Eviction Day

Today, March 29, 2023, will go down as one of the darkest days in Orthodox Christian history, right up there with 1204 and 1453, when Constantinople fell to the Fourth Crusade and then the Ottoman Turks. 

Today you see, the Kiev regime, led by the globalist puppet Volodomyr Zelensky, is flexing its muscles and making good on its demonic plan to evict the monks who reside at the Kiev Caves Lavra, one of the most ancient monastic communities in the Orthodox world (https://orthochristian.com/152770.html).

This is nothing less than an atrocity.  Not only is it a violation of “human rights” –it is certainly that–but it’s a testament to what the globalists believe about Orthodox Christianity.  As far as they are concerned, the Ark of Salvation must be destroyed.  That they are able to use an Orthodox patriarch to do it is a bonus.    

Fortunately, the overwhelming majority of the Orthodox Churches are condemning this action in no uncertain terms.  We have already mentioned how the Bulgarian, Serbian and Antiochene Churches expressed their concerns.  And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.  So has ROCOR, the OCA, the Poles and everyone else. 

The Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which is ordinarily in lockstep with the Ecumenical Patriarchate, has condemned this in no uncertain terms (https://orthochristian.com/152795.html).  Even elements within the Church of Greece (https://orthochristian.com/152793.html) have demanded that the Holy Synod of Greece condemn this action.  

Let me make this easy for you:  the only one who hasn’t condemned this action is the Ecumenical Patriarchate.  In this instance at least, one has to wonder what exactly is “ecumenical” about his patriarchate?  On this issue (as in so many others), the term ecumenical sticks in the throat, as it is nothing less than a mockery, an oxymoron.  His silence would be laughable if it weren’t evil.  

And for that, Patriarch Bartholomew should hang his head in shame.  He has not only brought the entire world to the brink of nuclear annihilation, he has now unilaterally, entered into schism.  

What began with Meletius Metaxakis must end with Bartholomew Arhandonis.  Let the term “ecumenical” be stripped from that patriarchate.  One hundred years of heresy, schism and internecine turmoil is enough.

 

 

Comments

  1. I’ve felt for many years that the Jerusalem Patriarch should be the “First Among Equals”. The Byzantine Empire does not exist anymore. Besides there is no Constantinople anymore, it’s Istanbul. I think that since this is the case, than the First See rightly belongs to the Church of Jerusalem because it is rightly the true Mother Church to us all. I definitely agree that Ecumenical should be stripped from the title but also the title should accurately reflect the world as we live in it today. Bartholomew should only be known as Metropolitan of Istanbul.

    I would like to leave you to the lyrics of one of my favorite songs.

    Istanbul was Constantinople
    Now it’s Istanbul, not Constantinople
    Been a long time gone, Constantinople
    Now it’s Turkish delight on a moonlit night
    Every gal in Constantinople
    Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople
    So if you’ve a date in Constantinople
    She’ll be waiting in Istanbul
    Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
    Why they changed it I can’t say
    People just liked it better that way
    So, take me back to Constantinople
    No, you can’t go back to Constantinople
    Been a long time gone, Constantinople
    Why did Constantinople get the works?
    That’s nobody’s business but the Turks
    Istanbul, Istanbul
    Istanbul, Istanbul
    Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
    Why they changed it I can’t say
    People just liked it better that way
    Istanbul was Constantinople
    Now it’s Istanbul, not Constantinople
    Been a long time gone, oh Constantinople
    Why did Constantinople get the works?
    That’s nobody’s business but the Turks
    So, take me back to Constantinople
    No, you can’t go back to Constantinople
    Been a long time gone, Constantinople
    Why did Constantinople get the works?
    That’s nobody’s business but the Turks
    Istanbul
    Source: LyricFind
    Songwriters: Jimmy Kennedy / Nat Simon

  2. The term “Ecumenical Patriarch” originally meant simply that this Patriarch oversaw the capital city of the Roman Empire and thus was “patriarch to the Empire.” (The Greek term oikoumenē, literally “the civilized [world],” is an ancient title for the Roman Empire and was even used in that sense by St. Luke in the Gospel account of Christ’s Nativity, Luke 2:1.)

