Yustinian Ovchinnov to Leave the Apple for Kalmykiya… Hieromonk Ioann Roshchin to Replace Him in the City

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JOURNAL Number 66 of the MP Holy Synod, 25 July 2014

RESOLVED:

1. Archbishop Yustinian Ovchinnikov of Naro-Fominsk, Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, transferred to be Archbishop of Elista and all Kalmykiya.
2. We express gratitude to Archbishop Yustinian for all of his archpastoral labours.
3. Hieromonk Ioann Roshchin, cleric of St Nicholas Cathedral in New York NY USA will be the new Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, and shall be consecrated Bishop of Naro-Fominsk (vicar of the Diocese of Moscow).
4. Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev will choose the place and time of consecrating Hieromonk Ioann Roshchin to the episcopate, elevating him to the rank of Archimandrite for the time being.

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Biographical Details for Hieromonk Ioann Roshchin

A graduate of the Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary, in 1996-97, worked as an employee of the MP Publishing Council. In 1997, he joined the staff of the MP Synodal Department for External Church Relations (OVTsS). In December 1998, he was a member of the MP delegation at the Eighth Assembly of the WCC (Harare ZIMBABWE) and he became a member of the WCC Central Committee. In 2000-02, he studied at the Faculty of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America (Washington DC USA). From 2003 to 2009, as a member of the OVTsS Secretariat on Church and Society, was in charge of inter-religious communication, including interaction with the Interreligious Council of Russia and the SNG Interreligious Council, and international interfaith organizations, was a member of the Commission of the Conference of European Churches “Islam in Europe”, participated in the preparation and conduct of the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Meetings of the joint Russian-Iranian commission “Islam-Christianity”.

On 27 July 2009, the MP Holy Synod appointed him Deputy Chairman of the MP Synodal Department for the Coordination of Church and Society (OVTsO). In 2009, with the blessing of Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev of Moscow and all the Russias, he was a member of the Council for the Study of Religious Materials to identify extremist materials in the RF Ministry of Justice. He was the official MP representative in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia, a member of the Commission on organising state support and the development of original Cossack culture, a member of the Public Council under the Federal Drug Control Service, and a member of the Public Council under Rosreestr. From 2010 to 2013, he was the Executive Secretary of the SNG Interreligious Council. In October 2012, the Holy Synod appointed him representative of the World Russian People’s Council (VRNS) at the UN and assigned him to St Nicholas Cathedral in New York NY USA. On 11 March 2014, with the blessing of Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev of Moscow and all the Russias, the Superior of the Trinity-St Sergei Lavra, Archbishop Feognost Guzikov of Sergiev Posad, tonsured him a monk with the name “Ioann” in honour of St John Maksimovich of Shanghai and San Francisco. A MP Holy Synod decision on 25 July 2014 (Journal Number 66) selected him as Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, and Vicar of the Diocese of Moscow with the title “Naro-Fominsk”.

25 July 2014

Russian Orthodox Church in the USA

http://ruschurchusa.org/ru/news/951

R A Silantyev Called Orthodox Warrior I I Strelkov a “Hero of our Time”

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R A Silantyev, head of the Human Rights Centre of the Worldwide Russian People’s Council (VRNS), believes that the example of DNR opolchenie commander I I Strelkov is inspirational. At a roundtable in Moscow he said, “I believe that Strelkov is a classic example of a hero of our time. For all generations, both youth and middle-aged, he’s a very animating and inspiring exemplar. Strelkov and his fighters may well become heroes in literature or in films, for their example is important for our youth, as they’ve lacked real heroes in our time”. Speaking about the development of friendly relations with the peoples of the Caucasus, Silantyev said, “What happened in Novorossiya united Russians, Chechens, and Ossetians more than a thousand conferences ever could. When people are in the same trench together and fascists, Banderovtsy, and other liberal* scum shoot at them, the bond of unity that forms between them is stronger than that fostered by many peaceful activities”.

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*”Liberal” in Russian political discourse means the same as “conservative” in Anglosphere terms… that is, deregulation, small government, “economic freedom”, and libertarianism. ”Conservative” in Russian terms is nothing like the Anglosphere term, as it posits a strong state and government, strict regulation of the greedy business class, and a generous set of social guarantees. By “liberal scum”, Roman Anatolyevich means something like the right wing of the US Republican Party (John McCain, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, et al).

BMD

24 June 2014

Interfax-Religion

http://interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=55688

VRNS Accused Ukrainian Junta of Attacking Russian Language Rights

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A Portrait of Aleksandr Pushkin

Vasili Tropinin

1827

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On Tuesday, the Human Rights Centre of the World Russian People’s Council (VRNS) called on the Ukrainian junta to maintain an equitable language policy in the country. In a statement transmitted by the VRNS to Interfax, “It’s symbolic that the first (!) meaningful act of the Rada in its present form was abolishing the country’s tolerant language law”. The paper pointed up that the law allowed all oblasts where the minority language population exceeded 10 percent of total residents could use the ethnic minority language as a second official (regional) language. In some oblasts, that right extended to speakers of Magyar (Hungarian), Romanian, and several other languages, but above all, it applied mostly to the ethnic Russians in the Ukraine.

The VRNS Human Rights Centre reported that the practise of regional bilingualism, taking into account the linguistic rights of national minorities under the European Charter, is widespread and is an established fixture throughout Europe. The VRNS observed, “Textbook examples are the regional status of Swedish in Finland, Finnish in Sweden, German in Denmark, Frisian in Germany, and so on, not to mention such multinational countries such as Belgium and Switzerland. Many states espouse the principle of linguistic federalism, not discriminating against the interests of any of their ethnic communities”. The VRNS noted that it’s common international practise in both Western and Eastern Europe, “Therefore, the actions of the Ukrainian politicians look like a transition to a nationalist policy marked by bigotry and culturocide (культуроцида). We hope that Ukrainian politicians reject chauvinistic approaches to language ​​and linguistic rights of their resident ethnic groups”.

25 February 2014

Interfax-Religion

http://interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=54568

Editor’s Note:

Культуроцида/Culturocide is an interesting neologism. I find it useful… do you?

By the way, one of the reasons why the putschists have a Rada majority is that many members are “missing”, as much as 25 percent of the membership is “in limbo”. My, my, my… doesn’t that fit “illegitimate” and “corrupt?” I can see why Yuliya wants out of Dodge… the junta isn’t long for this world, and she knows it. As I said earlier, I wonder how much of the Ukrainian treasury she’s going to take with her to Berlin. Y’know… Botox and plastic surgery ain’t cheap.

BMD