Czech Orthodox Church Head Resigns over Accusations of Philandering

Two shitbirds of a feather… JP and Krystof…  they’re both gone, now… good riddance to bad rubbish

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On Friday, a church official announced that Metropolitan Kryštof Pulec, the First Hierarch of the Orthodox Church of all Czechia and Slovakia since 2006, stepped down amidst allegations from critics stating that he’d breached his oath as a monk by having sex with women, adding that Kryštof resigned on his own free will for the sake of church unity. Previously, Kryštof, 59, dismissed the accusations and said he’d take legal steps to clear his name. Last week, TV Nova reported that Kryštof had several girlfriends with whom he’s fathered children. It said the Holy Synod urged Kryštof to refute the accusations by mid-May. According to Nova, the Church accused Kryštof of having sex with a priest’s wife for seven years. In addition, she isn’t the only woman with whom Kryštof committed a sin. He fathered children with others, maybe up to ten of them, the synod said, cited by Nova. Kryštof said that he has two daughters, both born before he took an oath as a monk.

After Kryštof’s resignation, 87-year-old Bishop Simeon Jakovljević of Brno-Olomouc in Morava will be locum tenens for about 40 days until the Church chooses a new First Hierarch. On Friday, Simeon told journalists, “The metropolitan [Kryštof] registered certain rising tensions that got unnecessarily dramatised. He decided it would be prudent to step down to secure peace”. Simeon went on to state that, in the recent past, Kryštof had, perhaps, overworked; now, he can devote himself to academic study and prayer. He said that he took over Kryštof’s duties, and that he’ll supervise the preparations of the celebration of the 1,150th anniversary of the arrival of Christian missionaries Ss Cyril and Methodius to medieval Moravia. Simeon pointed up that Orthodox dignitaries from all over the world would arrive in Czechia in late May to attend the celebration.

Kryštof said that the accusation might have links to an in-process property settlement between the Czech state and churches, of which 1.14 billion Koruna  (1.82 billion Roubles. 57 million USD. 44 million Euros. 37 million UK Pounds) is to go to the Orthodox Church. On Thursday, Kryštof told TV Nova, “Some would like the money to be spent exclusively on humanitarian projects for seniors, ill people, and children. Others, however, say that the money should be deposited in funds to draw more money for priests’ [pay]“. There are about 100,000 Orthodox believers amongst 10.5-million Czechs. The number has risen, mainly due to the arrival of immigrants from the Ukraine and other countries with an Orthodox majority.

Kryštof, whose secular name is Radim Pulec, was born in Prague (Praha) on 29 June 1953. He studied at the Hussite Theological Faculty of the Charles University in Prague, graduated from the Orthodox Theological Faculty in Prešov, eastern Slovakia, and pursued distance studies at the Moscow Theological Academy. He earned the title of Doctor of Philosophy at National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in 1987. In 1974, he was ordained to the diaconate and as a priest. In 1985, he was tonsured, becoming a monk, taking the name Kryštof. He served at Prague’s Cathedral of SS Cyril and Methodius. In 1988, he was elected bishop of Olomouc and Brno. After the death of then-First Hierarch of Czechia and Slovakia Dorotej Filip in 2000, Kryštof became Archbishop of Prague and all Czechia. After the death of Slovak First Hierarch Nikolai Kocvár in May 2006, Kryštof became the Metropolitan of the Orthodox Church in Czechia and Slovakia.

15 April 2013

Prague Monitor

http://praguemonitor.com/2013/04/15/czech-orthodox-church-head-resigns-over-breach-oath-accusation

 

Czech/Slovak Orthodox First Hierarch Suspected of Violating Monastic Vows by Having Sex with Women

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On Thursday, Jaroslav Suvarsky, head of the Archpastoral Council of the Orthodox Church of all Czechia and Slovakia, told ČTK that the Church’s First Hierarch, Metropolitan Kryštof Pulec, has until mid-May to refute the suspicion that he violated his vows as a monk by having sex with women. Bishop Simeon Jakovljević of Brno-Olomouc in Morava will be locum tenens for Kryštof until then {interestingly, Simeon disputed Kryštof’s election as First Hierarch in 2006… could this be Round Two of that battle?: editor}. For instance, now, Kryštof can’t sign agreements or contracts on behalf of the Church.