    With that said, two problems immediately arise:
    1. That’s not how the word “ecumenical” has commonly been understood, then or now, and the term was already causing problems in the time of the very first “Ecumenical Patriarch” to use that name of himself—John IV the Faster (reposed AD 595). Pope St. Gregory the Dialogist understood the term to mean “universal” (naturally enough), and vehemently objected to Patriarch John’s use of it.
    2. There’s no Roman Empire anymore and hasn’t been for centuries…so it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for a patriarch in the 21st century to call himself “Patriarch to the Empire.” (If anyone now has a right to that particular title, it might be Metropolitan Daniel (Nushiro) of All Japan…)

  3. And in the face of this tragedy the infamous Fr. Christopher Calin celebrates this as “good news” on his church FB page. What darkness and depravity rages in this impostor!

    https://www.facebook.com/nycathedral/
    Russian Orthodox Cathedral of O C A Protection Holy Virgin
    This is good news!

    “Archimandrite Abraham (Lotysh), a member of the Spiritual Brotherhood of the Holy Assumption Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, appealed to the Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine Epiphany, as the Holy Archimandrite of the monastery, with a request to approve it among the brotherhood as part of the monastery of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

    According to the press service of the OCU, Metropolitan Epiphanius granted his request and blessed Father Abraham to perform his duties as Abbot governor of the Holy Assumption Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra as part of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

    Also, the Primate of the OCU appealed to the government with a request to provide for the use of the Ukrainian Lavra premises for the accomplishment of services, accommodation of the brotherhood and monastic activities. Metropolitan Epiphanius expressed hope that the state would help protect the Abbot and the monastery from possible provocations by supporters of the Moscow Patriarchate.

    As Abbot of the Lavra, Father Abraham appealed to the brotherhood not to leave the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. He acknowledged that Metropolitan of the UOC (MP) Pavlo (Swan) was shaping the sad situation in which the UOC (MP) finds itself now. Instead of finding ways to unite, the UOC (MP) was engaged in inciting hostility, the monk assured.

    “All-honest fathers and dear brotherhood of Lavra! In recent times, especially in these months and weeks, we have all felt pain and despair because of the events that are happening to our abode. They are still trying to convince us that the only reason for these events is the attitude of the state. However, it should be honestly recognized that our hitherto Abbot and clergyman in the person of the Metropolitan and the Synod step by step formed the sad situation in which we found ourselves. Instead of dialogue – closedness and threats. Instead of realizing the need to truthfully, sincerely and definitively break the subordination to Moscow, which is waging war against us – vague and half-hearted decisions and statements that everyone interprets as they wish. Instead of searching for ways to unite the Orthodox and reconcile, it is incitement to hostility and confrontation.”

    Archimandrite Abraham says that as a member of the Spiritual Council of the Lavra, he has long felt a special responsibility for the fate of the Lavra. “I spent a lot of time praying and meditating. Both my conscience and my duty as a monkpriest encourage me to stay in the place where I made vows before God.”

    “In what is happening, I see the action of the Providence of God and the motivation for all of us to recognize the new canonical reality of the existence in Ukraine of the Local Orthodox Church, which is granted the Tomos of autocephaly, which has the recognition of the Ecumenical Patriarch and the Local Churches, which has a canonically elected Primate of His Beatitude Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine Epiphany, the Holy Archimandrite of the Pechersk Lavra.

    I myself voluntarily made this difficult, but in my opinion – the only correct and canonically justified decision. His Beatitude Metropolitan Epiphanius, at my request, approved me among the brotherhood of the Lavra as part of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” the archimandrite said.
    He noted that the Holy Archimandrite of the Lavra, Metropolitan Epiphanius, placed the duty of the Abbot of the Lavra on him. “I realize that I do not accept glory, but a crown of thorns and a heavy cross. But for the sake of humility and salvation of the soul, I came here, and therefore I do not run away from the cross, but with a reliance on the mercy of God, the intercession of the Virgin and the prayers of the Pechersk Fathers, I accept it,” archimandrite Abraham said.

    He called on the brotherhood of the Lavra “to remain in the Lavra as part of the Local Orthodox Church of Ukraine under the omophorion of His Beatitude Metropolitan Epiphany. I am ready to communicate with you and strive to work together with you to renew our monastery as a real monastery and a place of spiritual renewal for monks and all the faithful.”

    “I beg your holy prayers! By the prayers of the Reverend Fathers of our Pechersk, Lord Jesus Christ, our God, have mercy on us!” summed up the new governor of Lavra.”

    • Why am I not surprised by Cailin’s joy?

