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The Persecution of Roman Catholic Bishop Strickland is a Warning to the Orthodox

June 29, 2023
11 Comments

Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas is one of the most popular Roman bishops on the Internet. His Twitter following alone is over 128K. On his Twitter timeline, he has been hard on Pope Francis, increasingly so as of late. Strickland even questioned the Pope’s fidelity to the Christian Faith in a May 12 Tweet, “I believe Pope Francis is the Pope but it is time for me to say that I reject his program of undermining the Deposit of Faith. Follow Jesus.” In orthodox (traditional) Roman Catholic circles, he is often referred to as “America’s Bishop”. Bishop Strickland recently had the temerity to travel to Los Angeles and lead a protest rally against the Dodgers for honoring the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, an anti-Catholic drag group, at the team’s annual “Pride Night” game.

For Pope Francis, that seems to have been the last straw. The Vatican has now opened an investigation into Bishop Strickland starting with a multi-day “apostolic visitation”.

The “visitation” was conducted by Bishop Dennis Sullivan of Camden, New Jersey, and former Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, Arizona. Kicanas is a well-known liberal, with ties to pro-homosexual groups, a past linked to clerical sex abuse, and a soft spot for abortion. As head of Catholic Relief Services, Kicanas was caught funding major pro-abortion groups, such as Population Services International, a marketer of abortion drugs in the developing world.

What does Kicanas being one of the men sent to investigate Bishop Joseph Strickland mean to you? For many traditionally-minded people, that fact alone eliminates any question as to where the Papacy stands on the moral issues of our day.

One traditionalist Catholic posted this online, “This move by the Vatican means not one moral activist bishop is safe. The good bishops will be deposed or silenced, and the evil bishops will rule unopposed.”

The fruits of centralization of power are, yet again, quite bitter for the Roman Catholic faithful. What will happen to Bishop Joseph Strickland? Whatever the Pope decides. Who can do anything about it? No one. What will his supporters do if the Pope throws him in the dustbin, or so loads him with sanctions as to make him ineffective? They can leave the RC (Orthodoxy is a good choice) or they can talk themselves into continuing as Roman Catholics through various coping mechanisms. After all, if you can bemoan Pope Francis’ various innovations against the Deposit of the Faith, yet still believe that your salvation depends on being in communion with him, then your brain is already elastic enough to stretch around pretty much anything.

As currently structured, what is happening to Bishop Joseph Strickland is not possible within the Orthodox Church. Bishop Strickland is not being investigated by his local synod of Roman Catholic Bishops for credible accusations of an actual crime, heresy, or a misuse of his office. Rather, his investigation was ordered by a remote, unaccountable, supreme pontiff who can officially be judged by no one.

Nothing like the Papacy exists within Orthodoxy. There is no “universal bishop”, though there are efforts underway to create one. Despite those efforts, however, the Orthodox Church is still organized into local synods which govern themselves. The Patriarch of Romania cannot investigate and discipline a Serbian Bishop. The Patriarch of Serbia cannot investigate and depose a Russian bishop. The same demarcation occurs between “jurisdictions” in the West. The Orthodox Church in America synod (which is self-governing) cannot investigate and depose a bishop in the Antiochian Archdiocese, for example.

There are some quirks to this system of decentralized authority. In some Orthodox jurisdictions in the West, the local bishops don’t really function as a true synod. Under such conditions, a foreign synod or hierarch could take unilateral action against an Orthodox bishop or priest subject to their jurisdiction. This has happened before, most recently in the Greek Archdiocese. These cases can sometimes be quite unjust, leaving local Orthodox Christians scratching their heads and venting their frustrations at being controlled by a remote, “old world” hierarchy. Such situations, however, are the exception within Orthodoxy and not the norm.

God is perfect. The Church is God’s Kingdom. But it is run by all-too fallible men who are themselves patients in a hospital for sinners. Among the hierarchy and clergy, as long as this world endures, there will be scandals, mistakes, pernicious outside influences, and even outright infidelity to the Faith Once Delivered to the Saints. However, the decentralized structure of the Orthodox Church works to keep such issues contained. Conciliarity, among bishops and independent Churches, restrains innovation and usually keeps bad hierarchs in one place from expanding their evil elsewhere.

One of the best examples of how Orthodoxy’s decentralization prevents innovation was written by Rabbi David Fox Sandmel in the context of evaluating Jewish – Orthodox relations. Many Jews object to Orthodox Holy Week hymns concerning the 1st Century Jews and their responsibility for the Crucifixion. Rabbi Sandmel feels the same, and has a vested interest in those hymns changing. However, he is honest about how difficult changing anything in the Orthodox Church can be. In the quote below, look at how he contrasts the difficulty of changing hymnography within the Orthodox Church with how easily similar hymns were changed in the Roman Catholic Church:

For Jews engaging with Orthodox Christians, it is important to remember that the first rule of interreligious dialogue is allowing “others” to define themselves. That means being especially attentive to the ways in Orthodox Christians differ from the Western churches with which Jews are most familiar. It requires understanding, inter alia, not only theological differences, but also the “ecosystem” of the Orthodox Church, autocephaly and how decisions are made, and the role of the patriarchs. While Pope John XXIII could order a change in the Good Friday liturgy, that is simply not how it works in Orthodoxy. Expecting Orthodox Christians to behave like Roman Catholics would not be a constructive strategy.

Thank you Rabbi, well stated. The Orthodox Church has a fundamentally different mindset than the Roman Church, and that has kept our Orthodox Faith pure over the last two millennia. No one can shove changes down our throats, though more than one Robber Council / Patriarch / Emperor has tried. No one has the power, the way Francis does, to conduct a “reign of terror” against faithful bishops on a global scale.

Good for us that Our Lord left us a Church so suited to preserving the Faith. However, before we Orthodox pat ourselves on the back too much, we need to remember something very important. There are powerful subversives within the Orthodox Church trying to transform her along modernist, globalist lines. They are well-funded and often occupy positions of authority within the Church.

Their primary tactic has been to subvert the Church quietly from within. The subversives use their connection to funding and power to publish heretical research (which is often presented as just “asking questions” or “seeking dialogue”), secure teaching positions for themselves and their followers (particularly in the training of future priests), present themselves as “official Orthodox voices” for media consumption, and align themselves with various governments around the world. We covered many of the most noted subversives in this article, and detailed some of their major funding sources here. As with Transgenderism in society at-large, this assault on Orthodoxy is a top-down revolution, though one largely (up until recently) conducted within the form.

Such a “long march through the institutions” has been very effective for Progressives in many areas (academia, government, major corporations, foundations, non-profits, etc.) Orthodoxy, however, has proven much more difficult to co-opt from within. That darned decentralized nature makes it tough to spread heresy quickly. Further, Orthodoxy is currently being overrun with converts who are fleeing the wreckage “Progressive” Christianity has made of other Christian bodies. They have seen what happens when a “church” embraces the LGBTQ+ agenda, female ordination, feminism, and Woke politics. Many of these refugees feel that the Orthodox Church is their last haven of True Faith on this Earth. They are in no mood to quietly abide her ruination.

So gains for the subversives are uneven, reversible, and hard won. Meanwhile, Pope Francis is building the ecumenist, progressive Church they dream of. The Catholic traditionalists are marginalized. The Latin Mass is on the road to being fully banned. Even a solidly orthodox, popular Catholic bishop such as Strickland is not safe from the wrath of the Progressive Vicar of Christ. Orthodox “Progressives” see what centralized power can do to make all their dreams come true, and they want in.

The centralized power they have in mind is, of course, the Patriarchate of Constantinople. A longstanding US National Security asset, Patriarch Bartholomew is the “Wokest” of all the major Orthodox hierarchs. He has almost no native Orthodox population in Turkey to govern directly as a bishop. Most of his flock is actually in the so-called Greek “diaspora” outside of Greece and Turkey. Even giving Patriarch Bartholomew every benefit of the doubt, he presides over a Patriarchate whose numbers are easily dwarfed by the Russian Church. Though he is a darling of the US ruling elites, rich Greeks, and nostalgic Hellenists, most Orthodox Christians globally pay him very little attention.

How can you turn this Patriarch, who is oppressed in his Muslim home country and ignored by much of the Orthodox world, into an Orthodox “Pope” with the power to make the Progressive agenda a reality? One way is to simply keep asserting power, particularly in ways that benefit the Global Elite. By its interpretation of Canon 28 of Chalcedon in the 1920’s, Constantinople claims jurisdiction over all areas outside the canonically defined territories of other Orthodox Churches. This claim includes the entire Western hemisphere, Oceania, the United Kingdom, Western Europe, Northeast Asia, and Southeast Asia. Until now, few non-Greeks have taken those grandiose claims seriously.

Food for thought – what if secular governments in those areas, for mutual benefit, decide to partner with Constantinople the way Ukraine and some others already have? Just because traditionalist Orthodox Christians do not want to be ruled from Constantinople, does not mean our governments don’t have other ideas. After all, growing Orthodox Churches espousing “traditional morality” can be a headache for globalist-minded regimes, and the Patriarchate of Constantinople has proven to be a most reliable partner in opposing such regressive, outdated notions.

As most are doubtlessly aware, Patriarch Bartholomew asserted the right to create a new “Orthodox Church” on the territory of Ukraine. Even though the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was self-governing, and recognized by the entire Orthodox world as legitimate, Patriarch Bartholomew (in concert with the US and former Ukrainian President Poroshenko) saw fit to legitimize a motley crew of schismatics and imposters as the “official” Orthodox Church in Ukraine. Thus he set the stage for the ongoing persecution of the actual canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, with the goal of eliminating it entirely.

The heretics in Ukraine may eventually succeed in destroying the UOC. It is amazing how state-sanctioned violence can transform a society, especially when nominally Orthodox Christians are willing to be enthusiastic participants. Regardless of the eventual outcome, however, many Saints and Martyrs will be revealed during this persecution. A reminder to Orthodox Christians in the US, the persecution happening in Ukraine is funded by the same government you somehow expect to protect your religious liberty at home.

Further, many supporters of Patriarch Bartholomew in the West are Progressives. Whether religious or secular, Progressives naturally incline towards allying with authority to crush their ideological opposition. Just as they backed government COVID policies that closed churches, these same people would welcome government investigations into Orthodox parishes to root out what they see as white supremacy, racism, homophobia, transphobia, Christian nationalism, female oppression, etc. “Orthodox” Progressives are already openly discussing collaboration with law enforcement against those whom they view as enemies within the Church. As a sensible precaution, you might want to brush up on what is left of your right to remain silent.

The close cooperation between the Patriarchate of Constantinople and Western governments is a matter that should concern all of us. The Patriarchate is represented in the United States in the person of Archbishop Elpidophoros. The Archbishop was recently honored to be a guest speaker at the National Intelligence University. How common do you think it is for a Successor to the Apostles to give a talk to current and future spies? How does one earn such a privilege? What potential dangers does this close alliance between Church and State hold for the rest of us?

According to Patriarch Bartholomew, he alone has the right to grant or rescind autocephaly (self-governing status). He also has the right to hear appeals from clergy anywhere in the world, and to rule on those appeals. What he says goes, as recently evidenced by Patriarch Bartholomew restoring five deposed Orthodox priests in Lithuania. The restored priests were never under the Patriarch’s jurisdiction. But not to worry, as the move was in concert with the Lithuanian government and was just a slap against the evil Russian Orthodox Church. It’s not like this case furthers a bad precedent or anything.

His All Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew seems to recognize no limits on his power. His supporters are constantly putting him forward as the man who can solve all Orthodoxy’s problems, even those of a long-standing nature. As presented by them, none of this is new or novel, just the “Holy Great Church of Christ” exercising its long recognized prerogatives. Sort of like the Papacy in the 11th Century, one would suppose.

In the United States, Archbishop Elpidophoros, head of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in America, is a huge fan of ecclesiastical power. In fact, it was Archbishop Elpidophoros who first applied the term “first without equals” to the Patriarch of Constantinople in a response to the Russian Church (excerpts below):

In the long history of the Church, the presiding hierarch of the universal Church was the bishop of Rome. After Eucharistic communion with Rome was broken, canonically the presiding hierarch of the Orthodox Church is the archbishop of Constantinople. In the case of the archbishop of Constantinople, we observe the unique concomitance of all three levels of primacy, namely the local (as Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome), the regional (as Patriarch), and the universal or worldwide (as Ecumenical Patriarch). This threefold primacy translates into specific privileges, such as the right of appeal and the right to grant or remove autocephaly (examples of the latter are the Archdioceses-Patriarchates of Ochrid, Pec and Turnavo, etc.), a privilege that the Ecumenical Patriarch exercised even in cases of some modern Patriarchates, not yet validated by decisions of the Ecumenical Councils, the first of which is that of Moscow.

 

If we are going to talk about the source of a primacy, then the source of such primacy is the very person of the Archbishop of Constantinople, who precisely as bishop is one “among equals,” but as Archbishop of Constantinople, and thus as Ecumenical Patriarch is the first without equals (primus sine paribus).

Since writing that, Archbishop Elpidophoros has continuously trampled on traditional Orthodox moral teaching while relentlessly pushing for greater power for Constantinople. As a recent example of doing both, Archbishop Elpidophoros celebrated the name day of Patriarch Bartholomew at an Episcopalian parish in Manhattan. Named for the Apostle St. Bartholomew, the parish is explicitly pro-LGTBQ. All the participants in the Great Vespers on June 10, 2023 had to pass under the “Progressive Pride Flag” that hangs over the church. The church’s website also features pictures of the Holy Cross blasphemously adorned with the rainbow flag and the letters “LGBTQ” replacing the sign, “Jesus of Nazareth The King of the Jews.”

LGBTQ Flag adorning St. Bart’s during the Orthodox Great Vespers offered by Archbishop Elpidophoros

The choice of venue, and the overt signaling of support for LGBTQ, were not new for Elpidophoros. He has done that before. What was new was this quote delivered during his sermon, “The Ecumenical Patriarch is a spiritual father for all people, whether they realize it or not.” According to Archbishop Elpidophoros, the Patriarch of Constantinople has no equals, has seemingly limitless power, and is the spiritual father of the entire world – Orthodox and non-Orthodox alike. The parallels with the Papacy are more than a little striking.

Despite the best efforts of the pro-Constantinople subversives, and the assistance of Western national security and governing apparatuses, the “assert power” strategy is having only limited success. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has stubbornly refused to go gently into that good night. The “official” Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) can seize parishes, but they mostly remain padlocked afterwards for lack of attendance. Aside from a few Orthodox Churches (Greece, Alexandria, Crete), the vast majority of the Orthodox world continues to vocally support Metropolitan Onuphry and his UOC.

In the US, many Orthodox jurisdictions are reporting massive growth. Not the Greek Archdiocese, however. Among inquirers, a general sense has emerged that the GOA should be avoided. Such a perception is only going to grow with each cringe-worthy action undertaken by Archbishop Elpidophoros. Neither are the other Western jurisdictions, nor the vast majority of autocephalous Churches around the world, seemingly all that interested in submitting to the supposed universal jurisdiction of “New Rome”.

So what are cranky, impatient Progressives to do? Well, one option is schism. You can’t take over the entire Church, so maybe you can carve out your own kingdom to rule? The way to schism seems open as there is already a split between Constantinople and the largest Orthodox Church in the world, Russia, over Ukraine. This is a golden opportunity that has not gone unnoticed. The Roman Catholic sharks are already circling, hoping to take advantage of the situation:

The historic marginalization of Russian Orthodoxy removes the principal obstacle to greater Catholic-Orthodox rapprochement. Because Moscow is the populous center of Orthodoxy, it is fair to view Catholic-Orthodox relations as a whole through that relationship. Yet that perspective gives a false reading.

 

The ecumenical upshot was that if reconciliation with Orthodoxy had to go through Moscow, then reconciliation would not proceed. And due to the sheer size of Russian Orthodoxy, the other Orthodox patriarchs were reluctant to move significantly on their own.

 

There is a great ecumenical prize that might be within reach — a joint date for the celebration of Easter, the high point of the liturgical year.

 

In recent years, favorable noises have been made about that possibility from both Vatican and Orthodox officials. Notably, Bartholomew himself indicated the possibility in November, perhaps in time for the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea in 2025.

 

That possibility had been thought near-impossible because of a lack of unity among the Orthodox. But now it is quite possible to imagine Constantinople and other patriarchates moving ahead without Russia. Indeed, some Orthodox Christians in Ukraine moved their celebration of Christmas this year from Jan. 7 to Dec. 25 — precisely to indicate a break with Moscow.

 

The Moscow patriarchate revealed in 2022 what it has been for a long time — an instrument of Russian state power masquerading as historic heir to Rome and Constantinople. Bartholomew has called them out.

 

Francis, after much delay, seems to have reluctantly accepted that view. That leaves both of them newly free to pursue unity together without the anchor of Moscow dragging behind them. The very dark cloud of the war against Ukraine may have an ecumenical silver lining.

A full-blown break with Russia could free Constantinople to do all the things Progressives dream of (reunite with Rome, bless same-sex marriages, ordain women, possibly suppress annoying jurisdictions that are “too Russian”, unite with other religious bodies, change the date of Pascha, etc.) Best of all, the break with Russia could be camouflaged as a reaction to Russia’s war in Ukraine. After all, you aren’t severing communion with an historical Orthodox Church. Rather you are valiantly breaking with a dastardly “instrument of Russian state power masquerading as historic heir to Rome and Constantinople.”

Clearly the Roman Catholics see potential here. But are there really Orthodox Christians who support a full-blown schism as a route to getting their preferred “reforms”? Most definitely there are, and they are not shy about saying so.

Carrie Frederick Frost is a professor of theology and religion, who is also the Chair of St. Phoebe Center for the Deaconess, and the author of Church of Our Granddaughters. In her article for Public Orthodoxy Let’s Make History: Ordain Deaconesses in the Orthodox Church Today, she actually called for a schism, if necessary, to get what she wants:

Sometimes I hear the idea that ordaining deaconesses “would cause schism,” or “the time is not right.” We need to face the fact that the Orthodox Church is already in schism over women and their roles in the church. We are bleeding away younger generations (and some older ones, too) because it is both incomprehensible and entirely unacceptable (to both men and women) to stay in a church community that, despite the Orthodox Church’s own convictions and history, only honors the gifts of men in ordained ministry. Furthermore, fear of schism or division ought not be a yardstick for considering change in the Church. If the Orthodox Church changes its practices regarding women out of fidelity to its understanding of the truth, any possibility of division should not be a concern. Finally, if we wait for when the time is “right,” when everything in the Orthodox world is calm and ordered, we will never do anything.

Schism within Orthodoxy is a very, very serious thing. For Frost, the consequences are worth it if the result is a Church that can put women at the altar in vestments. Frost is not just some fringe radical. She is within the mainstream of Orthodox academia in the West. The Order of St. Andrew, big fundraisers for the Patriarch of Constantinople, are sponsoring a series of panels for Frost’s organization to push the idea of deaconesses. Frost will be featured prominently.

Does anyone think that the “official” academic and “Greek” Orthodox worlds are unaware that she openly called for schism? Of course they are aware. They approve of it. She is only one example. Many others among the Archons, academics, Greek Orthodox priests, church administrators, and others have expressed the same sentiments. For them, the Russian Church (potentially other Orthodox Churches as well, if necessary) must be jettisoned so that Orthodoxy can “move forward” and “embrace modernity”.

Of course, while Frost and her St. Phoebe center claim that female ordination will stop at the diaconate, other “Orthodox” academics connected to the Ecumenical Patriarch, such as Aristotle Papanikolaou, Co-Director of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center at Fordham University, are open about their desire to see women fully ordained to the priesthood.

Who knows? After decades of laying a good foundation, you might actually get the Orthodox world to buy off on deaconesses. Women priests, however? That will never fly within global Orthodoxy. To go that far, you have to isolate a part of the Orthodox Church and impose such things there. If that isolated part is working in union with Rome, all the better. An added bonus would be partnership with political authority allowing the “modern Orthodox Church” to suppress the “traditionalist” Orthodox bodies as being traitorous agents of “Russian soft power”. You can ask the Ukrainian Orthodox Church how that works.

