Patriarch Kirill Believes that the Dialogue with the Lutheran World Federation will Bear Fruit

Pastor Martin Junge (1961- ), the new General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF)

Patriarch of Kirill of Moscow and all the Russias believes that cooperation between the MP and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) will continue, despite conflicts generated by “theological and moral liberalism”. The LWF elected Pastor Martin Junge General Secretary in late October and he will take office in 2010. “You start your path as Secretary-General in a difficult era of reassessment of the opportunities and prospects for Christian cooperation, as theological and moral liberalism breeds conflict within the Protestant world, resulting in difficult relations with the Orthodox Churches. In these circumstances, achieving a common understanding of biblical and moral values becomes a priority in inter-Christian fellowship”, the First Hierarch said in his congratulatory message, released on Tuesday by the press service of the patriarch. Patriarch Kirill is confident that the excellent cooperation that exists between the MP and the LWF will continue. “Your forthcoming ministry and responsibility is fraught with complex problems, as you try to strengthen and enrich the Lutheran community, and continue and develop your inter-Christian relations”, he said.

According to Vladyki Kirill, the traditional good relations between the MP and Lutherans around the world have a long history. “We have many years of proven experience of successful cooperation with the LWF, a theological dialogue which has continued for more than a quarter-century”, the First Hierarch stressed. The patriarch wished spiritual vigour and good health to Pastor Junge, so that he could succeed in his new position as head of the LWF. Martin Junge became the eighth secretary general in the history of the LWF since its establishment in 1948, and the first South American in this position. Pastor Junge is from Chile, a graduate of the University of Fribourg in Switzerland, and shall be the General Secretary of the LWF for the usual seven-year term. He will succeed Pastor Ishmael Noko as LWF General Secretary. Pastor Noko was the first African to serve as LWF head. The LWF , with its headquarters in Geneva, brings together the majority of Lutherans worldwide. Today, there are 140 the local Lutheran Churches in 79 countries around the world uniting 68.5 million believers.

17 November 2009

Yelena Gutkina

RIA-Novosti

http://www.rian.ru/religion/20091117/194194997.html

Editor’s Note:

It looks as though KMG is attempting a divide et impera move, as far as the Lutherans are concerned. He is cooing towards the LWF, and showing the club to the EKD. Hmm… KMG is being his usual wily self… the old fox is keepin’ ‘em off balance for sure! They don’t know if they’re coming or going! You’d best get up VERY early if you’d wish to bell this cat.

Now, this is an example of harmless “ecumenism”. There are no idiotic papers being read, there are no theologians wasting the money of the faithful in idle and fruitless conferences and “workshops”… it is one high church official giving his good wishes to another on his promotion. Anyone who thinks that is wrong needs a headshrinker. It’s like inviting the local papist bishop to Jordanville for the consecration of the monastery church. God willing, he enjoyed our hospitality, and, no doubt, he reciprocated in due course.

That’s as it should be. It’s not JP and Hatfield inking a syncretistic concordat with a TEC seminary. It’s not JP and Hatfield deliberately lying about the nature of their interlocutor…. Nashotah house is an intuition of the TEC… a fact that they try to obfuscate and hide. Rather, what all people of good will should be doing is sending good wishes on someone’s accession or retirement, sending sincere birthday, anniversary, or holiday greetings, or calling on someone in person to deliver one’s condolences (that’s something never done with impersonal media).

Good sense from Moscow… shall we heed it?

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Tuesday 17 November 2009

Albany NY

MP Threatens To Break Ties with the EKD over Female Bishop as Head of the German Body

Margot Kässmann (1958- ), new head of the EKD. Shall her election lead to the breakdown of the dialogue of the MP and EKD? Shall it lead to a general declaration on Orthodox relations with bodies that accept female ordination?

Dialogue between the MP and the Evangelical (Lutheran) Church of Germany (EKD) was amicable for 50 years. In fact, the two churches are planning to celebrate this long relationship in late November. However, that celebration will be the last official contact between the two religious groups, according to the Russian newspaper Kommersant. The election of a divorced female as the head of the EKD outrages many clergy in the MP. The Orthodox Church does not allow women to become priests, let alone take on leadership roles. Rev Georgy Zavershinsky noted that this election now makes dialogue between the two churches impossible. “A female bishop is a contradiction of evangelical principles”, Fr Georgy said. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all the Russias still has to rule on the matter. Conservative members of the MP support threats to ostracise German Protestants [over this matter]. Russian Orthodox priest Alexander Prilutski called the election of a woman [as the presiding bishop of the EKD] a “sign of crisis in Western society”.

However, the woman at the centre of the debate, Margot Kässmann, expressed surprise at the reaction from the Russian church [to her election] and sent a letter to Patriarch Kirill expressing her bewilderment about the attacks on her from Russia. She said that while she understood some churches do not allow women to become leaders, she also expected those churches to accept that this was possible in some [other] denominations. “Ecumenism (religious cooperation) is about accepting different churches and the roles within them”, Ms Kässmann said. “Mutual respect” was the basis for this, she added.

13 November 2009

Susan Houlton

Deutsche Welle (Voice of Germany)

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4891185,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf

Why Are They Lying?

There has been an interesting wrinkle in the accusations that my opposition is tossing at me. I don’t know the true nature of Nashotah House (NH)… according to these sorts, at least. Hmm… Let’s look at some objective sources:

Nashotah House is an Anglo-Catholic seminary of the Episcopal Church (TEC) located in Nashotah, Wisconsin, approximately 30 miles (50 km) from Milwaukee, in the Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashotah_House

Here is a little something from the official NH website:

http://www.nashotah.edu/admissions.htm

Did you notice the fulsome blurb about the priestess Marjorie Everlof, who is a graduate of NH? Like it or not, it is proof positive that NH advocates female ordination, is heartily in favour of it, and has no intention of abandoning its support for it.