      Let’s look at it this way: “The disciple Judas, the treasurer of the Twelve, appealed to the Sanhedrin to ‘normalize’ the internal situation and as such, has resolved this difficult situation.”

      • Wow, it just breaks my heart to see with my own eyes what evil entities now inhabit and run the blessed Metropolitan Leonty’s former Manhattan cathedral in the Bowery. If you had told me even a few years ago that parts of the OCA would sink to these debaucherously low levels, I wouldn’t have believed it.

        But God commands us to deal with reality, to see the world as it is, not as we wish it were.

        Jay Dyer is 100% correct, it seems: Parts of the OCA will indeed follow the Greek Archdiocese and C’ple into the cold bosom of Roman Catholicism. Why? What idiots. And mark my words, it will all be done in the name of “progress.” “What, are you all haters of unity?” they will say.

        I know that I must pray for the fake-priest Christopher Calin, but I struggle to do so right now. If only Archbishop Michael would discipline him — why does he not?!?

        • Pray that he would be rebuked and expelled, for the good of his soul.

        • As I e said before the OCA is just the half retard cousin to the GOARCH. The OCA or as the venerable Met Philaret of NY called them “the autocephalites” are jealous of the ROCOR constantly reminding everyone they have more parishes than ROCOR even though they are mostly the size of shacks. While playing second fiddle to the GOARCH whose parishes in Queens and Long Island has about as many adherents as they do in all of North America. They don’t know whether to be modernists or traditional, don’t know whether to be on the new calendar or old. Just like the GOARCH they have no saints except for those that lived before they existed (as we all know they were a 1927 schismatic offshoot from ROCOR being vagante till 1969 just like the OCU). Their claim to fame are theologians of the Parisian school, a Uniate convert and Soviet Church tomos

          • Solidarity Priest says

            I wouldn’t go that far. I agree about the Parisian school and the tomos. That’s why I bailed and went to ROCOR. But I venerate St. Alexis of Wilkes-Barre. What should he have done, remained a Uniate? The OCA was in schism from ROCOR, I agree with that and I’m an OCA man! But Metropolitan Philaret did concelebrate liturgy with Metropolitan Ireney in Syosset, before autocephaly of course. I believe Metropolitan Philaret is a saint and Fr. Seraphim Rose as well. But I also believe that Archbishop Dmitri is a saint. I’m back with the OCA for the time being. If they recognize the phony Ukrainian church, I will leave. And I won’t be alone.

          • Johann Sebastian says

            Kosta says:

            “A Uniate convert”

            No, we followed his lead and *reverted* to Orthodoxy—something that was flatly illegal when our people were under the Polish and Austrian yoke.

            We are the Little Russians that refused to be called Ukrainian.

    • Not sure how this priest is allowed to stay in his present assignment? He’s going against the known stance of the OCA regarding who actually is the TRUE Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Archbishop Michael needs to yank back this clown…and fast, before he causes anymore damage!

    • It reads like the announcement of a coup d’église

      For whom is this good news?
      Not for the Orthodox, I think…

    • Ecumenical excesses? Support and outright glee for the schismatic ‘clergy’ of the faux OCU (Orthodox Church of Ukraine) and their takeover of the Kiev Caves Lavra from the TRUE Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the saintly Met. Onuphriy of Kiev.

      If anyone is interested in voicing their concern about what’s going on at the Cathedral of the Holy Virgin Protection (59 East Second Street, New York, NY 10003), and the embarrassing behavior of its dean, Archimandrite Christopher (Calin), please drop a respectful yet STERN email to the individuals who can do something about it:

      Archbishop MICHAEL of New York and New Jersey (bishopmichael@nynjoca.org)

      V. Rev. Joseph Lickwar, Chancellor (josephlickwar@gmail.com)

      V. Rev. David Cowan, Vice Chancellor (frdavidcowan@gmail.com)

      Every bit can make a BIG difference!

    • Athanasia says

      I’m not seeing this article on either of the Cathedral’s FB pages. Has it been taken down?

      • Wouldn’t surprise me! I’m thinking that Fr. Christopher Calin has had the heat turned up under him after all of this negative flap!

      • John Anon says

        The post is still on the Cathedral’s FB page. You have to scroll back down to January 29th and January 21st posts. “Join us for the return of Spiritual Sounds of the East Village LIVE and in person. We will also live stream the event here. Save the Date..”

        https://www.facebook.com/nycathedral/

      • Meanwhile, the Western tanks seem to be destroyed on the Zaporhozhia front: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeyEu8jNDLA

        This is a run-down of several events as well. For a look at the ecclesiastical front, go to min 6.

