2 May 2013. SVS and Mammon Revisited…

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One of the Cabinet sent this on:

So, St Vladimir’s Seminary (SVS) has seen fit to take Mammon‘s shilling (in the employ of the infamous Koch Bros) and not just invite, but declare themselves in unity through joint sponsorship with this outfit, and publicly endorse the Ecclesiology of the Church as Religious Right Republican Party PAC. I suppose I should care, but (I’ll be in trouble for this) on one level it seems that if that is what the Church has decided it’ll be, then, that’s what it’ll be, and folks like me, with my pacifist, communitarian, and “anti-economist” values will, as I so frequently am, by my fellow Orthodox, despised and derided as a “liberal” or other fashionable insults (even, if in some ways I am as much Conservative in the Burkean/Kirkian sense as “Socialist” in a very American sense). It’s been a long time since I’ve been a member of an OCA parish, and I left over precisely this derision, and they regard, my bishop, the Ecumenical Patriarch with just the same contempt, so I’ll leave them to their foolish devices…

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Here’s a link to the seminar alluded to in the above excerpt. Firstly, one must realise that unconverted Anglican slimers have taken over SVS (Chad Hatfield accepted an honorary degree from his Anglican seminary… what’s wrong with that picture?). Although these people make up only about 10 percent of the OCA, they’re disproportionately present in the clergy and are a majority of the OCA’s internet presence. Ergo, a false picture of the real situation is “out there”.

One shouldn’t read too much into such events… the majority of real ethnic Orthodox are still what they ever were. For instance, President Obama won the Valley in PA because Orthodox voters “came home” to the Democratic Party. These Angliochian poseurs are loud, but they’re not numerous. They got thrown out of PECUSA for being arrogant and loud pains-in-the-arse, and it looks like they’re cruisin’ for a bruisin’ again. PECUSA wasn’t “good enough” for their perfect presence, and it looks like Orthodoxy isn’t “good enough” for them, either. They’re going to form a vagante sect; the sooner that they’re gone, the better.

Don’t try to “engage” such people… civility will get you nowhere. This lot has sold out to the American Rightwing lock-stock-and-barrel. Their politics is more important than the Church is… the exact opposite of the case with real Orthodox (I have Cabinet members who agree with me on Church issues, but bitterly disagree on politics). The REAL Church is free… the phony Angliochian sectarians march in lockstep conformity… that’s a form of madness, kids. Don’t get tangled up in it, and don’t ever think that you can deal logically with them.

They’ll leave us soon enough, I’ll warrant… the only question is whether Potapov’s squiffy ROCOR lot in the District will join them (after all, that bunch has ties to such questionable sorts as Freddie M-G and Mattingly). You see, the Rodina is turning leftward… and Potapov’s Langley paymasters may very well lead him out of the ROCOR (he’s much more a CIA asset than a priest… but that’s been well-known for YEARS, I’m reporting no news on that one). Once they’re gone, we can go back to being what we always were… a live-and-let-live bunch, without wildass politics of any stripe (but with a strong bias to the union movement and social justice).

It can’t happen soon enough for my taste…

BMD

 

Legal Wrangle Over St Nicholas Cathedral in Nice Finally Over

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On Wednesday, Xenia and Nikita Krivoshein, acting as spokesmen for the Russian émigré community in France, told Interfax-Religion that the Russian government finally ended its legal battle concerning the property of St Nicholas Cathedral in Nice, stating, “On 10 April 2013, the Court of Cassation, the highest legal organ of the French Republic, announced that it completely rejected the complaint of the Russian Orthodox Religious Association (ACOR) of Nice (which claimed the cathedral: Interfax)”. Thus, the court ruled that the Russian state is now unequivocally the legal owner of St Nicholas Cathedral in Nice, “the law and simple good-sense prevailed over sectarianism and denial of reality”.