I would say this straight up to Mr Munday, the dean of this institution:

“I bear no hatred towards you, your family, or, indeed, any other Anglican. However, you are not Orthodox in any way, shape, or form and I would oppose your entry into Orthodoxy at all costs. Jonas Paffhausen lied to you. He does not represent the mainstream of the Church. If you wish to know what the Church really thinks, look at the situation evolving in the dialogue with the EKD, that is, the EKD elected a female bishop as its head. Now, look at the MP’s reaction to it. We do not accept female clergy or the groups that ordain them (you belong to such a body, indeed, your presiding bishop is female). We reject the 39 Articles completely, utterly, and without reservation (frankly, those underpin your seminary). We condemn Calvinistic theology in all its stipulations (honestly, it’s the basis of your faith).

I am sorry that Jonas Paffhausen did what he did when he signed an agreement with you, for he raised false expectations. As an Orthodox Christian, I am sorry that one of my bishops misrepresented the teachings of Christ and His Church. Mr Munday, you DO have a choice. You can stay an Anglican or you can become Orthodox. The latter is very difficult for an adult, especially one such as yourself, for you would have to abandon your entire heterodox formation as a clergyman and start from ‘a cat sat on a mat’. It is not kind to lie to others… especially on religious matters. I would never be anything other than polite and gracious to you… but, I shall not lie on matters of such consummate importance. You are not one of us, neither is anyone at your seminary, or anyone else in your church, for that matter. I wish you well personally and wish that God shall look after you and yours and bring you nothing but good… yet, you are not an Orthodox Christian, and nothing can change that fact. If I have offended you, I apologise, but, I had to speak nothing but the truth to you, for Paffhausen and Hatfield lied to you. Go with God”.

I fear that it is too late for the OCA… they do not care for the rest of the Church. If JP goes ahead with the crack-brained lunacy of an “Anglican Rite”, he shall break the Church’s unity. I do not know what is going to happen after he does so, but, I fear that evidence is accumulating that proves that JP is going to do it, come what may. The screams from the supporters of JP shows that objective fact does not underpin the arguments of the pro-autocephalist party. NH is a part of the TEC. Full stop. Stop trying to tell the world that it is not. It is not by any stretch of the imagination “Orthodox”, even with a small “o”. What I find interesting is that many who are pumping for this SVS-NH combine are former Anglicans. We all know what Scripture says about dogs returning to their vomit… I fear it is true, all too tragically, in this case. (No doubt, these sorts shall excoriate me for not praising NH… but, NH is an unrepentant bunch of Calvinists and that is all they are capable of being religiously, unfortunately.)

It’s not a pretty picture, is it? I’m only sorry that JP and Co lied to the good people at NH. I apologise most sincerely and deeply to them for that. God willing, they shall see it and reject the SVS concordat… do you really wish  unity with such people? Ask the gang at SVS why Peter l’Hullier ran off to the Caribbean and why he left Paris in the 70s… I wonder what they’ll tell you (you may also ask them about Robert Kondratick and his “interesting” notions about church funds…)? Oh… did they tell you about Andrei Dmitrievich Schmemann and how he opposed his identical-twin brother’s modernism (Andrei was the founder of OLTR, a group in France that fights Renovationism in the Church… he only died recently in late 2008… a true gentleman to his fingertips!)?

To be sure, I would offer Mr Munday a drink, shake my head ruefully, and say, “It DOES take all kinds, doesn’t it, sir?” I’m sure he would meet my gaze and say, “It certainly does, madame”.

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Saturday 14 November 2009

Albany NY

Editor’s Postscript:

Some uninformed people blather about an Anglican splinter group known as “the Anglican Church in America”. They are no more Orthodox than the TEC. They’re nothing but Protestants too. I see little difference between them and the TEC. It’s the same Calvinist theology and the same indifferent “comprehensiveness”. Don’t forget… the MP condemned the “branch theory” explicitly… and that is the basis of the weltanshauung of both the TEC and all the other Anglican bodies, bar none. In short, Anglicans are Anglicans, and we are unable bring them into the Church as a body… history has taught us that. Individuals… yes… established groups… no… it’s just buying trouble on the instalment plan.

MP may Terminate its Dialogue with the EKD, Due to their Election of a Female Bishop as Head

Margot Kässmann (1958- ), recently-elected head of the EKD. By its agreement with Nashotah House, SVS approved such (for Nashotah House is in a body headed by a female bishop)… reflect on that. Do recall JP’s smiles in the PR snaps… he expressed approval for such as well. Lord, have mercy!

The MP may end its dialogue with the Evangelical (Lutheran) Church in Germany (EKD). “After the EKD elected a female bishop, Margot Kässmann, as its head, continuation of the dialogue of the MP with that body in the form in which it was until now, is now impossible”, Fr Georgy Zavershinsky, the head of the MP Department for External Church Relations press service, said in an interview with our Interfax-Religion correspondent. He told us, “The Church, according to the ancient canons, cannot be led by a woman, just as it cannot ordain women as priests or bishops. This raises many questions about protocol. The First Hierarch of the MP cannot call a woman the head of any church”. At the same time, he added that dialogue of the MP with the EKD becomes impossible in the form in which it has evolved over the past 50 years. “However, it is not impossible to rule out other forms of dialogue, we’ve not made any official statements on that, yet. These forms are vague, now; we shall decide it more precisely in future. This question is very serious, and, of course, we should consider it as a fit topic for a ruling from the First Hierarch of the MP”, Fr Georgy said.