So what should we do about all this? I have absolutely no idea. At this point, we need to be aware that many people who come in the Name of the Lord are wolves in sheep’s clothing. The uncertainty of it all should call us to more sincere repentance and prayer. We should also be asking pointed questions of our leaders, while we continue to shine a light on those trying to subvert the Faith. Ultimately, if the Church is to overcome all this, our bishops will require the same kind of courage shown by Metropolitan Onuphry in Ukraine. May he be our example in how to stand steadfastly for the Faith – with a smile on our lips and Christ in our hearts.

Nicholas – member of the Western Rite Vicariate, a part of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese in America

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How Will the Martyrdom of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Impact the World?

June 19, 2023
50 Comments

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, headed by Metropolitan Onuphry, has been under severe persecution for all of 2023. Canonical Orthodox Christians face a war to the East, and a campaign of church seizures, church closures, arrests, beatings, and trials all around them. Orthodox Reflections has covered the tragedy here, here, and here.

To get a current perspective on the ongoing persecution, below are links to a few videos from Victoria Kokhanovska, lawyer and a defender of the UOC. Victoria has been illegally detained, assaulted by police, and now finds herself on house arrest with an ankle monitor. Despite all this abuse, she continues to tell the truth about the sufferings of Orthodox Christians.

Parishioners, priests, hierarchs, and monks of the UOC all feel unprotected as citizens. Daily, Ukrainian authorities and security forces act against them in violation of the Constitution and laws of Ukraine. In the videos below, Victoria explains the evidence for the current persecution and its illegality. For non-Ukrainian speakers, please turn on the English subtitles. 

Video 1 – Introduction to the Ukrainian government’s persecution of Orthodox Christians. 

Video 2 – Political framework of the Christian persecution in Ukraine. 

Video 3 – Victoria gives a personal account of some of the tragic events around the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.

More videos can be found at this link posted by a Ukrainian reader of Orthodox Reflections. For those less familiar with the current persecution of Orthodoxy in Ukraine, we recommend this short video in English as an introduction. 

By the way, none of this is happening in secret. The Ukrainian Government is quite proud of its efforts to rid the country of canonical Orthodoxy: 

On 13 June 2023, an MP of the People’s Servant faction, Oleh Dunda, promised that there will be no UOC in Ukraine by the end of the summer.

 

On the “Espresso TV” channel, the lawmaker said that relevant decisions and bills which would make it impossible for the UOC to exist in Ukraine will be adopted and voted on in the summer.

 

According to Dunda, the UOC will no longer exist in Ukraine within a year. He believes that “this will become a fait accompli and these remnants of the Russian sectarian religion in the form of the UOC MP may remain only in the form of the so-called catacomb Church”.

 

Dunda is sure that “most likely, even in this form they will not be in Ukraine. There will be some small sect of parishioners – about 50-100 thousand, but they will also disappear”.

 

“This is already an irreversible and historical issue and will have been finished by the end of the year. I think that in the summer the relevant decisions will be taken and the bills will be voted – and there will be no UOC officially in our state,” stressed the MP.

For those confused over who the “good guys” and “bad guys” are in Ukraine, let us ask a simple question. When, since Pentecost, have the historical “good guys” been the ones driving Christians underground into the “catacombs”? 

This is horrible, and blame for all this lies as much on us Americans as on the Ukrainian Government. The persecution in Ukraine is an example of our American tax dollars at work. The Kiev government is completely financially and militarily dependent on our aid.  Therefore, Americans have a responsibility to both fight this demonic injustice and to spread awareness of it. Granted, our efforts are hampered by the opposition of our own government, the lack of a free press, and the support of the Ecumenical Patriarchate (Greek Archdiocese as well) for its unholy child, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), which spearheads the persecution. Nevertheless, even given those obstacles, it is to our shame (hopefully not eternal) that we have not done more to help our brothers and sisters in Ukraine. 

Fortunately, as with any tragic situation, God can and will bring forth blessings. In a recent interview, Metropolitan Neophytos of Morphou made a bold declaration, “The UOC is persecuted to make new Saints.” Among those saints will be new martyrs. Do you realize how that can change the world?

Christianity is estimated to be the world’s most persecuted religion. Globally, hundreds of millions of Christians face varying levels of violence and discrimination. 1 in 5 Christians are persecuted in Africa and 2 in 5 Christians are persecuted in Asia. Christian persecution is usually greatest in areas considered to be “remote” in terms of Western media attention. Lack of coverage leads to the suffering of Christians being largely ignored. Consequently, Christian martyrdom is usually seen by comfortable Western Christians and secularists as a thing of the past – something from Roman or Soviet times, but certainly not a concern today. 

In contrast to much of the Christian persecution in the world, what is happening to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is taking place in the middle of Europe, during a war that will doubtless be a major issue in the 2024 US Presidential election. No matter how hard the media try to cover up the persecution, the truth will be increasingly known. How will the examples of the new Saints and Martyrs of Ukraine impact the world? 

More than you think, and in ways few can scarcely imagine.

Christ is Worth Suffering and Death

Most Christian Churches in the US are all about ease and comfort. On any given Sunday, millions pour through lobbies full of percolating coffee to sit in air conditioned luxury and watch a musical performance followed by a motivational speech. These people consider sacrifice to be losing an hour of sleep once a year because of Daylight Savings Time. Christ is a hobby, not the ever-present Lord of their lives. Church is someplace they go to have a good time and show how respectable they are. Not because they are seeking a union with the Everlasting God. 

But let’s not pick on just the megachurch Evangelicals. Roman Catholics are just as bad. Only a minority of them even believe that Christ is really present in the Eucharist. Liturgical abuses in the Roman Catholic Church are so common, we scarcely notice them anymore. The spiritual life within the Roman Church is in a pitiful state. 

We Orthodox can’t pat ourselves on the back too much, either. Far, far too many Orthodox are more “cultural” than they are “religious”. Our best known hierarch in the US, Archbishop Elpidophoros of the Greek Archdiocese, is also the one most closely associated with ecumenism and modernism. His cringe-worthy actions are frequently used by apologists for other Christian denominations (sometimes even by Muslims) as examples of why Orthodoxy is not the True Faith. Our failure to eradicate the “Woke” poison, spreading through parts of our Church and society, led Abbot Tryphon to put out this video calling for us to stop what he termed the “The Luciferian Lockstep”.

On all sides, Christianity in the US exudes flabbiness, softness, inauthenticity. The government says to wear masks, close churches, stop kissing icons, limit attendance when open, change communion, and we all meekly comply. Some of our own Orthodox bishops bring shame and discredit on the Faith, and we quietly go about our business as if nothing is happening. 

Muslims in the West make fun of us as having no faith, since we have so easily abandoned traditional morality to modern degradation. A growing number of Pagans call Christians weak, sniveling, losers who follow a “dead god” that was unable to save Himself. The Christian Faith once vanquished paganism from whole continents. Demon-filled shamans trembled in the presence of our saints. Now their spiritual descendants mock us as cowards.

The Woke, and practitioners of various other political religions, call Christians “privileged” in the West. They are aware that this is untrue, but the charge scores good rhetorical points for them. The secularists know that Western Christians usually have no spines. We don’t want to get into any trouble. We are “nice people” who want to go along and get along. Respectable people don’t cause problems. Respectable people follow the rules. Didn’t Paul say that in Romans, or something like it? Plus, good Christians need their jobs to keep their comfortable, middle class lives intact. Getting fired for making a stand, going to jail, or getting on an FBI watchlist are not on the average American Christian’s to-do list. 

No wonder the Christian Faith is dismissed as irrelevant. Even those of us who profess to follow Christ are too afraid to stand up for Him. Why should anyone else take Him seriously?

Into this vacuum comes the Orthodox Christians of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. We have only begun to tell their story. They face a bitter war in the East of their country. Many of them are in uniform fighting that war. Orthodox Ukrainians face deep privation living in a physically and economically shattered nation. At the same time, their own government, violent mobs, and even the power of the United States are all arrayed against them and their Church. Facing such odds, how many of us would outright surrender?

Not the Ukrainian Orthodox though. They are not backing down.

These followers of Christ stand up to beatings. To police assaults. To unjust arrests. To their churches being closed. To their churches being seized. To the mocking and scourging of mobs. They are spit upon. Women are raped. Priests and bishops are attacked on the streets. Scoffers conduct blasphemous mockeries of Christian rites. Christians are gassed in Church. Christians are disappeared. They are arrested. They are slandered. Their rights, and even their very citizenship, are denied. 

Up against the Gates of Hell, the faithful of the UOC do not abandon their Churches. They do not abandon their Faith. They do not abandon Our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom belongs all honor and worship. Each day, no matter what is thrown at them, they stand. For while good Christians do strive to follow the secular law, they cannot yield when that law goes against God. 

To unbelievers and nominal Christians, the examples of our modern Ukrainian Saints and Martyrs will be a shock. Who are these people that face such suffering voluntarily? What is this Faith that motivates them? Who is this Christ for Whom they will lay down their freedoms, even their very lives? Perhaps the Orthodox Church is the 1st Century Church after all? 

At some level, everyone (Christian and non-Christian alike) realizes the power of Martyrdom. Martyrdom purifies and strengthens the Church. Martyrdom inspires. Modern martyrdom is so needed, that Pope Francis (heading a spiritually dead church short on martyrs, monastics, and faithful priests) added 21 Coptic martyrs to Roman Martyrology. If you can’t grow your own, why not borrow someone else’s?

When the story of what is happening in Ukraine is fully known, the demons will tremble and Orthodox parishes around the world will be flooded with inquirers. This is the True Faith Once Delivered to the Apostles. This is Apostolic boldness. This is the leadership of the Holy Spirit. 

An Example to the Orthodox 

The Faithful of the UOC could lie to themselves. They could join the “official” church (OCU) and pretend they are still Orthodox Christians. That is what the Ecumenical Patriarch wants them to do. That is what Archbishop Elpidophoros wants them to do. That is what Joe Biden and Zelenskyy want them to do. Shut up, do what we say, and all your problems are over. 

If given a plausible way to still be an “Orthodox Christian” and avoid persecution, how many of us Americans would say, “Sign me up”? The examples of the Christians of the UOC are not just for the benefit of unbelievers and nominal Christians. Their authentic witness for Christ is also essential for us Orthodox. 

Not just for the Orthodox laity, either. Our hierarchs did not cover themselves with glory during the “pandemic”, nor in many other controversies in which they have largely stayed silent. Ukrainian Orthodox hierarchs openly pray during war, in the middle of a flood caused by a bombed dam, while assaulted by hostile mobs, standing all night to stave off the seizure of holy churches… Those are the actions of the Successors to the Apostles. After watching the UOC stand so tall for Christ, it will be hard for most of us in the West (Orthodox hierarchs and laity alike) to ever again submit quietly to the dictates of petty government bureaucrats, NGOs, and Woke corporations. 

Exposing the Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing

The foundation for the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was laid by the Ecumenical Patriarch, who granted official recognition to a political movement masquerading as an Orthodox Church. His All-Holiness was encouraged in this by the US Deep State, which wanted the new OCU to bolster the post-coup Ukrainian regime in Kiev. Orthodox Reflections covered a lot of the background to this lamentable series of events in this article on 8 Lies Told by Enemies of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Various hierarchs, priests, and academics have been working to undermine Orthodoxy for years. Much of their work has been done either in the background (often in lightly read academic publications and relatively obscure conferences), or in a manner that allows for “plausible deniability”. For example, officiating a service in an Episcopal Church boldly emblazoned with a Gay Pride flag, while loudly proclaiming there is nothing to see here but Christian love. Or baptizing the children of a same-sex couple, born of surrogate mothers, while claiming it was all about the salvation of the children. Or publishing a “Social Ethos” document that contains almost as many Woke, Globalist bromides as it does legitimate Orthodox teaching, while accusing critics of not having a sufficient Orthodox mindset to understand it. 

But the UOC persecution changes things. The wolves can’t hide among the sheep. They are being flushed out in the open, as they have no choice but to publicly defend what the Kiev government and its “church” are doing to innocent Christians. The whole world is watching. The Orthodox hierarchs are finally speaking out. In response, the Patriarch of Constantinople feels compelled to issue vague threats in support of the schismatic OCU that he created:

“Any attempt to challenge the Autocephaly of the Church of Ukraine undermines inter-Orthodox peace and hinders cooperation and common witness of the Orthodox Churches,” Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew said at the beginning of his speech.

The tragic suffering of the UOC has had a clarifying effect on Orthodoxy throughout the world. Those supporting her persecution are also, almost exclusively, the same Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing that support undermining the Orthodox Faith by pursuing ecumenism and modernism. Through their actions, they will increasingly expose themselves for the anti-Christian hypocrites they truly are. 

Against these false teachers will be arrayed the testimony of the new Saints and Martyrs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. It will be a very uneven battle. 

God will fashion the suffering of the Orthodox Christians of the UOC into Gifts of the Holy Spirit that will enlighten the world. 

-Donald W. Jones, financial consultant and lifetime member of the Orthodox Church in America

We Demand an End to Christian Persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

Petition Text Below:

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is the canonical church in Ukraine headed by Metropolitan Onuphry. Prior to the war, approximately 70% of the population of Ukraine belonged to the UOC. Ukrainians overwhelmingly supported their Church, despite having been subjected to politically motivated persecution for many years. The violations of human rights directed at Orthodox Christian in Ukraine have included: forcible seizure / closure of parishes, unlawful arrests, physical abuse, abusive searches of holy sites, desecrations of holy objects, intentional targeting of parishes and holy sites for military attack, and acts of physical intimidation. Recently, local governments have banned the Ukrainian Church from even operating in their areas. President Zelensky of Ukraine has threatened to make this ban nationwide. The main churches of Kiev Caves Lavra have been removed from UOC jurisdiction, and schismatics have been allowed to use them for services. We, the undersigned Orthodox Christians and allied Christians of good conscience, note three things. First, the situation in Ukraine is unjustified Christian persecution that violates all global norms. Second, the Ukrainian Government is wholly dependent on Western financial and military support for its continued existence. Therefore, Christians in the West bear a substantial responsibility to speak for the Ukrainian victims of persecution. Third, protests from official organizations matter more to those in power than collections of citizens. Therefore, we signers of this petition call upon the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America, all Orthodox jurisdictions in the West, all official Orthodox Christian ministries and institutions of higher education, all human rights organizations, the Roman Catholic Church, all other Christian bodies of good will, and any other concerned organizations to immediately draft statements decrying the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and demanding its immediate cessation. We cannot be silent in the face of Christian persecution enabled by our own governments. Please join us in ending the persecution of the Body of Christ in Ukraine.

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Petition Signatures
5,628
Mr. Michael G.
United States 
Greek Orthodox
5,627
Mr. BRUNO P.
France 
5,626
Mrs. Lena T.
Ukraine 
УПЦ
5,625
Miss. Anna S.
Ukraine 
5,624
Miss. Alisa P.
Ukraine 
5,623
Mr. Анна .
Ukraine 
5,622
Mrs. Tanya A.
France 
UOC
5,621
Mr. Michael S.
Australia 
ROCOR
5,620
Mrs. Hayat M.
Lebanon 
Orthodox
5,619
Mr. Lois L.
United States 
OCA
5,618
Mr. Ruth O.
United States 
Antiochian Orthodox
5,617
Mr. Ștefan S.
Romania 
Romanian Eastern Orthodox Church, Archdiocese of Bucharest under Archbishop and Metropolitan P.F. DANIEL and Vicar Bishop P.S. TIMOTEI Prahoveanul
5,616
Mr. Akshay B.
India 
The Holy Orthodox Christian Church
5,615
Mrs. Larysa B.
United Kingdom 
ROCOR
5,614
Mrs. Maria-Lynn K.
Canada 
ROCOR
5,613
Mr. Vladimir A.
United States 
Antioch
5,612
Mr. Peter D.
United States 
OCA
5,611
Miss. Lisa M.
United States 
Oregon
5,610
Miss. Danna H.
United States 
5,609
Mr. Edward A.
United States 
ROCOR
5,608
Miss. Jennifer J.
United States 
5,607
Mrs. Athena C.
United States 
Greek Orthodox
5,606
Mr. Jacinto S.
?? 
Antiochian Archdiocese of North America
5,605
Mr. Maximos H.
United States 
Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
5,604
Mr. Tracey W.
United States 
Roman Catholic
5,603
Mr. Xavier G.
United States 
Greek Orthodox
5,602
Mr. Elias(Lewis) K.
United States 
5,601
Mr. Aaron P.
?? 
Antiochian
5,600
Mr. Michael K.
?? 
Orthodox Church of America
5,599
Mr. Vlada S.
Serbia 
5,598
Mr. Joseph D.
United States 
Antiochian
5,597
Mrs. Irina Z.
United States 
5,596
Mr. Eric R.
United States 
GOARCH
5,595
Mr. Jonathan B.
United States 
ROCOR
5,594
Mr. Randall A.
United States 
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
5,593
Mr. Dan P.
Romania 
5,592
Mr. Juan V.
?? 
Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America
5,591
Mr. Kevin K.
United States 
ACROD
5,590
Mr. Karl H.
United States 
Orthodox Christian
5,589
Miss. Dariya F.
United States 
DMV
5,588
Mr. James S.
United States 
ROCOR
5,587
Mrs. Lidiya L.
United States 
ROCOR
5,586
Dr. Sophia L.
United States 
5,585
Miss. Regina K.
United States 
5,584
Dr. Michael L.
United States 
5,583
Mrs. Larissa L.
United States 
Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St.John the Baptist
5,582
Mrs. Karina M.
United States 
5,581
Mr. Anna P.
Russian Federation 
5,580
Miss. xenia lynn teresa w.
United States 
ROCOR
5,579
Mrs. Louise D.
United States 
5,578
Mrs. Zina Y.
United States 
5,577
Mr. Alexis W.
United States 
ROCOR
5,576
Mrs. Iryna S.
United States 
ROC
5,575
Mr. Walt S.
United States 
Russian Orthodox
5,574
Mrs. Natalia G.
United States 
5,573
Mrs. Zoya D.
United States 
5,572
Mrs. Lydia M.
United States 
Eastern Diocese
5,571
Mr. Thomas D.
United States 
5,570
Mrs. Svetlana C.
United States 
5,569
Mrs. Darka R.
United States 
5,568
Mr. Marina K.
United States 
Orthodox Christian
5,567
Miss. Anne R.
United States 
OCA
5,566
Mrs. Cl B.
United States 
5,565
Mr. John T.
United States 
Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia
5,564
Miss. ELMIRA H.
United States 
Russian Orthodox
5,563
Mrs. Natalia R.
United States 
ROCOR
5,562
Mrs. Olga S.
?? 
Orthodox
5,561
Fr. John K.
United States 
ROCOR
5,560
Mrs. Evgenia A.
United States 
5,559
Mr. Theodore S.
United States 
OCA
5,558
Mr. Yakov Y.
United States 
5,557
Miss. Jennifer B.
United States 
Russian Orthodox Christian in Alabama
5,556
Mr. Vasily K.
United States 
5,555
Mr. Henry P.
United States 
5,554
Mrs. Svetlana M.
United States 
5,553
Mr. nicholas o.
United States 
Orthodox Christian
5,552
Mr. Michael D.
United States 
Eastern orthodox
5,551
Mr. William N.
United States 
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
5,550
Mr. Nikos G.
United Kingdom 
Greek archdiocese Thyateira
5,549
Mr. Kira S.
?? 
5,548
Mrs. Denise L.
United States 
5,547
Mr. Maria C.
Ukraine 
5,546
Mr. Christopher B.
United States 
Eastern Orthodox Christian
5,545
Mr. f d.
United States 
ROCOR
5,544
Miss. Linda L.
United States 
5,543
Mrs. SYLVIE C.
France 
5,542
Mr. Klaus K.
Switzerland 
Romanian Orthodox Church
5,541
Mr. Jerome B.
Canada 
OCA
5,540
Mr. Ryan D.
United States 
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
5,539
Ms. Olga B.
United States 
ROCOR
5,538
Ms. Elena G.
United States 
5,537
Mr. TONY A.
United States 
5,536
Ms. Menna J.
United Kingdom 
ROCOR
5,535
Mr. Arthur T.
United States 
Roman Catholic
5,534
Mr. Sergei L.
United States 
Orthodox
5,533
Mr. iLia A.
United States 
Orthodox
5,532
Mr. steven b.
United States 
goarch
5,531
Ms. Fotini B.
United States 
5,530
Ms. Eirini B.
Greece 
5,529
Mrs. Amber S.
?? 
5,528
Mr. Oleg G.
Ukraine 
UOC
5,527
Mr. John C.
Ukraine 
Ukraine
5,526
Ms. Diane S.
United States 
5,525
Mr. Jeremy K.
United States 
5,524
Mr. Bernie H.
United Kingdom 
Buddhist
5,523
Ms. Aleks T.
Ukraine 
5,522
Mr. Oleksandr T.
Ukraine 
5,521
Mr. Milton T.
United States 
5,520
Ms. Maksym P.
Italy 
Orthodox
5,519
Mrs. Olha S.
?? 
Ukraine
5,518
Ms. Kolykhan L.
Ukraine 
5,517
Mr. Ross H.
United States 
ROEA
5,516
Fr. David A L.
United States 
OCA
5,515
Mr. Antonio G.
Italy 
5,514
Mr. John Q.
Canada 
5,513
Mrs. Mary A.
Canada 
ROCOR
5,512
Miss. Dianne T.
United States 
GOA
5,511
Mr. Piran U.
United Kingdom 
5,510
Mr. Michael P.
United States 
GOAA
5,509
Mrs. Elizabeth U.
United Kingdom 
Antiochan
5,508
Dr. Eden E J.
United States 
Catholic
5,507
Mr. Lazarus U.
United Kingdom 
Antiochian
5,506
Mrs. Tessa D.
United States 
Greek Orthodox
5,505
Mrs. Karen K.
United States 
OCA
5,504
Mr. Ostoja V.
Australia 
5,503
Mr. Gilles C.
France 
Othodox
5,502
Mr. Лариса .
Ukraine 
5,501
Mr. Rebecca C.
United States 
Orthodox Church of America
5,500
Mr. Trudy S.
?? 
5,499
Mr. Василий .
Ukraine 
5,498
Mrs. DRUMARD T.
France 
ORTHODOX CHURCH
5,497
Miss. Tetyana Igorivna A.
Ukraine 
УПЦ
5,496
Mr. Igor I.
Ukraine 
УПЦ
5,495
Mrs. Татьяна .
Mexico 
ХРИСТИАНКА
5,494
Miss. Тятьяна .
Ukraine 
УПЦ
5,493
Mrs. Tatyana D.
Australia 
ORTHODOX CHURCH
5,492
Miss. Mary M.
United States 
ROCOR
5,491
Mr. Ирина .
Ukraine 
5,490
Mr. Joseph K.
United States 
OCA
5,489
Miss. Інна .
?? 
Київ
5,488
Mr. Роман .
Ukraine 
5,487
Mr. Sergej G.
Germany 
5,486
Miss. Connie D.
United States 
5,485
Mr. Dennis B.
United States 
Rocor
5,484
Mr. Steve R.
United States 
Traditionalist Roman Catholic
5,483
Mr. Michael C.
United States 
OCA
5,482
Mrs. Leeah O.
Australia 
Greek Orthodox
5,481
Christopher K.
?? 
ROCOR
5,480
Mr. Mike C.
United Kingdom 
5,479
Lillian H.
?? 
Greek Orthodox
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Fr Peter Heers – Why Him, Why Now, Is the American Deep State Involved?

