24 May 2012. A Point to Ponder…

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24 May 2012. VOR Presents… Princess Estelle Baptised in Stockholm

On 22 May, Swedish Princess Estelle, born on 23 February, was baptised in the chapel of the Royal Palace in Stockholm.

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At the ceremony, three-month Princess Estelle Silvia Ewa Mary, Duchess of Östergötland, was dressed in a special baptismal gown. During the event, her mother, Crown Princess Victoria, held her.

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550 guests were at the baptism, most of them royalty from around the world. TV in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway carried live broadcasts of the baptism, and thousands of tourists and locals gathered outside the palace.

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Dutch Crown Princess Máxima, Danish Crown Prince Frederik, and Swedish Princess Madeleine at Princess Estelle’s baptism.

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Estelle was the first-born child of 34-year-old Crown Princess Victoria. According to the law of succession, the newborn princess is the next heir to the throne after her mother.

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Crown Princess Victoria with her husband, Daniel Westling (1973- ), a “man of the people” who grew up in an ordinary Swedish middle-class family in the village of Ockelbo in the north-east.

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Stockholm marked the baptism with a 21-gun-salute. According to the law of succession, the princess be baptised in and be a member of the Church of Sweden (Evangelical Lutheran) to have the right to inherit the throne.

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23 May 2012

Voice of Russia World Service

http://rus.ruvr.ru/photoalbum/75677513/75677516/

Editor’s Note:

This is how Christians are made… not by “giving their heart to Jayzuss”, or by being “sealed in the temple”. You can see the yawning gulf between Christians and Yahoo Sectarians. There’s no resemblance in the least. Yes, Virginia, there IS a form of “Mere Christianity”, and Hard-Shell Baptists, Mormons, Pentecostalists, JWs, and other Sectarians are NOT part of it. That’s why Orthodox can have NOTHING to do with such nonsense as the Manhattan Declaration, Moral Majority types (the group’s gone, but its baleful ideology is still with us), and the so-called Pro-Life Movement (all are nothing but Trojan Horses of the godless Radical Right).

On the one hand, Tradition, Hierarchy, and Order… on the other, License, Levelling, and Anarchy… which do you want? Socialists have NO qualms in bowing before a King or Queen… Republicans do have such qualms… what does that tell you about them? Honour or the Dollar… which one do YOU want?

BMD

MP Wins Official Recognition in Italy

Mosaic “Suvorov’s March Over the Italian Alps in 1799”. Suvorov Museum (St Petersburg (Federal City of St Petersburg) RF). Over two centuries later, the people of Switzerland and Northern Italy remember Marshal Suvorov… he was the Liberator, and there’s no two ways about it. Italy and Russia go back a LONG time…

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The Italian government granted legal status to the MP parishes on its territory, granting it official recognition. This move will greatly facilitate the pastoral ministry of priests and open new opportunities for the development of the Orthodox faith in the region. Bishop Nestor Sirotenko, the ordinary of the MP Diocese of Korsun (which has jurisdiction over Italy), said, “This recognition gives us completely new legal opportunities. We’ll be able to enter into contracts for the use of church buildings, that’s something that we have to do quite often. This recognition from the Italian government was an absolute necessity for us. In fact, in contemporary Italy, according to various estimates, about a million people are the MP’s spiritual children. Firstly, they’re emigrants from the Ukraine, Moldova, and Russia. Their number’s very considerable; the number of our parishes is constantly growing”.

As a legal entity, the MP can now purchase property and land, carry out legal action in the courts, have an independent income, and even apply for funds from the state budget. Fr Vladimir Kuchumov has already served in Italy for 10 years. Due to the fact that the MP wasn’t a recognised religious organization, he often met difficulties in his pastoral ministry. He said, “When I was rector of the Russian parish in Naples, I couldn’t visit the prison, even if our countrymen were imprisoned there. Even though I’m a priest, I wasn’t allowed to go there, because our church wasn‘t recognised by the Italian state. There were a few times that I used the pull of the local Catholic bishop in Naples when there was an urgent need. Now, no one has the right to keep me from visiting the gaol if our believers are imprisoned there”.

Today, Fr Vladimir’s the rector of the legendary Russian Compound in Bari. Earlier this year, the Italian government finally transferred the St Nicholas podvorie, also known as “Little Russia in Italy”, to the MP. In the early 20th century, the donations of Russian believers funded the construction of this unique Orthodox complex in Bari. True, in its early years, the Russian Compound belonged to the Russian state. After the 1917 Revolution, the new Soviet state abandoned the complex’s buildings. The process of returning the property of the Russian Compound of St Nicholas only began in the mid-1990s.

Fr Vladimir said, “Now, not only Russian Orthodox believers come to the complex, but also Orthodox from other countries, and even Catholics. Generally, we have very friendly relations with the Holy See’s representatives. Amongst practising and devout Catholics, there’s great interest in Eastern traditions. Orthodox priests in Italy are at their ease. When we go about in public wearing our riassa and the cross, the locals show signs of respect, they even ask for blessings and prayers. We’re always treated with great respect, and we’re always receiving invitations to come to Catholic parishes to talk to Catholics about the Orthodox faith”. Orthodoxy is the third largest religion in modern Italy. The history of Russian Orthodoxy in the region dates back to the late 18th century. The first “Russian” churches appeared in 1797 in Torino {because of Marshal Suvorov’s campaigns in Northern Italy: editor}, and two years later in Naples. At present, over 50 MP parishes and communities exist in Italy.

