Vladyki Laurus was not an Official in a Riassa; He was a Real Podvizhnik

Fr Aleksandr Mazyrin, an instructor at St Tikhon Orthodox University in Moscow, holder of the degrees of candidate of historical sciences and master of theology, shared with Yelena Zhosul of Interfax-Religion his recollections of the recently-reposed Metropolitan Laurus, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Outside of Russia.

Fr Aleksandr Mazyrin

I only knew Vladyki Laurus slightly. For 10 days in October 2006, I visited the monastery in Jordanville for a conference in memory of the first Chief Hierarch of the ROCOR, Metropolitan Antony Khrapovitsky. Although I only had a few direct contacts with Vladyki Laurus, I had the possibility of seeing him in the course of the ordinary daily routine, and I received a feeling of the quality of his life and service.

The evident spiritual manifestation of Vladyki Laurus was striking. He was a hierarch in the authentic sense of the word, he embodied the ideal of an archpastor and monk, he was not a church politician, he was not an official in a riassa; he was a real podvizhnik. His entire life from childhood onwards was centred on the monastic path. It was the Lord’s work that a monastery founded after the Russian Revolution by some of the brotherhood of the Pochaev Monastery under the leadership of Archimandrite Vitaly Maksimenko was centred in his native village of Ladimirovo in Eastern Slovakia. Because publication of religious books was banned in Soviet Russia, Fr Vitaly founded a monastic brotherhood devoted to the printing trade to produce spiritual literature. The entire life of the future Vladyki Laurus was closely tied to this brotherhood and its publishing work.

Whilst he was still a boy, he often went to the monastery and helped in the services, and when he was ten-years-old, he asked the superior if he could join the brotherhood. The superior directed him to ask for his father’s blessing. Several days later, young Vasili (for such was his name in the world) brought his father to the superior, and his father said that he was not against such a calling. So, the future metropolitan entered into the life of the brotherhood. At first, he lived in the monastery and continued to attend the local school, later, he became a novice. At the end of the Second World War, the brotherhood fled to the West to avoid the advancing Red Army, and Novice Vasili went with them. He went with the brotherhood first to Germany, and then to America, and finally to the spiritual centre of the Russian emigration, Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville NY.

Vladyki did not seek for fame or prestige, but, he accepted the portion that the Lord gave him. He conducted his entire adult life in the monastery, and from the beginning, the signs of his being an authentic monk were visible. He had a disarming simplicity, humility, modesty, and accessibility. When you met him, you did not think that you were encountering a high-ranking hierarch of the Church. Vladyki did not care for the institutional business of the Church, although it seemed, by necessity, that he was constantly occupied in it. I even had the occasion to hear a complaint from Synodal employees in New York that the metropolitan only visited them from time to time.

However, Vladyki craved the quiet of his monastery in the American hinterland. Say the name “Jordanville”, and it is rumoured that some think that it is a suburb of New York City. However, in reality, it is not a suburb, it is a small village. There is not even a store in the town, although there was one once, but, it closed due to lack of business. Truly, there is only one main street in the town, with a town hall, a school, and a library… that’s all. Some would call it a god-forsaken place. The founders of the monastery at Jordanville searched for precisely such an isolated place, where in North America they would be in similar conditions to what they knew in Russia.

Vladyki lived in a small house near the monastery proper. He immersed himself in the cloistered life. He had a usual routine to his day, at five in the morning there were morning prayers, to which he came earlier than the entire brotherhood did. Then, there was the liturgy, which was followed by the usual obediences of the day, and he concluded the evening with Vespers and his customary farewell to the community. This is how each day passed. It was the rhythm of the cloister, which Vladyki had been accustomed to since childhood, and from which he did not desire to part.

You could feel that for him it was very hard to be in the public eye. It was not how he wished to conduct his life. On 17 May 2007, the evening of the day that we celebrated our reconciliation, Vladyki Laurus was assigned a fancy room in the guesthouse of the Danilovsky Monastery. He did not wish to have such a room, but, the rules of protocol were inflexible. However, Metropolitan Laurus did not speak a word of complaint. However, his assistants spoke to our representative, Metropolitan Kirill, about it.

