their faithful. The Patriarchate consider the Federation States as the canonical territory of Orthodoxy.

 Link to kath.net…


Also a Russian Orthodox theologian has his own words of praise for Pope Benedict:

Russian scholar praises Benedict XVI, slams John Paul II

Moscow, February 12, Interfax - Outgoing Pope Benedict XVI "has been able to strengthen the Catholic Church and improve relations with" the Russian Orthodox Church, a Russian religious scholar said.

"His decision to resign deserves respect. He has been a powerful leader, and would be able to continue his mission successfully if it weren't for his age," Roman Silantyev told Interfax-Religion.

Benedict took charge of what was "a church that had been seriously weakend by his predecessor," Silantyev said.

"John Paul II wanted to be liked by everyone, and as a result he did huge harm to the Catholics, turning millions of people away from his Church. His tenure saw mass-scale closures or conversions of Catholic Churches in Europe. Seminaries with histories spanning many centuries lost their students, and orphanages in Third World countries became the main source of new clergy," the scholar said.

During Benedict's tenure, "the useless 'thrust toward the East' [alleged proselytism by Uniates], which was taking up huge resources, has come to an end, there has been an improvement in relations with the Russian Orthodox Church, which has proved to be the Vatican's main ally in asserting the Christian way of life in the European Union," Silantyev said.

Benedict "hasn't had the idee fixe of coming to Moscow because he has repeatedly met with the incumbent Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia anyway," he said.

"It appears to be most likely that an Italian cardinal will be elected to this post," Silantyev said.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Syria: Islamic Rebels Plant Bomb in Church

Rampaging and plundering of the main church of the Syrian border town of Ras al-Ayn

Damaskus (kath.net/KAP)  The Syrian-Orthodox Archbishop Matta Roham has complained again of the dramatic situation in the Hassake-Djazira region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The Bishop has reported to the relief organization CSI-Österreich that there are almost no Christians living any longer in the midst of the border city of Ras al-Ayn. Islamic rebels have wanted to drive them off, along with their priests. The last eye witnesses report a plundered and desolate church.

Is was there that a 75 year old Christian found a hidden bomb in the main church, which was later disarmed by Christian-friendly Kurds. Archbishop Matta Roham: "The rebels wanted to blow the church in the air along with the rectory as well as the Christian school." Since then the rebels have desolated the city and posted death threats on the street walls against Christians everywhere. The messages are clear. "These Islamic groups want to drive Christians from Ras forever," says the Archbishop.

A ray of light is, says Matta Roham, the Kurds, who want to live in peace with native Christians and are themselves in solidarity: "The Church is holy. Rebels get out" is an written in the inner walls of the damaged churches in their language, reported the Archbishop.

Ras al-Ayn located in northeastern Syria on the Turkish border. It has around 24,000 inhabitants, the off - composed Syriacs (Syrians and Assyrians), Arabs, Kurds, Armenians, Turks and Chechens - now sold.

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Bulgarian Metropolitan Commemorates Clergy Martyred by the Communists



[Pravmir.com] Bulgaria’s Christian Orthodox Church commemorated for the first time the victims of communist repression on Friday, 23 years after the toppling of the regime.
A special memorial service was held at Sofia’s Alexander Nevski cathedral by Varna metropolitan and interim patriarch Kiril, joined by a number of other Church dignitaries.
“This is the first time that the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church has held nationwide commemoration services for the victims of the repressions,” Kiril told AFP.
Addressing the congregation after the mass, he said the Church had identified 152 priests who were persecuted after the communist regime seized power in 1944: 13 were sentenced to death and another 13 were jailed for life.
The Holy Synod, the Church’s top body, is now considering whether to canonise some of them, he said.
“This stance is a crack in the wall of indifference of the Orthodox Church,” former political prisoner Fredy Foscolo said after the service.
In 2011, parliament designated February 1 as a permanent special day of remembrance for the over 7,000 people who were executed or jailed as “fascists” by the communists during their 45-year rule between 1944 and 1989.
These included three former prime ministers, dozens of ministers and lawmakers, royal regents and advisors, teachers, priests, civil servants, prominent writers and journalists.
The regime did not go as far as to close churches but imposed atheism, did not tolerate churchgoing and controlled the priests’ rise in Church hierarchy.
The opening of the former communist police archives revealed that 11 of the 15 Holy Synod members were former secret police agents who collaborated with the communist regime.
Bulgaria’s late patriarch Maxim, who died on November 6, was not on the list, but Kiril was.
A Church Council is due to choose Bulgaria’s next patriarch on February 24.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

2013 Catholics and Orthodox Will in Holy Land Will Celebrate Easter Simultaneously -- Soon in the Whole World?

(Jerusalem)  In 2013 Catholics of the Holy Land will celebrate Easter together with the Orthodox on May 5th and not on March 31st.  March as in the rest of the whole world.  In Jerusalem and the other Holy places Easter will be celebrated according to the Julian calendar as the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem reveals.

The Holy See has allowed the various rites the freedom to celebrate with the Gregorian or the Julian calendar.  The Catholics Bishops of the Holy Land have thus concluded, in order to strengthen the Christian unity in places,  where the son of God was born on earth, lived and died on the cross, to follow the Julian Calendar which the Orthodox Christians also use.

