Voices from Russia

Interior of Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow (Fyodor Klages, 1883)

Moscow, 29 February 2008 (Interfax):

Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, Deputy Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations, said that Russia needs to keep its Byzantine heritage alive in order not to be left behind by the march of history. “The Italian professor Silvio Ferrari, a prominent specialist on church and state relations, once said, ‘The Byzantine Empire fell apart because it couldn’t take in other civilisations. Rome survived as it managed to enculturate the barbarians’”, Fr Vsevolod wrote in the next instalment of his series Scraps published in the newspaper Pravoslavnaya Moskva.

He said that Byzantium did not vanish without a trace, “it was reincarnated in Russia. It survived to the degree as it managed to convert many peoples to its faith. In both cases, Roman and ours, it happened because society had the force to convey its faith despite the limits of state and ethnos”, Fr Vsevolod said. “This force is the Church of Christ, which realises that life of every state and nation is limited in space and time, but it strives to preach to ‘the far and the near’, even to its enemies. May the Lord make us such a force. It will make Russia ‘Byzantium without its faults’, (a Byzantium) that will never be dropped into the dustbin of history. Let it be!” Fr Vsevolod wished.

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=4345 (in English)

Farewell to America of Patriarch St Tikhon (Filipp Moskvitin, 2003)

In view of the Golgotha being suffered today by the native priests and faithful of the Alaskan Church so loved by St Tikhon, this was the only appropriate artwork for this article. May St Tikhon intercede for his native children, and may it be swift!

Moscow, 27 February 2008 (Interfax):

The relics of Patriarch St Tikhon of Moscow and all Russia are to visit parishes of the Russian Church in the US and Canada, Vladimir Yakunin, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of both the Centre for Russian National Glory and the St Andrew the First-called Foundation, said on Wednesday. “Today, we plan to bring the relics of St Tikhon from Russia to America”, Mr Yakunin said in addressing Metropolitan Laurus, the primate of the ROCOR, in the Pokrovsky Cathedral of Ss Martha and Mary Convent when the latter was decorated with the order of the international prize For Faith and Faithfulness of the St Andrew the First-called Foundation.

The relics of St Tikhon shall be brought to the US and Canada in autumn 2008 so that the Orthodox faithful abroad can venerate them. Earlier, Metropolitan Laurus addressed such a request to Patriarch Aleksei II of Moscow and all Russia and the St Andrew the First-called Foundation. Speaking at a press conference at the Ss Martha and Mary Convent, Metropolitan Vladimir of Tashkent and Central Asia confirmed that Patriarch Aleksei blessed the proposal to bring the relics to Orthodox parishes abroad. Vladyki Vladimir recalled that last autumn the Foundation brought the relics of St Aleksandr Nevsky to Orthodox parishes in Russia connected with the saint’s life and deeds. St Tikhon was canonised at the Episcopal Sobor of the Moscow Patriarchate on 9 October 1989. His relics are in the Grand Cathedral of Donskoy Monastery in Moscow.

Editor’s note: Perhaps, we should encourage our clergy to say a molieben of intercession to Patriarch St Tikhon of Moscow for the needs of the suffering Church in Alaska this weekend. Please, pray for Fr Peter Asokar, Fr Thomas Andrew, and Fr Michael Oleksa in particular. The evil being done by Bishop Nikolai Soraich must cease! We can do this, at least.

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=4338 (in English)

Visoki Dečani Monastery of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo, a World Heritage Site (this is one of the beautiful treasures threatened by the UCK terrorists)

Moscow, 29 February 2008 (Interfax):

Circles in the Moscow Patriarchate are concerned over the future of Orthodox shrines in Kosovo after its UDI from Serbia. When asked by the Vesti TV channel if there is a danger of their destruction as a result of the UDI of Kosovo, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations, said, “Surely, there is such a danger”. “It is impossible to number all the shrines. Many churches and monasteries date back to the 14^th, 15^th, and 16^th centuries and they are under UNESCO protection. However, we know how tenuous this protection is. Monasteries are set on fire, churches are destroyed”, he said. “If this world heritage site is demolished in the centre of Europe in the 21st century, then, what is it all about? What criteria of international policy and future European society can be discussed, if we destroy some of the greatest memorials (of Christian civilisation)?” Metropolitan Kirill asked. He believes that “it is the greatest challenge to those who control this process in Kosovo”.

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=4347 (in English)

Moscow, 29 February 2008 (Interfax):

The UDI of Kosovo threatens Orthodox shrines at Lake Ohrid in Macedonia, said Dr Natalya Narochnitskaya, the President of the Historical Prospects Foundation. “Illegitimacy always gives raise to extreme trends both in religion and in politics. It (Kosovo: Interfax) shall be a state that claims territories in other countries in accordance with the doctrine of Greater Albania. It is not a secret”, she said in an interview on the Vesti TV channel.

“Why do they (Europe and the USA: Interfax) pretend not to see it? Don’t they know that the Greater Albanian idea aims to seize 40 percent of Macedonia and the North-Western part of Greece and to make Lake Ohrid an Albanian sea? Christian and Orthodox shrines are located there”, Dr Narochnitskaya noted. She commented that the relics of Ss Naum and Clement who enriched the Slavonic alphabet with additions to its grammar after Ss Cyril and Methodius are located there.

