Bart to Attend Pope Francisco’s Inauguration

Bart‘s the Vatican‘s lapdog… this image proves it.

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Vatican Radio said that the Ecumenical Patriarch would attend a papal inaugural mass for the first time since the Great Schism between Orthodoxy and Catholicism. The presence of the Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Archontonis, who claims to be the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, at Pope Francisco’s official Inaugural Mass in St Peter’s Square on 19 March, is widely regarded as a sign of further improvement in relations between the two church bodies.

Earlier, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew welcomed the election of Pope Francisco Bergoglio with a warm message of congratulations, saying, “I want to express the hope and the certainty that the Holy Father will contribute to the peace of an already battered humanity, for the poor and the suffering”. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, who shared friendly relationships with John Paul II Wojtyła and Benedict XVI Ratzinger, said that newly-elected Pope Francisco “will give a new impetus to the two churches’ journey towards unity”.

The Great Schism was the medieval separation of Chalcedonian Christianity into Eastern Orthodox (Greek) and Roman Catholic (Latin) churches. Ecclesiastical differences and theological disputes, including the procession of the Holy Spirit (“filioque“), whether one should use leavened or unleavened bread in the Eucharist, the Pope of Rome’s claim to universal jurisdiction, and the place of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople amongst the Pentarchy long embittered relations between Orthodox and Catholics. The formal start of the schism was in 1054 {there were many long periods of breakage in communion before then… 1054 was an attempt at reconciliation gone wrong: editor}.

Emperors, popes, and patriarchs made efforts in subsequent centuries to heal the rift. However, a number of factors and historical events worked to widen the separation over time. The relations between Orthodox and Catholics eventually showed signs of improvement, especially after the Second Vatican Council, known as Vatican II, when Pope Paul VI Montini and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras Spyrou {a pro-American cleric installed after Langley instigated a coup against socialist-leaning pro-Soviet Patriarch Maximos Vaportzis in 1948: editor} voiced a joint expression of regret for many of the past actions that had led up to the Great Schism in the Catholic-Orthodox Joint Declaration of 1965. Patriarch Bartholomew, elected the 273rd Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople in October 1991, visited the Vatican for the first time in June 1995. John Paul II was the first pope since the Great Schism to visit an Eastern Orthodox country (Romania) in May 1999.

16 March 2013

RIA-Novosti

http://en.ria.ru/world/20130316/180051934/Orthodox-Church-Leader-to-Attend-Pope-Francis-Inauguration——.html

Editor’s Note:

Despite all of Bart’s pretentions, the REAL primus inter pares amongst Orthodox is HH… the MP IS the 400-kilo (882 pounds) bear in the room, whilst the EP is an American-paid-and-directed 40-kilo (88 pounds) weakling. Everybody knows this, and it drives Bart batty to no end. Let’s not be coy… the Curia was watching to see who the Centre would send as a delegation… they knew that they had Bart in their pocket; they always have, to speak plainly.

The Russian state sent a low-level group centred on a middling RF Gosduma figure (they didn’t even send Medvedev, who met Benedict previously), whilst the MP only sent the Blunder. He has no oomph… everyone knows that… the Curia knows that (they also know that he’s the most hated bishop in all of Russia… he has no chance at the funny white hat as he comes from a family of Jewish background… that’s the way it is in Russia. The Blunder is as marginal as Men, Chistyakov, and Kochetkov were). If the delegation were to have a legit figure such as Varsonofy Sudakov, Yuvenaly Poyarkov, Mark Golovkov, Filaret Vakhromeyev, or even Kliment Kapalin as the head, then, both the Curia and we would sit up and take notice of it (and have meaty material for speculation). As it is, it’s just the Blunder and his usual set of greasy eunuchs from Bolshaya Ordynka.

