Below the line is a personal reflection about the dark days of COVID and the impact on the Orthodox Church. We need to keep these memories alive for a variety of reasons. Many of the culprits behind COVID are still in power, and are trying to rewrite various aspects of COVID history to exculpate themselves. The Global Elite continues to push disease narratives, such as the current Avian flu (H5N1). First they culled millions of chickens (causing skyrocketing prices and shortages), now the USDA is discussing plans to introduce mRNA vaccines into our food supply to protect against the ‘deadly virus’.
Of course, there will be a human version(s) as well.
As was the case with the COVID jabs, the new mRNA shots will be far more harmful than the underlying disease. Sadly, don’t rely on RFK Jr or Donald Trump to make much of a difference any time soon in the vaccine craziness. On 3/13/2025 (as this is being written) the White House pulled the nomination of Dave Weldon to be the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The former Florida congressman has questioned certain vaccines in the past, and the White House decided it would be better if he didn’t face Congressional questioning about it.
Meet the new boss, same as old boss.
Fortunately, states such as Florida and Missouri are pushing back with legislation to protect their citizens. A Florida bill would mandate the prominent labeling of mRNA injected beef and other food products. It is wonderful to see states standing up to Big Pharma and the USDA. With memories of the COVID disaster still fresh in their minds, Americans are not in the mood to be terrorized again. A majority of Americans have learned their lesson and will not forgive or forget.
But you know who hasn’t learned any lessons? Far too many Orthodox priests and bishops. Just one example is Fr Ernesto M. Obregón, an OCA priest, who runs a blog called orthocuban.com. In commentary on a Supreme Court ruling on vaccine exemptions in 2024, Fr Ernesto demonstrated just how clueless many Orthodox clergy remain. Below are some excerpts:
There is no purported religious right that allows someone to put someone else’s child in danger of death or a sequela of morbidity by a preventable disease. Note that the same argument may not be used for other subjects.8 Each subject requires its own moral analysis. However, when it comes to vaccines, then your child need not be admitted to a school should you refuse to vaccinate them. All of our rights have limitations. No one has a right to infect someone else’s children.
Obviously, Fr Ernesto has boundless confidence in the effectiveness of vaccines to safely and effectively prevent illness. He also believes that forcing vaccines on the unwilling in various ways (such as through denial of access to schooling) is a justified use of government power. Fr Ernesto, echoing Archbishop Elpidophoros, believes that Orthodox Christians have no right to a religious exemption for any vaccine. (At Orthodox Reflections, we beg to differ, particularly in the case of vaccines linked to the use of aborted fetal cells.) Somewhat contradictorily, Fr. Ernesto argues that you have a legal and moral duty to vaccinate yourself, and your children, to protect others. Even though, if vaccines truly were effective, wouldn’t the vaccinated be safe from the unvaccinated? The MMR vaccine and/or the H5N1 vaccine can’t protect you unless the government forces everyone to get them?
In a comment on Fr Ernesto’s blog, Nicholas posted one of our Orthodox Reflections articles on the dangers of vaccines. It was a well-researched piece written by a Greek lawyer titled The Dangers of Vaccines and Some Pieces of Practical Advice.Fr Ernesto completely dismissed the information in the article. Below is part of his response:
However, I realized that the article is not an accurate portrayal and that it confirmed even more that our bishops followed the right path. I recommend that you re-evaluate your claims of blindness. There are various challenges to Holy Orthodoxy and the faith once received. Vaccination is not one of them.
Despite all the accumulated evidence of the great harms wrought by closing churches, mandating masks, changing liturgical practices out of panic, supporting vaccine mandates, and pushing the mRNA jabs on the laity – Fr Ernesto can still say, with a straight face, “our bishops followed the right path.” There are way too many Fr Ernesto’s in the Orthodox Church. They have learned nothing, will learn nothing, and will back to the hilt whatever insanity comes out of the bloated, Big-Pharma controlled ‘public health’ bureaucracy.
By the way, mRNA gene therapies have been under development for a long time. The mRNA technology for gene therapies is exactly the same as used for the mRNA ‘vaccines’. The FDA, and anyone else who cared to pay attention, knew at least as long ago as 2015 that this technology causes disability, sterility, cancer, indefinite spike protein production in some people, and other serious adverse side effects. All real world results since 2021 have done is confirm how damaging mRNA-based products really are.
