MP is Going to Point Up Uniate Misbehaviour in its Dialogue with the Vatican

This is a blasphemous Uniate “icon”… I need say nothing more… it’s depraved and utterly repulsive…

______________________________

The MP shall insist that dialogue with Roman Catholics include the problem of the Unia, especially, in light of harsh Uniate criticism of those taking part in the all-Ukrainian religious procession for peace and national reconciliation. On Tuesday, in Moscow, the MP Synodal Department for External Church Relations (OVTsS) released a statement saying (in part):

In view of the unprecedented belligerent rhetoric of S Yu Shevchuk (Major Archbishop of the UGKTs) and L Ya Guzar (former Uniate head) in relation to the canonical UPTs/MP and the MP as a whole, the OVTsS believes that its most urgent for us to bring up the subject of the canonical and pastoral implications of the Unia at the next plenary session of the Joint Commission for Orthodox-Catholic Dialogue.

The next session of the Commission will be on 15-22 September in Chieti (Italy). The all-Ukrainian religious procession for peace and national reconciliation took place from 3-27 July, with columns coming from both the east and west, ending in Kiev on the eve of the feastday of the Baptism of Rus (28 July). In all, about 100,000 Orthodox believers took part in the procession. Meanwhile, the opponents of the peace march claimed that it was really a political action. In particular, Shevchuk likened the procession to a “human shield made up of civilians”. He blustered, “If the marchers utter anti-Ukrainian slogans and provocations, it’d mark the end of the MP in the Ukraine”. In turn, former Uniate head Guzar said, “[The UPTs/MP march] is a vile trick. It’s cynical; you really can’t imagine anything worse”.

The OVTsS statement said:

From these hateful statements, it’s clear that canonical Orthodoxy remains the target of fierce attacks by Uniate leaders. For centuries, when possible, the Uniates tried to oppose Orthodoxy with assistance from friendly civil authorities, or, if not, they used various insinuations, frauds, and deceit. Today, once again, with their politicised statements, the Uniate leadership is trying to drive a wedge between Orthodox and Catholics. We wonder whether it’s possible to conduct a dialogue with Roman Catholics on other theological subjects at a time when the Unia remains a bleeding wound, and when the Uniate leadership won’t stop blasphemous and politicised rhetoric against the canonical UPTs/MP. Thus, immediately, we must resume dialogue on the canonical and pastoral implications of the Unia, stopped because of Uniate complaints.

2 August 2016

Interfax-Religion

http://interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=63966

Advertisement

Uniate Chieftain Shevchuk Sez “UPTs/MP is the Only Canonical Orthodox Church in the Ukraine”

Is Shevchuk bolting the junta? Is he making his peace with a future pro-Russian reality? It’s a possibility… but we’d have to see developments to be sure, no? The Uniates DO speak with forked tongue…

_______________________________

S Yu Shevchuk, the head of the UGKTs, said on-air on American radio station SiriusXM, speaking with Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, the head of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, “Today, there’s no mystery that the only canonical Orthodox Church in the Ukraine, the only one in full communion with world Orthodoxy, is the UPTs/MP. Other Orthodox groups separated from the UPTs/MP after Ukrainian independence at different times for various reasons, but the other Orthodox Churches consider them uncanonical. For us as Eastern Catholics, these divisions in Ukrainian Orthodoxy are painful, but we respect the canons and internal order of the Orthodox side. On our part, we never attempted to interfere in the internal life of the Orthodox Church; we never took part in the debates about its canonical legitimacy, nor did we incite any group to initiate a schism. You can’t solve existing problems with new schisms, divisions, or amalgamations”. He hoped that these schisms would end in the near future, noting, “We interact with the ‘Kiev Patriarchate’ as a part of the ‘All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organisations’. Therefore, I’d say that these relations are more in the realm of public relations, not inter-church contacts. I have deep respect for the Russian people and the MP. In fact, over half the Maidan participants were Russian-speakers and members of the UPTs/MP”.