12 November 2009

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=32864

Editor’s Note:

What shall the Renovationist commandos at SVS do when KMG issues a statement about how Orthodox should treat heterodox bodies headed by women? It directly refers to its freshly inked concordat with Nashotah House, as Nashotah House is under the TEC, whose head is Katharine Jefferts-Schori. In the words of Fr Georgy, “Continuation of the dialogue of [Orthodox] with that body in the form in which it was until now, is now impossible”. In short, both JP and Hatfield (and their puppeteer Benjamin Peterson) spat on the Church barefaced and with full malice aforethought. Their agreement with a body headed by Ms Jefferts-Schori flies in the face of the mind of the Church as expressed so well by Fr Georgy (who is an official voice of the MP). They should bear in mind that the MP can withdraw the Tomos of Autocephaly from the OCA, a document that the other Local Churches do NOT accept, in any case.

This is far deeper than most realise… it means that the MP has decided to defend traditional practise and interpretations over the modernist notions of the professoriate at certain Orthodox seminaries in the West. Are we going to finally lay to rest the ghost of Aleksandr Vvedensky (do recall that ADS spoke of him with approval) and bid adieu to his Mad Hatter fancy of a “Living Church”? Are we going to cancel out ADS’ crack-brained (but, beautifully packaged) resuscitation of his noxious heresy? I have no idea of how this is going to work out… I know that we are on the brink of “events”, that is all. All that we can do is to play our parts, according to our abilities and station. God have mercy on us all.

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Saturday 14 November 2009

Albany NY

The Pastors and Margarita: The Hierarchs of the MP Cannot be in Dialogue with the New Leader of the Lutheran Church of Germany (EKD)

Martin Luther posting his 95 Theses on the Wittenberg church door in 1517 (taken from a cinematic recreation). Did he realise what it would lead to?

Editor’s Foreword:

“The Pastors and Margarita” in the title is a play on words taken from the title of “The Master and Margarita”, a famous novel by the Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov (1891-1940). Mikhail Afanasyevich was NOT a close relative of the heretic theologian Sergei Bulgakov (1871-1943) (Sergei Nikolaevich was one of the founders of St Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris and (unfortunately) a formative influence on ADS). I believe there is a distant family connection, as Mikhail Afanasyevich’s ancestors included Orthodox clergy.

******

The dialogue between the major religious bodies in Russia and Germany, the Patriarchate of Moscow and the Evangelical Lutheran Church (EKD), one that has been in existence for the past 50 years, is now jeopardised. Indeed, communication between the two churches may stop altogether, according to an announcement yesterday by Archbishop Hilarion Alfeyev of Volokolamsk, the head of the MP Department for External Church Relations. The reason cited for this was the recent election in the EKD of new leader. More precisely, it concerns the person who is now the head of the EKD.

On 28 October, the Synod of the EKD elected as its chairman 51-year-old Margot Kässmann, the Bishop of the Evangelical Church of Hanover. She is divorced and the mother of four children. The approval of Ms Kässmann went surprisingly smoothly, only five of the 142 members of the Synod voted against her. Thus, for the first time in the long history of Lutheranism (which dates back to 1517, when Martin Luther posted his 95 theses against the Catholic clergy), a woman was at the head of this 25 million-strong German Protestant church.

“We do not recognise the ordination of women to the priesthood, nor do we recognise such ordination to the episcopate”, Archbishop Hilarion Alfeyev said in reiterating the principles buttressing the MP’s position. In his opinion, of course, the MP could continue inter-church dialogue with the EKD, but, it would involve many “protocol issues”. For example, it is unlikely that the First Hierarch of the MP would meet with Ms Kässmann. “How would the patriarch refer to her or meet with her?” Vladyki Hilarion wondered. This situation will continue for at least the next six years (that is the length of her term as leader of the EKD).

In 1992, Patriarch Aleksei of Moscow and all Russia attended a Holy Assembly of First Hierarchs of the Local (Orthodox) Churches. That meeting released a communiqué where the Orthodox hierarchy firmly rejected some recent trends in ecumenical relations, including the problems introduced by the ordination of women to the priesthood. In this regard, Orthodox found solidarity with Roman Catholics. For example, the Vatican’s relations with the Church of England markedly deteriorated after the Anglicans in 1994 (until now, considered one of the most conservative Protestant “denominations”) allowed women to be ordained to the dignity of the priesthood. As a side-note, the newly-elected head of the EKD, Margot Kässmann, promised that she would not demand that Catholics ordain women to the priesthood and abolish clerical celibacy. (Editor’s note: this last sentence probably means that Ms Kässmann is putting no prerequisites on her relations with the papists… at least, that is what it says to me. BMD)

“I don’t think that  Ms Kässmann’s election will lead to a break in relations between the Orthodox and Lutheran churches”, Pastor Konstantin Andreyev, rector of the Moscow parish of St Michael the Archangel of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia, said in an interview with our correspondent from Up-to-the-Minute News. “Strictly speaking, we don’t consider Ms Kässmann the head of the EKD, but, she is the chairman of the Synod of the EKD, the largest Lutheran Association in Germany. As long as the MP participates in inter-church dialogue, it can’t ignore this powerful and very conservative organisation”, Pastor Andreyev concluded.

Not every Russian Lutheran welcomes the fact that their German fellows elected a woman as their head. For example, Pastor Ivan Chernyshov, commenting on Ms Kässmann’s election, recalled the words of the Apostle Paul that a bishop must be blameless, the husband of one wife. “If you follow this example literally, a woman couldn’t serve at the altar simply because she can’t be the ‘husband of one wife’, quite simply, because of her gender”, Pastor Chernyshov noted. In addition, he called to mind the words of the Apostle Paul in the Epistle to the Corinthians, Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted for them to speak.