April 28, 2023
41 Comments

Fr. Peter Heers is an Orthodox priest, blogger, podcaster, author, publisher, and conference speaker.  In modern America, he attracts controversy like few Orthodox clergy. Fr Peter was vehemently against COVID vax mandates, against the vaxes themselves for their connection to abortion, against the lockdowns, church closures, changes to liturgical practices, against transgenderism, against gay rights, against the US-backed persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and strongly in favor of traditional Orthodox morality. Fr Peter has often been attacked over his teachings, both by those inside and outside of the Church. But lately there is another reason that has made Fr Peter controversial. There seems to be some question about his canonical status. Namely, is he under a canonical bishop? An Orthodox blogger named Craig Truglia provided some context on this matter last year. Below is an excerpt, here is the full article: 

The priest petitions to the Metropolitan and First Hierarch of ROCOR, who unambiguously receives the priest after being sent documentation permitting the priest to be received. The First Hierarch of ROCOR then assigns him to a local bishop.


For more than half a year there is no issue with this arrangement. Suddenly, for reasons not publicly enunciated, members of ROCOR’s synod and the First Hierarch then reconsider the latter’s decision to receive the Greek priest. They continue to consider him a priest of good standing. However, they now recognize him not as a priest who has already transferred from the Moscow Patriarchate, but rather as one in the process of transferring. Then, months later, after reviewing the matter members of ROCOR’s synod allege the transfer never went through and the Greek priest is still under the Greek Metropolitan. The Greek Metropolitan, who canonically released the Greek priest, refuses to recognize this, citing his letter of canonical release. As for the Greek priest, having been released long ago by the Greek Metropolitan and then accepted into ROCOR from the Moscow Patriarchate, this reneging on his reception makes his status uncertain. In effect, there are multiple episcopal authorities alleging that the Greek priest belongs to a different jurisdiction — a set of circumstances out of his control.


The above situation can be summarized as follows: a Greek priest is released to enter the Moscow Patriarchate to serve in America. The MP’s plans change so he moves to ROCOR. Decision makers in ROCOR ex post facto “invalidate” his reception, presuming that he belongs to a Greek Metropolitan. This is despite the fact that the Metropolitan had given the priest a canonical release to the Russian Church. Due to the preceding facts not yet being made public, many scrupulous laymen fear that somehow the priest is a free-agent, thereby invalid sacramentally. However, if documented evidence demonstrates his reception, in reality the priest is properly under his canonical bishop.

It is not my intent to argue over the canonical status of Fr Peter Heers. Rather, let us focus on that phrase from the above excerpt, “For more than half a year there is no issue with this arrangement.”  (That was last year. More time has elapsed since then.) Fr Peter is not new on the American Orthodox scene. He has been a well-known figure for quite some time. Now though, all of a sudden, Fr Peter has become the first priest in history whose canonical status has been specifically addressed by the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America via a “special communiqué”. 

According to the communiqué, in November 2022 the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (known as ROCOR and which does not participate in the Assembly) wrote a letter to the Assembly (which it doesn’t participate in) indicating, “that the Very Reverend Archpriest Peter Heers is not a clergyman of the Eastern American Diocese or of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, nor is there any pending consideration of his reception.”

For some reason the Assembly got this letter, was very disturbed about its implications, but then waited until 4/20/2023 to issue an unprecedented and very urgent communiqué letting everyone know about the letter from ROCOR and that:

The Assembly can further confirm that Archpriest Peter Heers is not a clergyman of, or on loan to, any other canonical Orthodox jurisdiction in the United States. To the extent that this individual purports to act as an Orthodox priest in the United States, including celebrating the Divine Liturgy and the other services of the Church and teaching the faithful and those who inquire into Orthodoxy, he does so in a manner outside of the Holy Canons.

This raises some serious questions, especially because the Assembly is not an actual Orthodox Synod:

…the Assembly is both consultative and programmatic. It is consultative insofar as, while it has no administrative authority, it is a forum for the exchange of ideas and creation of templates, best practices, and models for each Bishop to implement as he sees fit in his own diocese. At the same time, the Assembly is to be programmatic in its goal to coordinate and ultimately unite the common ministries and pastoral practices of the various jurisdictions.

 

The Assembly meets annually and functions by a consensus of all its members. 

 

Should this proposal be accepted, it is hoped that the Assembly of Bishops will be succeeded by a governing Synod of a united Church in the United States.

No administrative authority, and operates by consensus on the basis of an annual meeting. Yet, somehow, this body with no actual authority, in between meetings, was able to get the agreement of over 50 separate bishops, in different jurisdictions, to put out a communiqué casting aspersions on the canonical status, and thus the teaching authority, of a very politically incorrect (faithfully Orthodox) priest? 

How did this happen? Which Orthodox bishops thought, even with Orthodox persecution in Ukraine, persecution of Palestinian Christians in Jerusalem, the ongoing sanctions / occupation of Syria harming Orthodox Christians, plus our own mounting troubles in America, that the most important thing to do right now was put out a communiqué about Fr Peter Heers? 

Seriously?

Who started this? Were all the bishops asked for their opinions? All 50+ of them? Maybe just a majority? Were any of the bishops even asked for their opinions? The communiqué is unsigned. There is no information available as to how such a communiqué was issued and by whom. It simply appeared, and enemies of Fr Peter then spread it far and wide.

The situation makes one wonder, did this whole thing originate from Archbishop Elpidophoros and his staff at the Greek Archdiocese? One must wonder that, because Archbishop Elpidophoros is the Chairman of the Assembly.

If you have been paying attention, you might have noticed that the United States is less a nation than it is a funding source for various public / private “complexes”: Military-Industrial-Intelligence Complex, Pharmaceutical-Hospital-Public Health Industrial Complex, Prison-Law Enforcement Complex, Educational-Teachers’ Union Complex, Environmental Complex, etc. If all the pigs at the public trough had an official Christian chaplain to provide cover for their nefariousness, he would be the Patriarch of Constantinople, currently named Bartholomew, with Archbishop Elpidophoros mostly standing in for him in the US.

Since at least WWII, the Patriarch of Constantinople has been an exemplary asset of the US Security State (the mother who birthed all the baby complexes mentioned above). The ties between intelligence and the Patriarchate are so tight, that the US has openly decided Patriarchal succession and policies.

In 1948, the 62-year-old Archbishop Athenagoras of America was elected the new Ecumenical Patriarch. The CIA described this event the following way: “Soviet attempts to use the Greek Orthodox Church as a medium for persuasion and propaganda have undoubtedly received a setback with the election of Athenagoras.”

 

Athenagoras was received by President Truman who offered the presidential airplane for the Patriarch-elect to fly to Istanbul.

If you think anything has changed, please note that Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople suddenly went from recognizing Metropolitan Onuphry as the head of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, to considering him a foreign nobody in his own nation simply because Joe Biden and the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo at the time, came calling. As explained on The American Conservative website in an article entitled Zelensky vs. the Ukrainian Orthodox Church:

The State Department and politicians of both parties carried out work to promote the new church. Two months before the creation of the OCU in 2018, Filaret and Epifaniy met in the United States with Joe Biden, who declared his gratitude for their work. State Department Ambassador for Religious Freedom Samuel Brownback, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and special representative for Ukraine Ambassador Kurt Volker declared their support for this project.

 

Immediately after its creation, the OCU received its first official congratulations from the State Department and the U.S. Embassy. At the same time, Ambassador Brownback and the U.S. ambassador to Greece, Geoffrey Pyatt—who was also ambassador to Ukraine from 2013 to 2016—visited church leaders and Mount Athos to urge them to recognize the OCU. Both Ambassador Volker and Secretary Pompeo met with Epifaniy many times. All facts indicate that the promotion of the OCU was part of U.S. policy in Ukraine.

So now Metropolitan Onuphry and his UOC, whom Fr Peter Heers and 80% or better of the Orthodox world support, are suffering for Christ. A fact that the Patriarchate of Constantinople in general, and Archbishop Elpdophoros in America specifically, go to great lengths to cover up, deny, and excuse.

The American Deep State, the author of our horrible Ukrainian policy, clearly appreciate Archbishop Elpidophoros’ dedicated service, and seem to consider him one of their own. The Archbishop is even privileged to speak at the National Intelligence University:

NIU is a unique and technologically advanced university that focuses on the profession of intelligence and is the only institution of higher education in the nation that allows its students to study and complete research in the Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmentalized Information (TS/SCI) arena.

A sincere question to all those who deny the ties of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, and the various “Greek” Archdioceses around the world, to the US Security state – can you explain what we are seeing here?

Persecution of the UOC is reaching a fever pitch, such that even the UN has taken notice. The war is clearly not going in Ukraine’s favor, and even the mainstream press has had to acknowledge that. Against that backdrop, an effective advocate for the canonical Church, such as Fr Peter Heers, is suddenly declared an uncanonical wandering priest with no teaching or sacramental authority? By the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops, of all things, which has no real authority, and has never commented on the canonical status of a priest before. And, which oddly enough, is headed by a bona fide asset of the Deep State?

One can’t help but wonder about such coincidences.

The American Deep State has spun many a narrative that is beginning to unravel, and not just concerning Ukraine. Among these is the fitness of President Joe Biden to be in office. The DNC already announced that there will be no Democratic Primary debates. The DNC has put its thumb on the scales of democracy before. The RNC has as well. We all know that Ron Paul was unacceptable to the ruling class, as was Bernie Sanders. Neither was allowed to seriously contest for their respective party’s nomination. But back then, both national committees feared being this brazen about stealing a nomination. Now it is all done in the clear light of day. 

Donald Trump took the Deep State by surprise with his winning populism. The Governing Elite will take no chances of another populist victory in 2024. There is simply too much money and power at stake. Joe Biden has to win. 

There will be no debates in the Democratic Primary. Media, social and mainstream, will be kept on a tight leash. Especially with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. threatening the sitting president with pesky, traditional Democratic ideals such as pro-middle class polices, peace, and freedom. Deep State power must continue unimpeded, and that requires enforcement of fidelity to the Vax, to endless global war, and to Woke, including all its dogmas: transgenderism, worship of power, corporate supremacy, gay rights, “Democracy” (correct outcomes only), Greenism, CRT, abortion / anti-natalism, open borders, ecumenism (many paths to God), and censorship of incorrect opinions. In all this, Archbishop Elpidophoros is the Global Elite’s guy. Fr Peter Heers is not.

One could really fill a whole book with the awfulness that are the services Archbishop Elpidophoros has rendered to the American Deep State. His Eminence embraced Joe Biden as a candidate and practically endorsed him for president when praying at the Democratic National Convention. Archbishop Elpidophoros actually declared that Orthodox Christians could not refuse the mRNA jabs, despite their link to aborted fetal cells. 

Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Elpidophoros gave Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla the Athenagoras Human Rights Award in 2021. This was done after even the dullest knives in the drawer had realized the mRNA “clot shots” did not stop transmission of COVID, did very little at all for younger people who were mostly unaffected by the virus, were responsible for horrific side effects, and had no long-term safety data. Never mind all those pesky details, or concerns about medical freedom and human dignity. Archbishop Elpidophoros was one of the most COVIDian of all bishops, and defends those misbegotten policies, including masking toddlers in Church, to this day. Big Pharma, Big Capital, and Big Government were happy with hysteria-driven power and profits, so Elpidophoros and Bartholomew were fully on-board then, and still are now. 

Elpidophoros marched with BLM, a communist organization. Archbishop Elpidophoros and employees of the Greek Archdiocese regularly espouse CRT. Archbishop Elpidophoros has openly discussed communing non-Orthodox spouses, a radical change in the life of the Orthodox Church. During the Pandemic, he was a champion of using multiple spoons for the Eucharist.  As part of his commitment to ecumenism, Archbishop Elpidophoros celebrated Divine Liturgy in an Episcopal Church, St. Bart’s, that was decorated at the time by a giant “Gay Pride Flag”. 

Archbishop Elpidophoros is pro-choice on abortion. He actually said this out loud at the March for Life in 2022.

He’s doubled down on that stance since in subsequent interviews.  His abortion comments earned a justified rebuke from other Orthodox Bishops. Curiously, the organizer of said rebuke, Metropolitan Joseph of Antioch, was not long afterwards embroiled in a “scandal” and resigned. 

One tends to wonder about such happy coincidences. 

Archbishop Elpidophoros is also a huge friend of President Joe Biden, the most pro-abortion, pro-war, pro-sexual exploitation of children, and generally anti-human president we have ever had. According to the Archbishop, President Biden is a true friend of “Hellenism”. In an interview on the 20-year anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, Archbishop Elpidophoros had this to say about President Joe Biden:

In July 2020, after the reconversion of Hagia Sophia to a mosque, he was quick to call me on the phone to reconfirm his unequivocal support to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, while this past March, he honored us by speaking through video at the celebration of the bicentennial of Greek Independence Day. I know that in President Biden, our Church and Hellenism has a friend in the Oval Office.

The love is mutual, by the way, as Joe Biden never misses an opportunity to praise the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the loyalty of the Greeks:

“The one thing about the Greek community I’ve learned over these years — and it’s been 50 years, I hate to admit it, it’s that long — but is loyalty, loyalty, loyalty. And I tell ya, I think my sister and I, my family and I, have returned it. But you’ve been incredibly, incredibly loyal,” Biden said.

The Greek Archdiocese is the base of support for the Fordhamites who are academics committed to changing the Orthodox Church’s teachings on a host of issues. The Patriarch of Constantinople commissioned the ghastly Social Ethos document that practically made the “Great Reset” of the World Economic Forum part of Orthodox moral teaching. 

The rich and powerful Archbishop, whose cringe-worthy behavior regularly repels potential Orthodox converts, is not the subject of a communiqué from the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops. That would be weird. He’s the chairman after all. Why would the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops take him to task just because he does and believes so many really, really, blatantly anti-Orthodox things?

Instead, the honor of being the subject of a special communiqué falls to a simple priest. One who just happens to oppose the “official narratives” at a time, unfortunately for Fr Peter, when control of the narrative is all the Deep State has. Reality has already left them behind. The powers-that-be are running a senile old man for president as he stumbles through an expensive, hopeless war in Ukraine. The US Elite are backing a Ukrainian government of ultra-nationalists who are abusing Christians – women, children, monks, priests – while closing media and silencing opposition. All in the name of “Democracy”, of course. As we send billions to Ukraine, the US is falling apart at the seams. Americans are robbed blind by inflation, drowning in debt, and increasingly angry. All the while, our beloved leadership class is busy ruining the same military with Wokism that they plan to use in fighting a war against China.

Never fear though, despite wallowing in a pit of failure, the Ruling Elite will continue to find time to lecture average Americans on the joys of deviant sex, childlessness, and outright child sexual abuse. The Woke are targeting our children, and more people know that now than ever. Which makes it seem quite strange when Archbishop Elpidophoros, and many in his Archdiocese, dismiss all this blatant grooming as mere “culture war” politics. 

So Tucker Carlson got fired from Fox News, as his commentary hurt the official narrative of everything is fine – just vote for Joe Biden in 2024. More media heads than his rolled as well, and we can expect more to roll in the future. We can also expect even more private / public partnerships to censor and control the media. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. brought to our attention a partnership between the Pentagon and financial behemoth Vanguard:

It is the desperate hope of the Deep State that the “narrative” can be kept alive through November 2024, and a senile octogenarian can be re-elected to keep the power and money flowing for the “in-crowd”. 

Archbishop Elpidophoros helps that goal. Not only domestically, but also through his endorsement of the Zelenskyy Regime and his condemnation of those evil Russians. Many of the “Greek” academics and clergy around him are just as corrupt in service to the Ruling Elite as he is. However, corruption within the Church is not limited to just the “Greeks”. The Orthodox Church in America also has its share of issues.

Given the situation with Fr Peter Heers suddenly being “unreceived”, one might question whether issues with corruption extend to ROCOR as well? (If there is more to this story from the ROCOR side, now is the time to tell it.)

Unfortunately for him, Fr Peter is both popular and extremely dedicated to Christian Orthodoxy, which the anti-Christ fools running the “West” desperately want to control and even transform into a prettier Episcopal Church. That is why the canonical status of a regular priest like Fr Peter is suddenly such a hot topic. It’s not really about his canonical status, or lack thereof. If Fr Peter were Woke, or at least pro-Zelenskyy and pro-Joe Biden, then neither the banishment from ROCOR nor the unexpected communiqué would have ever happened.