Same technology Pharma wants to inject into your food supply and into your body to combat a flu.
Maddeningly, Fr Ernesto and other Orthodox clergy like him are going to tell you “take the shot” and “eat the injected food” for the good of your soul and to save others.
May God help us. Which is why we must remember what these bishops, priests, and Orthodox academics led us into last time. If you resisted them during COVID, good for you! So many of us did, that Orthodoxy is actually growing faster than any other church. Many of our parishes, often in opposition to the instructions of their own bishops and localities, stayed open during the ‘Pandemic’. If you did not resist last time, don’t worry. You will have another chance sooner than you think. Be ready to apply the lessons from COVID for whatever the government throws at us next.
With all that said, here is a personal reflection from that awful time.
By John Lee – an Orthodox Christian
Hindsight 20/20?
When the COVID melee hit, I was determined to just go along with it, thinking it all will just blow over and things would become normal again. I opted for cloth masks over the store-bought variety. I liked being able to wash and reuse them. I was ready to make it work. After all, I would need a mask just to get into Walmart. I kept a collection in the car so I could use them when needed. Originally, I had no complaint regarding how any of it was handled. In each Orthodox service, all but one or two donned the wretched mask. So what? No big deal.
In my mind, it was a bit absurd, but I was unwilling to take any real offence by it. Why disturb the peace of the parish over something so trifling? It was obvious to me that a mask stopping something as minute as a virus, was as probable as a chain link fence stopping a bullet. Again, no big deal, let them be ignorant of physics. Let’s just run the program as prescribed…or so I thought.
We Orthodox Christians need to join society at large in learning to protest before the harm is done to our bodies and souls
“What the Church Thinks”?
During those years, I was the most active parishioner in managing the church campus grounds. I mowed the grass; planted trees, changed out furnace filters, replaced door hinges, and even fixed some bad wiring. Having keys to all the building, I worked on whatever I could fix. I even did some painting of walls, even though I loathe painting. This was my labor of love, and I would do it again. I kept my head down at the start of COVID, and just kept doing what I had been.
Everything changed for me when the priest-in-charge announced in a service, “If you want to know what the Church thinks about the vaccine…go to…”(some website—he would send the link to everyone). Obtaining the link, it led to a document produced by some “scholars” (not doctors) in the Greek-American camp. [OR Note: This was the Orthodox Theological Society in America whose advice we debunked here.]
Going through the points one by one, I happened upon a question regarding pregnant women receiving the shot/s. The essence of the message was – it’s OK for a pregnant woman to get the jab.
Needless to say I went “off the rails”. I was angry! How could this be? Nobody in their right mind gives a pregnant woman anything not fully tested and fully proven to be safe. Even simple things can cause a miscarriage. No sane physician would risk the lives of mother and child by saying an experimental injection was safe.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for the Orthodox Theological Society to retract their pro-mRNA jab advice, just because they were wrong.
“We must not mind insulting men, if by respecting them we offend God.” (St John Chrysostom)[1]
Immediately, I sent emails to the priest-in-charge noting it was a serious problem to endorse—tantamount to prescribing— any medicine for anybody, let alone a pregnant woman. Obviously, I knew the bishop would get copies, but, so what? This was life or death for somebody innocent. Were we really going to risk unborn babies because of ignorance? Or…. was it merely ignorance? At that point, it did not matter to me whether they were ignorant or harbored malfeasance.
After nearly 20 years in the insurance industry, I knew the ins-and-outs of liability. For ecclesiastical voices—people in a “position of trust”— to be giving medical advice was to elevate themselves to the same level as medical doctors. While we may not remember it now, back then some doctors were saying one thing (jabs for everyone), while others said something quite different (jabs only for the most at-risk, if for anyone at all). It was incredibly unwise for clergy to position themselves as arbiters of truth in the middle of a scientific debate. The legal liability of giving medical advice is not a joke. If you play doctor, best have the insurance to pay for when things don’t go well. I argued that point several times in emails to those who should know better. The bishops and priest risked a financial encumbrance on the Church, in addition to incredibly bad optics.
Upon further rumination on the statement, “what the Church thinks”, it dawned on me how absurd the comment was. It was pure popery and pontification to claim authority to speak on these issues so publicly in this manner. Now, if a confessor sees fit—though ill advised it may be—to privately endorse the shots, at least it’s his personal counsel, not the ‘voice’ of the Church as if medical opinions were dogma.