12 November 2009

Mikhail Moshkin

Vremya Novostei (Up-to-the-Minute News)

As quoted in Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=print&div=10622 (in Russian)

MP May Sever Relations with the Evangelical Church in Germany

Bishop Margot Kässmann (1958- ). Her election as the chairman of the EKD shall provoke a cessation of relations with the MP.

The MP may sever relations with the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), a major Protestant church of Western Europe, because it elected a woman as chairman of the EKD Council. Orthodox clergy say this runs counter to evangelical principles. Analysts fear this could provoke a significant inter-faith conflict. On 28 October, a meeting of the EKD Council elected Bishop Margot Kässmann as its chairman. She became the first woman to lead the Evangelical Church in Germany. The EKD unites some 24 million Protestants in more than 20 Lutheran and Reformed churches. The 51-year-old bishop of Hanover is divorced and has four daughters. “We plan to celebrate 50 years of dialogue with the German Lutheran Church in late November and early December”, Archbishop Hilarion Alfeyev of Volokolamsk and head of the MP Department of External Church Relations, said on Wednesday. “The celebrations will also mark the end of that dialogue”.

The Orthodox Church does not recognise female clergy. “A female bishop is a contradiction of evangelical principles”, said Georgy Zavershinsky, the Press Secretary of the MP DECR. “Therefore, there can be no church relations between us. We will most likely have to deal with their church as we would with a public organisation”. Russian Lutherans endorse the MP’s line of reasoning. Alexander Prilutsky, chief secretary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria (Russia), said female bishops were evidence of “a crisis in Western society”. “Our relations with Western Protestants have recently become more complicated because of their liberal theological practises”, said Bishop Konstantin Bendas, director for secular affairs at the Russian Associated Union of Christians of Evangelical Faith. “Unfortunately, the West is departing from evangelical principles. For example, [the Lutherans in] Sweden deviated the most by electing a lesbian bishop”. If inter-faith dialogue stops, “this could lead to severance of diplomatic relations between German Christians and the MP”, said Roman Lunkin, director of the Institute of Religion and Law and a senior researcher at the Russian Academy of Science’s Institute of Europe. “This could provoke the largest inter-Christian conflict in recent years”.

12 November 2009

Gazeta.ru

As quoted in RIA-Novosti

http://en.rian.ru/papers/20091112/156807972.html

Editor’s Note:

This has relevance for the OCA’s recent “covenant” with Nashotah House. Nashotah House belongs to the TEC. A female bishop heads the TEC. In the words of the MP spokesman, “A female bishop is a contradiction of evangelical principles. Therefore, there can be no church relations between us. We will most likely have to deal with their church as we would with a public organisation”. The OCA has to rip up its “covenant” with Nashotah House and apologise to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, to all the other heads of the Local Churches, and to all Orthodox faithful, wherever they are.

I do not think that the OCA shall ever issue such an apology nor is the OCA going to abrogate its concordat with the TEC (for Nashotah House is part of that body, like it or not). This is dangerous brinkmanship by JP, BP, and Hatfield… for the only canonical lifeline for the OCA is its link with the MP. If that goes… the OCA becomes a dead letter and ROCOR shall pick up many of the parishes. Unfortunately, there are parishes (and even two dioceses (the West and the South)) that could join the revolt of JP and Co. We may very well see a “new OCA” composed of rebellious OCA parishes, some AOCANA “convert” parishes, and individuals from the GOA-based Orthodox Christian Laity (OCL).

We had a nasty internecine conflict in the church between the OCA and ROCOR from the mid-sixties until very recently. ADS fomented it, and it caused grievous wounds to the Church. We are still in the process of healing from this pointless internal feud (for such it was… the OCA and ROCOR are both part of the Russian Orthodox Church in the US (a sociological body, not a formal institution)). This new conflict would pit the “new OCA” against all other recognised Orthodox bodies in the US… it bids fair to be nastier and far more spiteful and malicious than the earlier affair. God willing, the OCA shall put aside the scrap of paper signed with the TEC… please, God, let them do it. Otherwise, there shall be hell to pay… literally.

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Thursday 12 November 2009

Albany NY

Let A Hundred Flowers Blossom…

Neither liturgics nor church music nor the Church itself could exist without history, and it is impossible to have a real grasp of any of these without at least some knowledge of their historical development. Neither the Russian Orthodox Church nor her beautiful liturgy fell down from the sky on Pentecost, contrary to what some faithful may think. Priests and parishioners with such a deficient sense of history can easily do more damage than good, especially in complicated times requiring ecclesial consciousness and discernment. The recent divisions and further subdivisions of our Church sadly witness to this state of affairs in a considerable number of our parishes.

Mother Vassa Larin

4 May 2008

Orthodoxy is Not a Religion of Fear

Historical Studies of the Russian Church Abroad

http://rocorstudies.org/?part=articles&aid=10764

Please do read the above article in its entirety FIRST. Much of what passes below presupposes an acquaintance with the arguments presented by Mother Vassa. In any case, a stimulating read! I do not agree totally with the conclusions reached… but, Mother’s arguments are literate and to the point. My disagreements are on certain points of her thesis, not her submission. No doubt, she would say likewise of me! THAT is how we should handle all honest and legitimate disagreements.

******

One of the most enduring myths about the Church is that it is a monolithic body, that it only has one opinion on everything and that the faithful must conform themselves to it in every possible way. I believe that such a construct is profoundly false. Indeed, the Church is the most intense epitome of freedom within its stated boundaries. Can’t you see the konvertsy jumping up and down and shouting, “What about the canons? What about the Fathers?” Yes… what about THEM? Let’s not confuse the actual canons and the real Fathers with the uncritical and illiterate interpretation of such by those without the educational tools to use them properly.