Woke, pro-Deep State clergy never suffer for their politics, their heresies, their actions, or their crimes against Orthodoxy. 

Cosmas – an Orthodox Christian

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Prophetic Views: After World War Three

April 5, 2023
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There are many aspects of this article below, from Fr. Andrew in the UK, which we simply don’t know how to evaluate. Being in medicine, technology, law, academia, and other secular disciplines does not give one much experience in discerning prophecy. Even the priests who work with us kind of shrugged their shoulders after reading it. After a lot of discussion, we decided to go ahead and run it. Not only the mainstream press, but also many organizations related to the Ecumenical Patriarch, are relentlessly anti-Russian at the moment. The Russian Church is portrayed as a corrupt tool of the state. Russian society is criticized as being dysfunctional. At the same time, “democracy” has been elevated as the highest possible governing system – the veritable “end of history” as it were.

Could it be possible that we are mistaken in many of our deeply-held conceptions about the world?

Especially at a time when the Ecumenical Patriarch gives speeches, and sponsors documents, in which he sounds like a spokesman for the World Economic Forum:

However, instead of advancing, the necessary for global action political unification of the World stays more or less stagnant; it even regressed recently, because of the Russian aggression in Ukraine. Finally, it became more than clear that beyond the political and economic unification, there is urgent need for a spiritual one. Nevertheless, in this field, as well, instead of progress, unfortunately, we have experienced constant regression.

 

During the past decades, the illusion that economic globalization would bring about cultural and spiritual convergence, and ultimately lead to global peace, was widely diffused. This idea was expressed in Francis Fukuyama’s famous writings about “The end of History.” We are gradually aware of the contrary, going even beyond Samuel Huntington’s theory of the “clash of civilizations.” Indeed, after more than three decades of globalization, the spiritual distance between the various communities inhabiting our world has increased. This form of divergence leads towards multi-polarity and fragmentation.

More and more, the Ecumenical Patriarch seems to be endorsing one-world government and extreme religious ecumenism, possibly ending in a syncretic “many paths to God” kind of “unity” religion.  We have no idea where all of this goes in the future. At this point, all we can say for sure is that Western Civilization (as represented by US, Canada, Western / Central Europe, Australia, NZ, Japan with honorary ally status) seems to be barreling towards complete oblivion. Can that trajectory be changed? Could the change come from Russia?

No clue. However, one thing is quite certain. If we are to ever stop the crazy train we are on, then we need to listen to challenging perspectives that cause us to think and pray deeply. In that spirit, read on for Fr. Andrew’s article. Comments are open below and across all our social media.

—OR Staff

Introduction: Conditions for Peace in the Ukraine

The present head of the Kiev regime, born in the eastern Ukrainian Krivij Rih in early 1978 and who still speaks Ukrainian badly, is a ‘co-religionist’ (= atheist) of one who was born almost exactly 100 years earlier, 350 km almost due north in Ukrainian Yanovka. He was Lev Davidovich Bronstein, called Trotsky. Both were sent to the Russian Lands to foment war by the elite of the USA and Great Britain. Indeed, Bronstein died in North America, as his successor may also do.

In an interview with RTVI on 29 March, as also reported on the English-language Pravda website, the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Mikhail Galuzin, stated that the conflict in the Ukraine can be resolved, but that there are eight conditions (1). These are:

  1. The West must stop supplying weapons to the Armed Forces of the Ukraine (the Kiev Army).
  2. All armed forces must cease hostilities.
  3. All foreign mercenaries must be withdrawn from the Ukraine.
  4. Kiev must renounce any ambition to join NATO and the EU
  5. Kiev must confirm its non-nuclear status
  6. Kiev and foreign governments must recognise the territorial realities that the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, Zaporozhye and Kherson, not to mention the Crimea, are now part of the Russian Federation.
  7. Kiev must restore its contractual and legal situation with the Russian Federation and the civilian infrastructure, that it has destroyed since 2014, must be restored at the expense of the West, which was responsible for it.
  8. Kiev and the West must lift all anti-Russian sanctions, withdraw lawsuits, cease legal proceedings against Russia, Russian persons and juridical entities.

So speak the politicians, but what do the men of God say?

The Third World War and the Prophecies of the Saints and Elders

For us it is clear that we are in World War Three and have been for some time. True, some consider that there has only ever been one World War, but in three parts. This generational World War Three, or, as some would have it, World War One, Part III, began in 2014 in Kiev. It broke out on the centenary of World War One (Part I), which effectively began in Sarajevo in 1914 and 75 years after World War Two (Part II), which effectively began in Warsaw in 1939. All of these Wars began further and further to the east, as a result of the Western world’s aggressive expansion eastwards.

Since 2014 the world has been facing a financial crisis, whose roots go back to 2008 and in fact well before, as well as facing the genocide launched by the US-installed Kiev regime, and then the global control attempt using the genetically engineered and then leaked Covid-19 virus. World War One lasted over four years, World War Two nearly six. If World War Three ends in 2024 as many think, it will have lasted for ten years, the same length as both previous World Wars combined. The prophecies which foretold all these things are, like all prophecies, conditional. Negative prophecies come about because of lack of repentance, positive prophecies come about because of repentance. If there is only lukewarmness towards them, then the timings of the prophecies expand like elastic, which is why the times are always vague, as in the Book of Revelation, for whose fulfilment we have been waiting for nearly 2,000 years.

Many recent and canonised saints from the Russian Lands have prophesied today’s events. Among the saints are Seraphim of Sarov (1754-1833), John of Kronstadt (1829-1908), Seraphim of Vyritsa (1866-1949), Laurence of Chernigov (1868-1950), Kuksha of Odessa (1875-1964), John of Shanghai (1896-1966) and Amphilochy of Pochayev (1894-1971). Among the elders, as yet uncanonised, are Fr Tavrion Batozsky (1898-1978), Seraphim Tyapochkin (1894-1982), Christopher Nikolsky (1905-1996) Nikolai Guryanov (1909-2002), Zosima Sokur (1944-2002) and Iona Ignatenko (1925-2012).

All these speak of a Tsar who is coming, some say as the successor to President Putin. It is said that he will lead Russia after World War Three is over. It is said that he already lives in Russia and knows his destiny. Fr Seraphim Tyapochkin, whose blessing I received in Russia in 1976, said that any in Belarus and the Ukraine who oppose Russia are ‘servants of the devil’. He also said that the monks of the Kiev Caves Monastery, under threat of expulsion as I write, also have ‘a weighty word to say and will pray and obtain from God the union of the three brother-peoples’.

Schema-Archimandrite (a title denoting a senior monk) Christopher (Nikolsky) of Tula prophesied of the early 1990s, after the collapse of the USSR and the freedom obtained by the Church, that: ‘They will adorn the churches. But that will be unnecessary, only prayer is necessary….Open the churches so you can pray. That is all! There is no need to decorate them from top to bottom. That is just a Satanic temptation, we do not need that, we are Orthodox Christians, we need everything that is simpler. We must save our souls, and all that beauty is unnecessary….That luxury is unnecessary, we need prayer, we need salvation’(2).

This Elder greatly venerated Tsar Nicholas II and his Family and in the 1980s foretold that they would be canonised: ‘The Tsar and his irreproachable servants suffered for us, washing Russia in their blood….The people will pay because we betrayed him’. ‘Gregory Rasputin was a great, great man of God. He will be canonised together with the Tsar and the Tsarevich. He was honourable and great before God; he was slandered’. ‘Russia will prosper, there will be a new Tsar, Russia will rise from the dead and free itself from this Satanic infection…but all depends on our repentance, collective repentance…without repentance a Tsar will not come…before then there will be wars…they want to trample underfoot the Orthodox faith and rub it out into dust…After 2008 time will fly, a year will be like a month, after 2008 be especially humble…Orthodoxy will be gathered together from the splinters and go on its way’.

As for Elder Tavrion, he said: ‘The Church (by this he meant the episcopate) consciously betrayed the Tsar. (This is a fact). It was on the side of the enemy – the crucifiers of Christ….The Tsar bought back Russia through his suffering and death. But Russia will for long reject him. Many bishops will be against his veneration, but after a time they will nevertheless glorify him, but they will not glorify him as he is glorified by God in heaven….but the time will come when the people, not many, will glorify him as is needed…then all will fall down in front of him and weep and ask for forgiveness…and then Russia will rise up from its chains’.

Conclusion

Years ago it was foretold that a worldwide war was coming, a universal revolt, sicknesses and famine, but that the Russian Lands will again be led by a still unknown Tsar and he is already carrying his Cross of service. Elder Nicholas (Guryanov), the saint of the Pskov Lake, called himself the Tsar’s priest, as do many others among us and we indeed have our Tsar’s passports ready. We are soldiers of the future Tsar, still implementing the martyred Tsar’s wishes for the spread of Orthodoxy, interrupted by the judases in 1917. And, as we know, St Seraphim of Sarov prophesied the same 200 years ago.

Even though over a century ago apostate Russians betrayed their Tsar, a betrayal that began at the very top, among the Romanov Family, aristocrats, most bishops of the Church, generals, lawyers, journalists and the professional classes, Russia still has not repented. On the Tsar’s feast day on 17 July, most churches are largely empty, icons are decorative but few venerate them. Russia is still asleep – hence this dread conflict in the Ukraine now. The Lord will keep us until the providential day when he appears and lays low our enemies, the enemies of the Church.

Fr. Andrew, published originally at his blog Orthodox England

Notes:

  1. https://english.pravda.ru/news/hotspots/156198-russia_paceful_settlement_ukraine/
  2. Here by ‘adornment’ the holy elder refers to the effeminate decadence of gold and marble that came in, especially after the fall of the USSR and the homosexual episcopate. This led us in our parish to put a homosexual dating app called ‘Grinder’ onto a mobile phone in order to alert us to danger. The app shows at what distance you are standing from a member on that app. It went off only once – when a certain notorious bishop visited us, indicating that the dating app had picked up that he was standing just two metres away from the phone. There was only one person it could have been. We had received the confirmation of our impression. We could clearly identify him. Since then he has gone on to destroy the church, trying to close churches, ordaining a homosexual and a bisexual. And yet such people are actually defended by others. But God is not mocked.
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Preparing for Hard Times: Forging Relationships and Skills to Survive

January 16, 2023
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The world is littered with abandoned cities. Not little towns either, but giant, monumental cities that housed large populations and sat at the centers of impressive civilizations. Cities built by some of the most skilled craftsmen to ever live. Cities that took generations and vast riches to build. Then, they were simply left to rot. The jungle, the forest, the desert allowed to come and swallow them up till they were completely forgotten, even by those whose ancestors used to live in them.

In some cases, a military defeat emptied the city. In others, the climate changed making the cities no longer habitable as the sea retreated, fresh water dried up, or deserts advanced. A volcano, earthquake or other catastrophe overtook the city and repairs were impossible. Natural resources could be exhausted, leaving the city with nothing to offer in trade. In some cases, the entire complex system of trade and taxation on which cities depend would collapse or be destroyed by enemies.

Cities are complex and hard to maintain. Their existence is often dependent on the connections between civilizations. Historians have written about several known instances, around the Mediterranean basin, when multiple, interconnected cities and their civilizations all collapsed in sequence like a line of falling Dominos. The collapse of one deprived another of needed trade goods, which then caused it to collapse which then deprived another of needed goods and on and on it went. High civilization is a very fragile thing.

Whenever the cities became unlivable, the people fled them and went back to farming in small villages. The ones who didn’t die, of course. Because any time a civilization collapsed, the deaths of many was the inevitable result. Not everyone has the health, the skills, the tenacity or the luck to go from being a maid or a bureaucrat or a stone cutter to being a dirt farmer in a hut. Many would rather die. So they did. And so they will.

A good, working definition of modern hubris – believing that we are so advanced that calamities which have befallen generations of our ancestors could never happen to us. You would be shocked how easily our own cities could empty out as starving people go in search of food and fuel. Two things which the Climate Change policies of our current ruling elite threaten to make very scarce.

Is this the end? It can easily be an end, even if Jesus Himself does not come back and the Antichrist is not yet ready to appear. It might be better for all of us if it were, but there are no guarantees. We may have decades of struggle ahead of us. With that in mind, we offer John Lee’s recommendations below as food for thought. Now is a good time to learn a skill. To make friends with other people who have skills and resources that complement your own. To get your soul right with God, from Whom all blessings flow.

Our world is more fragile than you think. There are millions of Ukrainians shivering in the dark, their power having been cut by Russian air attacks, who are putting many of these recommendations into practice as you read this. They are not the only ones in the world doing so. War, famine, disease, political violence, and economic collapse are stalking many lands right now.

John Lee may very well be wrong about some of his concerns involving technology. It probably doesn’t matter, since in a serious societal collapse the communications infrastructure will not survive. In any case, we have been so lied to by our elite ruling class, that it should surprise no one if they deployed unproven, potentially dangerous technology to increase their profits and their control.

All food for thought. John Lee’s article begins below the line.

—OR Staff

Discerning friends, voices, leadership, who can you trust?  

Evaluate the people around you, for putting your lives in the hands of the wrong people in a crisis can be deadly.

  1. Purity of heart. Some who seem well meaning are really wolves in sheep’s clothing. They are untrustworthy, because when it comes right down to it, they will abandon you or stab you in the back. They have conflicts of interest. This is a heart issue. Under close observation, the little things are very telling. The wolf cannot hide everything. 80% of the time two things tell you what you need to know: how he spends his money and what his children are like. There is no guarantee he will reveal himself clearly. However, usually multiple “red flags” will appear if you know what to look for. Pay attention.
  2. Competence in a field. If one is honest, it does not mean he knows what he is talking about. Is he in his “wheel house”? Can he take whatever he talks about, spin it around and articulate it from every direction? An honest man is not always a competent man and the competent man is not always trustworthy. If you have to choose between the two, take the honest man. The honest man will usually know and admit to his limits. The honest man stops, goes back to repair his mistakes. The dishonest man just keeps going.
  3. Of what relevance is he/she to you? God puts the Church together as He sees fit. Life flow or supply comes from the joints (St Paul), where bones are joined bone to His bone. Correct relationships are edifying, fulfilling, and trustworthy. Knowing where, and with whom, you belong goes a long way.

Knowing Your True Friends

During your life you will have three kinds of friends—the 3 C’s:

  1. Constituents. These are those that generally hold the same values as you; they stick with you as long as in some way they profit from the relationship. Whenever they—for whatever reason—no longer need you, they will leave and go elsewhere. As long as you provide some form of comfort, service, or affirmation to them, they will be there. Without that they go away.
  2. Comrades. These are stronger than the first group because they are motivated by anger or fear. It is those with whom you share a common enemy. As long as you are fighting the same battle, being mad at the same people or events, they are with you. As soon as you leave that fight or find another enemy, they will abandon you.
  3. Confidants. These are those that will be there with you. no matter what. If you end up in the gutter, they will be the ones who will come and get you out – no matter what it costs them. These are those who live by covenant. Those that God has placed near you. You may only have one or two in your entire lifetime. These are those with whom you can share your deepest secrets.

Never share the deep things of your heart with the first two. Guide all things by the axiom, “appropriate for”. By that I mean, whatever commitment you have toward somebody it must be measured according to what is appropriate for that relationship and in balance with reciprocity—what their level of commitment is toward you.

In the last days of the last days, hard choices will have to be made. Gather up the fragments of your soul—attachments to anything or anyone not God—and go all out seeking God. Maximize your prayer life in and out of the temple. Nothing less will bring safe journey.

Hard Times Coming: Prepare Now

Let us start with some basic operative presuppositions and suggestions.

  1. What you don’t know can and will kill you and your children. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge”. Strive to understand what you need to know; don’t be trapped in a rabbit hole that has no impact on your life; don’t be distracted from the essentials. Don’t expect to understand everything that is happening. As conspiracies in conspiracies, within conspiracies continuously unravel, our understanding of the world changes every day.
  2. A new—really very old—evil is afoot. Face it: malevolent forces are now in control, and they have a goal in mind: universal dominion and destruction of mankind. Many things have changed since 2019. If you live as you have for decades, it will probably be fatal. Everything, of this world, will let you down. Trust only God for health, healing, and supply. Only use doctors for repairable injuries (e.g. broken bones). Get out of debt, get off all meds (sensibly), but do it with God’s guidance. Learn what you need to know to self-treat conditions. Start with detox: detox is to the body what repentance is to the soul.
  3. Know God is in control. All that is happening—while full throttle evil—is God’s preparation for the Kingdom and eternity. Seeking first the Kingdom will bring everything you need to know to escape, even thrive, in hard times.
  4. Be flexible. The proud man is inflexible. He cannot accommodate changes in his environment. He thinks he has it all figured out. An old saying: “as long as you are green you will grow, but once you are ripe you will rot”. Live life as a student, learning new things every day, which means we adapt to change very quickly. There are three kinds of people. One group prefers to ignore what is going on in the world, living as if nothing has changed. This is terminal. The second group is so tuned into the evil, he/she offers no solutions, optimism, or faith in God to answer our prayers. They only expound upon the bad things happening and are of no aid to others. In the third group—those who will go through fine—they can see the world clearly and adapt as necessary. If you are stuck in a rut—a grave with both ends kicked out—make changes and do things differently. With one eye tracking evil’s every new move, our main focus is on Christ. If you trust any man—including your priest (as good as he is)—to get you through, you’ll be disappointed. Take responsibility for your own salvation.
  5. Learn a valued skill for dystopian survival. If all you can do is computer engineering, you will be totally worthless in the situations to come. But if you can sew, cook, can and store food, frame a house, grow crops, wire a socket, others will need you. Time to go “old school.”

Somewhere in each Christian is a hidden skill yet to be developed that will be a component for survival in the evil days to come. As God prepared everything for Adam before Adam was made, so also God has placed everything we need to survive the coming difficult days. It’s all there, just look for it, grasp it before it goes away. In nearly every problem, the solution is nearby—easily within reach— if we can only see it. All wilderness skills will be needed: hunting, fishing, farming, ranching, butchering, all kinds of repairs.

  1. For what you don’t know, find those that do; know how to network with the RIGHT people. Illustration: three men are riding in a car. One is a bishop, one is a priest, and one is a paramedic. Who is the most important? Who has the most authority? If you had to leave one or two behind, which would you choose? Think about it. Coming upon an accident, several people are laid out on the highway bleeding to death. In this situation: who has the most authority? The bishop? The priest? OBVIOUSLY, the paramedic does not need the bishop’s permission to treat those bleeding to death, nor should he take the time to go to confession to be sure his soul is clear on all channels, or get a “blessing” to act. He/she must spring into action; the bishop and the priest must yield—defer —to the right man for the job. Every skill carries an authority according to the dominion mandate of creation.
  2. Know the hazards of RF. Get the damn cell phone away from your head, stop microwaving your brain, hard wire all computers—shut off WiFi. Toss away the microwave oven, it disables nutrition. The frankenshots are activated by cell phone technology; cancers, spontaneous death—especially in the athletic young—, and every conceivable malady are inflicted by electromagnetic radiation. Don’t take my word for it, check it out for yourself.
  3. Create sacred space. For some centuries now, the world has been free of extreme evils—giants, Nephilim, Egyptian type sorcerers, and demonic lying wonders. But, that is changing, and much of that will be returning as the gates of hell are more and more being opened. That which prevails against these gates of hell, is defined as the true Church—the Church that Christ builds. Those that succumb, are faux-church. The home is to be a church within a church, within the Church. Set up home devotions every day. If your children go out for school, lay your hands on them and pray over them building a “prayer shield” against the evil you are sending them into. Even some of our own bishops have a propensity to shut down churches; your Faith must survive and thrive even when priests, bishops, and temples are unavailable. Dads, be the high priest of your home, do it now. Sanctify yourselves from every habitual sin. If Satan has any hook in you, at some point he will reel you in; you and all around you will suffer damage.

