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On 24 July 2013, the feast day of Grand Princess St Olga of Rus, First Hierarchs and other bishops of the Local Churches served Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. The services used the same rubrics as those used for the celebration of the Millennium of the Baptism of Rus. Pope and Patriarch Theodoros Horeftakis of Alexandria and all Africa, Patriarch Theophilos Giannopoulos of the Holy City of Jerusalem and all Palestine, Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev of Moscow and all the Russias, Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia Ghudushauri-Shiolashvili of all Georgia, Patriarch Neofit Dimitrov of Sofia and all Bulgaria, Patriarch Irinej Gavrilović of all Serbia, Metropolitan Sawa Hrycuniak of Warsaw and all Poland, Archbishop Chrysostomos Demetriou of Nova Justiniana and all Cyprus, and Metropolitan Tikhon Mollard of all America and Canada (sic) served liturgy… along with their delegations, that arrived to participate in the festivities to celebrate 1025th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus.
Hierarchs representing other Local Churches were Metropolitan Emmanuel Adamakis of France headed the EP delegation, Metropolitan Antonios Chedraoui Tannous of Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and Venezuela headed of the delegation from the Patriarchate of Antioch and all the East, Metropolitan Iosif Pop of Western and Southern Europe headed the delegation from the Church of Romania, Metropolitan Prokopios Tsakoumakas of Philippi, Neapolis, and Thasos, Chairman of the Secretariat for Inter-Orthodox Relations of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece headed his Church’s delegation, Metropolitan Joan Pelushi of Korçë headed the delegation of the Church of Albania, Archbishop Rastislav Gont of Prešov and Slovakia headed the delegation from the Church of Czechia and Slovakia. Also serving were members of the MP Holy Synod and other MP hierarchs, members of the Local Church delegations, the heads of the MP Departments, abbots of monasteries, and the other assorted MP clergy.
The service was attended by Aleksandr Beglov, RF Presidential Envoy to the Central Federal District, Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Konstantin Grishchenko, Andrei Vorobyov, Acting Governor of Moscow Oblast, Igor Shchegolev, Acting Assistant to the RF President, Vladimir Yakunin, President of Russian Railways and the Chairman of Board of Trustees of the Foundation of St Andrew the First-Called, Vladimir Legoida, the Chairman of the MP Information Department, Yevgeni Parkhaev, Director of Sofrino, Archbishop Ivan Jurković, Apostolic Nuncio to Russia, and the ambassadors of Slavic countries. The responses were sung by the Choir of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (director: I B Tolkachyov) and the Choir of the Sretensky Monastery (director: Nikon Zhila).
The Augmented Litany included the following additions:
- With fear and trembling, we Thy servants, O our Lord and Saviour, thank Thee for Thy gifts and goodness which Thou hast showered on our land, from its baptism until now; we bow and praise before Thee, with zeal we cry unto Thee: Deliver Thy people of all their ills, and make good our petitions in Thy great compassion, diligently we pray Thee, hearken, and have mercy.
- Again we pray Thee, O our Saviour, through the intercessions of Holy Prince Vladimir, that Thou grant our nation the legacy of the Dnepr baptismal font, to send down upon us the Holy Spirit, that we may keep our Holy Church clean of schism and discord, to keep the Faith in oneness of mind, to bestow peace upon us, harken and have mercy.
After the Liturgy, Patriarch Kirill served a molieben to St Vladimir in memory of the Baptism of Rus, during which the First Hierarchs and representatives of the Local Churches spoke from the pulpit of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. Then, Patriarch Kirill read a message of the MP Holy Synod to the archpastors, clergy, monastics, and believers on the topic of the 1025th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus. On behalf of President Putin, Aleksandr Beglov welcomed the participants. On behalf of the delegations of the Local Churches present, Patriarch Theodoros of Alexandria gave a short address. Then, all present venerated the Cross of St Andrew. After the Liturgy, there was a reception attended by the Local Church delegations, government representatives, NGOs, representatives from all traditional religions, and diplomats.
24 July 2013
Patriarchia.ru
Official MP Website
http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/3119049.html
Editor’s Note:
Lil’ Mizz Ginny’s incompetence and laziness keep setting new standards of sleaze. For instance, she mentioned two ho-hum politicos, but didn’t mention that Vladimir Yakunin was present. Vladimir Ivanovich was the organiser of the bringing of the Cross of St Andrew to Russia! If Lil’ Mizz Ginny knew anything about Russia, she’d know that. He’s one of the most powerful of the siloviki, no doubt on that score. Besides that, Vladimir Legoida, HH’s top press man was there… one would think that the “brains” (ahem) behind oca.org would’ve noticed that. Of course, she probably has no facility in Russian, and relies on such crank sources as SVS, Lyonyo, Nina Dimas, Sophia Kishkovsky, and John Jillions.