In 1923, ACOR leased the church for 99 years, and, in 1931, it passed into the jurisdiction of the Patriarchal Exarchate for Orthodox Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western Europe (Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople). On 19 May 2011, a French court confirmed that the Russian state had legal ownership of the church property in Nice. Then, the Russian government decided to hand over the property to MP Diocese of Korsun for its free and unlimited use. However, the Council of the Patriarchal Exarchate for Orthodox Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western Europe continued to consider itself the lawful possessor of the cathedral. In December 2011, Sergei Bolkhovitin, a mid-level official of the Russian Presidential Administration, handed over the keys of the cathedral in Nice to its new rector, Archpriest Nikolai Ozolin.

Today’s decision by the Court of Cassation in France marks the end of the long litigation over the legal ownership of the Russian cathedral in Nice. Now, members of the Russian émigré community hope that the Russian government will move on its claim to other major church buildings erected in Europe by the Russian Empire. Nikita Krivoshein noted, “Most of them are in poor condition and falling apart due to the poor maintenance done by their present temporary users. One can only hope that the decision concerning Nice will serve as a precedent for the resolution of similar situations in Paris, Biarritz, and other cities”. He emphasised that this year’s Holy Week services “at the Russian cathedral in Nice won’t be overshadowed by any external factors”.

St Nicholas Cathedral is one of the most visited historical attractions on the Côte d’Azur. Built in the early 20th century, the French state added it to its list of protected architectural monuments in 1987. Beginning of restoration work on the building will begin this year, financed by the Russian state and private sponsors. At present, it’s anticipated that the work will take two years to complete.

10 April 2013

Interfax-Religion

http://interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=50771

Editor’s Note:

When the Parisian modernists lost the court battle over St Nick’s, it was their death sentence. The funds raised from entrance fees to the church were the backbone of the Parisian budget. Frankly, the Phanar may give the Exarchate parishes a choice… go under Moscow, go under the Greek bishop for their area, or go vagante. Remember, the Phanar rejected all the proposed successors to Gabriel de Vylder. In short, even the EP sees that the Parisian Russians are a bad bet, a rum lot, and “dead men walking”.

SVS kissed the arse of the Parisians since the time of the Schmemann-Meyendorff duopoly. Now, there are noises that SVS wants to go EP if the OCA goes under. If they do, they won’t have the independence that they’ve enjoyed up to now (let’s be frank… ADS & Co took advantage of the spineless-jellyfish poofter weakling Feodosy). The Phanar would make them toe the EP party-line unreservedly and without complaint, and that’s that. Just sayin’… do pass the popcorn, the show isn’t completely over, yet… Rue Daru IS next, after all…

BMD

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 

Investigators Say Fire at El Cajon CA Church Was Hate Crime

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Another in a flurry of apparently unrelated incidents that investigators are looking into as hate crimes took place over the weekend in Southern California, when someone set a Greek Orthodox church ablaze. The fire at St Gregory of Nyssa Greek Orthodox Church in San Diego County broke out at about 04.00 PST (07.00 EST 12.00 UTC 16.00 MSK 23.00 AEST) on Sunday. Neighbours in the unincorporated area of El Cajon where the church is located reported the blaze to authorities. Fire-fighters from Cal Fire, San Miguel Fire District, Heartland Fire, and Lakeside all worked together to tackle the blaze. Officials said that crews were able to extinguish the fire within 45 minutes. There was no one inside the church at the time of the fire and no injuries were reported.

Investigators from the Sheriff’s Bomb/Arson Unit and a fire investigator from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and Explosives were called to investigate the cause and origin of the fire. According to the Sheriff’s Department, the fire caused about 250,000 USD (7.55 million Roubles. 186,000 Euros. 160,000 UK Pounds) in damages to the church. Investigators identified a person of interest in connection to the fire. Investigators immediately contacted suspect Darin Williams, 38, and they arrested him for suspicion of arson, burglary, and a hate crime. Williams was booked into San Diego Central Jail; he’s being held on 150,000 USD (4.53 million Roubles. 112,000 Euros. 96,000 UK Pounds) bail. He’s scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday. No further details were immediately released, as the investigation is still underway.

 28 January 2013

Monica Garske

Sharon Bernstein

4 NBC Southern California

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Fire-at-SoCal-Church-Was-Hate-Crime-Investigators-Say-El-Cajon-Greek-Orthodox-188663701.html