V R Legoida: “Meeting of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill with Pope Francisco isn’t Connected with the all-Orthodox Sobor”

______________________________

V R Legoida, head of the MP Synodal Department of Relations with Society and the Media (OVTsOS), said on a broadcast of Светлый вечер (Svetly vecher: Bright Evening) on Radio Vera (Radio Faith):

The meeting of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill with Pope Francisco, due for 12 February in Cuba, isn’t connected with the upcoming all-Orthodox Sobor. The decision to hold the all-Orthodox Sobor in Crete on 19 June came during the late January meeting of First Hierarchs of the Local Churches and their representatives in Chambésy [in Switzerland]. This was a joint decision of the parties to the Sobor; some took it out of context with a schedule of meetings involving only First Hierarchs. The necessity for a meeting between Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis has its roots in a singular tragedy… the situation stemming from the genocide of Christians in the Middle East and in North and Central Africa.

5 February 2016

Patriarchia.ru

MP official website

http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/4370418.html

Advertisement

EP and MP at Loggerheads Over Notional all-Orthodox Sobor Proposed for Istanbul

Metropolitan Rastislav Gont of Prešov of the PCČZS/PCČKS (Orthodox Church of Czechia and Slovakia)… the MP insists on the seating of this Church and the OCA… the EP is balking… I wonder why…

_____________________________

The preparations for the all-Orthodox Sobor proposed for 2016 encountered difficulties. On Thursday, V R Legoida, the head of the MP Synodal Information Department (SINFO), told reporters:

Today, the [MP Holy Synod] expressed concern that there are disagreements in the correspondence between the EP and MP on the impeding preparations for upcoming all-Orthodox Sobor.

In October, Metropolitan Ilarion Alfeyev of Volokolamsk, the head of the MP Synodal Department for External Church Relations (OVTsS), told Interfax-Religion that a meeting is due in January in Istanbul of representatives of the Local Orthodox Churches dedicated to preparing for the proposed all-Orthodox Sobor. However, he pointed up that preparations for the event are far from complete, and even the starting date is still up in the air. There hasn’t been an Ecumenical Council for over a thousand years; the preparations for the proposed Sobor have been underway for more than half a century.

24 December 2015

http://interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=61442

******

On Friday, Metropolitan Ilarion Alfeyev of Volokolamsk, the head of the MP Synodal Department for External Church Relations (OVTsS) expressed doubts about the notional all-Orthodox Sobor proposed for Istanbul:

It’s doubtful whether the we can even hold an all-Orthodox Sobor when some Orthodox Churches are in a state of unresolved conflict, and some Orthodox Churches don’t recognise the First Hierarch of the Church of Czechia and Slovakia, not to mention the highly volatile general political situation in the world. However, the MP has always participated and continues to take an active part in preparations for the Sobor, despite the obvious difficulties in preparing for such an event. As for the specific timing of the meeting, I think that it’s premature to talk about it yet.

In 2014, the Orthodox Church decided to convene an all-Orthodox Sobor in 2016 in Istanbul, but it also added a caveat… “if not prevented by any unseen contingency”. Metropolitan Ilarion pointed up:

They thought that they’d be able to edit… and in some cases, completely rewrite… a significant part of the draft documents on the Sobor, many of which had become outdated since their adoption 30 years ago. The work on revising these documents moved very slowly. Consequently, of the eight position papers supposed to bring the Sobor up-to-date, we only agreed on three; work on the rest isn’t yet complete. So far, the Local Churches have no common understanding of what rules the all-Orthodox Sobor will follow, and what should be its agenda. A special commission formed to discuss these issues had to recess without agreement as there was no consensus. Many questions about preparations for the Sobor remain unanswered, even though Patriarch Kirill repeatedly raised them over the past year in his letters to Patriarch Bartholomew.

25 December 2015

http://interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=61464

Interfax-Religion

Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin Explained His Resignation was Due to Disagreements with Patriarch Kirill

Fr Vsevolod with KPRF leaders (Comrade Zyuganov is directly opposite him)… the Church and the Party are on one wavelength. The Church is compatible with collectivist socialism… not with Republican oligarchic anarchy… fancy that. Note well that VAC issued no criticisms of socialism or of the left in general…

______________________________

On Thursday, Archpriest V A Chaplin resigned as head of the MP Synodal Department for the Coordination of Church and Society (OVTsO), explaining it as being due to disagreements with Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev of Moscow and all the Russias:

I spent many years trying to tell His Holiness the Patriarch that the tone in church-state relations are increasingly worsening. We need to speak critically of immoral and unjust actions by the authorities; we need to talk more directly to the people. Besides, we should never have sucked up to anti-Orthodox elements, such as the current Ukrainian government. Generally, we need to speak prophetically, and not to be so fearful of what others think and say; we shouldn’t be afraid to quarrel with the powerful. Furthermore, we take many decisions haphazardly, without consultation with the relevant synodal agencies, hastily, and on the fly. You can’t run things like that. A system that operated in such a way would necessarily end by making mistakes. I warned them many times about this, but no one wanted to hear it. Therefore, I’m convinced that we must reform the Church administration shake up key Church positions. If I were to speak about the general effectiveness of our ecclesial structures, firstly, I’d draw attention to the huge number of sycophant yes-men who surround His Holiness, a veritable state formed without any outside advice.