One of the things that I consider crucial in forming an Orthodox world-view is a profound sense of history. Knowledge of where the Church has been is crucial (that is why JP is such a disaster), for the knowledge of its road in the past shall tell us where she is wending her way now. Some think of this as an academic exercise; others oppose such an idea, relying on popular instincts and memory. In my view, both are deficient, and each needs the insights provided by the other. In addition to this, there is excellent material on history published by heretics (especially SVS or St Herman’s Press)… one is stupid not to use it. Of course, one rejects the heretical interpretation that one finds beside the facts… approach anything from SVS, New Skete, St Nektarios Press, or St Herman’s Press with caution (often, the facts are straight, but, it shall have a skewed interpretation). Of course, be doubly wary of anything with a heterodox (papist or Protestant) provenance.

However, once one understands the general caveat that one must apply, one should use all possible sources. If for no other reason, if you do not use “adversarial” sources, you shall not be aware of the opposition’s arguments and general intellectual weltanshauung. Your own work will suffer impoverishment as a result; it shall not be what it should. In Mother Vassa’s words, “Saints Gregory the Theologian and Basil the Great took pride in having been educated in a pagan school at Athens. The great Chrysostom was taught by Livanius and Theodore of Mopsuestia… the one a pagan, the other a heretic. Although these Holy Fathers lived in times of rampant heresies and dogmatic confusion, they did not cultivate an Orthodoxy of fear. It was rather an Orthodoxy of responsibility and dogmatic awareness, inspired and fortified by a thirst for education”. In our day, Archbishop Kyrill Dmitrieff of San Francisco studied under Aleksandr Dmitrievich Schmemann at SVS… ADS was a consummate heretic and modernism and indifferentism infested SVS. Nevertheless, Vladyki Kyrill took what was good out of it all and he is one of the more grounded of Orthodox bishops as a result (this specific instance, I believe, proves Mother’s basic thesis… a very sound one in its generality).

However, one should supplement reading with experience… otherwise, the base of your conclusion is bloodless paper and ink and not life. If you wish to understand the history of the Mayfield PA church dispute, I would say that it is important to go there and pray at St John the Baptist Cathedral. I have… as a result, I have a deep understanding of why the people of Russian Hill fought so bitterly for their church-home. Trust me… it shouts at you from the very stones of the building! Yes… go to New Skete. See their little statue of “Saint” Francis… see their “icons” of ADS, Dorothy Day, and Edith Stein. Steel yourself and attend one of their hotchpotch services (I know… it’s hard… I stood it, so can you). Only then shall you realise how shockingly obscene the place is. Motor about northeastern Pennsylvania… look at Olyphant (my Nicky’s father is from there), Mayfield, Jermyn, Pittston, and Hazleton… this is where Russian Orthodoxy had its birth in “the lower-48”. It won’t hurt to go to Minneapolis MN… that is where the first parish (St Mary’s) to “come home” from the Unia to Russian Orthodoxy in 1892 (the true foundational date of the so-called Metropolia) is still located. You shall have a deep respect for the founders of our faith in this country consequently. Above all, go to Jordanville. Go to services there. Walk about the grounds, eat in the refectory, and talk with the monks and seminarians. After doing this, you realise that this is the beating heart of Russian Orthodoxy in America. Like all living things, it is not perfect… there are such things as false elders and sin… yes, Jordanville has had its fair share of both (Satan is twice as active in places where people seek after holiness). Yet, if any place is the “icon” of Russian Orthodoxy in our land, Jordanville is it, easily.

You can tell those who lack experience and only have reading as a foundation. Everything is a bit “off”. In fact, there is a reason for all of their posturing about the inflexible teaching of the Church. These people did not come into the Church because they loved Christ and His (Unique) Church. They came to us because they perceived lacks in their earlier confessions… they saw what they thought was mindless indifferentism in them. Therefore, they fastened upon those facets of Orthodox life, thought, and writing that appeared to contradict such. Ergo, they fail to see that the final authority in the Church is the living word of the bishops… not the sterile clauses of the canons… not the writings of the often-contradictory Fathers… and, certainly, not the vapouring of scatter-brained ivory-tower-bound contemporary “scholars”. Oikonomia is a life-giving principle… it covers over situations that the canons did not envision. I asked a real canonist (there are very few in the USA, none in the OCA) what his job consisted of. “I tell the bishop what the canons say on a given topic. Then, he makes up his mind”. THE CANONS ARE NOT A CHAIN WRAPPED AROUND OUR BISHOPS… THEY DO NOT IMPRISON THEM. They INFORM them. They GUIDE them. They show him what his brother bishops thought and did in the past. However, in the end, the bishop makes up his own mind. He may choose to follow the canons exactly or he may opt to forgo them (in disciplinary cases only… not dogmatic questions). This is his freedom as a bishop. If he oversteps the mark, what happens is that the other bishops, usually, bring a case up to the Holy Synod (itself composed of senior bishops) to resolve it (this is what occurred recently in regards to the case surrounding Diomid Dzhuban).

One can only pity those who straitjacket the Faith so. They are looking for a consistency that never was and one that we shall never have. Their quest shall lead them, I believe, out of the Church, for the Church’s very freedom is what is going to repel them. What they think is “canonical” is, all too often, only a non-binding theologumena of some theologian, or an “official statement” penned by a clerical bureaucrat (only the canons of a recognised General or Local Council are truly canonical according to my sources), or the personal opinion of this or that “scholar” or “expert”. In short, they assign a weight to such things that they should not have. In the end, they chase after a certainty that cannot be… one can only pity them.

