Second News Story Concerning the Closure of the Russian Orthodox Museum in Anchorage AK

A second news release, from the Juneau Empire at 1016 EDT 15 July, confirmed the closure of the Russian Orthodox Museum in Anchorage at the end of August. The article reported that Fr Mikel Bock said, “The closure has to be done because the diocese is hurting because of the economy”. (See http://juneauempire.com/stories/071509/reg_463956237.shtml ).

This is the very first statement from any OCA official source that there are financial difficulties due to the current economic meltdown. The Syosset apparat is letting everything go to seed; they are sequestering the Church’s funds for their salaries and their precious little headquarters in suburban Long Island. Not many people outside of the New York metro area know that the town of Syosset has a “reputation”. It is known as the cheesiest collection of the “affluent effluent” in the region, right down there with Manhasset, the Hamptons, and Englewood Cliffs in Jersey. Does the Church need to be located in such a miasma of greed and ostentation? I would say not!

Vladyki Jonas! It is time for you to act like the monastic that you are! Move the HQ to St Tikhon’s in South Canaan, and let these ecclesial paladins rot on the vine. If nothing else, it shall save the Church a great deal of money… money that can be used to better effect than to be used for the enrichment of grasping and corrupt clerics (By the way, the Washington DC metro area is just as, if not more, expensive than NYC. It’s a VERY bad idea to move there.).

Vladyki! Talk to us honestly and without equivocation about the crisis, and, please, do can the “California Happy Talk”. It is a Churchillian moment, and I, for one, believe that you can rise to the occasion. You would be pleasantly surprised to see how people would rally behind you. Sell Syosset and sell SVS. LET THEM GO. They are an albatross around the neck of the Church, and have been such from the first. It is time to go “Back to the Future”, and return to the foundation laid by Patriarch St Tikhon the Martyr.

You can be like Vladyki Cyprian Borisevich of Happy Memory or you can be like Aleksandr Dmitrievich Schmemann of Unhappy Memory. The ordinary people loved Vladyki Cyprian, and if you doubt me, just ask anyone from north-eastern PA (especially, ask the people from Russian Hill in Mayfield!). The pseudo-intellectual poseurs hated him. I know where I stand! What about you, sir? Again, don’t listen to the Syosset Gang… the ordinary folk would rally around you, and we wouldn’t let them do anything to you.

STAND TALL, VLADYKI. God shall bless you for it.

Vara Drezhlo

Wednesday 15 July 2009

Православие в России (Orthodoxy in Russia)

This video is in Russian, but, the visuals are such that anyone can get a great deal from it. The narrator speaks often of St Aleksei, Metropolitan of Moscow, and she venerates his relics.

I wanted to put up something about healthy, normal, and sane Orthodoxy after posting about Syosset’s latest contretemps. Thank God, they do NOT represent normative Orthodoxy. How long must we suffer under such corrupt, impious, and grasping clergy? Please, Lord, hear our pleas and remove this pestilence. It is enough, isn’t it?

Orthodox Museum in Anchorage Closes… No Word Concerning It on OCA.Org

The Farewell to America of Patriarch St Tikhon (Fillip Moskvitin, 2003). This picture says it all… and Syosset has the unmitigated gall to claim that it honours Vladyki Tikhon’s memory and mission. What impertinence!

One of the little features that I have activated on my computer is an alert that searches for the keyword “Russian Orthodox”. It is a simple thing, truly, and anyone who is looking for news on the Church should have it enabled. Quite obviously, the webmaster of oca.org is a layabout who does not attend to the basic tasks of their job. To take an obvious and egregious example, there was no real or timely coverage of the St Tikhon’s Pilgrimage. Friends of mine in PA told me that a large number of folks from the Mayfield parish were there, and, that, friends and neighbours, is NEWS (and VERY welcome news, at that). Technology is such that not only print, but, photos as well, could have been posted the night of the event (as any conscientious webmaster would have done). What happened?

NOTHING.

NADA.

NICHEVO.

If the OCA is paying for such shoddy workmanship, it is being rooked; in fact, it is being cheated to the fullest extent possible. Well… our sleepy ol’ webmaster was napping at the switch again. At 1534 EDT today, NBC-affiliate KTTU-TV of Anchorage reported that the Russian Orthodox Museum in Anchorage AK had to shutter its doors because of a lack of funds due to the imploded economy (information from the website of KTUU Anchorage AK and an AP report. see http://www.ktuu.com/global/story.asp?s=10725072). Fr Mikel Bock said that the exhibits are to be returned to the parishes and individuals that donated them. Why was there no news on oca.org on the troubles of this facility? Why was there no fundraising attempt made? Is the silence due to the fact that the Syosset/SVS Mafiosi refuse to acknowledge the crisis? I believe that these ecclesiastical gentlemen have no intention of taking a cut in pay so the Church can aid its parishioners who have been thrown out of work (unemployment is 10 percent and rising, Syosset).