Vladyki had a striking and disarming simplicity. Every day, after liturgy was over, he went with the brotherhood into the monastery refectory, and he sat down at the common table. He did not put on airs or assume a haughty manner, and he did not have a special kitchen. He took the same meal as the rest of the brotherhood did.

I remember when I first arrived at the monastery, I sat down at table, and I think that I was sitting in the middle of it. Everyone was supposed to help themselves. Being there for the very first time, I was confused, but, I did not wish to impose on anyone. There was the usual American breakfast food on the table, corn flakes and dried fruit. Apparently, you pour hot milk over them before you eat them. Vladyki Laurus saw my confusion, arose from his place at the head of the table, and came up to me and said, as if he were apologising to me, “Well, here we do everything the American way, shall you forgive me, this is how we eat this…” only a minor episode, but, of course, very characteristic of him. What an amazingly warm and joyful man!    

No! I would go further than that. I felt that I was associating with a holy man. It is difficult to put this concept into words, but such it was. Unfortunately, my direct contact with Vladyki Laurus was slight, the 10 days in Jordanville, and during the time of the celebration of the reconciliation in Moscow I was near him several times, but, he had other things on his mind other than me those days.

I also met him in Washington during an exhibition devoted to the New Martyrs. Seizing a free moment, I invited Vladyki Laurus to come to St Tikhon University in Moscow, where I teach. We had had earlier conversations about this. Vladyki immediately said that he would very much like to come to see us. Generally speaking, he was always very excited about our University, and he always sent us greetings for all our events, and he always sent his representatives to attend our celebrations and conferences. He took great interest in all of our work, especially our research into church history, found time to read our books, and he even wrote reviews of them.

Less than a month ago, on 22 February, Vladyki Laurus showed up at our school, and let me tell you, there were warm and glad meetings with both instructors and students. It was not possible to fit everyone who wished to see him into the room where he was. There was a moment that was characteristic of him. During the meeting, he was asked some questions on the Church and politics, but Vladyki Laurus did not wish to answer them, so, he passed them to his assistants. However, if the questions concerned monastic life, his connections with Athos, or the elders of Athos, he pricked up his ears and gave lively and interesting answers. Vladyki felt strongly on those topics, they were close and dear to him, whilst the questions about church policy only bored and burdened him. However, we all know that he played a decisive role in the reconciliation of the ROCOR with the MP. It was necessary to do preparatory work for it, and because of his authority, the reunification process was not as painful as some had feared.

Yelena Zhosul

Was he not burdened that it was his mission to not only carry out, but, be an active participant in church policy, indeed, to be at the head of the process of reconciliation?

Fr Aleksandr Mazyrin

The restoration of church unity was a burden that Vladyki could not refuse. He desired in every way possible to reach this goal. For Vladyki, the most important and yet most difficult task was the preservation of peace amongst the faithful. There were many in the ROCOR who were very suspicious of us on the Moscow side. Vladyki Laurus had to do everything in his power so as to not lose this part of his flock, which was a very hard road for him to travel. As I have said already, he was an archpastor in the authentic sense of the word and he approached the question of the reconciliation in a pastoral manner. He refused to do it as a politician would, saying that this shall reveal to us new possibilities and so on, rather, he came to his parishioners as a loving father that understands the infirmities and confusions of his family, and he lived his very life for his flock.

Yelena Zhosul

As far as you know, how did Vladyki Laurus feel while he was in Russia, what did he do when he arrived here?

Fr Aleksandr Mazyrin

Of course, both in his trips in May 2007 and February 2008, he was nearly exhausted. However, in his trip to Russia that occurred a month before his passing, he took part in an extensive programme we had devised for him, even though he was feeling rather poorly. That shows how dear our reunification was for him. He would not deviate from the planned itinerary and official receptions, and met with many important people. He did not care for the official affairs, but, nevertheless, he bore his cross to the very end.

Yelena Zhosul

Now, many note in connection with the sudden passing of Vladyki on the day of the Feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy that the Lord called him to lay down his cross precisely when his mission was accomplished. His earthly life ended on such a note.

