The Serbian Media Report that the Church of Serbia may elect a New Patriarch because of the Ill-Health of Patriarch Pavle

Patriarch Pavle of Serbia

Today, leading Serbian newspapers report that a meeting of the Holy Synod of the Church of Serbia decided on 14 May that there could be an election for a new patriarch. However, official representatives of the Holy Synod refused to comment on the media reports. “The topics under discussion are decided by the Holy Synod itself. Furthermore, they may change the agenda. I do not know if the election of a new patriarch is one of the resolutions of the Synod”, stated Archpriest Savva Jovic, the chief secretary of the Holy Synod. He also said that “all the speculation in the media about who is going to be the next patriarch is groundless, for this is something decided by the Holy Spirit”.

Patriarch Pavle, who is 93-years-old, did not participate in the latest session of the Holy Synod. On 13 November 2007, he was hospitalised, and for the last six months he has handled the affairs of the Serbian Church from his bed in the Belgrade Military Medical Academy. Quite often, the patriarch receives visits from prominent Serbian politicians and other secular figures in his room.

Shortly, the patriarch’s attending physicians shall transmit their medical opinion on the status of the health of the patriarch to the Holy Synod. Sources in the clinic said that his condition is as it was before. “The patriarch is in good spirits, but, sometimes, he has trouble breathing, he becomes weak, and he runs a fever. However, normal medical care usually alleviates all these symptoms”.

Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro and Primorsky attends the patriarch in hospital daily. Many consider that the Montenegrin bishop may be the possible successor to Patriarch Pavle as First Hierarch of the Serbian Church. Patriarch Pavle is the 44^th First Hierarch of the Serbian Church. In 2007, he celebrated 50 years of episcopal service and his 17^th anniversary in the patriarchal dignity, according to the website Sedmitsa.ru.

15 May 2008

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=24468

President Medvedev Visits the Ipatiev Monastery in Kostroma

Ipatiev Monastery. Kostroma (Kostroma Oblast. Central Federal District) RF

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President Dmitri Medvedev visited the Ipatiev Monastery in Kostroma whilst he was on an official trip to the city. The monastery was first mentioned in the chronicles in 1432, but, it was founded much earlier, probably around 1330, through the efforts of the Tatar Murza Cheta. In particular, the monastery is known for the fact that Mikhail Romanov, the first tsar of the Romanov dynasty, lived here for six years with his mother, the Nun Marfa, before ascending the throne. The Zemsky Sobor elected him tsar here in 1613, and he was proclaimed the ruler of Russia in the Holy Trinity cathedral, which President Medvedev also visited. The library of the monastery preserves one of the most precious early Russian manuscripts, the Ipatievsky Chronicle. The president also visited the Epiphany Convent, the largest monastic house in the city, which was established in 1426. At present, the sisterhood cares for 40 elderly women and invalids, and it also runs an orphanage for girls. The main holy item in the convent is a wonder-working icon of the Mother of God “of Feodorovskaya”, which Nun Marfa used to bless her young son Mikhail before he became tsar. Up to the present time, more than 100 attested miracles have occurred due to the prayers said before this icon.

16 May 2008

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=24474

All the Hermits in the Penza Cave have Come to the Surface

Members of a doomsday cult in Penza come to the surface in March 2008

All of the hermits who huddled in a cave in Penza oblast since November 2007 in expectation “of the end of the light” have left and returned to the surface. “A second corpse was discovered in the cave in close proximity to the place where the hermits hid themselves, and examinations showed that there was a real possibility that there was a threat of ptomaine poisoning. We proposed to the hermits that they leave the cave voluntarily, and the people in the cave agreed. Early in the morning on Friday, they came to the surface”, said Vladimir Provotorov, the chief official of Bekovsk raion.

He explained that nine people emerged from the cave, “and I would say that their condition is satisfactory and normal”. Mr Provotorov did not say where the hermits went after their emergence. He previously told us that rescuers from the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the police had completed their search for the bodies of two hermits who had allegedly passed away during the say in the cave in Penza oblast.

“The bodies of the two women were exhumed at around 01.00 this morning. The bodies were sent to a morgue for further forensic tests”, Oleg Melnichenko, deputy governor of the Penza oblast, told Interfax. Mr Melnichenko also said that the cult members who had remained underground were aware of the exhumation. “They took everything quietly”.