      • Yes, Fr. Calin took down his “good news” FB post about the Lavra situation. It appears his bishop may have received quite an earful from the faithful.

        • Good! It’s nice to know they’re listen because we rarely hear from them on anything.

        • Saints be praised!

          Alex, thanks for posting their contact info.

          To all: it’s never too late. No matter how bleak things look, it doesn’t mean that we can’t fight back and draw rhetorical blood. Perhaps in time, the cathedral of the beloved (and soon-to-be-saint?) Leonty will be cleansed of all of Cailin’s nonsense.

          Could we expect to see the same thing in Boston as well?

    • Two things, if I may:
      1. If I could somehow see sounds, I would have just read a fart because that was one odious blast of wind.
      2. Hard as it may be to believe, there are actually faithful, traditional Orthodox Christians who attend this parish. As one of them, I just want to say that this does not represent us. Forgive my weakness for not using my real name. Please pray for us. And keep up the good work, as I believe he may have blinked in removing the post (or he was commanded to).

  4. And the Kyiv Independent (“Independent English-language journalism in Ukraine”) tweets, “Moscow Patriarchate refuses to leave Kyiv Pechersk Lavra”… with a picture of Epifaniy!

    If they still don’t know who the parties are, maybe wait before making pronouncements about them?!

  5. Joseph Lipper says

    Suppose the EP had not granted autocephaly to Ukraine, what do you think the present outcome would be?

    Because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we would likely still have the UOC being persecuted by the Ukrainian government. We would still have the monks being evicted from the Kiev Caves Lavra. We would still have angry Ukrainians attacking UOC churches.

    Has the MP offered autocephaly to Ukraine? The answer is no. Of course the UOC hasn’t asked for it either.

    Interestingly, the Church of Latvia requested autocephaly from Moscow last October. Finally, just this month they received an official response. The response of the MP Holy Synod is that the Latvian Church must now wait until the MP Bishop’s Council convenes for this request to be decided. There has not been a Bishop’s Council of the MP since 2018. Every year since, it’s been postponed. Of course the MP Bishop’s Council has now been indefinitely postponed because of the war in Ukraine. So basically, the Church of Latvia has received an official non-answer to their request for autocephaly.

    https://mospat.ru/en/news/90132/

    • Joseph, you err in your first sentence: “Suppose that the EP had not granted autocephaly to Ukraine…” Therefore everything that follows is null and void.

      He no more granted autocephaly to the Ukraine (in reality as well as legally) than a marriage counsellor granted a man’s wife a divorce so he could marry her.

      In other words, he couldn’t do it because he had no jurisdiction over the Ukraine in the first place.

      Your second paragraph makes no sense either, or more specifically, you are “letting the cat out of the bag.” At the very least, you are admitting that the Zelensky regime is actually persecuting the UOC (your words).

      Let’s go to the third paragraph: The MP did not grant autocephaly to the UOC because the UOC did not ask for it. You also admit that it was the MP which could in fact, grant the UOC autocephaly. How can the UOC be subject to both the MP and the EP? To ask this question is to answer it: it can’t.

      You are correct with the fourth paragraph, in which you admit that for Latvia to proceed in its quest for autocephaly, it must approach its mother church.

      • Joseph Lipper says

        George, come on, that’s nitpicking. Suppose that Patriarch Bartholomew had nothing at all to do with Ukraine. That’s what I meant.

        Because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, we would still be seeing the UOC persecuted by the Ukrainian government, we would still have monks being evicted from the Kiev Caves Lavra, and we would still have angry Ukrainians attacking UOC churches. That’s if Patriarch Bartholomew had nothing at all to do with Ukraine.

        …and just like in 2014 when the Russian Federation annexed Crimea and war broke out in Donbas, we would now still be seeing people leaving the canonical Ukrainian church for schismatic groups, simply because they want nothing at all to do with the Moscow Patriarchate after Russia’s invasion. Again, that’s if Patriarch Bartholomew had nothing to do with Ukraine.

        …and meanwhile, the UOC would still probably refuse to request autocephaly.

        George, either way, it’s all the same stuff. The difference is that Ukrainians, who no longer want to be part of the Moscow Patriarchate, now have a viable, although certainly contested, option. It’s called a lifeline.

        • George cannot pick nits
          if there are no nits to pick.