NOBODY has the authority to speak for The Church, unless speaking of what has been previously agreed upon and proven over centuries of Church life. It was a flat out lie for Orthodox clergy to portray taking an experimental medical product as if it were a crucial matter of one’s Orthodox Faith. Such a thing cannot be done by anyone, anywhere.
In view of the moral and legal liability, they would have been far better off staying in their own lane of profession and just saying, “See your doctor”. It’s the blanket disclaimer that works everywhere, every time. So, why didn’t they just take the safe way out?
I was, not surprisingly, asked to leave and resettle in a parish more inline with my views. I gladly complied. Thank God there was one.
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Pfizer Infomercials
Soon after that, I caught wind that the leader of St Tihkon’s Seminary had given a video dissertation on the safety of the jabs. I dug it out for viewing. I was shocked! How could this be? Why is it so? (Did they ever get paid by big pharma for such a commercial? If not, what was the motivation behind doing so—not just once, but, twice?)
Why this collective Orthodox support of what, in the end, proved to be such a colossal medical mistake?
Somebody was “Off the Rails”, but it was not me. It was the Orthodox establishment who had jumped off the tracks so distinctly laid down by our predecessors. So, what went wrong here? I still don’t know, but something misfired for sure. Was it orchestrated? It sure seems that way.
Since when do Orthodox bishops publish photographs of their medical procedures? Only when that procedure is an mRNA jab. The question we still can’t answer is – why?
Then, news went around of parishes in other jurisdictions requiring the shots, of babies forced to be masked, multiple spoons, hierarchs performing liturgy masked up. At the moment, it all seems like water under the bridge. But, have we forgotten? Can it happen again? We may find out.
Corruption in Hierarchy
The road to hell is paved with the bones of priests and monks, and the lampposts are the skulls of bishops who light the path. (St John Chrysostom)[2]
Corruption among the hierarchy is not an anomaly. In any generation, it’s a given. St John already bitterly lamented it in the 4th Century. If only the great saint could see us now. Does this mean all are corrupted? Of course not. It would be a betrayal of the good ones to imply that. But still, all men are mere men, and until stepping over into repose, nobody is immune from falling off the Ladder of Ascent. Even on the highest rung, some become deceived and fall.
This lesson applies for each and every one of us. Thinking anybody still alive has ‘finished the race’ is a denial of Orthodoxy. Whether a man is a Patriarch, an Athonite monk, or president of a seminary, he can still fall. Our Orthodox forefathers, knowing this all too well, made sure no infallible ‘Orthodox’ pope could ever exist. We all must work out our salvation with fear and trembling until the very end. The safeguarding of the Orthodox Faith is too important to leave in one man’s hands. Or even in the hands of a few hierarchs.
Were the hierarchs, during COVID, influenced by money, fear, spiritual delusion, or some other factors? God alone knows. In the end, the reasons don’t really matter. It is incumbent upon every Orthodox Christian to take responsibility for his own spiritual development. If your jurisdiction leans away from the tried and true, all the more so. It is up to you to keep your faith alive, your relationship with God current, and your piety strong – regardless of what others do. If your priest is one of the many honorable ones, make his job all the easier; lend a hand wherever you can. Let your priest know you love, appreciate, and honor the sacrifices he makes to keep the community cohesive, and in communion with the ancient Church.
In summary: corruption has always manifested here and there, from time to time among the hierarchy. But, the strength of the Church is in its roots. What goes on week after week in parishes around the world. Maybe even more so in what goes on in homes, around the dinner tables, at the icon corners, with the prayer books, within the hearts and minds of God’s people.
What’s Next?
I have no clue.
Don’t worry folks, if this doesn’t stick Pharma and ‘public health’ will be back with something else.
However, I would say our country, along with much of Europe and the rest of the world, is headed for some very troubled waters. Many things about our present geopolitical structures are just not right. But, the world system was never right anyway, and never can be God’s Kingdom expressed on Earth as it is in heaven. Yet, we do not live in fear—for fear hath torment. Fear is living in doubt, not faith. God rewards those who diligently seek Him in faith. Nobody has been afforded more places to seek and find God than the Orthodox. He is in the liturgy. He is in the Fathers. He is in creation. He is in each other, and, yes, in honorable clergymen.