Fr Aleksandr Mazyrin

You speak the truth. The main goal of his life was the healing of the church schism, and Vladyki did bring that to an end. Of course, the death of Vladyki was very significant. The Lord took Vladyki Laurus from us in a special way, to indicate to us that his service was a celebration of the triumph of Orthodoxy. Remember, the reconciliation took place on the Ascension, and in God there are no coincidences. There were still many doubters, some found even in the brotherhood at Jordanville, especially amongst American converts and some Western Europeans, that did not understand why there must be unity. His passing on the Feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy was a signal for such doubters, to show them that the Lord called Vladyki Laurus to Himself on such a day. Not earlier, and not later, but, precisely on the day of the Feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy.

Yelena Zhosul

Does St Tikhon Orthodox University plan to publish a memorial anthology of recollections about Vladyki Laurus?

Fr Aleksandr Mazyrin

Of course, we plan to issue a volume dedicated to the memory of Vladyki Laurus, focusing on his trip to our University and his warm relations with us. There are also letters that he wrote to our rector, Fr Vladimir Vorobyov, some dating from before the date of the reconciliation, stressing the importance of the work done by our school. Certainly, we shall do our best to gather all of this material together. This was living history, enacted before our very eyes, of which the Lord gave us the honour of being participants. There is no doubt that we must spread this to all people, both believers and non-believers. We shall do our best to accomplish this task.

19 March 2008

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=interview&div=174 (in Russian)

Editor’s Note:

This has been a particularly hard piece for me to translate. God willing, I have done an adequate job. There are three American “saints” known widely in Russia. Two are obvious, St John Maksimovich the Wonderworker of San Francisco and Blessed Elder Seraphim Rose of Platina. The third is Blessed Laurus of Jordanville. When I was at the Unity Service on Saturday, I was struck by the fact that the “Russians” all seemed to have a greater regard for Vladyki’s sanctity than we did. It would not surprise me to see Vladyki glorified first by the Church in Russia. His portrait was in a prominent place downstairs under the cathedral.

This is an evident signal for all of us American Russian Orthodox. Sanctity has shone forth from the ROCOR, and none from the OCA or its Parisian cousin (the chain-smoking Maria Skobtsova was no saint, thank you very much). I shall give people in the OCA no “earthly” reason for coming home. Come home because we wish you back, the saints wish you back, and there shall be great rejoicing in Heaven when you do.

COME HOME BECAUSE WE LOVE YOU.

I can put it no other way. If I could bring you home by sacrificing my own life, I would do it, no questions asked.

Christ wishes us to be one. Is that not reason enough? 

 

Russian Gosduma Deputies Say the Overwhelming Approval of Vladimir Putin as Prime Minister Is Fully Deserved

Russian lawmakers say there is nothing surprising in the record parliamentary support Vladimir Putin enjoyed when he was confirmed as Prime Minister in today’s vote in the lower house of the State Duma. Of 448 lawmakers taking part in Thursday’s vote, Mr Putin was overwhelmingly confirmed by 392 to 56 votes. President Dmitri Medvedev officially nominated Mr Putin as premier after his inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin, and signed a decree formalising the nomination a little over an hour after the Duma vote.

Valery Yazev, the head of the State Duma Energy Committee, explained the unprecedented unanimity of Thursday’s vote. “The vote reflects the widespread appreciation of Vladimir Putin’s eight years of effort and of his development program until 2020. His report paid a great deal of attention to energy issues, a paramount economic sector which the new Prime Minister said was bound to ensure this country’s socioeconomic progress”. 

Asked about his vision of efficient interaction between parliament and the new Cabinet, Andrei Kokoshin, the deputy chairman of the State Duma’s Science and High Technologies Committee, said that Mr Putin in his address substantially covered the issues of promoting innovations in the economy and high-tech production in Russia. In particular, this concerns the sectors that could give high added values. Mr Putin pointed to the ship-building and aviation industries. The United Russia Party and its faction in parliament are studying the issues comprehensively so that they can make a concrete contribution to promote these areas in industry. They also focused on nano-technology that will be used in super high frequency electronics, Andrei Kokoshin said. 

Gennady Gudkov, a deputy from the A Just Russia faction, suggests that the government will give first and foremost priority to social issues. Among these are the increase of pensions, construction of houses, balancing the price policy, and taxation. He expressed hope that these issues would be resolved effectively. This is witnessed by the strong support of parliament for Mr Putin.