Earlier, the MP repeatedly criticised the UGKTs for its involvement in politics and for its support of Ukrainian schismatical groups. In particular, recently, Metropolitan Ilarion Alfeyev of Volokolamsk, head of the MP Synodal Department for External Church Relations (OVTsS), spoke at the Vatican during the General Assembly of the Synod of Catholic Bishops. He appealed to the UGKTs delegation, “You should renounce all political statements and end all visible forms of support of the schism, as well as to put a stop to calls to create ‘a single Local Ukrainian Church’. From the beginning, unfortunately, the conflict in the Ukraine, which has already taken thousands of lives, had a religious dimension. In this, the UGKTs played a significant role in its origin and development. From the very first days of the conflict, the Greek Catholics unequivocally stood for only one side of the conflict. Contrary to the respect for canonical norms prevailing in relations between Catholics and the Orthodox Church, the Greek Catholics entered into active collaboration with Orthodox schismatics”.

21 October 2014

Interfax-Religion

www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=56815

Editor:

This is fascinating. If Shevchuk is on the up-and-square (a rather iffy proposition, I’d say, but let’s take it as is, for now), it means that the UGKTs is backing away from its support of Orthodox schismatical groups. Indeed, it appears that Shevchuk is saying that the UGKTs recognises only the UPTs/MP… that it wants NOTHING to do with Ukrainian nationalist schismatical groups. Is this a sign that the Uniate junta is sinking and that Shevchuk wants to conform himself to a new reality? Of course, it could just be bullshit to blow smoke into our eyes. The Uniates have lied all too often in the past… the Uniates DID bless the SS collaborators and the UPA terrorists, after all. We’ll have to see what happens.

Interesting… IF true…

BMD

21 January 2014. A Picture IS Worth a Thousand Words… Where Was President Yanukovich During the Riot?

______________________________

Where was Ukrainian President Yanukovich during the riot? Look at the above image. That answers your question. He was where an Orthodox Christian should be on Epiphany (and here), at services. Don’t forget, Viktor Fyodorovich’s elder was Elder Zosima Sokur (a REAL starets, not a jumped-up self-proclaimed sort like Podmoshensky, Reardon, Paffso, or Whiteford). Fr Zosima helped Viktor Fyodorovich to conversion and married him to his long-time partner. Here’s a caption I put to an image of him:

Schema–Archimandrite Zosima Sokur (1944-2002), a REAL elder… and he WASN’T noted for goofy “obediences” or overly strict penances. He said, “Mysticism is harmful to the soul. Our main miracles are the liturgy, repentance, and prayer. … Avoid extremes… extremes aren’t from God. Take the middle path. Don’t despair… there’s no sin that can’t be healed by repentance. God is merciful. … Be in a hurry to do good deeds, life is so short. May your guardian angel watch over you”.

Is God on Viktor Fyodorovich’s side? I’d say, at least, that he has his priorities straight. Reflect on this… the oppos are mostly schismatic “Orthodox”, Uniates, and loopy Proddies. Real Orthodox are behind the government (just like in the Syrian Civil War!). If you’re Orthodox, that should tell you where you should stand, too… support the Ukrainian government against the godless oppos. It’s your Christian duty…

I’ve heard that’s there much Sturm und Drang on the Orthodox Forum on this and on the supposed persecution of gays in Russia (didn’t they see that Russia just had an anti-gay extremist nicked in Cuba? What a buncha maroons!). Well, what can I say? Fuckwits do post the most ridiculous notions and expect the rest of us to take them at face value. Poor Bill and Fr Mike! They have to shovel through all the flapdoodle to try to keep things on an even keel. Some of it I wouldn’t wish on a sworn enemy… I give youse guys a kind word, you need it, its heartfelt… it comes from another labourer in the Orthodox cyber-vineyard (who KNOWS what you’re going through… cross yourself and down a shot… Tyota Vara sez so… repeat as necessary)…