For several years now, the Holy Spirit has been prompting me—over and over again— to prepare for hard times in the ways natural to my skills set. I know I don’t have the full picture, but others can fill in the gaps. Interestingly, my neighbor has an underground greenhouse and grows veggies year round. What are your neighbors doing?

In my next installment—Lord willing, the Creeks don’t rise, and the charity of the editor—, I’ll bring some concepts I am employing to prepare for food shortages, energy shortages, and a toxic environment. BTW: Alex Jones is a Mormon. The Mormons are the world’s foremost experts in long term food storage because of their eschatology. Every devout Mormon family has a room—not just a closet—of stored foods. Alex Jones sells food supplies and other products for those preparing for hard times, but buying from him means supporting the Mormon eschatology of Mormonism eventually ruling the world. Be careful when buying, and be sure to know whom your money is supporting.

Also be careful how much advice you take from someone like Alex Jones. Like Donald Trump, Jones is another conspiracy within a conspiracy – some good things wrapped around an ulterior motive. You can go with them so far, but you have to know where and when to get off that bus. Mormonism, New Age, Luciferianism, Free Masonry, it’s all the same traps of the New World Order in different wrappers; a few elites sitting atop a bunch of ignorant peons doing their dirty work.

Seeing the signs of the times, preparing for the future is less about filling a 401k, than getting your hands on hardware, tangibles needed for survival. In the future, currency will be those things needed for daily life and the skills you have that others need. My garage is full of tools. My craftsmanship can be traded for food. So can yours.

Becoming the Church—that prevails over the gates of hell—, means having to learn interdependence for the things we need. God often humbles us by giving His gifts to us through somebody else—that way we learn to rightly discern and appreciate the body of Christ, beyond what we see in the clergy.

It would not be a bad idea to create a network of advisors, especially within your parish, in specific things for assistance in time of need. Do you know a valued survival skill? Can you skin a rabbit? Can you raise chickens? Can you garden? Can you gun-smith? Can you fix cars? Do you know how to block 5g? (I do).

John Lee – an Orthodox Christian

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World War “Trans” and Western Christian Persecution

November 18, 2022
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For the War in Ukraine, there are two main “official” Western narratives to explain the causes of it. The secular narrative, promoted mainly by the western political/media class, is that Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine solely because he is evil and hates freedom. Another Hitler, Putin wants to conquer as much of Europe as possible because he cannot stand free democracies. Additions to this narrative often add something about wanting to “rebuild the Soviet Union” because either (take your pick) he is a Russian nationalist or a closet commie longing for the old “Evil Empire”. Sometimes, he is said to be both.

The second narrative centers on Russia fighting a religious war against the “enlightened” West. Russia believes itself to be the center of a “Russian World” –  a united and holy Orthodox Slavic civilization whose duty is to fight against the moral degeneracy of the Western Democracies.  A progressive “Orthodox” publication, Public Orthodoxy, expressed it this way:

Against this “Russian world” (so the teaching goes) stands the corrupt West, led by the United States and Western European nations, which has capitulated to “liberalism”, “globalization”, “Christianophobia”, “homosexual rights” promoted in gay parades, and “militant secularism”. Over and against the West and those Orthodox who have fallen into schism and error (such as Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and other local Orthodox churches that support him) stands the Moscow Patriarchate, along with Vladimir Putin, as the true defenders of Orthodox teaching, which they view in terms of traditional morality, a rigorist and inflexible understanding of tradition, and veneration of Holy Russia.

Ukraine, so the narrative goes, is in Russia’s crosshairs because, as a democracy, it has liberalized on LGBTQ+ and other social issues in ways that are opposed to the “Russian” Orthodox Faith. After Ukraine, Russia will come for the rest of the decadent “West”. Either NATO keeps shoveling billions into the war to stop the Orthodox horde, or fundamentalist “Ivans” will crush every last Pride Parade on the continent of Europe.

While both narratives are false, the most dangerous one for American Christians is the religious one. That narrative has the potential to accelerate an already ongoing drive to drastically change Christianity in the West, and could also result in more than a few of us getting labeled pro-Russian traitors.

Before we continue, let us be very clear. The Russian Church heavily influences Russian society in a morally conservative direction. That is why Russia outlawed LGBTQ propaganda aimed at children in 2013, and recently extended that ban to “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations” for both adults and minors. The Russian state is broadly supportive of the Church and her mission in society. In return, the Church strives to keep relations with the state as friendly as possible. Tensions do exist, but these are minor in comparison to what is happening elsewhere in the world.

From the Russian Government’s standpoint, the war in Ukraine has nothing to do with Orthodox Christianity. After the 2014 coup in Kiev sponsored by the US, the situation in Ukraine was intentionally manipulated to create the following causes which actually triggered this war:

  • Threatened expansion of NATO
  • Western refusal to implement the Minsk Agreements
  • Continuous and repeated attacks on the civilian population of the Donbas over the past years and the dramatic increase in late February 2022 that heralded a massive, impending attack
  • Request on 23 February 2022 of the two Donbas Republics for military assistance from Russia. A request which caused Vladimir Putin to invoke Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, providing for mutual military assistance in the framework of a defensive alliance

Russia was open to negotiations before and during the war (a deal was scuttled in March under Western pressure). For most of this “war”, Russia kept the lights on for Ukrainian civilians and the cities mostly intact. American politicians, government officials, and even movie actors have been free to come and go from Kiev without molestation. Russia has, so far, fought a mostly careful and limited engagement. This is not the behavior of a new Hitler, or a people fighting a holy “crusade” or “jihad” for the destruction of mortal enemies.

Aftermath of a US bombing strike in Syria – a nation with which we were not at war. This is how Ukraine would look if it were fighting the United States. Ben Stiller and other celebrities would not be safely visiting an intact Kiev.

From the Russian side, there has been a religious gloss given to the fight by some Church hierarchs and some politicians. This has been done to beef up enthusiasm among the Russian populace, but has done nothing to alter the secular nature of Russian war aims. Putin would never have gone to war over gay pride parades or any other such moral / cultural issues. Russia’s justifications for the war are secular, rational, and understandable. That is why Russia enjoys so much support in the “Global South”. The former and current victims of Western imperialism see the true causes of the war much better than the propagandized masses in the West.

Unfortunately, while Russia may not be fighting a religious war, the West (particularly America) certainly is. Whether he meant to or not, Congressman Jamie Raskin confirmed what many of us have suspected for years – the US is under the control of a religious cult that is fighting a “woke” jihad against Russia because it is morally and religiously conservative:

“Moscow right now is a hub of corrupt tyranny, censorship, authoritarian repression, police violence, propaganda, government lies and disinformation, and planning for war crimes. It is a world center of antifeminist, antigay, anti-trans hatred, as well as the homeland of replacement theory for export. In supporting Ukraine, we are opposing these fascist views, and supporting the urgent principles of democratic pluralism. Ukraine is not perfect, of course, but its society is organized on the radically different principles of democracy and freedom, which is why Russia’s oligarchical leaders seek to destroy it forever. I am proud to have been banned from Putin’s Russia for my pro-Ukrainian legislative activism, and I look forward to visiting Ukraine.”

From the Western point of view, this is an all-out war organized by a Death Cult bent on eliminating the challenge Russia poses to its new moral code. This is why no number of billions is too much to provide for Ukraine’s defense. This is why every citizen of a Western nation must suffer through the economic devastation caused by the sanctions. All must be willing to sacrifice for Ukrainian territorial integrity, even if it means freezing to death this Winter. We must even be willing to risk nuclear holocaust for the Glory of Ukraine. Death, suffering, even mass extinction are all but a small price to pay in service to the Great Trans Revolution.

Puts things in perspective, doesn’t it? Given the small stakes involved (adjusting some borders in Eastern Europe, keeping the most corrupt country in Europe out of NATO), you would think that this whole crisis could be resolved fairly easily. The Russians think so, which is why they have been willing to negotiate. Too bad for the planet, the Russians are up against religious fanatics who can never compromise. Their only goal is “victory”, defined as an end to Russia as a cultural and military power.

Shockingly, Russia is unwilling to agree to its own eclipse without a fight. Which leaves us with a regional border dispute that threatens to escalate into a nuclear war.

In addition to a possible mass extinction event, morally traditional Christians in America (and the West generally) are threatened with what looks to be rapidly escalating religious persecution. To fully understand the situation, let’s examine what is currently happening in the Orthodox Church, and how events there can affect all Western Christians.

Redefining Orthodox Christianity – Historically, Orthodox Christianity has had a strict code of morality covering, among other things, sex and marriage. This fact is very inconvenient for progressives. But never fear! The progressives have a plan. Even as you read this, progressive academics, hierarchs, “Orthodox” organizations, monastics, clergy, church employees and activist laity are hard at work crafting a subversive “Orthodoxy” to present to the world as the “true” Faith. Their goal is to separate their real Orthodoxy from the political, fake “Russian” kind. “Real” Orthodoxy is compatible with progressive concepts of Democracy, LGBTQ+ rights, neoliberal economics, globalism, Green politics, and religious ecumenism. The subversives are exceptionally well-organized and well-funded by a network of foundations, government grants, and money from US national security agencies. Among the majority of Orthodox in the West, their efforts so far seem to have little traction. But among political and journalistic elites, these progressives are presented as the true face of the Orthodox Church. That is a potentially very dangerous situation, as those policy makers are likely to use their “version” of Orthodoxy when deciding what is “religion” and what is “politics”.

Continued Dominance of the Greek Patriarchates and Related Churches by US Security Agencies and Expansion of Their Authority – The Patriarchate of Constantinople has been a Western security asset for the better part of a century. We explored some of those connections when discussing the recent resignation of Metropolitan Joseph of Antioch. You can easily see the control the US security state has over Constantinople by looking at the way Patriarch Bartholomew flipped his support in Ukraine from the canonical church, headed by Metropolitan Onuphry, to a body of schismatics to whom he granted “autocephaly”. This was done in service to the Western policy of shoring up support for the post-coup government in Kiev.

The decision was a disaster for global Orthodoxy, leading to schism and division. Yet, this move continues to attract support within the highly compromised Greek Churches. The Patriarch of Alexandria was recently given an award by the Greek Archdiocese in the US for his support of Western policy in Ukraine. He seized that occasion to visit the White House and to ask for US assistance in stopping his African parishes from fleeing his rule and joining the new Russian Exarchate in Africa. Nothing says “religious freedom” like getting American help to crush the desires of rebellious Orthodox Christian Africans.

Of course, while at the White House, Patriarch Theodros II sucked up to Biden on an epic scale. He gave Biden the Grand Cross of the Apostle Mark, the highest honor of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, while thanking him for the continuous support of the United States for Alexandria, Greece and Cyprus. This is typical – most Greek hierarchs kiss the rings of Democrat office holders, no matter how antithetical their beliefs and actions are to the actual Orthodox Faith.

The control exerted by the American Deep State is not limited to the Patriarchs. Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens, the President of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Greece, said in a recent interview that recognition of the schismatic OCU in Ukraine by the Greek Church was a direct result of US pressure, “I’ll confess to you that I was visited by the American ambassador and three times by the Russian ambassador on this issue. And I told the American ambassador that I will join the Patriarch and therefore your will will be done.”

Constantinople is called the “first throne” of Orthodoxy and Alexandria is called the “second throne”. The US Deep State is keen to increase the power and influence of Constantinople. Hence the recent push to proclaim Constantinople not merely, as is Orthodox Tradition, “First Among Equals“, but instead to be “First Without Equals“ – a kind of “Orthodox” papacy. The US owns Constantinople, and so can rely on the Patriarchate to execute US orders. The Patriarchate of Alexandria is also owned, and so will follow suit. Evidently, the Greek Church itself is highly compromised. These centers of influence are integral in building and propagating the “new” Orthodoxy desired by the Global Elites. The powers-that-be hope these Orthodox Church bodies will spread the “new” Christian Faith, and provide it legitimacy against the example of the “extremist” Russian Church and her “allies”.

After all, how could the “first” and “second” thrones be wrong about the Orthodox Faith? Especially since the “first throne” has no equals? If the “first throne” says to unite with Rome, or bless gay unions, or put kids on puberty blockers, or launch tactical nukes, or accept digital currency – who can say otherwise? Only apologists for Moscow could possibly be in opposition to the “first throne”, especially when It is supported by the “second throne”, the national Church of Greece, and so many distinguished “Orthodox” scholars!

As an aside for Orthodox Christians, it should be obvious why no real movement has occurred towards Orthodox jurisdictional unity. A unified Orthodox Church in the US would be more concerned about domestic policy than events happening in foreign countries. A unified Church would be focused on evangelism, traditional Christian morality, and transforming American society. Obviously, the Deep State wants to avoid such a situation at all costs. So the Greek Archdiocese must be kept under tight Constantinopolitan control, while it pursues the task assigned to it of turning Orthodoxy into the Episcopal Church with better liturgies. All other jurisdictions must be kept divided, preferably under foreign bishops, and as weak as possible. Traditional Orthodoxy, as opposed to the “woke” version under development, must never be allowed to exert cultural influence in the US.

As long as the Deep State is using our Holy Orthodox Church as a security asset, it is hard to imagine Orthodox jurisdictional unity being allowed to progress. That should not deter us from working together across jurisdictions as much as possible, but it should temper our expectations for “official” unity any time soon. The best response to this situation? Support Orthodox missions in the United States.

Linking Traditional Christianity to Politics, Putinism and Treason – Prior to the LGBTQ propaganda law in 2013, Western progressives paid little attention to Russia and Vladimir Putin. It was only after this law that Russia began to attract the admiration of Western religious conservatives, and the visceral hatred of the “woke” Left. For the Left, any example of a European nation rejecting the tenets of modern, “progressive” culture is too dangerous to allow. The War in Ukraine, and the accompanying sanctions, are the Western elite’s plan to weaken and destroy Russia, thus removing its dangerous example from the world. It will serve as a final warning for any nations thinking of rejecting “modern” culture – refuse woke, get broke.

The war, and the redefinition of the Christian faith, are also meant to provide a way to remove domestic opposition to the “woke” agenda. Orthodox Christianity, along with any other Christian groups supporting traditional morality, will no longer be considered protected by the free exercise clause of the US Constitution. Instead, such Christian organizations will be considered elements of an extremist political movement with ties to “Putinism” and to “treason”. The door will be open for cultural and political elites to harass, and possibly imprison, those faithful to traditional morality under the theory that they are not “real” Christians (Constantinople said so!), but rather potentially violent anti-American haters who present a clear and present danger to American security.

This linkage has already begun and represents a frightening trend. Academic writer Sarah Riccardi-Swartz has been at the forefront of labeling fellow Orthodox Christians as pro-Putin extremists. She wrote Between Heaven and Russia: Religious Conversion and Political Apostasy in Appalachia about Orthodox convert communities:

“For many of them, Putin becomes this sort of king-like figure in their narratives,” she said. “They see themselves as oppressed by democracy because democracy is really diversity. And they look to Putin because democracy isn’t really, as we see right now, an option [in Russia].”

Swartz focuses on her subjects as a dangerous, reactionary political movement with foreign allegiances, rather than as normal Orthodox Christians supporting traditional morality.  In her presentation, these Christians are potential terrorists and 5th columnists, eager to fight for Russia should Putin invade the US. She is not alone in presenting traditional Orthodox Christianity as an extremist political movement, nor is this attempt to link traditional morality to Putinism, anti-Americanism, and potential violence limited to academics.

Look closely at this image advertising a movie in the “Purge” franchise. Do you see the Orthodox Cross patch on the arm?

The implication is that Orthodox Christians are on the verge of going full-on “Purge”. Support for Christian morality equals an anti-social propensity to extremism and violence. Especially if paired with the idea of “Christian Nationalism”, a term which appears to mean desiring the US Government to respect Christian moral tradition and American national sovereignty on any level whatsoever.

Keep in mind, the pain from the disastrous war in Ukraine is only now beginning. As conditions worsen, deflecting their own failures onto a scapegoat is a classic move of the Deep State, “It’s not our fault! Look at these anti-American, Putin lovers who are spreading misinformation and undermining our war efforts! They’re political extremists who have hijacked a peaceful religion. Quick – lock them up, close their churches, confiscate their bank accounts, and censor their publications. After all, aren’t these dangerous extremists condemned by even their own co-religionists, including the Patriarch of Constantinople?”

Orthodox Christians and other moral conservatives are a natural fall guy. We had best be prepared.

It’s Not a Conspiracy If They Tell You About It – No one is doing any of this in private. On the contrary, the subversives are proud of their work. Sarah Riccardi-Swartz describes her latest project on her Website thusly:

“Within conservative forms of Christianity, such as Eastern Orthodoxy, women’s roles have historically been monitored and minimized, with institutional hierarchs silencing the voices of women and members of the LGBT community. What does it mean to be a progressive female activist in a church that historically refuses to acknowledge her equality? … How will conservative Christianity be transformed by women who are leading the way to create a new status quo in the Orthodox Church, one that focuses on inclusivity and intersectionality? This project will reveal how Orthodox feminist activists are pushing back against the hegemony of patriarchal Christianity, seeking not to upend tradition but to transform it, even through socio-religious transgression.”

Whenever Orthodoxy becomes optional, it soon becomes illegal. After which, the cultural victors simply rewrite history so that such a thing as “traditional Christian morality” never really existed. Such prudish moral values were never part of the True Faith. Rather, they were merely a political construct exploited by Jerry Falwell and Vladimir Putin to oppress marginalized groups. Now, thank God, real Christianity has been freed from those charlatans. Let the Pride flow and let the Orthodox Church go the way of the Roman Catholics and the Episcopalians!

What Next?

The so-called “Red Wave” did not happen. Multiple states, even deeply Red ones, failed to pass significant laws curtailing abortion. Multiple Congressional Republicans, and even the Mormon Church, have come out in support of the dangerous Respect for Marriage Act:

While proponents of the bill claim that it simply codifies the 2015 Obergefell decision, in reality it is an intentional attack on the religious freedom of millions of Americans with sincerely held beliefs about marriage.

 

The Respect for Marriage Act threatens religious freedom and the institution of marriage in multiple ways:

 

  • It further embeds a false definition of marriage in the American legal fabric.
  • It opens the door to federal recognition of polygamous relationships.
  • It jeopardizes the tax-exempt status of nonprofits that exercise their belief that marriage is the union of one man and one woman.
  • It endangers faith-based social-service organizations by threatening litigation and liability risk if they follow their views on marriage when working with the government.

The truth is the Respect for Marriage Act does nothing to change the status of same-sex marriage or the benefits afforded to same-sex couples following Obergefell. It does much, however, to endanger religious freedom.

Many so-called “MAGA” candidates went down to defeat all across America. Biden wants $37 billion more dollars for Ukraine in a the lame duck session of Congress. He will get it too. Of course he will. Even Senator Mitch McConnell, newly re-elected by Senate Republicans as their geriatric leader, has said that the War in Ukraine is the biggest priority of the US government.

As Orthodox Christians, we need to remember that we will not vote our way out of the societal mess we are in. The Bible assures us “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). Well, out of the abundance of the heart people vote, and right now, the hearts of many Americans are demonically twisted. Many, perhaps even a majority, of our fellow citizens support an anti-God agenda (euthanasia, abortion, LGBTQ+ “rights”, transgenderism, anti-child agendas, racism, sanctions, etc.) that we Christians rightly find abhorrent.  We will never find a way to “out vote” them.

Politics can’t change the dark hearts of our fellow citizens of the fallen West. Only Christ can. People need the Gospel, not elections. Orthodoxy is the Truth, not a political ideology or a political movement. Orthodoxy is a growing union with the Triune God. Traditional Christian morality is neither “conservative” nor “liberal”, but simply God’s will for our lives. While the world may insist on making sin into a political issue, we do not have to go along with such blasphemy. Only through the perfect freedom of service to Christ can one escape the bondage of sin.

It is our job as Orthodox Christians to share the Faith once delivered to the Apostles in love. If we lose focus and fail at our God-given task, we will answer to an authority far higher than any government.