24 May 2012

Milena Faustova

Voice of Russia World Service

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2012_05_24/75777511/

Editor’s Note:

There’s “ecumenism” and there’s “friendly relations with the neighbours”, and they’re NOT the same thing. The first is indifferentist and syncretistic, and only the worst and most unhinged sort of Catholic and Orthodox “theologians” indulge in it. The second is human and natural, mostly engaged in by decent human beings. Latin Catholics are what they are… and, no doubt, they feel the same way about us. As an Ecumenical Patriarch put it famously, “Send us no more letters about doctrine; send us letters of friendship, only”.

If we follow such a course, that’ll smooth relations greatly, I’m sure. Let’s not chase after a false and chimerical “union” (our beliefs ARE that different)… let’s pursue a modest and decent friendship, as Christians ought (our beliefs ARE that similar). The key’s under the mat and the front gate’s unlatched… but you knew that already, didn’t you? Did you bring the church key and the Jimmy Sturr records? Now, THAT’S important…

BMD

24 May 2012. The Latest Buzz on “This and That” Both Domestic and Foreign

Archbishop Ieronymos Liapis (1938- ) of Athens and all Greece, the First Hierarch of the Church of Greece, meeting HH at the Centre

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There’s been talk over on Monomakhos about Maymon becoming the rector of STS. Maymon’s old-time pals with Atty. Maymon grew up in southern Indiana, has family there, and its common knowledge in the AOCANA that Maymon spent many holidays down at St Michael parish in Louisville KY… where Atty was rector for a good many years. Given the history between Maymon and Atty, if the rumours are true about Maymon becoming the rector of STS, it shouldn’t surprise anyone at all. Especially, since there’s talk that won’t die about bad blood between Atty and Boyer (Boyer being part of the nutter HOOMie party doesn’t help matters). What I hear from the grapevine is that there’s still no decision on the STS Memorial Day Pilgrimage. Boyer’s pissed off at Atty because Atty told the seminarians that they didn’t have to stay at STS for Holy Week and Easter (so the whispers say). To get even, Atty told him that the pavilion’s seminary property. All the po-nashemu people that I know are upset over this konvertsy spat. Well… JP wanted to use this year’s Pilgrimage as a boost to his efforts to survive… it looks as though that’s deader than a dodo.

The buzz is that Dickie Wood’s with his sister in Chicago… that means that Dickie’s getting help from Bishop Job Osacky’s gang. That ain’t good news for Moriak at all. Moriak’s supporters are getting vicious. They’re trashing Vladyki Job, saying that he was lax and allowed all sorts of bullshit. Now, they say, Moriak will clean things up. His supporters are very dismissive of average parishioners who liked the Vesperal Divine Liturgies when a feast fell on a weekday. The blessing to use Vesperal Divine Liturgies, when pastorally necessary, predates Vladyki Job by nearly ten years, Boris Geeza put it in (as everybody but the Monomakhos lot knows). However, Moriak supporters ignore facts or just brush them aside. Here’s a real sign of how things stand in some of the parishes… the average parishioner was mostly in favour of Moriak, his seemingly-quiet ways won them over at first. Now, he’s messing around with Vesperal Divine Liturgies, amongst other things… they’re not happy campers. Some are furious as he’s moving too quickly. Why can’t he get with the programme? I think that JP pushed a red-hot poker up his bum… and Moriak, being a gutless lickspittle, caved. Nicholas Smisko said, “Good riddance to bad rubbish” when he gave Moriak a release (all the po-nashemu people say so)… maybe, we should learn something from that…

On the international front, there’s a BIG Greek delegation at the Centre right now to hobnob with His Nibs. The hotels are swarming with them, bishops, priests, and businessmen. They look rather worried, but everyone knows they want… and need… money. Bart doesn’t have any… his American paymasters are busted too (that’s what happens when you wage hellishly-expensive wars in foreign parts and CUT taxes on the rich and major corporations at the same time… some “conservatism”). Of course, everyone in the know knows how the Russians put pressure on Greece to release Abba Ephrem of Vatopedi from the slam (just as everyone knows that Langley put just as much pressure on them to keep him there). It’s simple… the Greeks know who their friends are… and Langley, Capitol Hill, K Street, the GOP, and Foggy Bottom aren’t their friends. The Centre’s their friend… Navarino anyone (there was a Russian pre-dreadnought battleship named the Navarin, after all)?

In short, the fans ain’t happy in Mudville… Mighty JP is on the verge of… striking out. Remember, slow n’ steady wins the race (that means that Jordanville Juice is a better bet than Syosset Slim in the first race). Bet on RED, kids, the Centre’s STILL got the “house” advantage as far as this bet’s concerned…

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Thursday 24 May 2012

Albany NY