Orthodoxy is a Church birthed in persecution. Will there be another generation of martyrs? There may be. With the “New Martyrs” still fresh in memory, perhaps some will be called to fill that role once again. Aware of that, the willingness to die for Christ sets us free to be free indeed, a living martyrdom over a lifetime.
To live is Christ, to die is gain.
[1] Six Books of the Priesthood: https://www.azquotes.com/quote/1336710
[2] Ibid
In clarification of my post, here (I believe) is one of the infamous infomercials by St. Tihkon’s I had referred to: Did they ever get paid for toting water for the mega-corps?
https://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/sost/covid_and_the_vaccines/
Scanning the transcript, Fr. John–St Tihkon’s director–begins by having Dr. Nash build up his credibility with an extensive bio; this is pure, deliberate deception to draw the folks into the net of a delusion. And the carnage goes on, but the suffering is largely hidden.
ALL EVIL WORKS BY SYNCRATISM–first finding some common ground to establish control of the narrative, then, later, taking it in the wrong direction, this event is a class 101 on how to do that.
To be brief, Dr. Nash’s using the example of his broken leg, is a clear red herring associating a broken leg with the frankenshots.The distinction is clear with even the most superfical understanding of the shots. All mrna shots are designed to alter the Image of God, your body, while setting a broken leg is merely restoring to the way it was. Can we see the fallacy of making that association? Dr. Nash, and by facilitating event, Fr. John Parker are liars. How can it be otherwise. To say anything less is sophistry.
Here is another sophistry: the argument that the Moderna and Phizer shots did not use the HEK cell lines. While it says what it is not, they never say what it is: if not the HEK lines, which did they use? Here the truth is hidden, and more than likely they used some abortion cell lines much more recent. If not the HEK lines, which did they use? Now, do we really expect any info coming from the shots creators to be honest about it? What ever happened to “safe and effective”? They all touted that. BTW: it has been proven, the shots cultivated in peanut protein created a mortal allergic syndrome in the children that got them. Its why they all must use something of human origin or the body would reject it with vehement results–not to mention the demonic side of child sacrifice and that is what it is. .
Having spent 20 yrs as an insurance agent AND selling securities in the stock market, my moral behavior was strictly governed by laws and codes within those agencies. Bottom line: ANY “MATERIAL INFORMATION” withheld is a lie and punishable with jail time. Many things are coming out now about the shots that incriminate all producers of deliberate malfeasance.
Here is one of the more damning statements by Dr. Nash: “But it is… If you’re going to reject the vaccine solely based on HEK cell use, I’m sorry, you’re going to have to then reject almost all of modern medicine.”
Here Dr. Nash is giving a license for the shot producers to use abortion material; how can it be otherwise?That this was hosted by St. Tihkon’s and aired by Ancient Faith, means all were in agreement with that position. How can it be otherwise. Really, at the very least, Ancient Faith could have posted some kind of disclaimer. This tells me, we have two standard bearers of Orthodoxy that are fully compromised. How can it be otherwise?
While at the moment, no urgent situation exposes the true situation, in the future when the next plandemic is staged–or whatever faux apocalypse is stage, it will be the same reaction; the corruption has never been erased, no detraction posted, no apologies given. And that the post is still available, means they are doubling down on lies.
With St Tihkon’s in on the deceptions, we will have a generation of priests who cannot discern the difference, and the future of the Orthodox tradition will continue to be under further assault from a new generation of ignorant priests.
St Tihkon’s is the last place any postulant should go to learn the Faith. Again, evil works by syncretism–Satan’s lie will be mixed in with a lot of good things. Poisoning a wolf is taking 95% good meat, and adding 5% arsenic or other poison.
It is the onus of every Orthodox believer to have discernment and discretion. I understand many priests–those not deceived–have to play the game, and discretion would mean knowing exactly where to draw the line in obedience to the bishop, and the bishop to the hierarch. Wise as serpents–means you know your enemy–yet, harmless as doves–means avoiding collateral damage as much as possible. God will help you do this, He is aware of the situation and soon His judgment will fall, He will not forebear the malevolence forever.
Don’t think that just because everything now seems “normal”, it is anything but. The fox is still inside the hen house; he is going low profile until his chain is jerked again, then he will dance to an alien tune–its how it works. When we least expect it….