As an aside, the OCA kisses up big-time to the papists because they get recognition as a legit Local Church from them (which they don’t get in Real Orthodox circles). The Curia knows this… shall they place Mollard near Bart, just to show the latter who’s the boss and who’s the flunky? It’s a possibility…

BMD 

Some 400 Injured in Russian Meteor Shower

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The MVD reported that more than 150 people sought medical help in one of three Russian oblasts hit by a meteorite shower on Friday. It said that dozens of people suffered cuts from broken glass as the meteorites smashed windows in numerous buildings across the Chelyabinsk Oblast, but “no-one suffered serious injuries”. On Friday, Russian government officials confirmed that the meteorite shower hit three oblasts of Russia and Kazakhstan. The police are searching for the fallen meteorite pieces and protecting affected buildings from looting. Reports are inconclusive about whether one large meteorite or several smaller ones caused the incident. Residents of three villages in Sverdlovsk Oblast reported witnessing the shower, but nobody there was injured.

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The hail of meteor pieces that hit Russia on Friday fell in an area with a cluster of major nuclear facilities, including the largest Russian nuclear fuel-processing plant, but officials said early on that none suffered any damage and that they detected no radioactive contamination. In a statement released within hours of the strike, which damaged factories, schools, and residential buildings, Rosatom, the state nuclear agency, said, “All of Rosatom’s facilities in the Urals region are working normally. They’ve suffered no consequences from the meteorite shower”. The most well-known facility in the area, located in hard-hit Chelyabinsk Oblast, is the Mayak nuclear-fuel processing plant, where a major accident in 1957 caused some of the worst nuclear contamination in the USSR’s history, second, perhaps, only to the infamous Chernobyl reactor accident. Local officials said that they had noticed no contamination there.

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The MVD reported that the number of people who sought medical help across three Russian oblasts hit by a meteorite shower on Friday climbed to over 400. Officials said that hundreds suffered cuts from broken glass as the meteorites smashed windows in numerous buildings across Chelyabinsk Oblast. An MVD spokesman said, “The condition of at least three [people] is considered serious”. The shower hit at least six cities in three centrally-located Russian oblasts. On Friday, Russian government officials confirmed that the shower also affected some areas of neighbouring Kazakhstan.

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On Friday morning, Russian officials said that falling meteorite particles and the shock waves and sonic booms caused by them damaged buildings across Chelyabinsk Oblast. The MVD reported that a roof and wall partly collapsed at a zinc factory in Chelyabinsk Oblast after a shock wave from a meteorite struck it. The officials didn’t specify which factory it was. In an online statement, the oblast authorities said that the factory continued working normally despite the damage. South Ural State University cancelled classes for at least two days due to damage to its buildings. A university spokesman told RIA-Novosti, “The roof didn’t collapse, but the damage is quite significant. The windows are broken; some of them were blown in with their frames”. She also added that some ceiling tiles also fell down. EMERCOM reported that windows were also broken at least a dozen schools and three hospitals. The roof of a Chelyabinsk ice rink also suffered damage.

Chelyabinsk municipal authorities reported that at least 454 residential buildings had their gas supply cut off in central Chelyabinsk as of 16.30 local time Friday afternoon after protective safety systems were activated, but they reported no damage to gas pipelines. Energy supplier Inter RAO reported that the Yuzhnouralskaya district power station had 10 percent of its windows broken, but there was no effect on its operations. Rosatom, the state nuclear agency, said that its facilities across the affected regions were functioning normally. The Defence Ministry also said that none of its property was damaged. In Chelyabinsk Oblast alone, hundreds of people were injured, mainly due to cuts from flying glass. People in at least three Russian oblasts (Chelyabinsk, Sverdlovsk, and Tyumen), as well as those in the northern area of neighbouring Kazakhstan, witnessed the meteorite shower early on Friday morning.

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Chelyabinsk Oblast Governor Mikhail Yurevich said in a statement posted on his website that a meteorite that injured scores of people in central Russia when it fell to earth early on Friday plunged into a lake in the Chelyabinsk Oblast, noting, “The meteorite that passed over Chelyabinsk Oblast fell into a body of water 1 kilometre (2/3 mile) from the city of Chebarkul”. Almost 500 people were injured when fragments from what EMERCOM said was a single meteorite fell across central Russia. Most people were hurt by shattering glass. Five people are in hospital, an MVD spokesman described the condition of three of them as “serious”. Roscosmos confirmed that the object was a meteorite and said that it was moving at “around 30 kilometres per second (108,000 kph/18.6 miles per second/67,100 mph) at a low trajectory”.