TV Nova reported that Kryštof, Archbishop of Prague (Praha) and First Hierarch of the Local Church of all Czechia and Slovakia, has had several girlfriends with whom he has children. It said that the Holy Synod of the Local Church discussed the issue at an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday. Suvarsky said that the synod “urged First Hierarch Kryštof to refute the accusations by its next meeting”, adding that the synod will meet again in mid-May. According to Nova, the Church accused Kryštof of having sex with a priest’s wife for seven years. In addition, she isn’t the only woman with whom Kryštof committed a sin. He fathered children with others, maybe up to ten of them, the synod said, cited by Nova. Kryštof said that he has two daughters, both born before he took an oath as a monk.

Kryštof said that the accusation might have links to an in-process property settlement between the Czech state and churches, of which 1.14 billion Koruna (1.82 billion Roubles. 57 million USD. 44 million Euros. 37 million UK Pounds) is to go to the Orthodox Church. On Thursday, Kryštof told TV Nova, “Some would like the money to be spent exclusively on humanitarian projects for seniors, ill people, and children. Others, however, say that the money should be deposited in funds to draw more money for priests’ [pay]“. There are about 100,000 Orthodox believers amongst 10.5-million Czechs. The number has risen, mainly due to the arrival of immigrants from the Ukraine and other countries with an Orthodox majority.

5 April 2013

Prague Daily Monitor

http://praguemonitor.com/2013/04/05/czech-orthodox-church-primate-suspected-breaching-oath

Editor’s Note:

This jabronie is a pal of Paffhausen’s… remember, shitbirds of a feather flock together. Interesting, no?

BMD

Is Russia Becoming a Theocracy?

THIS is what HH is REALLY up to. The West hates him for that. That speaks volumes…

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Editor’s Foreword:

Caveat lector! The author of this piece is a neoliberal pro-Western fanatic who graduated from Harvard. Its chock fulla shit, but you need to know what’s out there. Don’t just read what pleases you… that’s what the Rush Limboob Fan Club droolers do. Always attend to reality… or, reality WILL deal with you.

BMD

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This weekend, the MP held its Archpastoral Council at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. In his speech to the assembly, President Putin said that, of course, Russia isn’t a theocracy, but, “We’re a secular state of course, and can’t allow state life and Church life to merge, but at the same time, we must avoid too, a vulgar and primitive interpretation of what being secular means. Traditional values, believers’ religious feelings, and people’s rights, freedoms, and dignity must all be protected by both the power of public opinion and the power of the law” (emphasis in the original).

He also said that the Orthodox Church and other traditional Russian religions must be involved in “important fields as the support of family and motherhood, the upbringing and education of children and youth, social development, and the strengthening of the patriotic spirit of the armed forces” (emphasis in the original). The social conservatism inherent in having the Church play a greater role in family life (with “fathers” notably absent from the equation), schooling, and, somewhat counter-intuitively perhaps, the war machine, is nothing new. However, whilst the Russian state has actively promoted the Church since the early Yeltsin years, perhaps the most interesting aspect of the statement was the legal element.

Putin’s statement confirmed that some of the most bizarre parts of the prosecution’s case against the members of Pussy Riot… namely, that their actions contravened medieval Church law… may not have been the surreal aberration they seemed at the time. In fact, the following day, Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev also spoke in favour of giving legal weight to religious doctrines. Russian news sources reported that Kirill “backed the idea of criminal prosecution for blasphemy similar the Pussy Riot’s punk performance in Cathedral of Christ the Saviour”; he was quoted as saying, “The law must protect not only symbols of secular importance, but also objects with sacred meaning for the believers and guard their religious feelings from insults”.

The Orthodox Church has been in the news these days. Last weekend, the Financial Times published a long profile of Fr Tikhon Shevkunov, who’s said to be Putin’s personal confessor; whilst the latest issue of The Economist reviews a new history of religion after the fall of communism. The FT noted the paradox that, whilst “only a small minority of Russians attend church regularly” the MP has become one of the country’s most trusted institutions. Geraldine Fegan, author of the book reviewed in The Economist, was quoted as saying, “Putin wants to capitalise on Orthodoxy’s image of permanence, even as his own legitimacy crumbles”.

Certainly, there’s an intimate relationship between the Church, the Kremlin, and big money. After all, Yeltsin financed the Church, in part, by granting it the right to import and sell tax free cigarettes, whilst the most avid sponsors of new houses of worship over the past 20 years have been oligarchs. Many senior members of the Church hierarchy have themselves become quasi-oligarchs, driving expensive supercars, wearing Swiss watches, and living in multimillion dollar apartments. Today, it’s become very fashionable among the megarich to have their own personal confessors… the latest badge of élite status. However, whilst we know that the church, state, and army have refashioned the old tsarist three-legged stool, it’s much harder to see which of them wields the most power in the equation.

