HH Sent Birthday Greetings to A G Lukashenko… but NOT to John Kerry or Rush Limbaugh!

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His Excellency Aleksandr Grigoryevich Lukashenko

President of the Republic of Belarus

Your Excellency, Highly Esteemed Aleksandr Grigoryevich:

Please, accept my sincere congratulations on this remarkable date… your 60th birthday… along with wishes of good health, spiritual fortitude, and abundant help from the Lord in your work as President of the Republic of Belarus. Your many talents, including your ability to hear people explain the problems vexing them, and your great experience allowed you to effectively solve the numerous problems faced by your country, and helped you to take balanced decisions on issues that affect the well-being of your compatriots. It’s gratifying to note that an all-round development of public and social life in the Republic of Belarus and consolidating of fraternal relations and allied relations with other Slavic nations bound by a common faith, history, and moral and cultural values marked the years of your presidency. On behalf of the fullness of the Russian Orthodox Church, I’d like to thank you for the attention and support that you give to the Exarchate of Belarus. I’m convinced that a constructive and fruitful coöperation between Church and State leads to a spiritually strong, healthy, and stable society. May Merciful God bless your work for the benefit of the Belarusian people, giving you the patience and continued success in your high and responsible service as President of the Republic of Belarus.

With deep respect,

+Kirill

Patriarch of Moscow and all the Russias

30 August 2014

Patriarchia.ru

MP official website

http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/3714780.html

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“It’s Symbolic that this Historic Event coincided with the Return of the Crimea to Russia”: Orthodox Church of Poland SHITCANS Catholic Calendar

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On 18 March, the website Drevo reported that the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in Poland, after 90 years, returned to the sacred traditional Orthodox Julian calendar. Given the fact that most of the parishes of the Polish Church (96 percent) celebrate Christmas on the traditional calendar, and at the believers’ request, the Holy Synod invalidated its decision of 12 April 1924 introducing the Catholic calendar for fixed feasts, deciding to return to the Julian calendar starting from 15 June 2014 (Week of All Saints). Parishes can use the Catholic calendar only in cases of strict necessary. This is the first case where a canonical Local Orthodox Church officially revoked the Catholic calendar, returning formally to the Julian calendar.  The editors of Holy Fire commented on this event, “In view of this positive precedent, it’d be most reasonable and beneficial for universal Orthodoxy at the upcoming 2016 all-Orthodox Sobor if the Moscow Patriarchate, as the largest Local Church, would call all those Orthodox following the Catholic calendar to return to the Julian calendar, so that we have no division in prayer”.

Commentary from Deacon Vladimir Vasilik (Kandidat of Philological Science, instructor at the Faculty of History St Petersburg State University (SPBGU)):

It’s symbolic that this historic event coincided with the return of the Crimea to Russia. I experienced it, as I was present as this event entered history at the meeting at the Great Kremlin Palace. I can say that this event had great grace behind it. It was the feastday of St Luka Voino-Yasenetsky the Confessor. I’d say that St Luka prays not only for Russia, but also for the entire Orthodox world. His prayers came true… that’s a wonderful event for our Polish brothers in Christ, which is welcome. With this step, the Polish Church showed its spiritual character, despite all the difficulties of being in a heterodox country; it witnessed its loyalty to Orthodoxy and to the sacred Julian calendar. The Polish Church witnessed its deep connection with Russia, with Russian Orthodoxy, especially, as many of its believers consider themselves a part of the Russian world. It helps to restore all-Slavic unity, as Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, and Serbs all use the traditional calendar. The Church of Bulgaria has the same intention. This is a sign of all-Slavic accord.

Of course, at any future all-Orthodox Sobor, the MP should invite all other churches to go back to the traditional calendar, in order for us to have unity in all things, including unanimity about our feastdays. That liquidation of our unity was a sad legacy of the questionable Patriarch Meletios Metaxakis, who hobnobbed with Renovationists, promoted Masonic projects, engaged in poaching on the canonical territory of the MP, and tore away the Polish and Finnish Churches. He left the Catholic calendar as a legacy; it’s become a cause of disagreement. I hope that we can eliminate this sad legacy eventually.

28 March 2014

Russkaya Narodnaya Liniya

http://ruskline.ru/news_rl/2014/03/28/simvolichno_chto_eto_istoricheskoe_sobytie_sovpalo_s_prisoedineniem_kryma_k_rossii/

Editor:

There’s NOTHING on this on oca.org… one wonders why. I wonder what the loquacious Michał Kalina thinks about this! His ship sinks, and no one mourns it. THIS could torpedo the whole “all-Orthodox Sobor”… and the Centre knows it! It could lead to TWO “all-Orthodox Sobors”… one at the Phanar, one at Novy Ierusalime, after the common meeting dissolves in acrimonious disagreement. The Phanar won’t budge on the Catholic calendar, not with a papist-trained and Western-subservient First Hierarch. The Centre won’t budge on the traditional calendar, not with this event in hand. Yes… there’d be TWO Sobors… there’s a chance of a rupture in communion as well (I’m not wishing for such… I’m reporting what I’m seeing).

What does this portend for the OCA, seeing that it’s an effectual dependent metropolia of the MP? We’ll have to see, but my thought is that the body would split… with some going to the EP to preserve the Catholic calendar, and others cleaving to Moscow and traditional Orthodoxy. It does bid fair to be INTERESTING.