“A criminal case in connection with the two corpses in the cave thus far is not contemplated; it shall be decided after the completion of the forensic examination. It is important to establish the reason for the deaths”, a police source said. The same source said that the case for deportation of some Byelorussian citizens who were some of the hermits shall be heard shortly. One of them, Vabishchevich, was in the cave until recently. His wife and children were amongst the first hermits to leave the cave, but, they were not deported with the other Byelorussians because the head of the family remained underground.

Thirty-five cult members have taken refuge in the cave in the Nikolskoye village in Penza oblast since November 2007 waiting for “the end of the world”. On 28 March, seven women were persuaded to come out of the cave. On 1 April, another 14 people came out after two cells collapsed in the cave. On 2 April, a Byelorussian woman and her two children left the cave. Five Byelorussian women who were among the cult members returned to their home country.

Eleven people remained in the cave. Meanwhile, one of the cult members, Vitaly Nedogon, said as soon as he came out of the cave in late March that two women had died in the cave. Local authorities did not confirm the information at the time.

16 May 2008

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=24477

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=24480

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=24476

Orthodox Activists in Paris say that Archbishop Gabriel is Uncanonically Barring a Laywoman from Communion

Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St Nicholas, Nice in France (a photo taken by my Nicky in 1966)

Orthodox activists in Paris consider that the decision of Archbishop Gabriel to bar Lydia Plas, a parishioner of St Nicholas Cathedral in Nice, from communion for an indeterminate period is uncanonical. Mme Plas, the former secretary of the church council of the Russian Orthodox Association of Nice (ACOR), recently wrote an article in the Parisian newspaper Russkaya Mysl (Russian Thought) critical of the pastor and clergy of St Nicholas Cathedral in Nice, in particular, in regards to their Russophobic policies. After the publication of the article, Archbishop Gabriel informed Mme Plas of her exclusion from communion by means of a personal letter.

Nikita Krivoshein, a Parisian translator and journalist, believes that Vladyki Gabriel acted in defiance of all procedural standards and established canonical rights. “In the past, such a harsh punishment was imposed for such egregious behaviour as perjury, apostasy, blasphemy, and intentional murder, and then only if the person involved failed to repent”, M Krivoshein noted in a statement to Interfax-Religion on Thursday.

He emphasised that a bishop or priest can bar a layman from communion “based upon what he hears in a believer’s confession” in order to help their repentance, but, the clergyman cannot publicise the fact of such a ban. If such a ban is a disciplinary action, a bishop must warn the person involved three times, and then bring it to an ecclesiastical court or the diocesan council. In such a case, the accused must be informed of the specific charges and they must be given a chance of reply to them. The parish and diocese of the accused are informed of the essence of the charges against the individual. A ban from communion is imposed only if the accused fails to repent. M Krivoshein stressed that “none of these standards were observed in the case of Lydia Plas”.

Seraphim Rehbinder, chairman of Local Orthodoxy of the Russian Tradition (OLTR), a movement of the faithful of the Paris Jurisdiction in Western Europe, also transmitted a statement on Thursday to Interfax-Religion. He expressed “bewilderment at the decision of the archbishop because it clashes with old established freedoms in the church, always inherent in the episcopal office. Increasingly, one sees signs of authoritarianism in the policies (of the archbishop: Interfax). Any opinion expressed that is not in perfect compliance with the official line of the archbishop is punished. He considers all who voice such opinions as religious illiterates, or more simply, as traitors”. The use of one of the church sacraments “as a weapon” causes “great bitterness”, M Rehbinder noted. “This bizarre decision by an Orthodox bishop casts aspersions on all Orthodox Christians in Western Europe”, he emphasised.

15 May 2008

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=24466

Editor’s Note:

One must reflect on the close ties between the OCA and the Paris grouping headed by Gabriel. Do not forget that Schmemann came out of this body. This situation is all too familiar to those of us in America. Such tactics were not unusual in the “church war” period, and both sides used them, unfortunately. This is why Vladyki Laurus’ stand for ordinary Orthodoxy was so important. Often, his was the only sane voice in that period. No, he could not stop such enormities, but, he stood for the right, and that was good enough.

Again, look at the good trees and look at the bad trees. It is obvious which is which, I would say. Do not forget what Our Lord said of the bad trees. I do daresay that the woodsman is on his way.

BMD