“Who remembers that Christian shrines in Kosovo were not only plundered and set afire, they were desecrated? I saw authenticated photos of altars covered in excrement, an icon of the Mother of God pockmarked with bullet-holes defaced with the inscriptions “UCK” and “Peter’s Europe keeps silence”. It is strange and inexplicable. So short sighted”, she said. Dr Narochnitskaya also considered groundless the hopes of the USA that support from Kosovar Albanians “will compensate for the hatred of the Islamic world to the United States”.

She believes that Albanian extremists initially aim to occupy only a part of territory they claim. “The most dangerous kind of terrorism is the sort aiming for territorial changes. This terrorism is not dangerous for the US as the only thing that global terrorism wants from them is non-interference in their business. However, this is exactly what threatens Russia and Europe”, Dr Narochnitskaya remarked.

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=4349 (in English)

Moscow, 3 March 2008 (Interfax):

Visitors can taste various pancakes in the Kremlin canteens during Maslenitsa or “Pancake Week”, the last week before Lent. “A wide variety of pancakes is being offered in all presidential catering complexes including the Kremliovsky during Maslenitsa”, Viktor Khrekov, the Presidential Administration spokesman, told Interfax-Religion on Monday. Among them are wheat, buckwheat, yeast, traditional Russian and European pancakes with various fillings including sour cream, butter, honey, and jams. “Four or five different kinds of pancakes are offered to visitors every day”, Mr Khrekov said.

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=4355 (in English)

Dmitri Medvedev, the winner of yesterday’s Presidential election, is a fan of Russian rock music, collects old-style “vinyl” LP records, and he believes that one can always find time to listen to music and for his children.

Moscow, 2 March 2008 (Interfax):

Dmitri Medvedev was born on 14 September 1965 in Leningrad. His parents were both professors, his father was on the faculty of the Lensovet Technological Institute and his mother taught at the Herzen Pedagogical Institute. It was expected that Dmitri would follow in the footsteps of his parents. After finishing secondary school, he studied at the law faculty of Leningrad State University, and he finished his graduate work there in 1990. It was during his student years that he had an encounter that ultimately led him into the corridors of power in the Kremlin.

During his classes on civil liberty Dmitri was introduced to Anatoly Sobchak, and he later got to know Mr Sobchak more intimately in casual settings as well. After Mr Sobchak became the Chairman of the Leningrad City Council in 1990, he invited Dmitri to become one of his assistants. In 1991, Mr Sobchak became the Mayor of the newly-renamed St Petersburg, and Mr Medvedev transferred to the St Petersburg Committee on External Relations, an office that was headed at the time by Vladimir Putin. Under the direction of Mr Putin, Mr Medvedev attended to the legal details of transactions, agreements, and investment projects. At the same time, he taught at the law faculty of St Petersburg State University, and he was a lecturer at the department of civil liberty until 1999.

At the University, many regretted the loss of this talented instructor, but, no one doubted his political ambitions. His former associates describe Mr Medvedev as a professional and extremely capable man. It is no mistake that Dmitri Medvedev is an example of a new generation of politicians. In marked contrast to his older colleagues, there are no references in his curriculum vitae to a past in the Komsomol or Communist Party, he was not part of the cooperative movement or privatisation, and he was not involved in the controversy over the reforms of the Yeltsin years.

In eight years, Dmitri Medvedev advanced from Deputy Chief of Government Administration to First Vice-Premier. Some of the highlights of this period are his management of the election campaign of Vladimir Putin in 2000; he was a member of the Board of Directors of Gazprom, and he was the moderator of the programme “National Projects”. In detail, he became Deputy Chief of Government Administration of the RF in December 1999, in June 2000, he became the First Deputy Chief of this body, and in October 2003, he advanced to the post of Chief of the Presidential Administration of the RF. In November 2005, he was promoted to the First Deputy Premier of the RF. Simultaneously, in 2000, he became a member of the Board of Directors of Gazprom, becoming the Deputy Chairman of the Board in 2001, and he advanced to Chairman of the Board in June 2002.

Mr Medvedev acknowledges that his two main passions are rock music and outdoor sport. He asserts that, despite his heavy work schedule, it is always possible to find the time to “teach my children and listen to music”. His most favourite rock band is Chaif, and he is also a fan of many of the rock groups from Yekaterinburg and St Petersburg. However, he complains that it is practically impossible to find the albums of these groups in old “vinyl” LP format nowadays. He regrets that he does not have much time for sport these days, and he regrets not having enough time for fishing.

Interfax-Politics

http://www.interfax.ru/txt.asp?id=2636&sec=1446 (in Russian)

A majority of Americans have criticised the deployment of US troops to Iraq according to a public opinion poll that was made public on Sunday. The public opinion poll was conducted by the CBS TV Company. 58 per cent of respondents say that they criticise the invasion of Iraq by coalition forces.

3 March 2008

Voice of Russia World Service

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=23676&cid=48&p=03.03.2008 (in Russian and English)