In short, is Putin using the church, or is the church using Putin? As the embrace between them becomes ever closer, the key power struggle to come may no longer be between the Kremlin and the liberals, but rather Putin and his Patriarchate.

3 February 2013

Vadim Nikitin

Foreign Policy

http://foreignpolicyblogs.com/2013/02/03/is-russia-becoming-a-theocracy/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=is-russia-becoming-a-theocracy

Editor’s Afterword:

This is what the crapitalist crowd in the West truly believes… and Orthodox swine like Lyonyo Kishkovsky, Victor Potapov, James Paffhausen, and Alexander Webster nourish their delusions by feeding them crank and bogus intel (in short, they give the Westerners what they want to hear, receiving attaboys and material rewards in return). Do remember how Jordanville lied about its non-existent ties to a putative “catacomb church” during the Cold War to receive Langley’s shilling… the main enablers of that were Basil Rodzianko and Victor Potapov… and how Schmemann worked for the American propaganda machine (how much Langley money did SVS get for that? Perspirin’ minds wanna know… there’s been no OCA analogue of Alexander Lebedeff (a First Family apparatchik, but an honest man when it comes to Church history) to tell the truth).

This is what the American Establishment believes… and there are traitorous Russians, both in the Rodina and in the diaspora, who sell out to them for filthy lucre and personal gain (after all, Potapov DID (or DOES) suck directly on the US government tit). The truth is that HH is a supporter of fundamental social justice, and he argues that it’s imperative for the state to provide a broad palette of social services (INCLUDING universal access to state-provided single-payer healthcare)… and the people that I named do NOT. Where is HH on every major holiday? He’s out in the hospitals and orphanages visiting sick and orphaned kids, that’s where (he also runs the niftiest Yolka in Moscow)… I’d remind you that James Paffhausen did NOT do that… which one of those two is god-pleasing? I’d say that it was HH… and Paffhausen was a gibbering and posturing poseur. Think on that…

BMD

Government and SYRIZA Clash Over Church Tax Proposal

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On Monday, the relationship between the Greek state and the Church of Greece became the focus of a fresh clash between the government and the main opposition SYRIZA party after a leftist MP proposed the introduction of a new tax to pay clerics’ wages. SYRIZA deputy Tasos Kourakis said that the Church should start funding itself instead of relying on dwindling state coffers. Kourakis told a conference organised by the Theology Department of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki that another option would be to impose a church tax on all Greeks who declare themselves Orthodox Christians. He said that revenues from it could go toward church costs and clerics’ salaries.

The rightwing New Democracy shot down the idea, which likened the proposed tax to “Stalinist measures”. ND argued that such a levy would be unconstitutional, as it would discriminate between Greeks based on their religious beliefs. SYRIZA noted that Kourakis’s proposal was the MP’s “personal opinion”, but said that Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras had mooted a similar initiative in the fall of 2011 when the latter was head of the Foundation for Industrial and Economic Research (IOBE). Stournaras accused SYRIZA of distorting comments that he made during a TV interview, when he noted that other European citizens don’t pay clerics’ salaries through taxation without proposing however that Greece follow suit.

28 January 2013

Kathimerini

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_28/01/2013_480874

Editor’s Note:

What SYRIZA proposes is nothing more than the system in place in Germany, where citizens pay a “church tax” that goes to the church of their choice. If one isn’t religious, the money goes into a general charity fund. “Stalinist” is usually “right-speak” for “we don’t like this and we want to demonise the people making this proposal” (such as Potapov’s recent crackbrained initiative concerning “Stalingrad” in the ROCOR). In short, the SYRIZA proposal isn’t leftist at all; it’s merely fair. It simply places the burden of support of the Orthodox Church on Orthodox believers. That’s as it should be, kids… New Democracy is sinking into irrelevance along with PASOK… SYRIZA is Greece’s future, as this common-sense proposal indicates. You can have SYRIZA or you can have Golden Dawn (which is neo-Nazi, fascist, racist, and xenophobic… that’s no choice at all)… that’s the real-world choice on offer… there’s nothing else. It’s clear that SYRIZA’s the better choice.

BMD