To put it bluntly, this need not have happened. The greed and self-centredness it reveals is noisome. The money necessary was probably not a large sum, relatively speaking. I am speechless.

This is unconscionable. A bishop of the Church has the gall to gad about in a Cadillac Escalade SUV (easily one of the more ostentatious and flashy motor vehicles extant), but, there is no money to aid a museum documenting the oldest diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church in America. There is money to pay Syosset apparatchiki 2.5 times the national median family income of 50,000 USD per family (and 25 percent higher than the Syosset median family income of 107,000 USD), but, there is none for aid to the struggling Church in Alaska.

FOR SHAME, SYOSSET!

I thought that the depths had been plumbed. Obviously, I was wrong.

Vladyki Jonas! Such people are making you look the fool. Get rid of them! Sell off the McMansion in Syosset (and the buildings of SVS in Yonkers as well, the Church cannot operate a facility in such a high-wage and high-tax area), pay off the loans, and move everything to South Canaan! The good Orthodox people of north-eastern PA would welcome you and make you feel as though you were one of their own (they might even take you out to the Ooh-Ooh Bird for wings and some pivo, how about that?).

This sickens me to no end.

HAVE YOU NO SHAME?

Vara Drezhlo

Tuesday 14 July 2009

Editor’s Postscript:

Today is 14 July, Bastille Day… do you catch my drift, Valdyki Jonas? All you have to do is give the word, and most of the faithful shall follow you, not these self-important poseurs. Food for thought, eh?

“Europe should keep in mind that Russia protects it From an Islamic Deluge”

Natalia Narochnitskaya (1948- ), prominent Russian historian, anti-globalism activist, former diplomat and RF Gosduma deputy

Editor’s Foreword:

Fr Andrew Philips has an interesting article on his website Orthodox England drawn from the following article. I present a translation of the whole, to give it all in context. Thank you, Batushka Andrew, for leading me to this interesting piece! Without you, I would not have known of it!

***

A conference was held yesterday at the University of Complutense in Madrid, and Natalia Narochnitskaya, the head of the Russian Fund for the Institute for Democracy and Cooperation in Paris, was one of the most eminent participants. She warned the conference that she was worried concerning the Eurasian strategies of the USA, saying that she saw them as stratagems by which America was attempting to gain control of all global energy resources. In addition, she noted that “Europe was in decline due to its nihilism and lack of values” and that the European Union pursues a policy of “reviving ancient autonomies”. Ms Narochnitskaya, a former deputy of the RF Gosduma from the nationalist Rodina bloc in 2003-2008, a left-wing nationalist faction that became part of Prime Minister Putin’s party United Russia, is known for her views opposing globalisation and similar contemporary currents. Today, she submitted a report, From Historical Russia to Contemporary Russia, prepared by the Institute for Democracy and Development, which examines the image of Russia found in the Spanish press article, Russia Returns.

***

Interviewer:

Churchill once said of Russia: “Russia is a riddle wrapped up in an enigma”.

The Baptism of Grand Princess Olga (Part One of the Triptych “Holy Rus”) (Sergei Kirillov, 1993). This contemporary painting illustrates the ancient ties that Russia had with Constantinople New Rome. It is why we Russian Orthodox refuse to kowtow to the Pope of Rome and his megalomanic conceits.

Natalia Narochnitskaya:

Russia is charting its own course. Without a doubt, it is absolutely clear that Russia is an integral part of European civilisation, but, we should not see that as being restricted to only to its western currents. Russia is also the successor of [Constantinople New Rome]. The future of Russia is the future of Europe.

Interviewer:

Do you see Messrs Medvedev and Putin as the leaders [of this movement]?

Ms Narochnitskaya:

The West incessantly accuses us of a lack of separation of powers. However, today, we have a real separation of powers. We are speaking of two very strong leaders.

Interviewer:

Would you bet that Mr Putin will be the president in 2012?

Ms Narochnitskaya:

That is not my decision.

Interviewer:

Could the present economic crisis cause a new revolution in Russia in the 21^st century?

Ms Narochnitskaya:

No, Russia is finished with revolutions. Today, the Communist Party is fully incorporated into the political system of the country.