We took Dr. Nash to task at the time. Hopefully priests and candidates read Orthodox Reflections.
https://orthodoxreflections.com/answering-afr-on-covid-and-the-vaccines-with-fr-john-parker-and-dr-ryan-sampson-nash/
Friend, our bodies are not the image of God. Where on earth did you even get that from? Very disturbing theology.
Friend, I beg to differ. You would never convince the Fathers of the later ecumenical councils it was not. Understanding the principle of the “Icon”, Man in every way was designed to channel Christ–even a full substantiation of Christ. Is Christ God? He had a body, and that body was/s Divinity. The Church Fathers argued, an “Image” of Christ is, indeed, appropriate, even necessary. How can it be otherwise? You smack of Manacaeism–degrading the body to the mere flesh of animals.
Is the Holy Virgin Mary, really the Mother of God? Or, is it just a euphemism. She gave Him flesh, and that flesh was/is Divinity–this is what the Fathers taught.
Do you believe the Eucharist becomes the true “Body and Blood”? or are you stuck in Protestantism where its just a “Remembrance”? In the Dedache, the Eucharist is not just Christ–the Historical Christ–but also the “Corporate Christ”, which is you and me gathered every Sunday from far and near.
Furthermore, if the body does not become Divinity, why are some relics incorruptible? and why is the body resurrected. Additionally, if one looks at the body itself in its design, it speaks theology. Man is upright in frame; why did God not make him with 4 legs with more stability. A horse has 4 and can run much faster. In fact, all 4 footed beast are swifter and far more stable–a car has 4 wheels. Its because the body speaks of the One who made it–upright in all his ways, everything in a balance. Is Christ fully God and fully Man, or is he 50% God and 50% Man? Of course not, He is both at the same time, including His body.
Notice the icon, Adam was patterned after the incarnate, crucified, resurrected, and ascended Lord Jesus Christ, body and all. Theosis by definition is to be a “partaker of the Divine nature” 2 Peter 1:4. He is by nature, what I am by grace–but, fact none the less.
“Christian” means, “Little Christ”. Is Christ not the image of God? An Icon is far more than just a picture, it is a substantiation.
Was Christ only crucified in soul? If He was bodily crucified, then the body is a whole lot more than a mere container for the Divine, it becomes Divine, its called “immortality” aka, everlasting life. .
I appreciate your insights and very astute observations. I agree with you 100% regarding the travesty surrounding the entire Covid fiasco, Satan was hard at work and continues to try to put an end to our sanctification. Covid was obviously evil and orchestrated in my opinion, I was glad to have refused the vaccine, now they’re attempting to get it into our FOOD. So disgusting. Lord have mercy. Thank you for your work here.
My husband began his career in occupational health as an Air Force specialist in public health. It had its crasser moments, but one of the up sides was learning a very great deal about industrial hygiene, including respiratory protection. With that knowledge and an honorable discharge, he was able to secure a position with the fledgling Occupational Safety and Health Administration, where, as one of the First Five Hundred, he was among those who established case law that wrote the standards still used today. Despite OSHA’s stated position on mask-wearing, every compliance officer we know came out privately against the masks, stating that they were useless at best and harmful at worst. Yet our parish required them to be worn: “If you are not wearing a mask, you will not be admitted.” I still don’t attend liturgy at that parish, and it’s straining my spiritual life. This post came at just the right time for me, reminding me to trust the *actual* science and resist mask mandates.
So sorry to hear that, but encouraged by your husband’s example! Has anyone in your former parish rethought their compliance, especially in light of the information flooding out since the ‘Pandemic’?
Thank you for a good reminder.
Fool me once … shame on the mandators. Fool me twice … shame on me, and all Orthodox clergy and laity for caving to Plandemic 2.0. Here is Idaho, legislators just passed a bill prohibiting the government from imposing mask mandates. Gov. Little has signed it into law. But will our shepherds follow their lead in defying Covid insanity? I don’t advise waiting for the next plandemic to find. Let this excellent article serve to energize you to stand with courage should the mandators strike again.
The Church is the sacramental expression of the Kingdom of God in this world. All of us who are baptized and active/communicating/repenting Orthodox Christians are tasked with keeping and protecting our Church in this world. In years past we (the laity) often ceded this responsibility of protecting the Church to the clergy. However, events like what you describe illustrate how this approach doesn’t work anymore in the context of how our modern culture works. The laity cannot be passive players.