8 May 2008

Yelena Studneva

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=26820&cid=56&p=08.05.2008 (in English)

 

9 May 2008. A Shot of Culture, if you please…

Benois de la Danse award ceremony to be held in Moscow

Leading Russian and foreign dancers and choreographers working in ballet will be honoured at the 16th annual Benois de la Danse award ceremony, to be held tonight on the New Stage of the Bolshoi Theatre here in Moscow. 

6 May 2008

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=26658&cid=51&p=06.05.2008 (in English)

Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow to play host to a gala concert by the winners of the Benois de la Danse

The New Stage of Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre is due to play host later today to a gala concert by the winners in various years of the Benois de la Danse international ballet prize. The names of this year’s six winners of the prize were made public in Moscow yesterday. The winner of the most prestigious category, For Life in Art, is Fernando Alonso (1915-), the founder of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, along with his wife, the famous prima ballerina assoluta, Alicia Alonso (1920-). This company is known for its combination of technical severity and Latin sensuality. The prize is a statuette of a gracefully dancing pair and is named after Aleksandr Benois, a prominent Russian artist and art critic, whose ideas influenced the development of the ballet all over the world.

7 May 2008

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=26737&cid=51&p=07.05.2008 (in English)

Bolshoi premier dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze hosts benefit performance

The Premier dancer of the Bolshoi Ballet, Nikolai Tsikaridze, People’s Artist of Russia, shall host a benefit performance at the Bolshoi today. He dedicated it to his teachers, Marina Semyonova, Galina Ulanova and Nikolai Fadeyechev. “I was happy to learn from such great dancers and teachers”, Mr Tsikaridze said. He invited his colleagues to take part in the gala-concert, which will feature scenes from different ballets in the standard world repertoire. 

8 May 2008

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=26790&cid=51&p=08.05.2008 (in English)

Voice of Russia World Service

9 May 2008. A Day at the Races…

UEFA chief thanks Russia for a relaxing visa regulations for British fans wishing to attend the Champions League finals

Michel Platini, the head of the UEFA, thanked Russian leaders, the Moscow city authorities, and the Russian Football Union for what he described as a historic decision to grant British fans the right to travel to Russia visa-free to attend the Champions’ League finals. According to Mr Platini, the unprecedented decision is a great piece of news for football fans. Meanwhile, the British Foreign Office said London shall not simplify the visa issuance procedure for the Zenit Russian football team fans leaving for the UK to attend the UEFA Cup final match in Manchester on 14 May.

7 May 2008

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=26739&cid=52&p=07.05.2008 (in English)

Fyodor Konyukhov finishes the world’s first Antarctic Cup race

The legendary Russian seafarer Fyodor Konyukhov is the first person to have circumnavigated the Antarctic aboard a sailing vessel in a non-stop voyage. Earlier today, he reached the Australian seaport of Albany on board his yacht Aliye Parusa, or Scarlet Sails, to end his race around the icy continent. He was welcomed in an official ceremony attended by city officials and residents. It took him 96 days and 19 hours to cover 15,500 nautical miles (28,706 kilometres) along a hitherto unexplored route amid thousands of icebergs, severe storms. and giant waves. The race time is a first world record for sailing vessels.

7 May 2008

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=26741&cid=52&p=07.05.2008 (in English)

Olympic torch reaches Mount Everest

The Olympic torch reached the summit of Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain (8,844 metres (29,015 feet) above sea level). Chinese television showed the team of torch-bearers climbing the last 30 metres to the peak. Thus, the most ambitious Olympic expedition was successfully completed, while the main Olympic torch, which is running separately, is continuing its relay through China.

8 May 2008

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=26779&cid=52&p=08.05.2008 (in English)

Olympic torch arrives in Chinese city of Huizhou

The Olympic flame arrived in the Chinese city of Huizhou Friday, where 208 torch-bearers will carry it along a 30-kilometre way (18.64 miles). The police have instituted boosted security measures. Thousands of people came to greet the athletes carrying the major symbol of Olympics. According to the present schedule, the torch will be carried through 130 Chinese cities. The relay is to continue in Shantou, the last stopover in Guangdong before moving to Fujian Province on Saturday.