Interviewer:

Can a democracy on the Western model exist in Russia?

Ms Narochnitskaya:

In the West, the word “democracy” implies a philosophy of liberal democracy. In Russia, we see it differently. Not so long ago, we conducted an opinion poll to find out what [the Russian public] considers an unpardonable offence. 92 percent of respondents answered that “Treason to the Motherland” was such an offence. We have a different definition for democracy than you do.

Interviewer:

Why is there no pluralism in the Russian political system?

Ms Narochnitskaya:

Indeed, we do lack pluralism in that sense of the word, as Western-influenced liberals described it in the 90’s. Russians placed high hopes on them, but, they discredited themselves. Today, Russians identify them as the enemies of the people.

Interviewer:

Are Russians nostalgic for their [lost] empire?

Ms Narochnitskaya:

Russians understand that, in the absence of a strong Russia, a new Roman Empire, which is founded on a heap of printed dollars, is now bombing other countries. Faced with such a threat, we turn to our experience. Furthermore, because of its size and uneven development, Russia must have a sphere of influence, otherwise Russia would collapse. Today, Russia is ready to ensure that it will exert more power than in Soviet times.

Interviewer:

What do you think à propos the new “emperor”, Barack Obama?

Ms Narochnitskaya:

Today, the American political élite very much need Mr Obama, as they are attempting to rebuild their ambitions, which were undermined by Mr Bush.

Interviewer:

Between 1982 and 1989, you worked in the UN Secretariat. What are your impressions of the United States?

Ms Narochnitskaya:

The United States represents a civilisation that is devoid of culture. However, Americans are a nice, receptive, and surprisingly innocent people. However, a very strong ideology impels them, and their greed for the almighty dollar generates a predatory instinct in them vis-à-vis their relation to the rest of the world.

Interviewer:

What is the main problem facing Russia?

Ms Narochnitskaya:

The demographic crisis.

Russian Orthodox faithful at services, at communion

Interviewer:

Today, it seems that “Holy Russia” is being reborn. Once again, the churches are filled with people…

Ms Narochnitskaya:

In contemporary Russia, the words of Jesus Christ are more powerful than the words of Trotsky and Lenin. Today, in Russia, former Komsomol members go on pilgrimages to holy places.

Interviewer:

Are Russia and Europe condemned to misunderstanding because of energy disputes? Is it causing a new “cold war” today?

Ms Narochnitskaya:

No, the discussion has not led to a so-called “cold war”. Rather, the EU is agitated because it understands all-too-well its dependence on Russian [energy supplies]. Of course, the EU would rather have Russia dependent upon it, but, we should aim to have our relations reasonably interdependent, although there are questions that unite us and there are disputes that separate us.

Interviewer:

You described the conflict in Chechnya as a “criminal revolt”. What do you think about the fact that the largest mosque in Europe was built in Chechnya?

Ms Narochnitskaya:

I think that Europe should keep in mind that Russia protects it from an Islamic deluge.

26 May 2009

ABC.es

As quoted in Narochnitskaya.ru

http://narochnitskaia.ru/cgi-bin/main.cgi?item=1r300r090601130700 (in Russian)

Editor’s Afterword:

In his recent trip abroad, US President Obama had the gall to lecture both Prime Minister Putin and Pope Benedict. Needless to say, neither man was impressed by the American popinjay. In fact, Mr Putin went from meeting Mr Obama to a meeting with Russian bikers, who were preparing to go on a mass bike rally in the Ukraine to celebrate the Russian Black Sea Fleet and the liberation of Sevastopol in the 2^nd Great Patriotic War. Mr Obama bleated about how “spheres of influence should not exist in the modern age”. Well, Vova gave the bikers a large Russian flag to fly during their motorcade through Little Russia.  Bully for Vladimir Vladimirovich! By his actions, he told that posturing American loud and clear, didn’t he? (Pope Benedict didn’t give in to The Greatest Hope of All Time either. I doubt that BO shall get the message, though. His messianic and self-righteous sort is DENSE.)

From the above, it is clear that Ms Narochnitskaya shares Mr Putin’s views completely. In fact, it is a point-of-view shared by virtually all educated Russians, save for a small minority that is in thrall to Western notions. Americans should shake themselves loose and SEE what is happening. Messrs Obama and Biden (the latter was in my area on Thursday last saying such to the true believers) are both croaking, “Recovery is just down the road!” If you believe that one, boy-oh-boy, do I have a wonderful one-owner bridge just for you!