BMD

Parishioners Find Miracle After Fire at Ukrainian Orthodox Church

___________________________

Parishioners of a Philadelphia Ukrainian Orthodox church say that the four-alarm fire that destroyed millions of dollars in furniture and artefacts and left a gaping hole in the centre of the historic building also revealed a miracle. Pasha Prasko, St Mary the Protectress Ukrainian Orthodox Church treasurer and parishioner, said, “The fire was blazing, so when we saw the fire, we thought everything burned, but now that we can see inside, we looked at it and said it’s amazing so many icons are still there”. Although a large portion of the church’s roof collapsed and more than 100 firefighters doused the building in water to tame the blaze, several icons remained untouched by the flames at the historic house of worship in the East Oak Lane section of the city on Sunday. Prasko said, “It’s a holy place, you know, and it’s just not damaged the way we thought it would be. We even talked about it yesterday and said it’d be a miracle if her icon would be saved; and, here it is, saved. I think it’s a miracle”.

According to local historian Marita Krivda Poxon, Ukrainian Orthodox consider St Mary the Protectress the protector of all Ukrainian people. From the front door of the burned building, one could see a large painting of the Protectress and several other artefacts in what appeared to be good condition. Poxon said, “The church has a large icon, and in the centre of it is the Saint Mary the Protectress herself. Apparently, she was the saint in the Ukraine that protected the people of the country of the Ukraine. I think it’s a miracle that a few of the icons survived because they are mostly made of wood. I could only say that, for believers, they’ll believe that it miraculously survived the fire; I mean, the church burned, but her icon survived, and the congregation will survive. That’s what it means to me”.

Philadelphia Firefighter Arthur Davis said he’s never seen anything like it before, saying, “Not one of those pictures caught on fire; not the ones on the wall, not the ones on the stage, not one of them was damaged. What happened was it started on the roof, the fire. But it’s still amazing that with the collapse and all, this stuff isn’t burned. They could take it right off the wall; a lot of the pictures are still on the wall, the glass isn’t broken or nothing. When it comes to fires, I’ve seen it all, but I’ve never seen nothing like this before”. At one point, 125 firefighters and 33 engines were on the scene trying to get the fire under control. Officials still don’t know what caused the fire, but they believe that it was an electrical fault.

Fr Taras Naumenko, pastor of St. Vladimir Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral on 5th and Independence Street, says his parish would support St Mary’s members as its leaders work to determine a plan forward, noting, “Their congregation will be holding their services at my parish until they figure out their future”. When asked what he thinks the future could hold for St Mary’s, he said, “I think it’s too soon to even think about what their future will be”. John Prasko is chairman of the parish board. He says the church is considering starting a fund to raise money, but says he’s still unsure of any exact plans for rebuilding, saying, “Tomorrow, we’ll have a meeting with the board to see what we’ll do. At that time, we’ll have to make several decisions about moving and rebuilding, but I don’t know exactly what they’ll be yet”. Poxon says any attempt to rebuild would be difficult because of the historic elements of the church, noting, “The interior could never be rebuilt the way it was. My hope is that they don’t tear it down, that they don’t bulldoze it, and, somehow, portions of it can be salvaged and rebuilt because it’s a beautiful building. There are just so few stone masons that could even do the work to rebuild here”. This afternoon, firefighters were still on the scene removing debris from the premises. Davis said that they’d allow church leaders to enter the building to retrieve artefacts and mementos sometime this evening.

28 October 2013

NBC 10 Philadelphia

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Parishioners-Find-a-Miracle-in-the-Fire-221226761.html

Editor’s Note:

These guys may have goofy politics, and they’re soft on (and collaborate overly much with) Uniates, but they’re still part of the Orthosphere (whether they want to be or not). Send ‘em a fin or two, if you can. Here’s the contact info:

Telephone: (215) 424-9692

You can also try the folks at St Vladimir Cathedral, they could steer you right. Click here for their contact page.

Give ‘em a hand. They need it. You don’t ask what someone’s ideology is when something like this happens. Either we’re all Orthodox or none of us are Orthodox. ‘Nuff said!

BMD