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The European Space Agency (ESA) said that the meteorite that hit the Urals on Friday morning was not debris from the 2012 DA₁₄ asteroid, which is due to pass close by the Earth later the same day. ESA said on its official Twitter that its experts confirmed that there’s no link between the meteorite and the asteroid, but provided no details of its analysis. The 2012 DA₁₄, which is roughly 50 metres (165 feet) in diameter, will pass 27,000 kilometres (16,800 miles) from Earth… closer than satellites in geosynchronous orbit, which is 36,000 kilometres (22,400 miles). The 2012 DA₁₄ flyby will take place at 19.24 UTC (11.24 PST 14.24 EST 23.24 MSK 06.24 16 February AEST), about 16 hours after the meteorite incident in Chelyabinsk Oblast which left at least 400 injured, mostly from glass broken by the shock wave as the meteorite flew past. Numerous media reports linked the asteroid to the meteor. Tatiana Bordovitsina, an astronomy professor at Tomsk State University in western Siberia, told RIA-Novosti two hours before the ESA statement that the meteorite could’ve been debris preceding the asteroid, but she said that we needed a more thorough examination of the incident. NASA confirmed that 2012 DA₁₄ isn’t on a collision course with the planet, but said that if the asteroid hit the Earth, the resulting explosion would be 1,000 times more powerful than the nuclear bomb that obliterated Hiroshima in 1945.

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On Friday, health officials confirmed that a hail of meteorite fragments injured hundreds of people in central Russia. Various officials said that as of mid-day MSK, as many as 725 people, including up to 159 children, sought medical assistance in hard-hit Chelyabinsk Oblast because of the strikes. Figures on hospitalisation in the oblast varied significantly, from 34 to 112, with several reported to be in “serious” condition. Most people were hurt by shattering glass. President Vladimir Putin ordered EMERCOM officials to provide “immediate” assistance to the people affected by the meteorite. Gas supplies were cut off to hundreds of homes in Chelyabinsk as a safety precaution, and some 3,000 buildings were reported to have been damaged. The government mobilised an estimated 20,000 emergency response workers. Reportedly, background radiation levels remain unchanged. Both EMERCOM and Rosatom confirmed this, as the area has a fair number of nuclear facilities.

Reports about whether this was one large meteorite or many smaller ones initially varied, but Roscosmos confirmed by early afternoon that the object was a single meteorite, a report given earlier by EMERCOM. Yelena Smirnykh, deputy head of the EMERCOM press office, said, “Verified information indicates that this was one meteorite, which burned up as it approached Earth and disintegrated into smaller pieces”. Roscosmos stated that the meteorite fragments were moving at a speed of 30 kilometres per second.

A teacher in Chelyabinsk Oblast told RIA-Novosti, “All the city’s residents saw blinding flashes, very bright ones. Suddenly, it was very, very horribly bright. Not like the lights got turned on, but as if everything was illuminated with unusual white light”. Officials are trying to determine where the fragments landed. The governor of Chelyabinsk Oblast said that one had fallen in a lake in his oblast, whilst others were reported in Tyumen, Kurgan, and Sverdlovsk Oblasts as well. Police said an eight-metre-wide (26-feet-wide) crater was discovered near the Chelyabinsk lake. They reported that the radiation levels around the crater were normal.

Emergency officials in west Kazakhstan said that they were searching for two unidentified objects that fell in Aktobe Oblast. The European Space Agency (ESA) said that there was no link between the meteorite and the DA₁₄ asteroid, which is due to pass close by the Earth later on Friday. NASA also said that there was no connection because the asteroid and the “Russian meteorite” are on “very different paths”. Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev, speaking at an economic forum in Krasnoyarsk Krai in Siberia, called the meteorite “a symbol of the forum”, saying, “I hope that there’ll be no serious consequences, but it’s a demonstration that it isn’t only the economy that’s vulnerable, but our planet as well”.