Remember… iniquity and lies only triumph when we are quiescent. The truth SHALL set you free…

Prime Minister Putin and the Nochnye Volki (Night Wolves) M. C.: A Rally for the Russian Black Sea Fleet

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (1952- ) with Aleksandr Zaldostanov (“The Surgeon”), head of the Nochnye Volki (Night Wolves) Motorcycle Club. Leather wings… ease on down the road!

Today, there was an unusual caller at the headquarters of the Nochnye Volki (Night Wolves) Motorcycle Club. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin came to visit the bikers’ club-house. The club-members described to the premier the preparations for a motorcade to Sevastopol where there will be a bike rally dedicated to the Black Sea Fleet. Mr Putin met the President of the Night Wolves M. C., Aleksandr Zaldostanov (better known by his nickname, “The Surgeon”), at the entrance of the club. “The Surgeon” told the premier that the 13th International Bike Show will take place on 10-11 July in Sevastopol. The show is not only dedicated to the Russian Black Sea Fleet, but, also, to the 65^th anniversary of the liberation of the city from the Fascist aggressors.

This year’s show will be attended by bikers not only from Russia, but, also, from neighbouring countries all over Europe. The bulk of the riders, on several thousand motorcycles, have already left Moscow. The Surgeon told Mr Putin that the headliners of the event in Sevastopol will be the rock group Alisa, their song Nebo Slavyan (Slavic Skies) is the theme of the rally. Aleksandr showed the premier on the map the route of the procession, which is to run through Oryol, Kursk, and other Russian and Ukrainian cities. The bikers asked Mr Putin to sign the map, and he did so zestfully. The Night Wolves handed the premier a picture with the logo of club, Mr Putin, in turn, presented them with a big Russian flag. Then, the riders showed off their “iron horses” for the premier. Mr Putin admitted that he tried to ride a motorcycle recently.

Mr Putin:

I tired to ride one of these things recently.

The Surgeon:

Yes, I heard you did.

Mr Putin:

The rear wheel bucked up and it hit another bike. Everything was a mess.

The Surgeon:

I hope that you weren’t “spooked”, as they say. But, you didn’t give up on the bike, and I hope that you don’t just keep it in the garage.

In Sevastopol, the Wolves shall be accompanied by popular Russian musicians. In addition to Konstantin Kinchev and Alisa, the groups Aria, Pilot, Korol i Shut (The King and The Jester), Mongol Shuudan, and Igor Kupriyanov (ex-Chorny Kofe (Black Coffee)). A particularly-honoured guest of the festival shall be the Ukrainian rock-band Bratya Karamazovy (The Brothers Karamazov). (The Brothers were an important part of the missionary rock-tour of the Ukraine by Deacon Andrei Kuraev sponsored by the MP last year: editor’s note)

Fr Vsevolod Chaplin, the Deputy Head of the MP Department of External Church Relations, told Voice of Russia World Service that the MP supports the action of the Night Wolves. “Many of the bikers are faithful Christians, we see quite a bit of them as they are often at services. When the leaders of the Night Wolves M. C. told the Patriarch about their plans to go to Sevastopol, His Holiness listened with great interest and gave them his blessing”.

The rally shall be in anticipation of the visit to Kiev by Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev of Moscow and all Russia. The column of bikers shall roll through Russia and the Ukraine, picking up new riders as it goes along. Bikers from Byelorussia, Lithuania, Latvia, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Greece, and Bulgaria are expected to join the cavalcade. In addition to all of this, the bikers have invited several of the veterans of the Battle of Sevastopol to participate in the event, in commemoration of the 65^th anniversary of the liberation of the hero-city.

7 July 2009

Igor Siletsky

Voice of Russia World Service

http://ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=rus&q=120316&cid=22&p=07.07.2009 (in Russian)

How Can We Save the European Cultural Identity?

Is this a European scene? Am I to be called a racialist for asking the question?

Gert Wilders, the head of the populist Freedom Party in the Netherlands, refused to give a television interview to air his views regarding his vision of the future of Europe in the wake of his party unexpectedly winning all four seats to the European Parliament in the last election. However, it is known that Mr Wilders is opposed to further enlargement of the European Union, and he has even proposed the expulsion of Bulgaria and Romania from the EU. This is because they are unable, in his opinion, to adhere to the principles of the organisation. He spoke against the membership of Turkey in the EU, which, as he put it, is a good neighbour, but, it does not belong to the European family because it is a Muslim country. Mr Wilders is especially concerned about Muslim immigration to Europe, which shall lead, in his view, to the Islamisation of the continent, and which could eventually do away with the freedoms currently established in European society.

