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A half-dozen years ago, bullets flew into the walls of St Mary Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Surrey BC (part of the Greater Vancouver Regional District). That should tell you all that you need to know about the crime, drugs, homelessness, and squalor that surround the church’s gold-coloured dome in Whalley. Rev Mykhaylo Pozdyk said, “We’re like an island amongst sinners. The picture isn’t good, but we’re proud to be here to be God’s witness”. Although he said that dying in the church would be a “great honour”, it was fortunate that no one was around at the time of the drug-related shooting spree.
The church is on 135A Street, in a two-block section that’s generally-considered Surrey’s worst stretch of pavement. When Ukrainian immigrants chose the spot for the church 50 years ago, the town centre was thriving. Today, the building’s white walls and blue-painted trim stand apart from nearby vacant lots and rundown buildings. Fr Mykhaylo said that the street people in the neighbourhood are friendly for the most part, but thefts occur and church property is sometimes destroyed, noting, “People ask for money but they usually don’t want food”.
As difficult as life is for the disadvantaged in downtown Whalley, Pozdyk saw much worse under Soviet rule in the Ukraine, where he lived until moving to Canada in 1996. He said, “Here we have more respect and value for people. Canada’s a rich country with many government programmes to help them”. He went on to say that churches were shut down for several generations in his homeland and KGB agents lurked in every village and organisation, observing, “Communists denied God’s existence”. Pozdyk was secretly married in a church in 1987 at the beginning of Mikhail Gorbachyov’s period of thaw. Ukrainian people flocked to the churches when the doors opened after independence in 1991.
He stated that the churches there aren’t as well attended now because people chase after the same material goals as they do in the West, saying, “As soon as you sign a mortgage, you’re a slave to the mortgage. You have no time for God”. Although Pozdyk has bought a house here, and smiles about it, he remains faithful to his spiritual duties, telling us, “We’re temporary in this world… pilgrims. Freedom you can only find in God. We glorify God for everything we have in this life. We say ‘thank you’ for the forgiveness of our sins. I’m still a sinner and I’m trying my best to grow spiritually”.
IN A NUTSHELL
What’s your congregation’s religion?
Our congregation is part of One Holy Orthodox-Catholic and Apostolic Church.
What would you put in a tweet?
We’re blessed to worship in this beautiful little church that’s on the City of Surrey Heritage Register. We welcome everyone, and we’ll treat you as best as we can.
How many people attend services?
40 to 70
What’s traditional?
Our worship is Liturgical, Eucharistic, and Jesus-centred.
What’s modern?
Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
What’s the most beautiful thing about your church?
Praising God and worshipping Him in spirit and truth together with all the people who come here and have hope that all their names will be written in the Book of Life.
Give us your sense of what’s happening in the area around the church.
Hard-working people who were busy with supporting their families built this church between 1950 and 1955. At the same time, they worked hard to build a new place of worship. At that time, it was a good area. Now, the church finds itself on one of the poorest streets in town.
26 April 2013
Kent Spencer
The Province
EP Ready to Interfere in the Ukraine per “Ukrainian Orthodox” Bishop from Canada… Is Black Bart Getting Ready to Knife Christ’s Church in the Back at the Behest of the Anglo Americans and Papists?
Tags: Christian, Christianity, civil unrest, diplomacy, diplomatic relations, Eastern Orthodox Church, Ecumenical Patriarch, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarchate, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, Moscow Patriarchate, Novorossiya, Orthodox, Orthodox world, Orthodoxy, political commentary, politics, Religion, Religion and Spirituality, Russia, Russian, Russian Orthodox Church, Ukraine, Ukrainian Civil War, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada, United States, UOC/MP, UPTs/MP, USA, war and conflict
Will Bart remain a loyal slave of the West… or will he turn on them? Beware of Greeks bearing gifts… has the West forgotten that?