On Thursday, the MP Holy Synod established a Synodal Department for Church Society and Media Relations (OVTsOS) by merging the MP Synodal Information Department (SINFO) and the OVTsO. The Synod did this “to optimise performance and efficiency, as well as to eliminate redundant processes in our synodal departments”. V R Legoida, the present head of SINFO will head the new body. Fr Vsevolod went on to say:

I never was “married” to this post. I believe that we very effectively carried out the work that we did here; no one ever did as much in our Church. I’m happy to be able to breathe easier; God willing, I’ll now have some free time. I’m a free man now, with much more liberty [to say as I will]. No one took away my position, my opinion, or my right to argue with anyone, whether it be the Patriarch, high government officials, or public media authorities. I will now do so now with full voice. I’ll still be rector of St Nicholas in Tryokh Gorakh, but I’m asking for nothing and expect nothing. They gave me some vague promises of another assignment, but I consider them devious; they only said that to ease my situation. However, in such an affair, it’s better to tell the truth than to wait and wait for a handout.

24 December 2015

Interfax-Religion

http://interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=61445

Editor:

I believe that this is far more complex than it appears at first glance. V R Legoida takes over the day-to-day work of coöperation with the government and media… leaving Fr Vsevolod as free as a bird to comment on the developing situation. VAC is crafty, as is Kirill Mikhailovich. Note well:

Besides, we should never have sucked up to anti-Orthodox elements, such as the current Ukrainian government.

And:

I’m a free man now, with much more liberty [to say as I will]. No one took away my position, my opinion, or my right to argue with anyone, whether it be the Patriarch, high government officials, or public media authorities. I will now do so now with full voice.

I believe that HH and Charlie are up to something. Do stay tuned…

BMD

Vladimir Legoida Slams “Conchita Wurst”… Calls It “One More Step Towards the Abandonment of the Christian Identity of European Culture”

________________________________

V R Legoida head of the MP Synodal Information Department (SINFO) told our correspondent that the Church expressed concern about the victory of Austrian transvestite Thomas Neuwirth (who appeared as “Conchita Wurst”) at the Eurovision-2014 Song Contest, saying, “This is yet another link in the chain of cultural legitimisation of sin in the modern world, an attempt to fasten down new cultural norms. It’s an attempt to legalise that which the Bible refers to as nothing but an abomination, but such is no longer news in the world today. Unfortunately, trends in legal and cultural fields are on parallel paths, as shown by the results of the contest. The cultural recognition of this phenomenon is even more dangerous than the legal, as it often precedes it… it tries to establish it as a right or it tries to change the values orientation of society. Accordingly, sadly, the attempt in modern culture to change moral and cultural values has been quite successful. Therefore, it was very strange for me to hear some experts proclaim… ‘It’s nothing special; it was really nothing’. That’s the thing, such changes are obvious, not only from the standpoint of traditional religion. If I’m honest, I must state that I see a change of cultural and moral guidelines. In other words, this is one more step towards abandoning the Christian identity of European culture”.

Vladimir Romanovich gave his comments as the victor of the Eurovision contest appeared as a bearded woman.

Editor:

A priest friend asked me to go to the Russian original as he saw a poor Proddie translation of V R Legoida’s remarks. We have to be clear what this is and what it’s not. It’s NOT a call for the illegalisation of homosexuality… that’s not going to happen, as President Putin opposes such. It’s NOT an attack on medically indicated transsexuals, as the state’s allowed them to change their identity documents since 1997, on presentation of the proper medical documentation (the Church hasn’t condemned this move… it hasn’t approved it, either… a priest told me that was to keep the way clear for bishops to use pastoral discretion). It IS a clear and obvious criticism of public gender-benders and other “gender-queer” activists, which is a logical outgrowth of the present law on the ban on the suborning of minors by homosexuals and the new law on the banning of obscene topics in the media. It’s obvious that one doesn’t want kids exposed to this. In any case, it falls under the legal prohibition on two counts. Vladimir Romanovich is stating the Church’s position very clearly and precisely… the Proddie Evangelical media mistranslated him and distorted his points. Legoida is simply reiterating our unchanged position. However, bear in mind that the Church DOES make exceptions via oikonomia… but it NEVER extends its tolerance (NOT blessing) to those who engage in “in-your-face” activity. Oikonomia IS a two-way street… the Church meets those who come halfway to meet it… not those who engage in narcissistic public exhibitionism.

Be focused in your statements… BE CAREFUL… this topic can bring you mucho grief if you present it wrongly.

12 May 2014

Interfax-Religion

http://interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=55244