        • Joseph,

          The OCU is not viable. Not anymore. The Lavra is the red line for a lot of folks who otherwise remained quiet, hoping it would sort itself out, or were even sympathetic (like I was). Forced Ukrainization is just as wrong as Russification. Zelensky’s government is just as “Soviet” as Putin’s, it just serves its own agenda. Everything that came before the war is dead. Including the Tomos, or any notion of an internal compromise. The wounds are too deep, and with this outrage, gangrenous.

          HAH Bartholomew is jetting around the world, giving talks to the heterodox. Why does he not talk with his brother bishops? He has been holding the conciliar process hostage since Crete failed. He won’t meet with non-Greek bishops, why? Is it because ALL of the non-Greek Churches oppose him and his actions in Ukraine? Look at Macedonia. The other Churches recognized their autocephaly without the EP’s blessing. And Greeks hyperventilate over them calling themselves Macedonia. The Romanian Church, long positioned as the neutral party in the EP-MP binary recognized the Serbian Tomos. THAT is a game changer. Churches are caring less and less about the EP’s perogatives.

          What is HAH Bartholomew doing? His silence can only be a scandal. The OCU will never be legitimized now, if it ever had a chance. The OCU needed to be purged of its sectarian element. The Tomos was hasty and premature, and the terrible consequences are visible for all to see.

          • He won’t meet with non-Greek bishops, why?

            He can’t appeal to the “all infallible and immaculate Greek genos” of the non-Greek bishops. Apparently the Greeks will quite literally follow him into schism over their Greek’ness rather than their Orthodoxy, and they’ve just about said as much.

            This isn’t by any means an attack on all Greeks or Greek clergy or even most of them, but, all of the ones who make decisions clearly think this way: Ieronimos, Chrysostomos, Theodoros. The only reason that Archbishop Anastasios of Albania and Patriarch Theophilos have not gone along with it is because even though they are ethnically Greek they oversee an overwhelming non-Greek flock who care nothing about being Greek (not sure what Alexandria’s excuse is).

            The OCU is not viable. Not anymore.

            It was never viable from the start, it was & is made up of defrocked and laisized “clergy.” This has been an issue from the get-go. See the recent letter from the Patriarch of Serbia addressing this.

            The OCU will never be legitimized now, if it ever had a chance.

            It never had a chance, due to the above mentioned reasons. Look how quickly the vast majority of the Orthodox world recognized the Macedonians. Why? Because it was done correctly, and more importantly there were not serious and legitimate concerns about their ordination.

            What we have now in the Orthodox world are much more serious issues that will need to be addressed:

            1) What to do about the OCU.

            2) What to do about those within canonical Orthodoxy who have concelebrated with them. This is what is going to have to be addressed in a council.

        • Joseph, I do not doubt what you are seeing as far as the war is concerned: war was baked in the cake back in 2014 when NATO decided to ignore all of Russia’s previous concerns. Angela Merkel, then Chancellor of Germany gave away the game last year when she said that the Minsk Accords were nothing but a delaying tactic, aimed at giving Kiev enough time to arm itself.

          In other words, we in the West had every intention of getting war started in the Ukraine, even if we had to provoke it. Which we did.

          And here’s where I agree with you: there is very little chance the EP could have stopped that warmongering train from taking off.

          What he could have done —what he should have done–is tell the demoniacs who run the State Dept that there was no way that he, as an Orthodox patriarch, was going to go along with their nefarious plans. He was going to be the shepherd of Christ’s sheep and not the wolf who devours them.

          That may, repeat may, have given the State Dept pause in further prosecuting that war. If not, he would at least have gone on the record as being a shepherd instead of a wolf and the carnage that is befalling the Ukrainian people would be on Biden’s hands, instead of Bartholomew’s. But now he share’s in the blame.

          And for what?

          He has not only divided the Orthodox Faith but almost every Orthodox Christian has lined up against him, Ukrainians included. And if the Russians continue to make their gains in the Ukraine and solidify Onuphriy’s primacy as to the Kievan throne, then he will have lost it all.

          Look, I’ve got a dirty little secret: the wheels of Globalism’s red wagon are coming off even as it’s going off the cliff. If anybody thinks legitimate Roman Catholics are on board with Francis’ and the EP’s grand plans for the future, they’ve got another ‘think’ coming. More on that later.