We could very soon be facing the rise of the anti-Christ. We could be facing the end of our civilization, perhaps even the end of this world entirely. Regardless of what we are facing, now is the time to renew our commitment to Christ and to the spread of His Kingdom. Regardless of what comes:

The Father is my hope.
The Son is my refuge.
The Holy Spirit is my protector.
Glory to the holy and undivided Trinity,
now and forever.

Nicholas – member of the Western Rite Vicariate, a part of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese in America

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The Resignation of Metropolitan Joseph of the Antiochian Archdiocese

September 21, 2022
28 Comments

Metropolitan Joseph of the Antiochian Archdiocese of North and South America has been publicly accused of having an ongoing affair with a married woman or two. He is further accused of co-owning homes with her / them. Perhaps there is more alleged financial malfeasance? Who knows, the accusations are flying fast and furious. They will no doubt continue, despite Metropolitan Joseph’s resignation, as he is proving a most useful distraction from other scandals in the Church.

As our friends at Monomakhos have pointed out (and they are closer to this situation than we are), Metropolitan Joseph continues to deny all the allegations. Some might take His Eminence’s resignation as a sort of backhanded “confession”. It might very well be. But we wouldn’t be so hasty to reach that conclusion.

Now before we go on, let us be clear that the Metropolitan may very well be guilty of everything alleged, and 10 times more we don’t even currently suspect. Anyone with any Orthodox spiritual maturity could hardly be surprised to find sinners in a hospital for sick souls. Elevation of a man to the episcopate does not guarantee that he will be a good man. It provides him Grace to perform a needed office. The miter won’t keep him from falling into sin. If you don’t know that, then you need to learn it before one scandal or another destroys your faith.

For those of you who have trouble dealing with Church scandals, we highly recommend watching this reflection from Father Josiah Trenham.

Regardless of the truth of the allegations against Metropolitan Joseph, it does seem quite clear that we are facing widespread problems within our Episcopate. Such is the contention of many priests such as Father Kosmas. In his article For the Orthodox Faithful who are Confused About COVID Vaccines, he made a point about the lack of spiritual discernment and development among Orthodox bishops:

Today, the majority of bishops are administrators, as they have not reached at least a state of illumination. Therefore, they are not able to properly discern right from wrong in many theological and moral issues. As such, these administrators should humbly follow the grace-filled bishops and elders who have reached a high level of spirituality. Unfortunately, so many do not (due to their pride), and this would explain why so many bishops have easily accepted Ecumenism, Covidism, mass vaccination and very soon, vaccine passports.

If there are such widespread problems in our episcopate, then one could hardly be surprised if Metropolitan Joseph were simply one more fox in the henhouse.

Some are even arguing, irrespective of the truth of the charges, that his resignation is a good thing as he deserves to go in any case. On social media, commentators have been quick to point out that Metropolitan Joseph cancelled Pascha, limited attendance at Divine Liturgy, and promoted masks the same as most other bishops in the US did.

Fair enough. But, on the other hand, Metropolitan Joseph was not nearly the worst of the COVIDian clerics, and he did allow his parishes in many areas (particularly the Western Rite) to operate almost normally (including mask optional) for most of the “Pandemic”. Lately, Metropolitan Joseph has been a stalwart of Orthodoxy in the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops. His Eminence organized other hierarchs in condemning the horrible, pro-abortion language used by Archbishop Elpidophoros at the 2022 March for Life. He seems to have been instrumental in organizing the successful resistance to the Greek Archdiocese planning to elevate the odious Alexander Belya to the Episcopate. Metropolitan Joseph has also been strong in his support of Ukrainian Metropolitan Onuphry, and called for peace in Ukraine rather than supporting NATO’s goal of fighting to the last Ukrainian.

Many priests have had very good things to say about the Metropolitan’s leadership. While not perfect, he does seem to have accomplished more than a few good things for the Lord. Is he guilty of these crimes? Perhaps. Perhaps not. In several writings to his flock, Metropolitan Joseph felt the need to decry “conspiracy theories” during the Pandemic. His stance on that topic is quite ironic, since it could very well be a “conspiracy theory” that cost him his office and his reputation.

Metropolitan Joseph could just be part of a plague of less than stellar to outright “bad” bishops that Orthodoxy is currently contending with. Or he could have been an innocent casualty of the American National Security State’s drive to remake the Orthodox Church. His recent actions cast a bad light on the Greek Archdiocese, which might have be the only “crime” he is actually guilty of.

The Patriarchate of Constantinople is a US intelligence asset, and has been at least as far back as Patriarch Athenagoras (OSS referred to below was the forerunner to the CIA):

Patriarch Athenagoras kissing President Truman

In an OSS report prepared sometime in early 1945, Archbishop Athenagoras, Albanian Bishop Fan Noli and the Serbian Bishop Dionisije Milivojevich are listed among its key contacts with whom it is possible to “talk intimately and as frequently as needed.”

 

Against this background it becomes clear why, when the Cold War began, the CIA strived to replace Patriarch Maximos V, enthroned in early 1946, with Athenagoras. The Agency described Maximos as too weak to be an effective leader of the Orthodox world. American and Turkish mass media wrote about the 48-year-old Patriarch’s emotional disorder, Soviet diplomats’ attempts to persuade him to cooperate and a possible involvement of Patriarch Maximos in the embezzlement of a big donation which took place during the patriarchate of his predecessor Benjamin I.

 

In 1948, the 62-year-old Archbishop Athenagoras of America was elected the new Ecumenical Patriarch. The CIA described this event the following way: “Soviet attempts to use the Greek Orthodox Church as a medium for persuasion and propaganda have undoubtedly received a setback with the election of Athenagoras.”

 

Athenagoras was received by President Truman who offered the presidential airplane for the Patriarch-elect to fly to Istanbul.

 

Within the first years of his patriarchate, Athenagoras is described in the Department of State archives as a partner in the war against communism willing and eager to collaborate with the American government. Consul General LeVerne Baldwin wrote, “He [Athenagoras] stressed his Americanism, belief in the Good Neighbor policy, in democratic methods, and in the courage and frankness of America, which he had endeavored to carry out in his policies as Patriarch.”

 

And the Patriarch proved these words with his deeds. Consul General Frederick Merrill noted that Athenagoras intended to diminish the Soviet influence over the Patriarchate of Alexandria by overthrowing Patriarch Chrystopher.

 

Being deeply concerned with the issues of Orthodoxy in the Middle East, His All-Holiness discussed them with Consul General Merrill in spring 1951. In a memorandum of April 4, 1951, Athenagoras was said to be much more optimistic about his various plans to draw the Orthodox Churches in the Near Eastern area closer to the Phanar in Istanbul, and America. Besides, he was eager to have Mount Athos placed under the “cultural benediction” of the Byzantine Institute in Washington to attract financial support to the Monastery and to throw open its archives, library, etc. to the Byzantine Institute and other American scholars.

 

The cooperation with the CIA also went on. Thus, as mentioned in a 1951 report, Patriarch Athenagoras was assuring the Americans that the Patriarch of Antioch will not “stray from the fold.”

 

In conclusion, it should be said that Patriarch Athenagoras was without any doubt an outstanding figure in the history of the Orthodox Church. His merits to the faithful mustn’t be underestimated. As many of those living in the past century, the Patriarch viewed the Cold War as a war between Good and Evil. “And the United States was, in the eyes of Patriarch Athenagoras the obvious agent of all that was good, against the existential threat of Soviet Communism,” writes Namee.

Perhaps this all was forgivable during the Cold War when the Soviet Union really was evil. But the Soviet Union is gone, and the Neoliberal, globalist policies espoused by the American ruling class are not nearly so noble as “anti-Communism”. Yet, the servile cooperation of Constantinople continues, particularly as regards Russia and her Church.

The founding of the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine by the Patriarch of Constantinople was done to further the US policy of bolstering Ukrainian nationalism to prepare for the very war now being fought. All across Eastern Europe, the US is continuing to use the Patriarchate of Constantinople to set up new Orthodox jurisdictions to isolate the Russian Church and to bolster anti-Russian nationalism. The new target is Lithuania:

Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople received a group of Lithuanian politicians at the Phanar in Istanbul yesterday.

 

The visit comes as defrocked clerics and government officials are working to force the Church in Lithuania out of the Moscow Patriarchate and into the jurisdiction of Pat. Bartholomew.

 

The visiting group included Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mantas Adomėnas, Lithuanian ambassador in Ankara Ričardas Degutis, and adviser to the Prime Minister Galina Vascenkaite, reports Romfea.

 

“They had the opportunity to discuss the ministry of the Mother Church, as well as other matters of mutual interest,” the Greek outlet relates.

 

Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė told Pat. Bartholomew in May that the government is prepared to help transfer the Church.

Nothing says “freedom of religion” like a Prime Minister offering to use force to transfer a Church from one jurisdiction to another. Americans should be proud.

The US would love for the Patriarchate of Constantinople to control all Orthodox Churches outside of Russia. That would simplify the situation immensely for the foreign policy kingpins. A good start would be in Ukraine and the areas surrounding Russia, which is the drive we see now ongoing. Of course, true success would mean pushing Orthodox unity in the United States as well, under the Greek Archdiocese naturally.

The US governing elite is dedicated to endless war (keeps profits high and them employed), promotion of “democracy” (Neoliberalism), LGBTQ+ rights, abortion, surrogate motherhood, population reduction, open borders (just not on Martha’s Vineyard), medical tyranny, and Climate Change communism. Who else is dedicated to that list of goals? Why, the Patriarch of Constantinople plus the associated officials and academics that represent it in the United States.

Did Metropolitan Joseph’s criticism of Archbishop Elpidophoros put him cross-wise of the goal of furthering the power of Constantinople to promote the “American agenda”? Is that what got him taken down? Well it certainly did change the subject. Prior to this story breaking, even many rich Greeks, who frequently care little for the authentic Orthodox Faith, were publicly complaining that Archbishop Elpidophoros is too much of an embarrassment to continue in office.

Now, the Metropolitan Joseph story has quieted all that down.

So back to the previously mentioned corruption issue within our Orthodox Church. How does the true Church of Jesus Christ, a veritable factory for manufacturing saints, the Church of the Martyrs, a Church living and breathing the Gospel – end up with so many talentless and corrupt leaders? Because it benefits people with power who want to use the Church for their own ends while making sure the True Gospel is never an inconvenience to their plans.

Suppose Metropolitan Joseph is guilty of everything? This was going on for a long time, but only now comes to light? How did no one notice or report this earlier? Spooks love corruption. A corrupt politician or cleric is a controllable asset. He will do what he is told, or you will expose him and ruin his life. He is also a disposable asset. If his exposure furthers your goals, you can simply turn over the evidence and distract people from  so many other things. The mob loves watching prominent men fall.

If he is guilty, and has been for a decade or more, why did it only surface now? If he were corrupt for longer (as some allege affairs for decades), how did he get elevated to his office when he couldn’t pass a routine background check? Who kept a lid on this story and why?

Suppose Metropolitan Joseph is innocent? It appears that corruption is a problem in the episcopate ranks, if not a full-blow crisis. That makes all Orthodox Bishops immediately suspect.  Woe to the clean fish in a dirty tank! Given the overall situation, “proving” innocence could have appeared such a burden that Metropolitan Joseph, as others before him have done, may have simply chosen not to fight.

We are being told evidence exists damning Metropolitan Joseph. Some of this “evidence” is being printed on ungodly Websites. The “evidence” might be real. Then again, the National Security State can raid the homes of former presidents, overthrow the governments of foreign nations, is possibly behind the changes to the Catholic Church since Vatican II, has led America into a series of disastrous wars against US interests, and that is just a very, very partial list of ways our rulers have flexed their muscles. The US spreads billions of dollars around in a corrupt and fallen world. For the right price, most people are for sale and most anything can be manufactured. Those that can’t be bought, can usually be intimidated.

While certainly not all powerful (see massive list of failures at home and abroad), does anyone really want to argue that “finding” enough “evidence” to get rid of one troublesome cleric would be beyond the capabilities of this gang of criminals?

So what do we know for sure about Metropolitan Joseph’s situation? Nothing. What are we ever likely to know for sure? Nothing. God will judge. But we do know that the US National Security State is up to its neck in Orthodox Church politics around the world, so why not here in the good old USA?

Pray, seek the Kingdom of God, witness for the Faith, but be aware that not everything is as it seems. “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” (Matthew 10:16)

Nikita is cradle Orthodox Christian, a native born American of Russian descent, and currently lectures in history for an American University. 

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The War in Ukraine as a Tool for Progressive Revolution Against Orthodoxy

April 6, 2022
4 Comments

Many Western Christians, Orthodox and heterodox alike, are condemning Putin, Patriarch Kirill, and the Russian Orthodox Church over the War in Ukraine. Almost invariably, the most strident condemnations come from those who are furthest left both politically and religiously. In terms of impacting Russian behavior, this is a complete waste of time. Not one Russian leader cares what leftist Westerners think.  

Putin is conducting full-spectrum economic warfare on the West by cozying up to China and India while trying to break the US Dollar. So far, he and his economic team are having some success. The Russian Ruble is already back above its pre-sanction value. Putin’s more popular with the Russian people than he was before the sanctions. Approval of Putin’s actions increased from 69 percent in January to 83 percent in March. The West is facing food shortages and economic recession, while Putin’s Russia is busy building a new financial world order. Putin does not care what self-important Westerners say about him. 

Patriarch Kirill has a vast flock, second in world Christianity only to that of the Roman Pope. 71% of 145 million Russians identify as Russian Orthodox. Patriarch Kirill has the funding he needs domestically. The Russian government is building churches faster than the Russian Orthodox Church can provide priests to serve them. Contrast his situation to that of Patriarch Bartholomew in Constantinople. Patriarch Bartholomew relies on Western support just to survive in a hostile, Muslim nation. His flock is almost completely in the West (mostly the US). The Greek Orthodox community in Turkey numbers only a few thousand. Patriarch Bartholomew works for the US State Department, rich Greek Americans, and the Turkish government – not necessarily always in that order. Patriarch Bartholomew cares a lot about what Westerners think. He has no choice. Patriarch Kirill could not care less, nor is there any objective reason he should. Patriarch Kirill routinely leads vast processions through the streets of Russia. Patriarch Bartholomew, who practically every Western media outlet dubs the “spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians”, has trouble filling a decent-sized auditorium when he makes an appearance in the US.

So if our Western progressives are not speaking out to have impact on the Russians, because none of them care – why are they doing it? Much of it is standard leftist virtual signaling, of course. After all, Ukraine is the “current thing” so all the right people must effusively voice all the right opinions.  

However, Western “Orthodox” progressives are up to something extra special. They are attempting to use the war to further their long-term goal of silencing authentic Orthodoxy in the West.  The war has given them an opening, so they think, to discredit the Russian Orthodox Church, and by extension, traditional Orthodox Christians in Western nations. Progressives are making the most of their opportunity by misrepresenting the true situation in Ukraine, and the Russian Orthodox Church’s response.  Below we discuss five of the most damnable lies put forward in support of the attempted progressive “Orthodox” revolution in the West. 

1. Supporting Democracy is Orthodox Dogma, But Only the “Right” Kind

The leftist, globalist “Christian” view of democracy is summed up below from the Greek Archdiocese of America (under Patriarch Bartholomew) in their “Social Ethos” document:

In many countries in the world today, civil order, freedom, human rights, and democracy are realities in which citizens may trust; and, to a very real degree, these societies accord persons the fundamental dignity of the liberty to seek and pursue the good ends they desire for themselves, their families, and their communities. This is a very rare blessing indeed, viewed in relation to the entire course of human history, and it would be irrational and uncharitable of Christians not to feel a genuine gratitude for the special democratic genius of the modern age. Orthodox Christians who enjoy the great advantages of living in such countries should not take such values for granted, but should instead actively support them, and work for the preservation and extension of democratic institutions and customs within the legal, cultural, and economic frameworks of their respective societies. 

Democracy is a governing system that was unknown to the Church for most of her history. Orthodox Church history is replete with missiological, architectural, artistic, spiritual, literary and even social triumphs that took place under monarchies and various other kinds of authoritarian regimes, sometimes even under conditions of persecution. Thus, it is strange for Orthodox theologians to raise “democracy” to almost dogmatic status in an official document like this. Strange that is, until you read the whole thing and realize that the worldview presented therein owes more to modern Globalist, Neoliberal ideology than to Holy Orthodoxy. It is now incumbent, for some reason, upon Orthodox Christians to “work for the preservation and extension of democratic institutions and customs”, even if this means supporting Ukrainian Nazis in a war against Russia that could end up getting all us nuked.

Democracy by Nazi torchlight – Ukrainian Style

“Orthodox” progressives continuously tell us that we must support democratic Ukraine against evil, autocratic Russia. One example is from this article celebrating the end of so-called “conservative ecumenism” on Public Orthodoxy. The writer expressly calls Ukraine a democracy while denigrating anyone not on-board with taking sides against a nuclear power as (essentially) an official bad person: 

These days, when nobody in the U.S. but the Madison Cawthorns and Marjorie Taylor Greens of the world have not taken the side of Ukrainian Western-oriented democracy against Russian autocracy, Dreher and other unreconstructed critics of Western liberalism like Patrick Deneen have been walking back their views, yet not without still taking their usual swipes at liberalism’s depredations as they go.

There are many problems with claiming we have a moral duty to militarily support Ukraine, or any other nation, just because it is a democracy. However, there are two which deserve special attention.

First problem, Ukraine is not a democracy.  Ukraine is a corrupt kleptocracy run by horrible men with no regard for human rights or even human life. Here are multiple reasons why:

  • 40 percent of the Ukrainian armed forces are paramilitary militias frequently referred to as “Nazis.” These militias are violent, ultranationalist, virulently anti-Semitic (though they give Zelensky a pass for practical reasons), fanatical and brutal. These men hate the Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine. The best known is the Azov Regiment. These militias have been guilty of numerous crimes against civilian populations since 2014: rape, torture, massacres, using civilians as human shields, and more. 
  • Such Nazis serve in the Rada (parliament) and dominant the Ukrainian military / security apparatus at all levels. The West funds and arms Nazis. Who would have imagined?
  • Zelensky was put into power via an election that was subsequent to a Western-backed coup that overthrew the democratically elected government. Zelensky’s main supporter is oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky – funder of Nazis who was fingered as paying bounties for the murder of civilians in Eastern Ukraine. His television station 1+1 hosted Zelensky’s hit show, in which he played the president of Ukraine.  Kolomoisky’s media outlet provided security and logistical backup for the comedian’s campaign. Zelensky’s legal counsel, Andrii Bohdan, was the oligarch’s personal lawyer. Kolomoisky is currently in exile, splitting time between Geneva and Tel Aviv. Investigative journalists reported that Zelensky traveled 14 times in the past two years to those locations to see the oligarch. The election of Zelensky will always be tainted by oligarchic money used to trick the electorate into believing Zelensky was a “man of the people” – a reformer who would fight corruption and end the conflict in Eastern Ukraine. Zelensky ran on a peace platform, then embraced war and nationalist extremism.
  • Ukraine ranks lower than Russia In The Heritage Foundation’s Economic Freedom Index.
  • Ukraine consistently ranks as one of the most corrupt countries in the world (number 122 currently).
  • Zelensky recently banned 11 opposition political parties and nationalized all media. Any activities supporting the parties labeled “pro-Russian” are now illegal. The opposition parties largely represent the 17% of the Ukrainian people who are ethnic Russians. This is part of an ongoing campaign to arrest, ban, and neutralize opposition. Zelensky plays a committed “democrat” on TV and social media, but rules with an iron hand. 
  • After the coup, the Kiev government sought to suppress Russian language and culture. This is the equivalent of a Canadian government saying only English was the official language of Canada and then suppressing French. It wouldn’t work there. It didn’t work in Ukraine. Zelensky continued the oppression after taking office. So much for “human rights.” 
  • Kiev has its own “Orthodox Church” the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” (OCU). Since its inception, the post-coup Kiev government has been trying to suppress the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) which is self-governing under Ukrainian bishops in affiliation with Moscow. Pre-war, 71% of Ukrainians belonged to the UOC. Since 2014, UOC parishes have been seized illegally. Priests have been kidnapped, beaten, and killed. Two separate bills have recently been submitted to the Ukrainian parliament to totally ban the UOC from operating in the country. So much for “freedom of religion.” 