BMD

13 March 2014. It’s Been “All Quiet on the Church Front”… And That’s a GOOD Thing, Kids

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One of the Cabinet asked me why I wasn’t posting so much on the OCA lately. Simply put, there’s been no real news to report. If there’s nothing out there, there’s nothing to say (do note how that doesn’t deter the usual cast of suspects on the better-known internet fora… they’re as prolific as ever, and as vacuous as ever). I asked a contact at the Centre who said:

His Holiness wants things quiet in America. He doesn’t care if nothing happens… he wants it quiet, as he has other more pressing items on his plate.

Another Cabineteer told me:

No one likes Mollard, but no one hates him either. He’s “meh”. None of the existing factions care for him, but no one sees him as the partisan of the other side, so, everyone’s content to let the conflict subside for the moment. It’s not over yet, but everyone’s war-weary. Mollard’s intellectual torpidity is a plus in this situation. He’s not going to do or say anything to piss anyone off. The OCA needs some peace… and Mollard’s going to give it that. He won’t give it anything else, but he’ll give it that, and that’s good enough for me.

That is, no one’s excited one way or the other about Mollard, but no one wanted the crisis that brewed in the OCA between 2005 and 2012 to continue. In no way did Mollard’s elevation solve that crisis, but it did stop the Sturm und Drang… which is what the Church needed. Mind you, there’s no unity, but there’s no open conflict either. The OCA remains as deeply divided as ever… the same tensions burble away under the surface. However, the Holy Synod tamped down the open flames. Those who wish to criticise that are cretinish juveniles. As the Russian saying has it, “All the options are worst”. The Holy Synod is a bunch of fallible bishops (remember, we DON’T believe in infallibility)… they had a gigantic shit sandwich with raw horseradish sauce on mouldy bread proffered to them. They chose a course that’d allow some of the more obvious nastiness to heal and to put an end to the continuing circus and brouhaha. I COMMEND them for that. You can call me names, but they had a plethora of bad choices, and they had to choose one of them.

THERE WERE NO REALISTIC “GOOD” CHOICES ON OFFER.

Yet, they were responsible… they had to choose something… they couldn’t just let the Church drift or let it tear itself to pieces in a pointless tussle for power. If we want a united Russian Orthodox Church in the diaspora, we need to understand that there’ll be times when we’ll have to follow Lenin’s advice, “Take one step back to take three steps forward”. This is one such time… Mollard isn’t advancing the cause of unity, but he’s not advancing the cause of the extreme Schmemannites either. There WILL be a time of decision, but not now. Tensions have a way of DEMANDING solution, as we see in the current Ukrainian crisis (that pot simmered away for the entire time of its “independence”… now, as it boils over, one sees the rats scurry in all directions). The same will happen in the OCA… but not in the immediate near term (nor in the medium term either… the OCA has at least five years of “unconflict”).

All mature people see this as a good thing, as do I. No news IS good news, in this case. Trust me, it’ll heat up again, all too soon. However, we have a respite… let’s make the most of it. Take my hand, Easter’s in five weeks, dear…

BMD

Most Russians Trust the Academy of Sciences, the Orthodox Church, and the President… the Cops Led the Untrustworthy

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The Romir Research Group told Interfax that most-trusted public institutions by Russians are the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAN), the Orthodox Church, and the RF President. In first place, 67 percent trusted the RAN. In second place, two-thirds (66 percent) supported the Orthodox Church. Topping off the troika of the leaders was the RF President… 63 percent were inclined to believe him. After that, 61 percent found the Russian forces worthy of trust, every second respondent spoke well of the Ministry of Education and Science  (Minobrnauki) (53 percent), the RF Federal Government (52 percent), and the mass media (50 percent). Little less than half relied on local governments (48 percent) and the RF Federation Council (47 percent). The RF Gosduma gained the confidence of 44 percent. On the other hand, the police lead the “No Confidence” brigade, with 62 percent disbelieving them.

Last year, Romir conducted a similar survey, using a somewhat-abbreviated list of institutions. At that time, 68 percent expressed full or partial confidence in the RF President, the RF Federal Government received 59 percent, and the RF Gosduma won 51 percent, whilst local government convinced only 49 percent. Over the last year, institutions such as the media and the Orthodox Church strengthened their position (in 2012, their level of trust was 49 percent and 62 percent respectively). Andrei Milekhin, the President of the Romir Group, suggested, “Maybe, due to the emergence of strong and charismatic leaders in the Army and the Orthodox Church, these institutions are now on an equal footing with the RF President. It seems as though the old slogan, “For Faith, Tsar, and Fatherland” is returning from the past, finding a new meaning today”.

Romir conducted the current survey in July 2013 in conjunction with the Institute for Social and Political Studies (ISPI RAN) amongst 1,000 Russians in seven Federal Districts, in cities of over 100,000 people.

4 September 2013

Interfax–Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=52541

Editor’s Note:

I think that some ROCOR elements live in the past, supporting the nutter pretender Maria Vladimirovna Romanova. To speak bluntly, the chances of a Soviet revival are far better than those of her (or her blockheaded son) ever gaining the throne (even as a symbolic paper monarch). The ROCOR had best wake up… the monarchy fell in 1917, and it won’t ever rise again in the same fashion. Autocracy is dead. It’s time to live in the present, not in dreams of a long-gone imperial era that never really existed in the form that certain ROCOR factions believe that it did. The Revolution happened for many reasons… one being the greed and nastiness of many of the aristos and bourgeois who founded the ROCOR in the 20s (not to mention the fact that many are sprung from the ranks of World War II Nazi collaborators). Think on it…

BMD