      • Re your final point: Historically, churches have not always approached their mother church with requests for autocephaly. The pattern set by Greece and followed by other breakaways from Constantinople throughout the nineteenth century was a unilateral declaration of autocephaly followed by a period of schism, which ended (sometimes decades later) by Constantinople reluctantly admitting that they were in fact autocephalous.

    • “Suppose the EP had not granted autocephaly to Ukraine, what do you think the present outcome would be?”

      Probably not much different with the important exception that an ‘Orthodox’ patriarch would not be appearing to condone it. Which is to say that the Church would still be unquestionably united against this travesty. It is Bartholomew who colluded with secular governments to create this ecclesiological mess, leaving the distinct impression that such things are both politically justifiable and fully endorsed by him. Even now he is silent. He claims to be a man of ‘principle,’ a unifier of all peoples; but his ‘principles’ only extend to those who side with him.

      He can say what he wants about the MP, and he may even not be entirely wrong. But he himself is a hypocrite, and he is without excuse.

  6. If you despise Ahab, and the Pequod, and the country that originated them, then the tale of Moby Dick is somewhat enjoyable in that the obsession is working against your enemies. Same with Biden, the Deep State and America in general, if what the US has been doing seems fascistic and beneath contempt, then the bottomless black hole that the Biden Regime and the West are digging on all fronts is actually encouraging and exhilarating.

    So many lament the actions of the West. However, IMHO, Biden is the man for the moment. He is masterfully presiding over the Death of the West. Trump would not be alienating the world, sinking the Western economy, destroying the petrodollar, spending us into a hyperinflationary depression. This is all great stuff IF you understand that the Russians, the Chinese and the Indians are the white hats in this western drama.

    Living here, it’s difficult to stomach. But really, in the great conflict of the sons of light versus the sons of darkness, it is cause to rejoice. Nonetheless, it is horrible for the Ukrainian people and potentially for the Taiwanese. Yet, this life is but an antechamber to the world to come . . .

    • Moby Dick is one of my favorite books but not in the way you mentioned. Melville put me on the Pequod and I felt like I was really was on the ship with the main characters! When I read the book, I was a whaler!

    • This is all great stuff IF you understand that the Russians, the Chinese and the Indians are the white hats in this western drama.

      To hold this view, you must be able to explain why those who own the privately owned Federal Reserve, and who consequently own America, thereby having a firm grip on the levers of the greatest military power the world has ever seen, just sat idly by while America was flushed down the toilet and China was allowed to develop, becoming a threat to America and all that its owners have patiently and ravenously worked towards.

      Those who own America were never shy in the past about bending foreign nations to their will – and neither did they lack the means – and yet when it came to China, they just suddenly went all weak, even helping China along with massive off-shoring – the latter being an economic situation that those who own the Federal Reserve could have prevented if they wanted.

      And none of this says anything about how the owners of America are intentionally demoralising the country (with degeneracy), which, if they were genuinely in competition with China, would only make their behaviour even more inexplicable.

      For this reason, I do not see the destruction of America and the development of China as you see it, as it makes no sense that the owners of the greatest social engineering tool in the world (i.e. America) would allow a previously very weak and easy to manipulate China to not only develop independently but to the point that it would threaten the said mighty social engineering tool – all the while working intentionally to undermine that social engineering tool with degeneracy.

      If I am wrong, then I must be proven to be by something which explains why the owners of the Fed / America (who of course have their eyes on the biggest price of all, the entire world) allowed China to become a genuine threat, despite possessing the ability to stop it, and at the same time, doing everything in their power to weaken America.

      • “…those who own …America, thereby having a firm grip on the levers
        of the [formerly] greatest military power the world has ever seen”.

        It reads more true now.

        “If I am wrong, then I must be proven to be by something which explains why
        the owners of the Fed / America…allowed China to become a genuine threat,
        despite possessing the ability to stop it, and at the same time,
        doing everything in their power to weaken America.”

        (1) They thought they owned China,.
        They were wrong.
        (2) They are trying to own America.
        They have not (yet?) succeeded.
        (3) They are not as clever as they think they are.

      • John,

        You must understand that China has been ostensibly a communist country. As the Democratic Party became evermore leftist, all hostility to China evaporated, especially since it engages in quite a lot of capitalist activity. So they believed they could work towards globalism with the Chinese, especially with the offshoring of jobs and production.