From Gregorian to Julian Calendar

The ecumenical gesture which has significant importance also has to do with questions which are significant to members of the Latin and Oriental rites.

Lent, Easter and Pentecost will be celebrated according to a decree published yesterday by the Latin Patriarchate, according to the Julian Calendar, and thus was a suggestion  triggered by the Bishops' Synod for the Near East in 2010.  The decision addressed the paradox of different feast times in the same territory, and with that the element of division which has reached even into families.

The Ruling is Valid for 2013 ad experimentum 

The decree will be issued ad experimentum only for the year of 2013.  In 2014 in any case, the dates for Easter fall on the 20th of April and without any help, together on the same day.  Til the year 2015 the Latin Patriarchate and the Holy See will meet for a final ruling. The Catholic Bishops of the Holy Land are prepared to give their agreement to a lasting adoption of the Julian Calendar and have expressed the wish that Rome may grant canonical approval.

In Israel, Palestinian Areas, Jordan and Cyprus the Western and Eastern Churches Celebrate Together

For the year of 2013 the ruling will effect the Catholic parishes of Israel, Palestinian Authority, Jordan and Cyrpus and then the complete sphere of influence of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.  There will be at least two exceptions in 2013.  The parishes of Jerusalem and Bethlehem will celebrate according to the Gregorian Calendar during Easter on the 31st of March.

Exceptions exist in the Holy Sites of Jerusalem and Bethlehem because of the complicated legal system

Both exceptions are dependent upon the legal status quo, which date back to an Ottoman decree which certified the exact times the various confessions would use the various sites.  These ordinances are expected to change in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, yet are at present unforeseen where the various confessions are eager to fight for every centimeter and every minute in the Holy Site.  For the Catholic pilgrims who will visit the Holy Land and want to celebrate Easter in Jerusalem or Bethlehem, nothing will change.

The sign, which has been established by Catholics for the coming year, will be highly visible for the Christians in the Near East.   In the Holy Land the divisions between Christians is clearly visible.  It is not seldom that there is evidence of physical animosity between the confessions.  The Latin Patriarchate  wants to make a gesture of good will with this one-sided step and express the desire that for the faithful, whose families, might celebrate the feast at the same time.

Benedict XVI's desire For Worldwide Easter Between Orient and Occident

Pope Benedict XVI. has expressed many times the hope that Catholics and Orthodox will come to an accord for the celebration of the feast of Easter.  The Holy Land represents the first step for that.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Bild: Sizemore Insights

Link to original Katholisches...

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Grass Roots Orthodox Group Seeks Ban on Homosexual Propaganda

Edit: it's a gradual restoration of the values of Christendom. Here's the article from interfax:
Orthodox activists demand closure of gay clubs, ban on homosexual "propaganda" in Moscow

Moscow, October 9, Interfax - Orthodox activists will be seeking a ban on homosexual "propaganda" in Moscow.

"Homosexuality and its propaganda are grave sins. We will be seeking the closure of gay clubs in Moscow and a general ban on same-sex 'love,'" the Orthodox public movement Narodny Sobor (People's Council) told Interfax-Religion.

Narodny Sobor believes Moscow parliamentarians could follow the example of their colleagues in St. Petersburg and other cities, where the propaganda of homosexuality among minors has already been banned.

A law envisioning administrative liability for the propaganda of homosexuality and pedophilia among minors became effective in St. Petersburg on March 17, 2012.

Legislation banning the propaganda of homosexuality has been passed in some regions of Russia, specifically, in the Ryazan, Arkhangelsk, Kostroma, and Novosibirsk regions.
Link to interfax-religion...

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Russian Church Sanctifies North Pole

This is from Mystagogy blog and Barents Observer, about the Russian Church blessing the Arctic:
The capsual includes a small plate with the inscription: “With the blessing of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All of the Rus, the consecration of the North Pole marks the 1150 years of Russian Statehood”, a press release from the Church reads.
The Church consecration took place as part of the major ongoing Arctic-2012 expedition, a mission organized by the Russian Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute. The capsual was dropped to sea by Bishop Iakov of Naryan-Mar in a ceremony attended by both expedition leader Vladimir Sokolov and ship Captain Oleg Shchapin.
As previously reported, the Arctic expedition left Murmansk with the nuclear powered icebreaker “Rossiya” on 8 September. On 13 September, the vessel reached the Pole point, and the expedition subsequently continued through Arctic waters towards the site where the drifting Russian research station “North Pole-39” will be replaced by a new facility.
Read further, at link to Mystogogy...

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Romanian Christians Want Lady Gaga Concert Banned


Orthodox and nationalist groups in Romania are calling for a ban on Lady Gaga’s concert in Bucharest, alleging that some of her songs are against “Christian morals” and encourage homosexuality.
Around 3,500 people have signed a petition urging the authorities not to allow the presence of the American pop star in Romania.
“We are a Christian people. Blasphemy and the negation of the God are sins, which cannot be forgiven. Lady Gaga is a malign person and her presence in Romania should be forbidden,” the petition says.