I am not going to critique or analyse the political credo of Mr Wilders, for I presume that many contemporary Europeans would not consider it “politically-correct”. But, I have to admit, that the problems he addresses deserve our particular attention. We will not discuss whether it is necessary for the EU to continue its expansion. However, nothing hinders me from concluding that the organisation has poorly «digested» the collective entrance into its ranks of ten Central and Eastern European states. Amongst these states there are those, such as the Czech Republic, and, more precisely, its President, Vaclav Klaus, who question the usefulness of the Lisbon Treaty, which is designed to consolidate the EU…

On the other hand, the reluctance of Mr Wilders to see Turkey in the EU is shared by liberal French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who also strongly opposes its entry into the Union, citing the fact that Turkey is not a part of the European cultural sphere. Do not forget that President Sarkozy is rebelling just as much as Mr Wilders is against the Islamisation of Europe, because France is suffering the effects of this phenomenon at present. In any case, this threatens M Sarkozy sufficiently to cause him to rail against Muslim women wearing the veil in public in France.

In fact, both generally for Europe and, especially, in France, the discussion deals with the difficult quandary between saving the European (and French) cultural identity and listening to the opinions of international organisations that believe that this identity can be sacrificed in the name of freedom of religion. But, the problem persists. If it continues to develop as it is happening today, not only France, but, all Europe will sooner or later face a painful dilemma… whether to yield to idealists, leading to the dissolution of their traditional cultures in favour of an imported one, or to remind holders of that alien culture that it is not acceptable for them to impose their strange ways on the larger society. Of course, this would not put into question their legitimate right of freedom of religion.

8 July 2009

Boris Tumanov

Voice of Russia World Service

http://ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=rus&q=120451&cid=22&p=08.07.2009 (in Russian)

Archbishop Hilarion Alfeyev does not believe that a New Era in Relations with the Vatican is Imminent

Archbishop Hilarion Alfeyev of Volokolamsk (1966- ), head of the MP Department of External Church Relations. N.B.: One must note that the DECR is no longer the same agency as that headed by Kirill Mikhailovich. The secretariat (headed by Bishop Mark Golovkov) and the office for cooperation with the government (headed by Fr Vsevolod Chaplin) are now independent bodies. In short, KM has clipped Hilarion’s wings…

Archbishop Hilarion Alfeyev of Volokolamsk, the head of the MP Department of External Church Relations, does not see any substantial change occurring in the dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholics. “It seems to me that any proclamation of change in the dialogue between Orthodox and the Roman Catholics is premature, until actual events bear this out. We are still awaiting clear and precise answers from the Catholic side to our repeatedly-voiced concerns and questions”, Vladyki Hilarion stated on Tuesday at a press conference at the Interfax offices. At the same time, he believes that there is a possibility of reaching “a new level of interaction and mutual trust” in Orthodox-Catholic relations as a result of the understandings reached in official and informal talks. “In the contemporary world, Christianity faces a very serious threat from militant secularism. In this, we are not rivals, rather, we are allies”.

Archbishop Hilarion emphasised that if we realised this, it would remove the possibility of a repetition of the events that occurred in the 1990s in the Western Ukraine when the Catholics carried out proselytism and “missionary” activity on the canonical territory of the MP. “Perhaps, something may happen soon, but, the problems in our relations with the Catholics, which we constantly alluded to in the last few years, still remain, and they have lost none of their acuity”, Vladyki Hilarion said. He then added, “This current confrontation, although somewhat abated in recent times, is of benefit to none of us”. In commenting on the recent statement of papal representative to Russia Archbishop Antonio Mennini that there was a possibility of raising the level of Russian relations with the Vatican State to the level of a formal embassy, Vladyki Hilarion stated that this question does not relate to ecumenical relations, rather, it concerns the sphere of intergovernmental affairs.

7 July 2009

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=30953 (in Russian)

Editor’s Note:

There has been much loose talk lately from the usual cast of suspects (Zenit and Asia News, in particular) regarding a “thaw” in relations with the papacy on the part of the MP. Well… such palaver is chock full of beans! Firstly, the Vatican has to disown Uniatism in general, then, it has to rein in the Galician Uniates. This has been made clear not only by Archbishop Hilarion, but, also, by Fr Vsevolod Chaplin and Bishop Mark Golovkov (who head the other two agencies created from the DECR as it existed under Kirill Mikhailovich). In short, NOTHING has changed.

Sorry, Charlie… or, is it, “No soup for you, Benny!”