Clergy are the leaders of our Christian community. God chooses them. But everyone works out his or her salvation within the context of the Christian community. This is true for the clergy also. As Orthodox Christians, we do not work out our salvation in isolation. Even for monks, it’s pretty rare for a monastic to receive a blessing to live alone.
Clergy are not perfect and should not be expected to be. Laity should not be afraid to comment if/when clergy decisions go off course or miss the mark. Clergy must be emotionally solid and secure enough to receive and respond to such feedback, when the feedback is delivered in faith and with love.
Unfortunately, clericalism often creeps into Orthodox Christianity. It should not – Christian Orthodoxy is not a clericalist faith. But in our secularist age and given the dominant forms of Christianity that formed our Western culture, clericalism in Orthodox Christianity is sometimes expected. As many way smarter than me have pointed out, clericalism is the parent of secularism; secularism is the daughter of clericalism.
Fr Alexander Schemmann: “Clergy and laity should work together in unity and love.”
Our Church has abundant opportunity (some may say responsibility?) in and to North America – the land that most of us grew up in and love with all of our hearts. Our continent is now covered in much spiritual darkness; we are called to be lights in the darkness.
Most clergy and bishops who advocate COVID vaccines or any other new/untested vaccine as a sledgehammer one-size-fits-all approach for everyone may believe that such an approach is an overall good. But it’s not, and it’s perfectly acceptable for informed and thoughtful Orthodox Christians to say so.
Not to be dramatic, but I do think our culture vis-à-vis the Church has some parallels to the Soviet Union 1920s experience. True, we are not being shot en masse and are not being shipped to gulags en masse. But for many of us, the America that we grew up in no longer exists, and the COVID dramas over the past 5 years were a factor that brought this reality into the light.
But just as the “Living Church” claimed many back in the USSR’s early days, many American Orthodox clergy and laity leaders who are fearful of pointing out how earthly authorities may be wrong can also easily be tempted to “go along to get along.” This approach may be easy in the short term but is often disastrous in the long-term.
When Jesus instructs us to “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17), He is not instructing the faithful to passively do whatever the governing state tells us to do. He is not instructing us to inject our arms and our children with untested jabs that don’t even work. He is not instructing us to close our Churches and pause from worshipping Him as God because some in government say Churches are spreading grounds for a virus (but sex shops and fitness centers are allowed to stay open, because I guess viruses cannot spread there?).
May God give us – clergy and laity alike – the courage to speak the Truth in faith and in love.
《The road to hell is paved with the bones of priests and monks, and the lampposts are the skulls of bishops who light the path. (St John Chrysostom)》
I love ortho-cynicism as much as anyone. But Chrysostom didn’t say this.
https://fauxtations.wordpress.com/tag/john-chrysostom/
You may be right. Of course, we all know St John’s heart for the clergy,for Orthodoxy. At the same time, not much I see going on in the GOA reflects true Orthodoxy, but Episcopalian 2.0 and its about 80% of American Orthodox by numbers.
Much less than that. No blackpilling in St. Patrick’s Day. Orthodoxy in the U.S. has had the national security state, operating via foundations and USAID, down its collective throat for decades. Yet, we are still here and we are very far from Episcopalianism. We see great hope for the future, otherwise we would cease publication and simply raise chickens with our small circle of friends. The New Testament letters from Paul were full of corrections for wayward Christians. Humans are fallen. But within Orthodoxy, at least, there are firewalls preventing a Vatican II extinction level event. Thank God for that.
The Church as a whole will always be kept on the right path in the long. The black pill denial of what the Bible says about the nature of the Church is the foundation of all of Protestantism. The promise of Jesus Christ will always be applicable, regardless of what some priests or bishops might be doing. Pray for those guys and stand firm WITHIN the Church just as so many martyrs and confessors have done and earned their crowns in heaven. This is the true Orthodox way to fight heresy, always has been.
《Despite all the accumulated evidence of the great harms wrought by closing churches, mandating masks, changing liturgical practices out of panic, supporting vaccine mandates, and pushing the mRNA jabs on the laity – Fr Ernesto can still say, with a straight face, “our bishops followed the right path.” There are way too many Fr Ernesto’s in the Orthodox Church. 》
Why is the OCA dying?