I only have two quibbles with Mother Vassa’s article. Firstly, she appears to swallow the papist lie that the West is the Salvation of All… “The alternative to learning from the West was remaining uneducated” (God willing, the concise format of the article is what led to the distortion). She did not take her proposition far enough. Where did the West of Mogila’s time receive its education? When New Rome fell in 1453, Roman scholars fled to the West… THAT is why the West was so “educated”. In short, we owe NOTHING to the heterodox West. Secondly, she appears to accept the papist lies about a “Byzantine Church”, a “Byzantine liturgy”, a “Byzantine theology”, and a “Byzantine tradition”. Again… the very brief nature of the piece concerned may be the cause of this (or, it could show the bias of the interviewer… one can shape a reply by the questions one asks). We Orthodox are the proud heirs of ROME… New Rome… the papists always try to evade the fact that Constantinopolis Nea Romana (and the Orthodox Faith it embodied (albeit, imperfectly… it was no worse (and, probably, far better) than the Rome of the Borgia popes) was the most literate, most affluent, and most powerful centre of European civilisation from the fourth century to the eleventh (Old Rome was nothing but a provincial backwater… no doubt, its hayseed-hick backwardness and general illiteracy were reasons that the Popes of Rome developed such odd and conceited notions about themselves). If we are anything, we are Romaioi… ROMANS (or, one can say NEW ROMANS)… not (sneeringly, with a snarl) B-Y-Z-A-N-T-I-N-E-S. I, for one, refuse to use papist categories. I am against hatred or nastiness. However, Mr Taft is outside the Church (I believe that he is a Uniate Jesuit, of all things), and that affects how we should accept his utterances. He is, no doubt, a very nice and personable fellow… I would be nothing but polite and civil to him, trust me on that. Yet, if he speaks on Churchly topics, we must bear in mind that he is a convinced heretic and wishes to convert us to his heresy. Caveat auditor.

In the Church, a hundred different flowers blossom in Christ’s garden. It has always been such. God willing, let it always be so.

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Wednesday 11 November 2009

Albany NY

Is There a “Third Way?”

Are there only two positions on ecumenism? Must we choose between “giving away the farm” or “speaking the truth in love”… or, is there a “third way?”

To me, the only really interesting part of all this is that I try personally to make a clear distinction between the kinds of ecumenical activity that seek some sort of forced-fit or dumbing-down of theology, and those that simply promote our knowing one another better and more deeply.  The former is something in which I have no inclination to engage; the latter, it seems to me, is a part of loving one’s neighbour, as Christ exemplified when he broke bread with Romans, tax collectors and other sordid characters… never giving an inch in terms of the significant differences they had between them.

In sum, if you were objecting to LK’s participation in the kind of ecumenical processes that “give away the farm”, then, I’m right with you.  I don’t know him well enough to make the same kind of judgement.

An honest and humble observer…

In this instance, I wish to totally protect my correspondent’s identity… I do not wish any repercussions from the Syosset mafia to fall upon this estimable person. Such is my duty to my friends… it is how I can best express my respect for them, isn’t it? This submission raises such good questions that I had to share it with you (and protect my interlocutor at the same time, no?).

What is “giving away the farm?” A good example is the recent concordat signed between SVS and a heretical Episkie seminary, Nashotah House. The Anglicans compromised on none of their theology or on any practical matter… and received legitimation by their agreement with SVS. Nashotah House did not abjure the 39 Articles nor did they agree to condemn such things as female ordination or Calvinist theology. In short, SVS and an unrepentant Proddie body signed an agreement… with a bunch of Calvinists who have no intention of curbing any of their objectionable Protestant practises. In short, it was a classic illustration of an Orthodox body compromising its basic principles in its concessions to the party outside the Church, and the heterodox party emerged with its assumptions intact and whole, without making any attempt to fit them to the Church’s dogma and tradition. JP’s signature to all of that was an open and brazen slap in the face to the MP… which has broken off “dialogue” with the TEC and has condemned the “branch theory” explicitly (a heresy that the OCA implicitly accepted by its acceptance of a pact with a TEC institution).

“Speaking the truth in love” appears more truthful… at first glance, only. Part of the problem with it is that it unscrupulous sorts use it to continue the fruitless “ecumenical” dialogue. If there is nothing of use in such talks, if it leads to nothing but the pointless issuing of papers on topics that the parties either never disagreed upon or will never agree upon (due to the basic dogma of the groups involved), “speaking the truth with love” is just as bootless as “giving away the farm”. Indeed, it is WORSE… for the Orthodox party thinks that they are “witnessing” to the heterodox. Trust me, the papists, Proddies, Pentecostalists, and the American Cultists (Mormons, JWs, et al) are not listening… they are NOT going to change one whit even if we were talk until we were quite blue in the face. Any discussion on doctrine is sterile as no party is going to give in to the other. Ergo, this is worse than “giving away the farm”… it is far more mischievous and we should stop it immediately.

But… isn’t there anything that we can do with those outside the Visible Church of Christ? Of course, there is! There is a great deal that we can do together once we drive a stake through the heart of the ecumenical monster. People of good will can unite to support common goals in the community. We can work to help unwed mothers… we can help to feed the hungry… we can lobby politicians at all levels of government. That is only a partial list. However… we cannot hold common prayer together or pretend that we are one in Christ… we are not. To love one’s neighbour as a fellow human-being and to love what our Lord Christ taught us are two ENTIRELY different things. The first requires that we treat all of our neighbours with fairness and equity, at the least. The second requires us to understand that some are outside of the Body of Christ… and that this fact makes for a difference.