9 May 2008

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=26831&cid=52&p=09.05.2008 (in English)

Voice of Russia World Service

The Spiritual Victory of the People

The Divine Liturgy is being celebrated in all Russian Orthodox churches today, on Victory Day. The clergy shall pray for the souls of those who were killed during the Great Patriotic War. On the eve, the primate of the Moscow Patriarchate, Patriarch Aleksei II, laid a wreath before the monument to the Unknown Soldier at the Kremlin wall. “We must remember those who sacrificed their lives defending the holy borders of our fatherland. Today, all churches across the country will pray for those who forged Victory at the expense of their lives, and among them were many clergy”, Patriarch Aleksei emphasised. 

At the very beginning of the war, the Nazi leaders hoped for help from the Russian Orthodox Church, which, according to their deduction, was alienated from Soviet rule. Clergymen were asked to aid the enemy and do covert sabotge. For doing so, they were promised military decorations and respect, and they were told it would help the Nazis win the war. However, the occupiers changed their mind after they failed to get the support of the Russian Orthodox Church. They tried to break the spirit of the Russian people by seizing clergy and executing them. Even such a move failed to stop the clergy from going to the front. It was not only a civil duty, but, also a spiritual and religious duty of all Russians to fight against the enemy and defeat him, said Fr Mikhail Prokopenko, a representative of the Moscow Patriarchate.

“From the first day, and even from the first hours, the Russian Orthodox Church unambiguously said that it would support the people’s resistance. Metropolitan Sergei Stagorodsky, who was later elected as the head of the Moscow Patriarchate, sent a message to the papacy on the first day of the war and said that a believer could not be on the side of the enemy”.

The war changed the attitude of the atheist rulers towards the Orthodox Church. A Council of Russian Orthodox Church Affairs was set up under the Soviet People’s Commissariat of the Soviet Union in 1942 and a Bishop’s Council was held the next year where Patriarch Sergei was elected, the institution of the episcopate was restored, and Orthodox dioceses were set up across Russia. It was a real restoration of Orthodoxy and Christian faith in the Soviet Union, Fr Mikhail said.

Fr Mikhail said religious persecution essentially ended at that time. In the wake of this disaster, the war led to the disappearance of atheistic propaganda and godlessness imposed on the people by the commissars. During the war, the churches were filled with people. The church holidays were marked by the involvement of many believers. Prayers for victory were said across the country and parishes gathered money for the defence of the Motherland. Clergy fought in many partisan units. To give an instance, a photograph showing the partisan commander Sidor Kovpat awarding a priest a military decoration is quite famous. Aleksei Simansky, Metropolitan of Leningrad, who later became Patriarch Aleksei I, did not leave the besieged city and was subject to the same danger as the other residents were.

Over a million clergy of various orders of service were killed and several hundred holy objects were lost forever. The Nazis ruthlessly bombed churches and monasteries. However, in the opinion of Fr Mikhail, all this sacrifice was necessary. “Only true belief, and those holding the true belief, could win the war. The victory of the Russian people in the Great Patriotic War is a bright example that proves this,” he said.

9 May 2008

Voice of Russia World Service 

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=26835&cid=59&p=09.05.2008 (in English)

 

Military Parade on Red Square Part of Victory Day Celebrations

Russia marked Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 on Friday. Ceremonies devoted to the 63rd anniversary of the triumph of the people, who defeated Hitler’s Germany, are being held across the country. The climax of the holiday was the military parade on Red Square in Moscow. The military parade started exactly at 10.00 Moscow time. The state flag of the Russian Federation and the banner of victory, which was raised over the German Reichstag in conquered Berlin in May 1945, were brought to Red Square with bell-ringing and musical accompaniment. Then, Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyuk inspected the troops of the Moscow garrison and reported to President Dmitri Medvedev that they were ready for the parade.