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Metropolitan Yuri Kalischuk, the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada (subjected to the EP), said during an interview in Ukrinform that the EP is ready to help Orthodox Ukrainians to unite and awaits for a request by the Churches and the President (sic) of the Ukraine. Speaking about his recent visit to Istanbul, and his reception by Patriarch Bartholomew Archontonis of Constantinople, Metropolitan Yuri said, “The patriarch emphasised that the EP never forgets that she’s the Mother Church of Ukrainian Orthodoxy (sic). He’s said this many times before. The EP is monitoring the situation in the Ukraine and considers it’s an ideal time to unite the Orthodoxy there. Uniting the Orthodox in the Ukraine will work. This is an ideal situation”. Metropolitan Yuri noted that Orthodox believers in the Ukraine hold different positions… some are pro-Ukrainian and some are pro-Moscow. However, the Church’s flexibility makes it possible to meet the needs of people with different views. What the EP had in mind in this case, Metropolitan Yuri didn’t spell out, as well as why he equates the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church with schismatic conventicles in speaking of unity. Meanwhile, Metropolitan Yuri called the MP’s jurisdiction over the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church “unnatural”, saying, “The EP expects to receive requests from state leadership and the Ukrainian Orthodox jurisdictions here, most importantly, from the President of the Ukraine (sic), inviting the EP to help in this situation”.
25 February 2015
Sedmitza.ru
http://www.sedmitza.ru/text/5430496.html
Editor:
Say “sayonara” to the notional “all-Orthodox Sobor” in 2016. This move shitcans it permanently. Now, why would Bart rip up something that’s he wanted for years? I think that his sugar daddies at the Vatican and Langley jerked his chain. The Anglo American Establishment and the Curia are seeing their “Ukrainian” project imploding… and in short order. They’re pulling out all the stops to keep their neofascist clients afloat. Unfortunately, the Ukrainian situation doesn’t play to the Anglosphere’s strengths. Firstly, the Black Sea isn’t suited to carrier operations or to nuclear attack sub operations. It’s ideally suited for silent diesel boats… remember the kerfuffle when the Norwegian diesel boat snuck past a US Navy carrier’s escort group? The Russians have that sort of stuff in the Black Sea. That is, Anglosphere naval superiority doesn’t mean squat in this theatre. In any case, if the USN tried moving ANY naval forces into the Black Sea, the Russians would notice it as it passed through the Turkish Straits.
Secondly, NATO airbases are far from the putative warzone. That’s important, for if NATO tried moving aircraft to closer bases in the Ukraine, Russian air defence would register that, probably, leading to preventive strikes on the bases by Russian forces (which are probably on alert due to the crisis). The farther away the bases, the less ordnance that the aircraft can carry… that’s just simple logic. If they tried in-air refuelling, Russian radar would catch that, spoiling the surprise. Air power is utterly dependent on bases… it’s not as mobile as the uninformed think.
Thirdly, Russian satellite recon would detect any NATO ground movements, and there isn’t any major ground forces available intheatre to begin with. The USA doesn’t have the ground forces to take on Russia, ISIS, and the Taliban all at once, not counting forces to watch the Chinese, Iranians, and DPRK. If you recall, last year, Putin got authorisation from the Gosduma to call reservists to the colours for “refresher training”… normally, this isn’t done in the Russian system. What that means is that Russia can call reservists back into service under a legal umbrella. In short, the NATO situation sucks… the military men must know it, but the “Perfumed Princes” echo the pols to keep their jobs.
A Gori is in the making… the Novorossiyans and the Russians already received an intel windfall at Debaltsevo. Some of the American equipment was still in its original packing crates! Trust me… that stuff is now in Akademgorodok; the wonks are tearing it down and inspecting it. Remember, the USSR reverse-engineered the B-29 in a year’s time… a tremendous achievement (A N Tupolev and his team rightfully received a Stalin Prize for their achievement). Russia still has world-class mathematicians, scientists, and engineers… if there’s anything that they can glean from the captured equipment and manuals, they’ll do it… and right smartly, at that.
All of the above is why the USA pressured Bart to do this goofy move. It’s desperate. It’s trying to stem Russia’s revival as a Great Power, and failing. What’s Bart to them? He’s nothing but an expendable pawn. Shall he remain a reliable lickspittle? Only time will tell us…
BMD