Yes, I agree that many disagreements and disputes between people arise out of ignorance, and that anything that “lights a candle in the darkness” is very good, indeed. No one is more polite and civil to those outside the Church in personal situations than I am. They are what they are (and they are emphatically NOT Orthodox). I have no right whatsoever to proselytise them (even if they try to proselytise me)… that is the most inherently disrespectful thing that I can think of. I would keep the discussion focused on things of common interest and approval, and would politely (but firmly) steer the conversation away from any doctrinal matters… that never leads to any good, I have found. It is sad that there are neophytes in the Church who think that they should “witness” to others in the same way that they did in their former confessions. If any of you have met such, I apologise to you most sincerely and profoundly, and can assure you that grounded Orthodox do NOT act in such an inconsiderate and impertinent way.

So, is there a “third way?” Yes… happily, there is. In fact, the Church has followed it for many centuries… it is NOT new. Let’s remember what a wise Ecumenical Patriarch once said…

Send us no more letters on doctrine. Send us letters of friendship, only.

Now, THAT’S what I agree with. I believe that I am not alone…

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Friday 30 October 2009

Albany NY

On Cabbages and Kings…

The Orthodox Church is the true Church in which the Holy Tradition and the fullness of God’s saving grace are preserved intact. She has preserved the heritage of the Apostles and Holy Fathers in its integrity and purity. She is aware that her teaching, liturgical structures, and spiritual practice are the same as those of the apostolic proclamation and the Tradition of the Early Church.
Archpastoral Council of the Patriarchate of Moscow and all the Russias, 2000

The recent Nashotah House débâcle has reopened the topic of proper relations between us in the Church and the heterodox. There appear to be two contending opinions current… unfortunately, both are WRONG and contrary to the Church tradition. Firstly, one sees some say, “We have to reach out to these people and dialogue with them, so as to bring them into the Church”. This is not as dangerous as the second proposition, “We cannot have any relations with the heterodox, for they are outside of the Church”. The first is obviously wrong-headed, for it has NEVER worked, save in situations where both parties compromise on major points… and it never lasts… for no one wishes to compromise on important points of ideology or doctrine. For instance, the Papists are never going to abandon Papal Supremacy… they are willing to let go of Papal Infallibility (as it only dates from the First Vatican “Council” of 1869-70), but, they shall never compromise on the issue of the so-called Petrine Supremacy (the doctrine that the Roman Church is superior to all others and has an immediate jurisdiction over them all). Likewise, Anglicans are never going to abandon “comprehensiveness”, the 39 Articles, and the quasi-Calvinist theology (the theology of Jean Calvin was condemned at the Council of Jerusalem in 1672) embodied in those Articles… if they did, they would cease to be Anglicans… and THAT is NOT going to happen.

The second allegation is more mischievous (it is downright wicked and evil, in my view) and it has caused more upset and trouble in the Church than the first one has, for the first is so obviously and derisively misguided, injudicious, and mistaken. What DOES the Church teach on this? WHAT DO WE DO? Do we lock the door and bar the gate? Do we lock the door, but, keep the gate open? Do we open the gate and door, but, keep a part of the house private, “for family use only?” Without a doubt, most would argue that the last is the proper course. One of the best sources is Fr Alexander Lebedeff. Here is a URL to an article of his on the topic:

http://rocorunity.blogspot.com/2009/02/mitred-priest-alexander-lebedeff-on-mp.html

Another must read is:

http://journal.orthodoxtheologicalschool.org/GansonV_ROCOR_World_Orthodoxy.html

Fr Alexander, in some of his other writings, makes it clear that there has always been interaction between the Church and those outside of Her. In one article, he mentions the fact the local papist bishop and some of his clergy were invited to the consecration of the main church at Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville NY, and that they were given seats of honour in front of the iconostas (as is right and proper, I say). In an internet post, he observed with obvious approval that the calendar issued by Holy Trinity Monastery in 1948 (I stand under correction as to the exact date… I am relying on my leaky memory) noted Protestant and papist holidays. In addition, he defended the listing of the hierarchs of the Metropolia and Paris Russians in this publication. Hmm… as Fr Alexander is a semi-official source of high reliability and standing, this must mean that the second proposition is dead in the water, I would say that it expired even before it reached the starting-post!

So, what does this mean for us, in practical and workaday terms? Chukcha says, “All are welcome in yaranga… however… not all are part of family of Chukcha”. Isn’t it simple, truly? Our Lord Christ told us what to do! Do unto others as you would wish them to do unto you. So, you make people welcome (sincerely and without guile) and give them open-handed and openhearted hospitality and courtesy… no matter if they are in the Church or outside Her. Certainly, you do NOT proselytise and hector the heterodox, for that is not only wrong (it is one of the most improper things that one can do, in my estimation), it is inherently disrespectful and impertinent. Those outside the Body of Christ are what they are. They are not to be hated or attacked… but, gad sir, they ain’t Orthodox! THAT is why any proposed Anglican Unia in the OCA would destabilise the whole magillah (that is why I hope that saner heads prevail and that this abomination never materialises… God grant that, please!).

We can sit down like civil and polite human-beings and “speak of cabbages and kings”… we can discuss the art of Dalí, the merits of Kentucky vs North Carolina vs Texas ‘que, the music of Prokof’ev, the food and service at Le Bernardin, the glories of the scenery in the Berkshires, whether the pastrami sandwiches are best at Sarge’s or Katz’s (or Harold’s across the river in Edison… and all agree that the only place to get REAL Jewish rye is Orwasher’s on 78^th and First… oh, the AROMA of freshly-baked bread!), the antics of the rector’s grandchildren, and the joys and sorrows of everyday life… there is much that we can share as considerate (but, also, straightforward) people. BUT… this is NOT “ecumenical dialogue”… we should never engage in such foolish and irresponsible behaviour. Certainly, we shouldn’t pose for publicity snaps… now, THAT was foolish (JP should have dressed in a riassa with no pectoral cross or icon and wearing one of those simple soft monastic caps if he were to be photographed… that would be a signal to all Orthodox that this was all very unofficial and without sanction by the larger Church). We should follow the advice of one of the Ecumenical Patriarchs in a letter of his to the Lutheran theologians of Tübingen in the 17^th century:

Send us no more letters concerning doctrine. Send us letters of friendship, only.