Mr Medvedev said that he had hearty congratulations for everyone on Victory Day. The holiday was and will remain forever the holiest holiday of the people and has become the symbol of Russian national unity for all time. Mr Medvedev congratulated all veterans of the Great Patriotic War and said that they did not bend their knee to the foe and gave a lesson of genuine patriotism to their descendents. Mr Medvedev emphasised the need for us to work constantly to avert military conflicts. He called on to remember the lessons of the past war and do the best to prevent such a tragedy from repeating. The President gave warnings to anyone who might try to sow ethnic or religious hatred or unleash terror and extremism, and he also spoke against the change of borders without the sanction of international law. After the address by Mr Medvedev, the national anthem of Russia was played, and it was accompanied by an artillery salvo.

The parade started with a historical element. Officers and soldiers in uniforms of the Great Patriotic War carried standards and banners of fronts, formations, and units that won glory during the war. This was followed by a parade of military units, in which about 10,000 servicemen took part. They were wearing, for the first time, new uniforms designed by the famous Russian fashion designer Valentin Yudashkin. The new uniforms are distinguished by colour depending on the branch of the armed forces or the arm of service. The main distinguishing feature of today’s Victory parade was the involvement of military hardware after an 18-year break. Among these were the T-90 main battle tank, the most advanced tank in the world, combat vehicles of the reconnaissance and parachute forces, infantry combat vehicles, and multiple artillery rocket systems. Special attention was given to the S-300 missile defence system and Iskander tactical missile system. The parade on Red Square was ended by units of Topol-M mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles, the most formidable weapon of the Russian armed forces.

The involvement of aircraft was the most striking episode of the parade. In all 32 aircraft and helicopters of the Russian air force flew over Red Square at a height of 300 metres (@1,000 feet). After three helicopters carrying the flags of Russia, the armed forces, and the air force, a group of aircraft led by the Ruslan, the world’s largest cargo plane flew over Red Square. They were followed by strategic missile carriers, long-range bombers, advanced fighter jets, and attack planes. The display of the air force was ended by the Vityazi and Strizhi aerobatic groups of the air force, who flew Su-27 and MiG-29 planes in the form of a rhombus, leaving a colourful trace.

In fact, in addressing the gathering, President Medvedev emphasised that the Russian army and navy had been gaining strength, and they would strengthen in the same proportion as Russia itself. “In their power today lies the historical glory of Russian arms, therein lies the traditions of victory and high spirit of our army”, President Medvedev said.

9 May 2008

Vyacheslav Solovyov

Voice of Russia World Service

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=26828&cid=59&p=09.05.2008 (in English)

Fr Vsevolod Chaplin Proposed Improvements to the Personnel Management of the Moscow Patriarchate

Fr Vsevolod Chaplin (1968-), zamglavy of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate

Moscow, 8 May 2008 (Interfax):

Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, Deputy Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations, proposed improvements in the personnel management of the Moscow Patriarchate. “One of the reasons for occasional conflict in the church is that a person is not in an appropriate position”, he said at a roundtable meeting in Moscow on Wednesday. In the opinion of Fr Vsevolod, not every individual disposed to dispute may become a source of conflict, if they occupy the right place, and perform such duties as may best fit their nature, knowledge, experience, and spiritual attitudes.

Fr Vsevolod believes that “we should not be afraid to discuss this matter, not only in the refectory after the service or in the kitchen, but, also at the level of serious internal church discussion”. Previously, Fr Vsevolod advanced a number of ideas that could help people understand how to find their place in service to the church, in particular, the idea of the benefit of recertification of certain church employees. In reference to this, he asked us to focus our attention on the practise of the Greek Orthodox Church and the Old Believers, which publish the names of candidates for important church offices before their final appointment. “This opens up a rather broad discussion. People then have the chance to speak the truth to one other in an open dialogue”, Fr Vsevolod said.

Other members of the discussion group included Archbishop Feofan of Stavropol and Vladikavkaz and Bishop Longin of Saratov and Volsk, both members of the Public Chamber of Russia, Archpriest Vladimir Silovev, head of the publishing division of the MP, Priest Vladimir Vigilyansky, head of the press service of the MP, Archpriest Vladislav Sveshnikov, professor at St Tikhon Orthodox University in Moscow, Archpriest Victor Potapov, rector of St John the Baptist Cathedral in Washington DC (USA) (ROCOR), Priest Andrei Lorgus, Dean of the Department of Psychology at St Tikhon Orthodox University in Moscow, Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, of the Department of External Church Relations of the MP, Hierodeacon Pavel Shcherbachov, editor of the website Pravoslavie.ru, Archpriest Sergei Pravdolyubov, Master of Theology, amongst others.