        However, a funny thing happened on the way to world hegemony. China, it turns out, is nationalist, not globalist. Nor is it on board with cultural wokeness. While the Western elites dreamed of having the totalitarian control that the Chinese have in their society, the Chinese were happy feeding Chinese interests which only seemed to coincide with globalism.

        At some point, the West began to wake up (though there are many, many Dem and some Repub polls still in bed with and advocating for China) and realize they had created a monster who would gladly vie with them for world dominance.

        It likely would have gone on longer with China continuing to use the US like a cheap wh*re had not the Sino-Russian or Eurasian Alliance formed. That served as a wake up call to all but the most securely bought politicians here that there was a tectonic shift in the balance of world power going on, and not to their benefit.

        Now, I’m not all touchy feely about the Chinese. I do believe they have gotten a lot of bad propaganda-press. But at the end of the day, they are atheistic materialists, much like the liberals. However, unlike the liberals, they are nationalists rather than globalists and probably for that reason they have decided to ally with Russia.

        The enemy of my enemy is my ally.

        And so, though I sympathize with the Taiwanese, I understand that many, perhaps most, there are fine with complete reunification with the mainland and that it is mainly US backed agitators who seek independence. Were China still an actual communist/socialist functioning state, I would side with the Taiwanese independence forces. However, there’s not a dime’s worth of difference in the two states from my perspective other than that one is a US pawn/colony.

        So, given the division of nationalist vs globalist forces arrayed at present, yes, I see the Chinese in alliance with Russia as white hats.

        • Well said, Misha.

          If I may at this: as a life-long Cold Warrior, I always took the side of the ROC (Taiwan). However times have changed and the KMT Party of Chiang Kai-Shek (my poster boy) is now against globohomo and is more than willing to come to terms with Red China. And let’s face it, China is no more “communist” than the Democrat Party is “democratic” or the Labour Party is for labour.

          • As the late Tony Benn observed before he died,
            the Labour Party is not and never was Socialist,
            “…though it used to have some socialists in it”.

            I expect the like may apply to the Democrats…

            • ‘As the late Tony Benn observed before he died…’

              Well, it would have been, wouldn’t it?

        • Thank you, Misha. That’s quite a good explanation and I really am beginning to see something I couldn’t before.

          Are you able to say more on why those who own America, in seeing that the East isn’t going in the same direction as them, would continue down the path of encouraging degeneracy in America, including within the military, when all that would clearly do is make the East an even bigger threat to America’s plans than what it already is?

          Is it simply a case, as Brendan said above, that they’re not as smart as they think they are – and that they’re essentially acting like heroin addicts who keep on going even though it’s destroying them – or is there still more to it than that?

          • Addiction is a good analogy. They are committed ideologues. Many of them sincerely believe that Western Liberalism is the last stage of human political development, LGBT and all. So they know they are on the right side of history even when it appears the bottom is falling out. Doubts just make them try harder.

            It will get quite ugly.

  7. Illumined says

    One’s stance on this shows who their true master is.

  8. “With every given opportunity we emphasize that minorities’ religious rights have to be respected and that one of the most substantial amongst those rights involves the ability of each Minority to educate its religious functionaries under the care of its specially trained exponents, lest, in having this task assigned to others, outside the Minority, the direct and all too real risk arise of gradually distorting the content of the Minority’s religious tradition. That is in fact the reason why all the missions that seek to distort peoples’ religions seek to gain access to their educational system and to exert their influence thereby…

    “It is precisely when we feel deficient in our self assurance and confidence that we consider others, especially aliens, as the root cause of our worry and turn against them in the hope that by removing them we remove the danger that ostensibly threatens our being…

    “Correspondingly, xenophobia is the product of a timorous conscience, namely of individuals who lack sufficient self assurance, who do not feel secure in their personal status. Strangers are thus regarded as threatening, as posing a hazard…

    “The situation becomes unbearable for indigenous minorities, for those who exist within intolerant societal majorities, for they are deemed alien whilst being equally indigenous as the majority. On many occasions the majorities merely indulge in intense attempts to assimilate the minorities culturally, religiously, nationally and linguistically. There are other more painful instances when majorities will be looking for scapegoats for their backwardness, or for their failure to progress, and find them in the members of the minority, against whom they turn virulently with the aim of destroying them, exterminating the minority as the ostensible cause of their real or imagined woes, despite the fact that the minority in question is actually not in the least responsible for what it is being blamed for…”

    -Speech of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at the OSCE Symposium in Brussels on the topic Religious Tolerance: Combating Racism, Xenophobia and Unfavorable Discrimination

    https://apostolicpilgrimage.org/religious-freedom/-/asset_publisher/1W7q1ncaf4pX/content/speech-of-ecumenical-patriarch-bartholomew-at-t/32008f2a5.html

    With every given opportunity…” Do tell. Why are you silent?