Now, that’s the Orthodox Way! Amen!

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Tuesday 27 October 2009

Albany NY

It’s a Wonderful Day in the Neighbourhood

It’s time to send the carpetbaggers and scallywags packin’…

I received the following news tonight from a friend of mine who is a priest in the MP… he is an acquaintance of Fr Vsevolod Chaplin and Prof Kirill Frolov, so his words carry some weight. The following is NOT official, but, I would say that it has a 75 percent probability, so, I would ask you all to attend seriously to it.

I have it on very good authority that Metropolitan Jonas intends to open an OCA branch for dissident Episcopalians. As he says that he wants to be “Patriarch of America”, he wants to uniatise Anglicans just like the pope. Where will his megalomaniac ambition stop? This came from taking a priest, making him a bishop one day… and a metropolitan almost the next.

This is SERIOUS news, if it is true, and I fear that it is. The Anglicans believe that JP promised them “intercommunion” and “recognition”, and this news fits that too closely, I am afraid. What is necessary is for the OCA to officially announce that it is not contemplating such a body… otherwise, be suspicious… JP and Hatfield did not go to Nashotah House for nought. Bear in mind that JP approves of the “Orthodox Feast of St Francis of Assisi”… he issued fulsome praise of the renegade community of quasi-Uniate turncoats that celebrates such a scandalous outrage (I would direct you to the fully-Orthodox remarks of Prof Aleksei Osipov of the MDA concerning Francis of Assisi and Teresa of Avila… NO other Local Church allows such, be clear on THAT). Indeed, this has a relation to the information above.

There is not going to be any catechesis of the Anglicans… this is looking like a very bad replay of what JP did with the HOOMies in 2000… Note well that the Anglicans venerate Francis of Assisi… Hmm… isn’t it WONDERFUL that we are getting people who glorify the spiritually-deluded as saints? It’s bad enough that New Skete has “icons” of Dorothy Day and Edith Stein in their chapel. Do we need more of this? The Anglicans are not Orthodox… neither is New Skete! ADS brought those vipers into the bosom of the Church… he did not see to it that an Orthodox superior was appointed to guide them nor did he condemn any of their disgraceful Uniate distortions of the ordo. Then, the questionable Stepford Wives-like HOOMies were brought in… Now, we are to be subjected to Anglicans coming in without instruction. I would say that would put JP and Co outside of the ambit of the Church.

Is this the logical end of the rebellion that began at the Cleveland Sobor in 1946? We have a first hierarch that was promoted to the top after a total of two months as a bishop… do compare that to Metropolitan Hilarion Kapral of the ROCOR, who was a bishop for 24 years and a ruling bishop for 12 years prior to being named First Hierarch. I do not think that Vladyki Hilarion would have tolerated a single one of the scandals that currently plague the OCA. He would not have approved an “Orthodox Feast of St Francis of Assisi”… he would have not allowed former Anglicans to come into the Church without a proper period of instruction or inspection… he would not have allowed those who “lost” church records to remain either in positions of influence or as church-employees… I could go on, but, you get it by now, I am sure.

Is it time to abandon the sinking ship? I would say that we have only one church… for good or ill. It is why it is worth fighting for. When rotten hierarchs have arisen, the people get riled… then, the clergy follow… and, finally, the bishops expel the creep from amongst them. It happened with the iconoclasts, it happened with the Uniate scourge, and it happened as recently as 1999 in Yekaterinburg and in 2008 with the renegade Diomid Dzhuban. That is to say, it is a VERY Orthodox thing to do. After all, we are not passive Papists or wandering Protestants. Orthodox stand and fight… for there is only ONE church, and she is the Bride of Christ, and if we were to lose her… we would lose everything.

Take a look at the following video. It is the original version of Dixie…

Inspiring stuff, no? It is time to stand up and say NO to JP and his fellow Quislings. Oh, by the way, “John”… don’t criticise me unless you can get definitive information from OCA official sources that the coming Unia with heretical Anglicans is not going to happen. Also, do observe that I noted at the outset that I hoped that the information I received was not true. However… the chances of that are slight given JP’s fibs concerning his past… especially, his connections with the defrocked Gleb Podmoshensky, the nature of his residence at Valaam, and his relations with the HOOMies. Everything in his official bio on these topics is either false or misleading. You are checkmated, “John”… you and Ad Orientem are being used… grow up and wise up.

It’s a wonderful day in the neighbourhood! Those who destroy records (“they simply do not exist”, according to Eric Tosi) link hands with unrepentant Uniates (that is, New Skete); those who welcomed the abusive HOOMies (if you wish the truth, look at pokrov.org) are now preparing to welcome Anglican heretics. I have nothing against Anglicans… but, they are NOT Orthodox and no amount of hot air can change that elemental fact.

We can fight for our church as our ancestors did under St Aleksandr Nevsky and the heroes Minin and Pozharsky, or, we don’t deserve it! We should chase the rascals and scallywags out, just as they did. Now, THAT would be “a wonderful day in the neighbourhood”.

What say you?

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Sunday 25 October 2009

Albany NY