Christian leaders pretending that Ukraine is a morally superior nation to Russia in this conflict are lying and they know it. This is not a battle between democracy and autocracy. This is a battle between two authoritarian states over issues the average Westerner knows nothing of and cares even less about. 

Second problem, progressive Christians don’t care about actual “democracy.” The average Westerner thinks that free and fair elections are the foundation of democracy. Actually, for progressives, that is not at all the case. If you elect the wrong government, then elections are actually a threat to democracy.

Let’s segue to a nation other than Russia for moment.  A nation that perfectly illustrates the progressive idea of “democracy”. One that is not at war, but nonetheless, attracts more than its fair share of Globalist disdain. Let us discuss Hungary, and its Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Orban’s party Fidesz just won a supermajority in the Hungarian Parliament, giving Orban a 4th term as Prime Minister. Though elected in free and fair elections, Orban is frequently characterized as “authoritarian” and a “threat to democracy.” Why? Here is what one New York Times report had to say about the election:

Orban has overseen a government that combines cultural nationalism, economic populism and high-level corruption. His policies have lifted the incomes of many Hungarians, including in the more rural areas that make up his base, while stoking fears of immigrants and, more recently, L.G.B.T.Q. people.

 

Hungary has not joined Western Europe’s efforts to provide Ukraine with weapons, and he has opposed efforts within the E.U. to ban the import of Russian energy.

Orban has a history of trying to preserve Hungarian national identity, while improving the economic situation of the average voter and protecting the innocence of children from early exposure to sexual deviancy. The horror! Reacting to current events before the election, Orban ran on a platform of keeping Hungary out of the Ukrainian War and keeping its supply of Russian gas intact. Hungarians will not freeze for lack of gas, a distinct possibility faced by other Western Europeans. Even though he is under Russian attack, Zelensky still found time to criticize Orban for not supporting Ukraine in a war in which no Hungarian interests are actually at stake. Orban politely reminded Zelensky that he wouldn’t be voting in the Hungarian election. Unlike many Western politicians, Orban realizes his constituency is comprised of Hungarian voters and not the presidents of foreign nations.  Orban is truly “Hungary first.”

Orban also refuses to surrender Hungarian sovereignty to the EU or any other globalist authority. Orban’s Hungarian nationalism is unacceptable to the EU, which is using a pretext to strip Hungary of millions of Euros to which it is entitled:

The EU Commission will launch the so-called conditionality mechanism against Hungary which links EU funds to the respect of rule of law, commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced on Tuesday in the European Parliament. The commission has been under pressure to trigger the mechanism over concerns of fraud and corruption of EU funds and worries over democratic backsliding. The commission will now send a letter to the Hungarian authorities.

 

“We’ve carefully assessed the result of these questions,” von der Leyen told European Parliament. “Our conclusion is we have to move on [to] the next step.”

 

The timing makes obvious that what she asserts as… “we’ve carefully assessed” – is really more about we reject the man the Hungarian people voted for in their democratic elections.

Hungary is the first country to be singled out under this relatively new “rule of law” EU power.

Rod Dreher, an Orthodox Christian writing at The American Conservative, stated the obvious:

It’s always the same with these people: it’s only “democracy” when people vote the way they want them to. People did “go vote” — and they returned Orban and his Fidesz party to power by margins that even Fidesz did not expect (trust me on this — I was there last night at Fidesz HQ, talking to people as the numbers came in).

Progressives, “Orthodox” or otherwise, do not care about the integrity of democratic processes or even individual rights. They care about policy outcomes. Even though Orban has not invaded anyone or jailed his political opponents, he joins Putin in the anti-democratic “penalty box” because he does not support progressive policies such as:

  • Open borders to promote diversity
  • LGBTQ-friendly policies, particularly as regards transgenderism
  • Population control (abortion, contraception, homosexual sex, sterilization by itself or as part of transgenderism)
  • Gender equality / Radical Feminism
  • Global Governance over national sovereignty
  • Hostility towards Christianity in the public sphere
  • Hostility to Western Civilization
  • Subservience to global capitalism at the expense of the nation state
  • Green Energy and Build Back Better to combat Climate Change

Those policies are actually unpopular in pretty much every country. Few people voluntarily vote against families and in favor of making themselves poorer. Which is why progressives are totally okay with cutting a few corners here and there to make sure the “good guys” and the “good policies” come out on top. 

Hence the popularity of President Zelensky among Western progressives. Zelensky is an authoritarian running a regime staffed with actual Nazis. His government has a horrible human rights record and actively suppresses dissent. He waged war on his own citizens in the Donbass. His embrace of oligarchic corruption is legendary. Despite all that, Zelensky is considered “democratic” while Orban is not. Zelensky has the right policies, which is all that matters. Among his policy positions, he supports the free distribution of medical cannabis, free abortion in Ukraine, and the legalization of prostitution and gambling. In addition to LGBTQ rights, of course. Prior to the war, he opposed the legalization of weapons.  Zelensky took the time, in the middle of a war, to make a video promoting Green Energy. 

No wonder the “Green Patriarch” in Constantinople loves the guy so much. 

Did they talk about Zelensky’s pro-LGBTQ policies? Free abortion? Making war on Ukrainian citizens? Or just about Green Energy, Climate Change, and saving the planet?

Zelensky understands his assigned role is to transform a staid, conservative place like Ukraine into a secular Western nation. His success bolsters the success of Western progressive “Orthodox” whose cause is to transform the Orthodox Church into a post-Christian institution. Imagine how much easier it will be to crush conservatives in the West if Ukraine, the second largest Orthodox population on Earth, can really get down with Gay Pride, trans kids, Green Energy, and hits from the bong?

Hungary (despite not being an Orthodox country) and Russia represent a challenge to the progressive goal of saturating the Orthodox Church and Orthodox societies with “modernity”. Hungary and Russia have shown that one way to confront “modernity” is to stomp it flat. Contrary to Western propaganda, there is nothing “inevitable” about mainstreaming perversion, childlessness, and Green Energy-induced poverty. Progressive “modernity” is a choice that can be rejected. The genie really can be put back in the bottle. These two nations highlight that fact for all to see.

So the globalists hate them, of course, and want to either destroy them or bring them to heel. 

Given the stakes, “Orthodox” progressives will look the other way on anything Zelensky and his government are or do.  Zelensky can never be “anti-democratic”, even if he shot all his political opponents on a social media livestream. The same “Orthodox” progressives will also always present Hungary, Russia and their associated churches as anti-democratic, insane, fascist, and/or heretical under all circumstances.  An example is how progressive “Orthodox” in the West tried to present Patriarch Kirill of Moscow’s Forgiveness Sunday homily as crazy or “unhinged”:

“In order to enter the club of those countries, it is necessary to hold a gay pride parade. Not to make a political statement “we are with you”, not to sign any agreements, but to hold a gay parade. And we know how people resist these demands and how this resistance is suppressed by force. This means that we are talking about imposing by force a sin condemned by God’s law, and therefore, by force to impose on people the denial of God and His truth.”

The Patriarch is not wrong. You can’t join the club if you don’t obey the rules. Obviously, particular reverence must be paid to all things LGBTQ. If you reject the “West” and try to chart your own course, whether you are a military threat to anyone or not, expect to be cast as a villain in the global, secularist morality play and sanctioned or bombed accordingly.

The progressive “Orthodox” promotion of “democracy” has no substance or consistency behind it. Democracy is nothing more for them than a weapon to wield against regimes they don’t like, and a rhetorical construct to legitimize their own quest to transform the Orthodox Church. 

2. Russian Orthodoxy is Supporting a Religious War

Russia is accused of treating the war in Ukraine as a “Holy War” with the Russian Church providing theological cover:

In 2014, when Russia annexed the Crimea and initiated a proxy war in the Donbas area of Ukraine, right up until the beginning of the full-fledged war against Ukraine and afterwards, Putin and Patriarch Kirill have used Russian world ideology as a principal justification for the invasion. The teaching states that there is a transnational Russian sphere or civilization, called Holy Russia or Holy Rus’, which includes Russia, Ukraine and Belarus (and sometimes Moldova and Kazakhstan), as well as ethnic Russians and Russian-speaking people throughout the world. It holds that this “Russian world” has a common political centre (Moscow), a common spiritual centre (Kyiv as the “mother of all Rus’’), a common language (Russian), a common church (the Russian Orthodox Church, Moscow Patriarchate), and a common patriarch (the Patriarch of Moscow), who works in ‘symphony’ with a common president/national leader (Putin) to govern this Russian world, as well as upholding a common distinctive spirituality, morality, and culture.

This is, of course, all a lie.

Putin is a secular president of an officially multi-confessional state. Russian law identifies Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism as the country’s four “traditional” religions while recognizing the special role of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had nothing to do with religion. If you want to know what the war is really about, then just look at the demands Russia has brought to the negotiating table for ending it:

  • No nukes for the Ukraine
  • No NATO for the Ukraine
  • No alliances of any kind and a neutral Ukraine
  • Give up any claims on Crimea and the Donbass

There is not one religious demand on the table from Russia. There is also no intention to occupy or destroy Kiev. Russia does not want the headache of occupying people who don’t want to be occupied. Russia is not trying to subordinate or destroy the OCU. Putin doesn’t care about the ecclesiological mess of two competing Orthodox Churches in Ukraine. Or rather, he may care but not enough to drain Russia of manpower and money to do anything about it. Russia is fighting a secular war to achieve a political outcome. Putin is obviously willing to leave Zelensky in power, but with a drastically changed military and political situation codified in a lasting peace agreement. 

This is not a war for Ukrainian survival or religious freedom. 

The Russian World concept has also been horribly misrepresented. As Orthodox priest Fr. John Whiteford explains:

In a search of the official website of the Moscow Patriarchate, I found an article in which Patriarch Kirill summarized what he understands the concept of “The Russian World” to refer to: “Святейший Патриарх Кирилл: Русский мир — особая цивилизация, которую необходимо сберечь,” which in English means “His Holiness Patriarch Kirill: The Russian world is a special civilization that must be preserved.”
 
 
Patriarch Kirill notes that the Orthodox Culture of the Kievan Rus’, which is the common heritage of the Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, and Carpatho-Russians, is not defined by political boundaries, and he has does not see it as promoting the building or rebuilding of any empire. He does see it has something worth preserving, which if lost, would be a loss to humanity. He does not see this as ethnic or racial, but cultural. He also does not assert that this culture is superior to all others, only that it is their culture, and it is worth preserving.

There is nothing in the “Russian World” concept that requires political unity between the Russians and the Ukrainians. The concept also certainly doesn’t require Russia to conqueror and occupy Ukraine. Rather, “Russian World” is a statement of fact that these nations have a common cultural and religious heritage that is worth preserving. Further, this concept does not mean that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church must be subservient to the Moscow Patriarchate. The UOC is already self-governing. In terms of culture and religious heritage, the head of the UOC, Metropolitan Onuphry, expressed similar fraternal sentiments to Patriarch Kirill (even while opposing the war and demanding Russian withdrawal):

The Ukrainian and Russian peoples came out of the Dnieper baptismal font, and the war between these peoples is a repetition of the sin of Cain, who out of envy killed his own brother. Such a war is not justified either by God or by people.

Patriarch Kirill is not calling anyone to a crusade or a jihad or a holy war or whatever language you want to use. Even if he were, Putin would neither listen nor care.  Though the conflict is a purely secular and bloody endeavor, it is entirely possible that Patriarch Kirill and a majority of his clergy really do support the Russian war effort in Ukraine. As we shall see shortly, their support may be entirely moral and defensible before God. 

Regardless of what Patriarch Kirill does or says on the religious front, Putin is focused on obtaining a negotiated solution between secular governments. Putin will kill no more people and destroy no more property than necessary to get the deal he believes is in the best interests of Russia. Russia’s enemy is a neighboring country with a shared history and common religion. Mass murder and occupation are, to say the least, counter productive to long-term, regional stability.  

So why are so many Orthodox Christians in the West pretending this war has ties to Orthodoxy? Because they want to win the culture war within Western Orthodoxy for progressivism by branding the ROC as heretical and a slave to Putin. It is difficult to promote a counterfeit Orthodoxy as long as the ROC is in a position to show the world the real deal. It is also difficult to gain more power for the Patriarch of Constantinople when he is constantly overshadowed by a much larger church. Therefore, it is essential to discredit the Patriarch of Moscow, even if they have to lie to do it. 

3. Russia Alone Is To Blame For This War

Archbishop Elpidophoros said this about the war in Ukraine:

When we contemplate the “role” of the Moscow Patriarchate in this conflict, we must first marvel at the question itself. Should it not be clear that the Church—by its very nature—is opposed to such a fabricated conflict? 

Fabricated, unprovoked,  unjust, unjustified, illegal, barbaric – these are just some of the appellations applied to the War in Ukraine. But is any of that true? Is Russia alone responsible for this war? Actually no, and outside the West, both clergy and laity seem to see that quite clearly. 

Abp. Theodosios is one of the most influential bishops of the Jerusalem Patriarchate. He forcefully disagrees that Russia alone is at fault for this war:

“The political system in the West is crying over Ukraine while it’s the one that created this crisis,” the Archbishop said. “Why do they mourn the victims of Ukraine but not those of the wars they started in various other places,” he asks.

 

“America and its allies destroyed Iraq and committed war crimes against its people, and we are witnessing what is happening in Syria and all the devastations of wars they created in the region,” His Eminence said strongly.

 

“These international double standards in our world clearly show the deep levels of the state of immorality and lack of human values many western regimes have reached,” the Jerusalem hierarch said.

Aftermath of a US bombing strike in Syria – a nation with which we were not at war.

His Eminence is entirely correct. The West is crying crocodile tears over a war it provoked. In fact, over a war that the West knew would be the inevitable result of policies Russia could not tolerate indefinitely. 

  • Ukraine potentially joining NATO has always been a red line for Russia. Despite increasingly severe warnings from Russia, this was never formally taken off the table. 
  • Ukraine has gotten billions in arms from NATO over the past few years. 
  • Ukraine has employed the services of thousands of NATO trainers. 
  • On February 19, 2022, at a conference in Munich, Zelensky announced his intention to end the Budapest Memorandum (1994), which prohibits Ukraine from developing, proliferating and using atomic weapons. Ukraine has nuclear plants and delivery systems left over from the Soviet Union. This was not an empty threat. 
  • Ukraine employs actual, fanatical, anti-Russian Nazis. 
  • As the Biden gaffe made clear, the US has long pursued a policy of regime change in Russia.

The last straw for Russia was the escalation of the ongoing war in the Donbass against Russian speaking Ukrainians. An escalation by Ukraine that could have resulted in a genocide on Russia’s own doorstep. This attempt by Ukraine at ending the Donbass war by force actually began on February 16th. In fact, a very good case can be made that Ukraine is the actual aggressor, and that date was the current war’s true beginning. In which case, the support of Patriarch Kirill for the Russian war effort must be entirely re-examined. 

Jacques Baud is a former colonel of the General Staff, ex-member of the Swiss strategic intelligence, and a specialist on Eastern countries. This is a long quotation from his recent article explaining the true background of the war and its current conduct:

In violation of the Minsk Agreements, Ukraine was conducting air operations in Donbass using drones, including at least one strike against a fuel depot in Donetsk in October 2021. The American press noted this, but not the Europeans; and no one condemned these violations.

 

In February 2022, events came to a head. On February 7, during his visit to Moscow, Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed to Vladimir Putin his commitment to the Minsk Agreements, a commitment he would repeat after his meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky the next day. But on February 11, in Berlin, after nine hours of work, the meeting of political advisors to the leaders of the “Normandy format” ended without any concrete result: the Ukrainians still refused to apply the Minsk Agreements, apparently under pressure from the United States. Vladimir Putin noted that Macron had made empty promises and that the West was not ready to enforce the agreements, the same opposition to a settlement it had exhibited for eight years.

 

Ukrainian preparations in the contact zone continued. The Russian Parliament became alarmed; and on February 15 it asked Vladimir Putin to recognize the independence of the Republics, which he initially refused to do.

 

On 17 February, President Joe Biden announced that Russia would attack Ukraine in the next few days. How did he know this? It is a mystery. But since the 16th, the artillery shelling of the population of Donbass had increased dramatically, as the daily reports of the OSCE observers show. Naturally, neither the media, nor the European Union, nor NATO, nor any Western government reacted or intervened. It would be said later that this was Russian disinformation. In fact, it seems that the European Union and some countries have deliberately kept silent about the massacre of the Donbass population, knowing that this would provoke a Russian intervention.

 

At the same time, there were reports of sabotage in the Donbass. On 18 January, Donbass fighters intercepted saboteurs, who spoke Polish and were equipped with Western equipment and who were seeking to create chemical incidents in Gorlivka. They could have been CIA mercenaries, led or “advised” by Americans and composed of Ukrainian or European fighters, to carry out sabotage actions in the Donbass Republics.

 

In fact, as early as February 16, Joe Biden knew that the Ukrainians had begun intense shelling the civilian population of Donbass, forcing Vladimir Putin to make a difficult choice: to help Donbass militarily and create an international problem, or to stand by and watch the Russian-speaking people of Donbass being crushed.

 

If he decided to intervene, Putin could invoke the international obligation of “Responsibility To Protect” (R2P). But he knew that whatever its nature or scale, the intervention would trigger a storm of sanctions. Therefore, whether Russian intervention were limited to the Donbass or went further to put pressure on the West over the status of the Ukraine, the price to pay would be the same. This is what he explained in his speech on February 21. On that day, he agreed to the request of the Duma and recognized the independence of the two Donbass Republics and, at the same time, he signed friendship and assistance treaties with them.

 

The Ukrainian artillery bombardment of the Donbass population continued, and, on 23 February, the two Republics asked for military assistance from Russia. On 24 February, Vladimir Putin invoked Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which provides for mutual military assistance in the framework of a defensive alliance.

 

In order to make the Russian intervention seem totally illegal in the eyes of the public, Western powers deliberately hid the fact that the war actually started on February 16. The Ukrainian army was preparing to attack the Donbass as early as 2021, as some Russian and European intelligence services were well aware.

 

In his speech of February 24, Vladimir Putin stated the two objectives of his operation: “demilitarize” and “denazify” the Ukraine. So, it was not a question of taking over Ukraine, nor even, presumably, of occupying it; and certainly not of destroying it.

 

The dramatic developments we are witnessing today have causes that we knew about but refused to see:

  • on the strategic level, the expansion of NATO (which we have not dealt with here);
  • on the political level, the Western refusal to implement the Minsk Agreements;
  • operationally, the continuous and repeated attacks on the civilian population of the Donbass over the past years and the dramatic increase in late February 2022.

In other words, we can naturally deplore and condemn the Russian attack. But WE (that is: the United States, France and the European Union in the lead) have created the conditions for a conflict to break out. We show compassion for the Ukrainian people and the two million refugees. That is fine. But if we had had a modicum of compassion for the same number of refugees from the Ukrainian populations of Donbass massacred by their own government and who sought refuge in Russia for eight years, none of this would probably have happened.

Archbishop Elpidophoros is often rumored to be the next Patriarch of Constantinople. It beggars the imagination that His Eminence would not know about the thousands of victims in the Donbass since 2014, nor about the serious escalation of the military situation in mid-February. Sure the Western propaganda is thick and furious, but if we can find the truth so can an Archbishop. 

The difference is that we want to know the truth to hold our own Western governments accountable for causing this war. Archbishop Elpidophoros does not want to know the truth. He is only interested in delegitimizing the Russian Orthodox Church. Without the ROC, the Archbishop can have his gay pride liturgies, his pro-abortion politics, and his ruminations on “many paths to God” with less fear of contradiction. He also can solidify the “power” of Constantinople, a throne he hopes to sit on some day. 

