Just got this in from one of the Cabinet:
I surely can’t be the only person to find a great deal of humour in JP calling his Facebook page Free Metropolitan Jonah. Given that he’s about the size of a whale, it puts me in mind of “Free Willy”.
This requires no comment from me… it DOES take all kinds…
BMD
There’s an image posted on JP’s Facebook page posted by Jo Anne Head. A friend of mine wrote:
That’s Fr Dcn Alexander and Matushka Joanna Laymon, at Christ the Saviour Orthodox Church, OCA, which is now St Herman of Alaska Orthodox Church, ROCOR. That parish is the former OCA mission that, along with their priest, Alexander Webster, Tikhon released to the ROCOR. Maybe, it’s one of the smartest things he’s done.
Another friend wrote me (independently):
If it were up to Tikhon, JP would be in the ROCOR yesterday. X and Y are adamantly opposed… JP has to drop his demand that the OCA continue to pay him even after release. That’s the holdup… besides which, JP treats the OCA Holy Synod with contempt. This internet foolery won’t help him.
Keep tuned… the situation continues to simmer away like Thursday’s turkey. Trust me, nothing will surprise me (or you)… it might sadden us or anger us, but it won’t surprise us, will it? Pass the jug…
BMD
1985
The Atlantic, citing the Public Religion Research Institute , wrote that almost half of Americans, namely, 49 percent, believe that climate change and natural disasters portend the beginning of the Apocalypse. At the same time, the number of people with such views depends on which segment of the population that you ask. For example, often, white Evangelical Christians take the view that natural disasters are a sign of the End Times, and are less inclined to believe that this is a consequence of climate change (in the survey, one could choose both). On the other hand, the majority of black Protestants not only believe this, but more strongly. The study notes that since 2011 the number of Americans who believe that such things are a sign of the Apocalypse or Doomsday rose. The survey results came from telephone interviews conducted in English and Spanish from 18 September to 8 October 2014 amongst 3,022 people over 18-years-old living in the USA (1,502 were interviewed using mobile phones).
22 November 2014
Rossiya Segodnya
Voices from Russia 
Cardinal Koch Sez the End of Communism Wasn’t All Good for Christianity
Tags: Cardinal Kurt Koch, Catholic Church, Christian, Christianity, Cold War, Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Orthodox Church, ecumenical, Ecumenical Patriarch, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarchate, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, ecumenism, EP, Galician Uniate, Greek, Greek Orthodox Church, Greeks, Hilarion Alfeyev, history, Kurt Koch, Moscow Patriarchate, MP, Orthodox, Orthodoxy, political commentary, politics, Religion, Religion and Spirituality, Russia, Russian, Russian history, Russian Orthodox Church, Soviet Union, UGKTs, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Uniate, Uniates, USSR, Vatican, Vatican Radio
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On Monday, Cardinal Kurt Koch, the top Roman Catholic official for inter-church relations, said that the end of communist rule in Europe, which began 25 years ago this month, wasn’t all positive for Christianity because it brought tensions between Rome and Russia back to the surface. He said that the re-emergence of Uniates in the Ukraine and Romania after decades of suppression created major tensions with the Russian Orthodox Church. Russian Orthodox leaders accused the Vatican-aligned Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGKTs) of trying to take back churches and woo away believers from the MP. The UGKTs and the Vatican deny this. MP bishops cited this as a hurdle to closer ties between Orthodox and Catholics, which for decades prayed for the conversion of the USSR, only to see the newly resurgent Russian Orthodox Church become a difficult partner. Koch told Vatican Radio, “The changes in 1989 weren’t advantageous for ecumenical relations. Eastern Catholic churches banned by Stalin re-emerged, especially in the Ukraine and Romania, and the Orthodox brought out old accusations about Uniate churches and proselytism”. “Uniate” refers to Eastern (sic) churches with Orthodox-style liturgies that recognise the pope as their spiritual leader.
Later this month, Pope Francisco Bergoglio will meet Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Archontonis in Istanbul. Bartholomew supports more cooperation with Rome, but can’t ignore the wary Russians, who make up two-thirds of the world’s 300 million Orthodox. Koch, who spoke a week after the 25th anniversary of the Berlin Wall’s fall, and on the same day as Czechs marked the start of their democratic revolution, noted that talks on closer ties between Catholic and Orthodox theologians were suspended between 2000 and 2006 because of tensions between the two sides, saying, “There are always setbacks, but I’m convinced that we can make more progress”. He noted that persecution of Christians in the Middle East brought Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants there together, but the Ukrainian crisis heightened tensions among churches, saying, “We’ve repeatedly heard major complaints from the Russian Orthodox. This is unfortunate because churches are supposed to be a factor for unity and reconciliation”. Last month, Metropolitan Ilarion Alfeyev, the Number Two man {not so… it’s a common ignorant Western misconception: editor} in the Moscow Patriarchate, used his guest presentation to a Vatican synod on the family to accuse the UGKTs of trying to poach Orthodox believers.
17 November 2014
Tom Heneghan
Kevin Liffey
Reuters
http://news.yahoo.com/end-communism-not-good-christianity-vatican-190929295.html