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=24360 (in Russian)

 

President Medvedev says that the State shall maintain a Close Relationship with the Orthodox Church

President Dmitri Medvedev (1965-)

Moscow, 7 May 2008 (Interfax):

The state shall maintain and further develop its close relationship with the Orthodox Church, President Dmitri Medvedev said. On Wednesday, the day of his inauguration, Mr Medvedev, together with his wife, inspected the Presidential Guard regiment on the Cathedral Square before arriving at the Cathedral of the Annunciation in the Kremlin, where they met Patriarch Aleksei II of Moscow and all Russia.

At a molieben “For the Beginning of a Good Endeavour”, Patriarch Aleksei prayed that God bless “the good administration of our country by our President Dmitri”, and that “the Lord teach and guide him, add to him understanding and wisdom, so that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life”. After the service, the patriarch conveyed his good wishes to the newly sworn-in head of state. “The Church is ready to continue to cooperate [with the state], since we have one Fatherland, one history, and one future”, His Holiness said.

In turn, Mr Medvedev assured the Patriarch that “we shall maintain and further develop our special and close relations with the Orthodox Church for the greater good of the Motherland. Russian history in the 20th century was dramatic indeed, a history of death and shattered hopes. However, at the end of the 20th century, Russia started a new course. Over the last eight years, the state, supported by the Orthodox Church, gathered together all morally-sound elements, and a relationship began to develop. Now, we must do everything possible to consolidate the positive tendencies that have manifested themselves”, he said.

God willing, the patriarch said, the new president will continue the course started by former President Vladimir Putin. “I hope that together we can manage to do much for society’s development in the years to come. Care for the individual shall be the top priority [in President Medvedev's administration], but, the head of state also [has the responsibility to] strengthen Russia’s international position”, Patriarch Aleksei said.

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=24352 (in Russian)

 

Ukrainians Shun NATO, Support Ties With Russia

Party of Regions activists with portrait of Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovych

In what was termed the Orange Revolution of late 2004, protests in the streets of Kiev forced a rerun of the second round of the presidential election in the Ukraine, resulting in the victory of Viktor Yushchenko over his rival Viktor Yanukovych, who was backed by former president Leonid Kuchma and Russian president Vladimir Putin. Both at the time and subsequently, the outcome was perceived as a victory for pro-Western forces in the Ukraine over a ruling group that hitherto was oriented toward Russia. In similar fashion, the parliamentary elections of 2006 also saw a narrow victory for the Orange forces (which later split catastrophically) over the Party of Regions led by Viktor Yanukovych. However, two opinion polls that have been conducted in recent weeks suggest that Ukrainian residents are hesitant about deepening ties with the West and opposed especially to NATO, and a substantial number would rather have some form of union with neighbours Russia and Belarus than join the EU.

On 24 July, Interfax Ukraine cited the results of the most recent survey conducted by the Yaremenko Ukrainian Institute of Social Research and the “Social Monitoring” Centre between 10 and 18 July. It is based on 2,014 respondents over the age of 18, residing in 132 cities and villages in all regions of the Ukraine, and has a margin of error of 1.34-2.24%. Less than 20% of respondents are in support of the Ukraine joining NATO, with 57% opposed, a figure that would seem to preclude any immediate prospects of a referendum on whether to join the military body. About 25% are in favour of joining the EU, whereas 43.4% wish to join a union with Russia and Belarus, and 27% think it better to pursue equal relations with both the EU and Russia. Thus over 70% of those surveyed support some form of close relationship with Russia. On the status of the Russian language in the Ukraine, the attitude is generally benign: 33.5% feel that the existing status of that language should remain as it is currently; 26.4% believe that it should be raised to the status of a state language; 24.7% consider that Russian should be elevated to the second state language in areas where a majority is in favour of this step; and only 11.7% think that Russian should be removed from official communications throughout the Ukraine. Thus over 51% support some strengthening of the status of the Russian language in the Ukraine.