4. The “West” Are the Good Guys Who Care About People

As Archbishop Theodosios made clear, the West is populated with hypocrites. The US and its allies reserve the right to destroy any one, any where, any time for any reason. When going to war, the US and its allies employ devastating, unrestrained force that has killed millions around the globe. There are no rules or war crimes trials for Western leaders – no matter the cost of their “interventions” in human lives and suffering.

The aftermath of US bombing campaign in Baghdad. This was a civilian neighborhood.

Given America’s history, if Mexico had behaved the way Ukraine did, the US would have destroyed it completely. That is the Western way of war – complete annihilation. If you objectively ignore fake war crimes like the Bucha “massacre” and focus on the reality of the war, you will quickly see that Russia is being quite restrained in its operations. Given its relatively limited aims, that makes total sense. 

Western hypocrisy is a big reason so many of the “Global South” countries are refusing to sanction Russia.  Many of these nations have felt the personal sting of Western bombing and/or sanctions. The same applies to non-Western Orthodox Churches like Antioch and Jerusalem. The Patriarch of Constantinople and Western politicians like to pretend that Russia and the ROC are internationally isolated. That is absolutely not true. 

Yellow – Nations that support sanctions on Russia. Blue – Nations trading with Russia normally. Is Russia really isolated?

There is an even deeper hypocrisy than simply decrying every move Russia makes while ignoring the West’s past war crimes. Western (NATO and EU) nations have done more than just encourage Ukraine to act recklessly in regards to its bigger, more powerful neighbor. After Russia finally reacted, instead of seeking peace, the West is actively prolonging the conflict for its own goals. The West keeps feeding money, weapons and supplies to the Ukrainians to keep them fighting a hopeless war from which they can derive no benefit. While they die, the US openly admits it wants to “bleed” Putin and destroy Russia economically in the hopes of stimulating a regime change. To accomplish its goals, the West is willing to fight to the last Ukrainian. 

This is from the same article referenced earlier from Colonel Jacques Baud:

On February 27, the Ukrainian government agreed to enter into negotiations with Russia. But a few hours later, the European Union voted a budget of 450 million euros to supply arms to the Ukraine, adding fuel to the fire. From then on, the Ukrainians felt that they did not need to reach an agreement. The resistance of the Azov militia in Mariupol even led to a boost of 500 million euros for weapons.

 

In Ukraine, with the blessing of the Western countries, those who are in favor of a negotiation have been eliminated. This is the case of Denis Kireyev, one of the Ukrainian negotiators, assassinated on March 5 by the Ukrainian secret service (SBU) because he was too favorable to Russia and was considered a traitor. The same fate befell Dmitry Demyanenko, former deputy head of the SBU’s main directorate for Kiev and its region, who was assassinated on March 10 because he was too favorable to an agreement with Russia—he was shot by the Mirotvorets (“Peacemaker”) militia. This militia is associated with the Mirotvorets website, which lists the “enemies of Ukraine,” with their personal data, addresses and telephone numbers, so that they can be harassed or even eliminated; a practice that is punishable in many countries, but not in the Ukraine. The UN and some European countries have demanded the closure of this site—but that demand was refused by the Rada [Ukrainian parliament].

Signing off on the murder of peace negotiators. Even for the West, that has to be a new low. 

This is all deeply immoral. The only way through this crisis is a ceasefire followed by good faith negotiations. An agreement must be reached that ends hostilities forever, and not merely one that sets the conditions for the next war. All the focus on Russia blinds Western Christians to our own culpability in first igniting and then prolonging a useless war. Ukraine is not in danger of being absorbed into Russia. This should not be a fight to the finish.

Focusing only on Russia’s sins also gives Westerners an invalid sense of their own moral superiority, while putting the ROC intentionally in a bad light. The progressives exploit Western moral smugness to pass off their “counterfeit” Orthodoxy as the true faith, and not that “nationalist” one practiced in Russia by those barbarians. 

While Russia may not listen to us, perhaps our own leaders might? Everyone should be saying loudly and clearly: The West’s continued funding of this war (and the Nazis who fight on behalf of Ukraine) is totally immoral. We, the West, must get out of the way and let the war end. Now!

5. Sanctions Are a Virtuous Response 

We have read dozens of articles from Orthodox and non-Orthodox theologians, pastors, priests, bishops, etc. about the war. All of them, so far, have focused on condemning Russia and the ROC. At no point do any of these esteemed personages ever point out how much the sanctions regime is hurting the average Westerner. 

The most important thing to remember for Christians, Orthodox or otherwise, is that sanctions always hurt the poor and middle class the most. That includes millions of children and senior citizens on fixed incomes. We just went through years of moralizing by clergy / theologians on wearing masks, closing churches, limiting attendance, changing liturgical practices, and enforcing social distancing to protect “the least of these” from COVID-19.  Where are all these “wear a mask” servants of God as we face food shortages, fuel shortages, a lack of many basic necessities, possible starvation in places heavily dependent on imported food and fertilizers, ruinous inflation, shortages of manufacturing raw materials, massive jobs losses, millions sliding into poverty, the possible end of the current world financial system, and the largest drop in standard of living ever recorded? Are they advocating for their flocks? Not at all. They are focused on condemning Russians who don’t care, while studiously ignoring the ruination wrought by our own governing elite even as they plot to overthrow Christ’s Church.

Praying for peace and an end to this terrible war is right and just. But everyone, clergy and laity alike, needs to pray also for our own people who are going to suffer more and more as the sanctions continue. When will our clergy notice the suffering right in front of them? Hopefully before another 20 to 30% of their flocks have quit in utter despair and disgust.

It is perfectly okay to not like Putin. I don’t much care for him myself. There are also many questions in my mind about Patriarch Kirill and his seemingly extravagant lifestyle. This war can’t end soon enough, and it is sickening that it ever happened to begin with. As Christians, however, we must tell the complete truth about what is happening and who is responsible. We must also support the authentic teachings of the Orthodox Church, and not let the innovators deprive us of the true faith in the West through their deceit. 

Vassily is a member of the OCA with mixed Ukrainian and Russian parentage 

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As TEC Goes, So Goes GOA

January 12, 2022
8 Comments

In response to a recent article at Monomachos, a woman named Lina writes, “So, what I don’t get, as an ex-Episcopalian who has watched her cradle church go down the drain over the last several years after espousing the homosexual agenda, is that the GOA (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese) is dead set to follow the same path.” I don’t get it either. That perplexed sentiment resonates with this sad ex-Episcopalian. My own frame of reference with the Episcopal Church started with baptism as an infant in 1954. I was confirmed in 1967, when national membership peaked at 3.6 million members, and then observed the decline over the years that ensued.

Here are some of the more noteworthy of the last half century’s hits (i.e., assaults) on TEC, perhaps best spelled out as Today’s Episcopal Clique. The moral relativism that made it possible was expressed in the widely-read book Situation Ethics (1966) written by ex-priest Joseph Fletcher. There was the suicidal apostasy in 1969 of the prolific author Bp. James Pike. The infiltration of the homosexual indoctrination at General Theological Seminary was made possible by Prof. Norman Pittenger in the same godforsaken decade. These were just some of the men who planted the seeds of Satan into Episcopal Church soil at the apogee of its growth and influence.

Three of the “Philadelphia Eleven”

The contra-canonical ordination of the Philadelphia Eleven women in 1974 portended more radical actions to come. The newfangled Book of Common Prayer in 1979, the newer Hymnal of 1980 became the basis for a smorgasbord view of sacramental rites. Then came the shocking consecration of suffragan bishop Barbara Harris (an unqualified divorcèe) in 1989 and the earth-shaking consecration of diocesan bishop Vicky Imogen Robinson (a gay man) in 2003.

Bp. Vicky Imogene Robinson

The contra-canonical ordination of the Philadelphia Eleven women in 1974 portended more radical actions to come. The newfangled Book of Common Prayer in 1979, the newer Hymnal of 1980 became the basis for a smorgasbord view of sacramental rites. Then came the shocking consecration of suffragan bishop Barbara Harris (an unqualified divorcèe) in 1989 and the earth-shaking consecration of diocesan bishop Vicky Imogen Robinson (a gay man) in 2003.

Membership in the Episcopal Church has fallen by more than half since its peak in 1967 to a meager 1.6 million today. Of the two million lost over that era, 314,000 were lost in the “twenty teens” (2010 – 2019). Chalk up half of that loss to the general vacating of church pews nationwide. Chalk up the other half to TEC’s revisionist abandonment of Scripture and Tradition while maintaining the outward trappings of religiosity. “Having the appearance of godliness, but denying the power thereof” (II Tim. 3:5). This may be termed the “revolution within the form”. Distrust by the laity of the ever-innovating leadership doomed them. It is my sad observation that the “new and improved” Episcopal Church has squandered its rich Anglican patrimony over the period of my lifetime.

Now, to Lina’s assertion about the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese. Having watched the TEC “go down the drain”, the GOA is “dead set to follow the same path.” She is puzzled by that. Why are the GOA leadership headed in the same direction? That is the $64,000 question. I doubt whether the GOA has done any serious research into the demographic decline of TEC. Even if they have, they will probably scoff at the precipitous drop in TEC’s numbers. If they look for reasons, they may cite the general decline in church attendance across the nation. They may blame the phenomenon on the ignorance of the unsophisticated masses. But, I wouldn’t be surprised if the decline of the TEC hasn’t even registered on the GOA radar. If they had recognized that association with the TEC is a losing bet, why would Elpidophoros have made nice with that heretic Dean Wolfe at St. Bart’s in Manhattan? The celebration of the Divine Liturgy at that parish and the return visit to “talk story” with Bp. Wolfe are indications that Elpi. feels a need to get cozy with the heterodox. Or maybe he was just impressed with the Byzantine architecture and the smell of success at a parish with a reputation for the “queering of Manhattan”.

Pride Month at St. Bart’s Episcopal Church, Manhattan

Here are some rounded figures from the OrthodoxReality.org study entitled “The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA) from 2010 to 2020: Changes in Parishes, Membership, and Worship Attendance”. Across the archdiocese, membership has declined from 482,000 to 376, 000 – a loss of 22%. More telling is the reduced number of regular participants over that decade, from 107,000 to 86,000. Again, a decline of about 22% from 2010 to 2020. One can surmise that the decline in GOA has only accelerated during the pandemic by the leadership’s demand for strict adherence to government health mandates. These have gotten parishioners used to the idea of staying home and watching church in their pajamas from the comfort of their living room couches.

Run from decline

Maybe Abp. Elpidophoros doesn’t worry about the drop in the number of derrières in pews as long as the archdiocese can keep the cash rolling in. And as long as Pat. Bartholomew’s quota is redirected to Istanbul. My experience on a GOA parish council the last two years of the pandemic confirmed the suspicion that our metropolis was mostly concerned that parish assessments would still get paid despite the crisis. Our assessments for this year roughly equal the total amount of our stewardship contributions from last year. Without another source of income from real estate, our parish budget would not end up in the black.

Speaking of money, what happened to the $100,000,000 that got poured into St. Nicholas’ black hole at the World Trade Center? It’s been more than twenty years since 9/11, but construction on the little church isn’t even finished yet. Oy vey.

Abp. Elpidophoros is a gracious and approachable hierarch, so during a small gathering here two years ago, I felt free to challenge him on some of the salient issues. Whether it was the contention of Constantinople’s supremacy among Orthodox hierarchs or the intervention in Ukraine’s ecclesial organization, his retorts indicated to me that he will not change his mind. Outright endorsement of the queer sexual revolution may still be out of reach for them, but certainly Bartholomew and Elpidophoros seem to be dead set to continue their promotion of other so-called progressive concerns such as ecumenism, environmentalism, and Covidism. Just like the proud Episcopalians, they will not …and that auxiliary verb must be read with emphasis… i.e. they willfully will not revise their trendy agenda despite how disastrous it will likely turn out for them. They will not cease and desist their grasping at global ecclesiastical power to promote it, so help them God.

Patriarch Bartholomew & Archbishop Elpidophoros

Maybe Elpidophoros and Bartholomew just cannot change their minds. And, maybe the rest of us are simply fools to pray that they will be able to change. If that is true, it doesn’t make me happy to say that the continued decline in GOA’s membership is likely to be unavoidable.

Originally published at Handwritings on the Wall

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4 Predictions for the Orthodox

December 10, 2021
14 Comments

Living in unprecedented times, history will be made. Now is the time for the faithful to arise and be the Church.

Prediction #1 – The Church Will Refocus on the Health of Body and Soul

Among the many things we learn, from the Holy Mother of God, is the sacredness of the body. Singing her praise, we declare she provided the “most pure body.” But what does this mean? What does it mean for us as modern believers?

If our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, then we must take proper measures to maintain its good use in this life. You only get one. If you trash it, you cannot blame God when sickness comes or your time is cut short. God’s salvation was clearly there, but you chose to cooperate with evil.

Both healing and repentance have been part and parcel of Orthodoxy since Jesus walked the shores of Galilee and healed the sick. If you listen, you will hear a recurring theme of healing for the body that is fully interwoven into our liturgy, the prayers, and other practices of the Church.  We are clearly taught to expect miracles. If we do not have miracles in our parishes today, perhaps we are missing something?

St. Luke the SurgeonMany saints were “wonderworkers” or healers. Many utilized herbal medicines to cure. There was a wisdom we seem to have lost that brought health and healing through prayer, diet, fasting, physical anointing, and through natural medicines—things in God’s creation—to make us well. Even more modern saints, including those with medical training, have continued to believe in the power of prayer, Holy Water and anointing with oil.  St. Luke the Surgeon, Archbishop of Simferopol, is a 20th Century saint famous for saying, “Drink Holy Water, the more often, the better. It is the best and most effective medicine. I’m not saying this as a priest, I’m saying it as a doctor, from my medical experience.”

Despite the extravagant promises it makes, modern medicine is now showing its dark underbelly—vaccines, mandates, genetic modifications, scorched earth chemotherapy, a disregard for diet, the pursuit of profit. We have allowed modern medicine to replace the ancient traditions, and this is extracting a terrible toll especially when it comes to “modern” chronic diseases; cancer, stroke, heart attack.

It would behoove us to return to the old ways in which we treated man holistically (mind, body, and spirit). In the ancient Hebrew practice, as well as among early Christians, salvation for the body—healing, health—went along with salvation for the soul (3 john 2). It seemed reasonable to the ancients, if you could become relatively free from the passions, you could also be reasonably free from sickness.  There is much wisdom in this, because so many uncontrolled passions lead to physical harms (gluttony, substance abuse, rage) as well as spiritual harms. Disciplined life within the Church leads to dispassion which brings us closer to God and restores us in both body and spirit.

I predict the return of healing through prayer. I also predict a return to ancient healing through natural means. God has deposited wisdom in His Church to avoid the unique health hazards of our modern epoch. Now is the time to recover our humanity by putting distance between our holy bodies and modern medicine which more and more treats us, even children, as little more than profitable experiments.

Prediction #2 – Restoration of the Father

Things seem to be going badly in our society. One cause stands out above all else – the lack of true Fathers. Without them, we meander along inviting God’s wrath upon us. The hearts of the fathers must be focused on their children above all else. An ancient prophet put it like this:

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. (Malachi 4:5,6 KJV).[1]

Everything about the Orthodox Faith is multi-generational. As the world has squeezed God’s people into its model of fathers (and mothers) working outside the home, among the faithful this has become a big problem because it impedes generational transfer of the faith.

God’s design is for the family to raise children for the Church, and not the other way around. But we’ve been doing it backwards.  Too often, the father in the home leaves the spiritual obligations up to the parish priest and/or his wife thinking that if he brings home the bacon, he has done his job.

If the closing of parishes is a “sign of the times”, what is God trying to work out in His Church in this regard? Probably two things: on the one hand we must never take for granted what has been bequeathed through the Church, and, on the other hand, the Church is not a building, but people. People who have differing functions in the Body. The home is a church within the Church where each husband/dad is the priest.

What does a family do when their church is shut down? How about, having the father of the home lead the whole family in prayers? How is this not better than a flat-screen-priest miles away? After all, the father is the man who conceived these children, puts food on the table, and carries the largest responsibility for the spiritual welfare of his family? Why not have him lead family worship? This is how the Church will carry on if/when there is full military style shut down. In the ancient Hebrew tradition, rituals were held in the home as well as the synagogue; and originally the Church was built around this template. If we want a vital priesthood in the future, fathers in the home must take spiritual responsibility rather than shirking it.

Every heart has a father-void, a space filled initially by the primary father, then accessory fathers, then eventually Father-God. On the psychological and social levels, nothing is more impactful on any person than his relationship with his father growing up. This alone will define largely how a person views the universe, his place in it, and will be the lens through which he views Father-God. If the primary father is either not present or totally disengaged, other father-figures in the parish need to step in and fill the void for young men.

If we want to appease God’s wrath at this point in time, it would be best to heed the prophet and start turning the hearts of fathers back to their children, away from their careers and other distractions of this world. Fathers must reconnect with their children in a godly manner. As our society plunges into waves of crime and other dysfunction, we ignore this warning at our peril.

Prediction #3 – The Return of the Church as a Covenant Community

As soon as the ancient Romans figured out that the Church was not a subset of the Jews—with which the Empire had many dubious alliances—the persecution ensued. In persecution, only those with political alliances (“we have no king but Caesar”) are safe. Historically, the Church has avoided these political entanglements like the plague; because they mean treason against Christ.

If we go back and study this infant Church, we will once again figure out how to live. Pliney (the younger) noticed this about those “Christians.”

They asserted, however, that the sum and substance of their fault or error had been that they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day [Sunday] before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by oath [Latin: sacramentum], not to some crime, but not to commit fraud, theft, or adultery, not falsify their trust, nor to refuse to return a trust when called upon to do so. When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of food—but ordinary and innocent food [agape meal]. (Pliny to Trajan, brackets added).[2]

This is a voice from the past, a snapshot of how our spiritual progenitors lived toward God and each other. These are the voices of our brothers and sisters in the infant Church. What scared the hell out of Pliney was not just their devotion to the King not-Caesar, but their commitment one to another. What he saw in those first Christians was a commitment to each other that would forge an unbeatable force. In alarm, he was seeking permission from his superior officer to persecute and eliminate the threat at hand. His accusation is one of the greatest compliments paid to the fledgling Church.

Bottom line: their covenant with God produced a covenant with each other to live upright looking out for the welfare of each other.  In modern terms, “they had each other’s back!”

Not only were the Christians making oaths to Christ, but they made oaths to each other. As Pliney was trained and versed in Roman law, he knew all too well what it means when members of a sect make iron clad commitments to each other; they can never be defeated.

Prediction #4 – Jurisdictions will shuffle

Everything that can be shaken will be shaken (Hebrews 12:27 para). Obviously, many Orthodox jurisdictions are being shaken. And as things are shaking out, what is being revealed is who can be trusted and who cannot be trusted. Only the unshakable, trustworthy things will remain. As the early Christians knew (prediction 3) at the foundation of every functioning relationship is the most prized virtue: TRUST.[3]

While Jesus said to love my neighbor, He never said I had to trust my neighbor. Even if I love my bishop, that does not guarantee I can trust him. When trust is broken, it’s very difficult to put back together again. Our Lord did say, I must trust Him, and prove myself worthy of His trust in me, so that I would never deny Him or knowingly injure the innocent.

Facing persecution as we are, the sheep are moving to higher ground, to safer pasture, and under the leadership of those who can be trusted. Some jurisdictions will gather more sheep during this process. Others may practically disappear.

John Lee – an Orthodox Christian

[1] While the KJV is not as authoritative as the LXX, it does provide a good Jewish commentary or expansion on things not related to Christ.

[2] www.earlychistianwritings.com

[3] BTW: In the OSB (with notes), surnames for trust—testament/covenant—are mention over 1700 time; 500+ in the old KJV.

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