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On Friday, nationalist lawmaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky, long known for his flamboyance and outrageous remarks, said that meteorite fragments hadn’t rained down on Russia in the morning, but that the light flashes and tremors in several oblasts resulted from American weapons tests. Zhirinovsky, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, told journalists several hours after EMERCOM began issuing statements on the incident, which injured hundreds and damaged scores of buildings, “Those aren’t meteors falling, it’s the Americans testing new weapons”. He also said that US Secretary of State John Kerry wanted to warn Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about the “provocation” on Monday, but couldn’t reach him… a reference to US State Department comments earlier this week that Kerry had spent several days trying to speak to Lavrov by phone to discuss North Korea and Syria. Zhirinovsky went on to say, “Outer space has its own laws. Nothing will ever fall out there. If [something] falls, it’s people doing that. People who’re instigators of wars, provocateurs”.

NB:

Click here and here for a video; click here for a photo gallery

15 February 2013

RIA-Novosti

http://en.rian.ru/science/20130215/179481989/Meteors-Injure-Over-150-in-Chelyabinsk-Region.html

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20130215/179483089/Russian-Nuclear-Sites-Unharmed-by-Meteors–Atomic-Agency.html

http://en.rian.ru/science/20130215/179483483/Some-400-Injured-in-Russian-Meteor-Shower.html

http://en.rian.ru/science/20130215/179484907/Russian-Meteor-Leaves-Trail-of-Damage-Across-Region.html

http://en.rian.ru/science/20130215/179484346/Russia-Meteorite-Fell-in-Lake–Regional-Governor.html

http://en.rian.ru/world/20130215/179485761/Russian-Meteorite-Not-Asteroid-Debris–Space-Agency.html

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20130215/179481049/Meteorite-Shower-Hits-Russia-Kazakhstan.html

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20130215/179489080/Russian-Politician-Denies-Meteorite-Claims-US-Weapons-Tests.html

“Moscow-on-Seine” Orthodox Cathedral by Eiffel Tower gets Green Light

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A massive Russian-style cathedral is set to transform the iconic skyline of the French capital, Paris. In the wake of Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev‘s visit to Paris, his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault said that France backed the construction of a controversial Orthodox cathedral not far from the Eiffel Tower. During a press conference with Medvedev, Ayrault said, “France shall stick to the realisation of the project. However, to build in Paris is more difficult than elsewhere, due to all the architecture and heritage protection laws”.

Moscow‘s plan to build a large cathedral and cultural centre with five onion domes and an undulating roof of glass panels beside the River Seine was stopped earlier this month. Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë described the project as “pastiche architecture” and an “ostentation totally unsuitable for the banks of the Seine”. Russia bought the 4,000-square-metre (43,055 square feet. 0.4 hectare. 1 acre) land plot that once hosted the headquarters of the French weather service in 2007 for about 60 million UK Pounds (3 million Roubles. 96 million USD. 75 million Euros). Medvedev finalised plans to build a second Orthodox cathedral in Paris with then-French president Nicolas Sarkozy in 2010.

However, when the joint design by Spanish architect Manuel Nuñez, agency Sade, and Russian company Arch Group was unveiled, many Parisians raised their eyebrows. They soon dubbed the project “Moscow-on-Seine”. The French government subsequently suspended an agreement with Russia whereby it pledged to study ways to make the building “harmoniously fit the surrounding landscape”. Ayrault said in conclusion, “I’m sure we’re on the right track to find a good project. I’m sure we’re going to find a solution”. Tens of thousands of Russians live in or near Paris. In the 1920s, the French capital became a favourite destination for anti-Bolshevik “White Russians” fleeing the Communist takeover of Russia.