I’ll tell you this… I bust my ass to give you the best possible product that I can put out there. You deserve it. Contemptuous blozos like Lil’ Mizz Ginny fry my ice. They don’t even give you half of what’s out there. Truly, you deserve better than that, you really do…
By the way, the Slavonic was a “bear” to English… it AIN’T Modern Russian. I hope that I did it some justice, at least…
BMD
Voices from Russia 
Snowden Affair: USA Puts Its Domestic Law above International Law
Tags: diplomacy, diplomatic relations, Edward Snowden, Ilyas Akhmadov, International Criminal Court, legal affairs, Osama bin Laden, political commentary, politics, Russia, Russian, Snowden, United States, USA
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Russian-American relations are going through rough times. One of the irritants is the issue of extradition of people accused of committing crimes. The most-publicised case is that of former CIA contractor Edward Snowden. The Americans demand his extradition, which threatens bilateral relations. At the same time, it’s quite clear that regardless what the decision will be, it’ll be politically-motivated. Mikhail Remizov, President of the Institute of National Strategy, talked to VOR about the future of Russian-American relations and international norms of extradition and deportation, saying, “The Americans are relying on an accord between us, but the same time, they have no desire to display understanding themselves concerning Russians who’re hiding from justice in the USA. Unlike Snowden, these people committed crimes against people. It seems that this has nothing to do with politics. However, as we well know, if you really wish it enough, an assassin can become a human rights activist, a robber… a dissident, and a bandit… a fighter of an armed opposition”.
It seems that such a metamorphosis occurred in the case of Ilyas Akhmadov and Tamaz Nalbandov. One’s accused of organising an insurgency and setting up an illegal rebel group in the North Caucasus, whilst the other’s accused of smuggling people and blackmail in North Ossetia. Both Akhmadov and Nalbandov are enjoying immigrant status in the USA, for the Americans rejected appeals for their extradition. Naturally, such an approach is puzzling. Remizov commented, “The principle of parity between states as sovereign players is enshrined in international law. The USA hasn’t honoured it for a long time and doesn’t like it. This demonstratively displays that they believe in the supremacy of their own jurisdiction, and its priority, over the jurisdiction of other countries. This is shown by its unwillingness to undertake commitments concerning participation in international institutions, such as the International Criminal Court. Such an asymmetry is quite normal for the USA, although this principle is well-known since the times of ancient Rome, ‘What Jupiter is allowed to do, the bull isn’t’”.
Notably, through Interpol, Russia has actively cooperated with other countries in the fight against international terrorism. The majority of requests on the extradition of terrorists, who try to hide from justice in other countries, are met because these countries adequately assess the danger to society posed by them, and don’t exclude the possibility that they might commit crimes on their territories. However, there’s a setback in the USA concerning this practice. The situation with Akhmadov and Nalbandov is a good example. Andrei Sidorov, Assistant Dean of the World Politics Faculty at Moscow State University (MGU), thought, “The USA puts its domestic law above international law. This concerns not only the exchange of criminals, but also in all other areas. The American policy towards Russia comes down to a few issues, especially the further reduction of nuclear weapons. The USA often said that it’s ready to discuss a wide range of issues, but largely, Russia’s an uncomfortable partner for the USA. Consequently, the relations between the two countries will hardly improve”.
In fact, sometimes, the USA does cooperate. For one, the Americans extradited criminal kingpin Vyacheslav Ivankov AKA Yaponchik. In this case, they applied the mechanism of deportation rather than extradition. The formal reason for this was that Ivankov violated American laws. Meanwhile, Russian law enforcement agencies can’t violate their own country’s laws. A foreigner can be extradited under a court ruling if he violates immigration law. However, Snowden didn’t violate it. Moreover, he hasn’t crossed the Russian border, and stayed in the transit zone of the airport. Americans refer to the rule of reciprocity used amongst diplomats. Nevertheless, Moscow doesn’t sense this from them. Moreover, there’s a belief that their reciprocity is one-way only. Probably, if America abandoned its passion for world hegemony, one can find that understanding that American diplomats keep talking about.
23 July 2013
Sergei Duz
Voice of Russia World Service
http://english.ruvr.ru/news/2013_07_23/Snowden-Affair-Symbol-of-Double-Standards-0485/
Editor’s Note:
American Neocon Republicans and Interventionist Democrats spout off incessantly about terrorism… and want to arm Syrian Islamist terrorists masquerading as “opposition fighters”. What’s wrong with that sleazy picture? Do recall that America helped another Islamist… Osama bin Laden. We all know where that led to. Methinks that “conservatives” have a major malfunction… and I’m not alone in thinking that.
BMD