These results may be compared to those of another poll carried out between 19 June and 2 July by the Ukrainian Sociology Service and Democratic Initiatives Foundation, with 2,000 respondents from all regions and an error margin of under 2.2% and cited by the Kiev Post. This poll reveals that had the parliamentary elections, scheduled for late September 2007, been held in early July, the East Ukrainian-based Party of Regions led by Mr Yanukovych would have won 44% of the vote and gained about 206 seats in the legislature of 450 members. Regions could then have formed a working partnership with the Communist Party and established a majority government. Mr Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc would have formed the opposition. This same poll also revealed the declining faith of residents of the Ukraine in democracy (only 44% feel that it is the best state system); whereas a substantial group, one fifth of respondents, believes that the Ukraine would be better off with an authoritarian system. On the question of whether order, democracy, freedom, or liberalism was needed, “order” was the preferred commodity, with 93% in support, whereas less than 25% opted for liberalism.

The results of these two polls are both disturbing and revealing. On the one hand, they suggest that the progress of the Ukraine toward a Western-style and Western-leaning democracy has been consistently exaggerated by some Western sources. On the other hand, they offer a more accurate account of the way Ukrainians really think. A large plurality or even a small majority of residents of the Ukraine prefer closer ties with Russia and have some facility in the Russian language. A similarly substantial portion of the population is sceptical about Western influence, democratic structures, and the way the country has been run since the success of the Orange Revolution. In truth, the Orange Revolution was not about a pro-Western or pro-Russian orientation at all (Mr Putin’s ill-advised interventions notwithstanding). It was about the way the country had been run for the previous decade, with a spate of political murders, corruption, and muzzling of the media by the Kuchma government.

Ukrainians are not pro-Western today partly because the example set by Western democracies in recent times has hardly provided a model to emulate: beginning with NATO’s attack on Serbia in 1999 and culminating with the invasion of Iraq. Ukrainians are for the most part pro-Russian because they see Russia as a strong counterforce to the United States and a nation with which they have more in common than with either the new democracies of Eastern Europe or the long-established democracies that no longer seem capable of providing fitting examples to follow.

25 July 2007

David Marples

Current Politics in the Ukraine

http://ukraineanalysis.wordpress.com/2007/07/25/ukrainians-shun-nato-support-ties-with-russia/ (in English)

Editor’s Note:

This is an older article that has lost none of its topicality or relevance. Firstly, let me give a note on terminology. In English, one says “the Ukraine”, just as one says “the Netherlands”, “the USA”, “the United Kingdom”, “the USSR”, and “the Sudan”. It is an established part of ordinary English usage, Galician Uniate protests notwithstanding.

The Ukraine is not a state in the full sense of the word. Some 45 percent of its population is Great Russian, and the proportion of Russian-speakers is even higher. It is a sickly successor state on the post-Soviet space, and it is high time that it was reincorporated into Russia, except for the Catholic region of Galicia, which should go to Poland, where it belongs. There is no such thing as a discrete Ukrainian history, and a strong argument can be made that “Ukrainian” is nothing but a southern dialect of Russian.

In short, most of the Ukrainian populace would welcome a return of Russian authority, and it would be a peaceful transition, much like the Anschluss of Austria to Germany in 1938. We have one people, one history, one faith, and one soul. We deserve to be together yet again. Let the Galicians go back home to their Carpathian backwater in peace.

Russia and the Ukraine… together forever!    

 

Today is Victory Day!

Za Rodinu! (For the Motherland!) A poster for Victory Day, 2005

Today is one of the greatest holidays on the calendar. We celebrate the victory over Nazi Germany in 1945, arguably, the greatest event of the 20th century. If the Nazis had won, our world would have been a darker place. Communism was evil, but Nazism was evil distilled and without a trace of good. Millions died in the very short space of 12 years. It is amazing that the Nazi rule was so short, but it accomplished so much destruction in that period. The Reds killed millions as well, but not as quickly, nor with the same soulless efficiency.

We honour the veterans today. All glory to the fighters fallen in the Second Great Patriotic War! All glory to the living veterans! We owe you a debt that cannot be repaid.

THANK YOU!

Vara Drezhlo

Friday 9 May 2008

Victory Day