28 November 2012

International Business Times

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/409305/20121128/paris-orthodox-cathedral-moscow.htm

Editor’s Note:

Let’s keep this one simple. On the one hand, you had the Mayor of Paris, homosexual activists, and posturing pseudo-intellectuals (think the SVS crowd, and you’ll have ‘em nailed). On the other hand, you had the Russian government and the powerful builders’ trades union. There was NO contest. However, Hollande had to mollify the loud activists, so, he took a week to make his decision to allow them to posture to their heart’s content. Now, it’s time for real work, and the project’s going forward, as originally planned. After all, Russia ships in the natural gas and the builders’ union has a lot of clout. This was over before it even started…

BMD

 

Hollande Under Pressure Over Paris Russian Orthodox Cathedral… Plans Suspended for Russian Cathedral in Paris

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According to reports, François Hollande is under growing pressure to approve plans for a Russian Orthodox cathedral and cultural centre near the Eiffel Tower or risk straining diplomatic relations with Moscow. The plan to build the whitewashed cathedral, complete with five golden domes reaching up to 85.6 feet (26 metres) high, was meant to “promote Russian civilisation”, and comes “directly” from President Vladimir Putin. However, the design caused controversy in Paris, earning some strong criticism from President Hollande’s ally and mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, who described it as “an ostentation” of “pastiche architecture” and “mediocre”.

As the deadline for approving the cathedral building contract approaches on 29 November, pressure’s been mounting on Mr Hollande, who has the final word. According to the Journal du Dimanche, his cabinet held a special meeting without the mayor last week; Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev will visit Paris two days before the deadline. Nevertheless, officials in the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs said, “We hope the project will move forward”. In what appears to be an attempt at compromise, the French Ministry of Culture said it was holding, “discussions with the Russian state and the Orthodox Church to define adaptations and improvements to the project, to permit its construction”. Russia purchased the 45,692 square foot (4,245 square metres. 1.05 acres. 0.4 hectare) property for 70 million Euros (£56 million) two years ago from France, as part of a French programme to sell off little-used, state-owned buildings to help reduce debt.

11 November 2012

Devorah Lauter

The Daily Telegraph (London UK)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/9670446/Francois-Hollande-under-pressure-over-Paris-Russian-Orthodox-cathedral.html

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The French government said that Russia suspended its bid for a permit to build an Orthodox church with five domes on the Seine riverbank in Paris after the mayor of the world’s most-visited city labelled the project a showy eyesore. Ahead of a Paris visit next week by Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev, France’s culture and foreign ministries said in a joint statement that Moscow agreed to review the plan, which is close to President Vladimir Putin’s heart, noting, “The Russian Federation has decided a provisional suspension of its request for a construction permit”. Wary of diplomatic sensitivities, a government official insisted that the parties involved would reach a compromise.

In Moscow, the Kremlin‘s property management department said that it’d study ways to make the planned building “harmoniously fit the surrounding landscape”. Then-President Nicolas Sarkozy endorsed the project to build a church and cultural centre in central Paris was in 2010, but at the time, the design was only in an embryonic stage.

Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë described the final plans, with five golden domes and a wavy glass roof that would share the skyline with the nearby Eiffel Tower, as “ostentatious” and unsuited to a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Russia bought the land for the church and cultural centre in 2007, a 4,000-square-metre (0.4 hectare. 1 acre. 43,000 square feet) plot less than a kilometre (0.62 mile) from the Eiffel Tower and overlooking the Seine. Paris already has a Russian Orthodox church, the St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, but it reports to the Patriarch in Constantinople, outside the control of the MP.

Putin has been pushing to increase the MP’s influence abroad, especially in areas with large expatriate Russian communities. He viewed the reunification of the New York-based Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) and the MP in 2007 as one of his biggest achievements as a Russian leader. Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev of Moscow came under criticism in Russia after he openly sided with Putin during his recent presidential campaign, calling his rule “a miracle of God”.

Public opposition to the church’s increasing political engagement culminated in an anti-Putin performance by the feminist punk band Pussy Riot inside the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. Two band members are now in jail. With 165 million members, the Russian Orthodox Church (sic) is the second largest in Christianity after the 1.3-billion strong Roman Catholic Church. Its profile has risen both at home and abroad since the end of Soviet communism in 1991.

22 November 2012

Vicky Buffery

Gleb Bryanski

John Irish

Reuters

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/11/22/uk-france-russia-church-idUKBRE8AL0R020121122?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

Editor’s Note:

It’s rather simple and straightforward. Delanoë is openly gay… he’s attacking the project because he supports both gay activists and anti-government oppositionists in Russia. Any questions? I didn’t think so…

BMD