  9. God is working his purpose out. The big question is: Why is God allowing this?
    And another, are we helping God or getting in His way?
    Meanwhile Jesus said to the woman at the well,
    “ It is not where you worship me but how.
    In spirit and in truth. “

  10. Hilber Nelson says

    A question regarding, “Patriarch Bartholomew should hang his head in shame. He has not only brought the entire world to the brink of nuclear annihilation, he has now unilaterally, entered into schism”: Beyond prayer and fasting, what is our duty before God toward this wolf? What would the saints say, do? It seems to me, as we are witnessing a controlled demolition of our faith, our country, our schools, and even our humanity by the trans globalists, how we answer this question determines what we do, or don’t do, next as the Church.

  11. Zelensky and regime are lower than pregnant ants. Let us pray for the monks!

    • Katherine says

      Are we all pussy-footing around who Zelensky is and whom he is persecuting? Are the Ukro-nazis of today the Bolsheviks of yesterday? Patriarch Bartholemew is simply following in the God-hating footsteps of Meletios and Athenegoras, but he hasn’t the actual political or military power to defile the Lavra. Zelensky, like his Bolshevik (insert)
      ancestors is doing what they have done for the last 2000 years, waging war on The Church.

  12. Jeff Moss says

    Now Culture Minister Tkachenko is saying that the transfer of property will begin on Thursday… A pretty fair-minded report, as of Wednesday evening, from the Hindustan Times:

    Orthodox monks in Kyiv monastery accused of Russia links refuse eviction order

  13. ‘In this instance at least, one has to wonder what
    exactly is “ecumenical” about his patriarchate?’

    Perhaps it indicates he is a Prince of this world…?

  14. More and more voices in the Church are condemning and deploring this move, and it is revealing. Heck, even the Public Orthodoxy people are against this eviction (in their recent symposium on the Archon Youtube channel, I was pleasantly surprised by their stance—there was even some balance in there, although they still are pro-OCU).

    As for me, I have been sympathetic to the OCU in the past, and have defended their ordinations, while questioning the wisdom of the Tomos. There is no longer any doubt that the Tomos was a terrible mistake, that has had horrific consequences for the religious situation in Ukraine.
    The silence of the Ecumenical Patriarch is beyond disheartening. Even if one supports the canonicity of the OCU (which for me is no longer possible—they are thoroughly sectarian), they can still condemn these actions (as even the Fordham folks did, although speaking in terms of “dialogue”).

    The Ecumenical Patriarch and the Moscow Patriarch are both compromised. The long drama of Moscow VS The EP (Washington) is coming to a head, with consequences we can’t know. I am in an EP Church and will remain there as long as Orthodoxy exists, as the Greeks of the Ottoman period didn’t leave when the EP was a scoundrel (and there were more than a few during the Turkish yoke). That goes in both directions. Those who disagree with Patriarch Kyrill should not leave either. I still firmly believe that the solution to division is not more division. Our Lord told us what to do when our Church leaders fail or falter: “All the things they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds.” I pray the Ecumenical Patriarchate sees the dark path the OCU have set themselves on, and intervenes. Perhaps the reported prophecy of Elder Ephraim of Arizona will come true, and a council will emerge from the maelstrom that seems to have engulfed the world (I fervently pray for it to happen, even if Jerusalem or Antioch have to take the lead).

    I pray for Metropolitan Onuphry and the real Orthodox Church in Ukraine, and the Lavra. I also pray for the sectarians, as they “know not what they do.” I don’t want to think of the spiritual consequences of what will happen should they follow through on their intentions to desecrate the Lavra. I naively and foolishly believed that dialogue was possible, but the OCU was never interested in dialogue. Events have to run their course now, and I think the best way for everyone is “shelter in place,” no matter who their Patriarch is.

    Lord, have mercy.

    • Alexander II says

      “I also pray for the sectarians, as they ‘know not what they do.'”

      You are a far better person than I to do this, but do not for a moment think that the minions of Lucifer – Arhondonis, Dumenko, and the rest – don’t know what they are doing.

      They know. What they do is pure evil, pernicious and purposeful.

    • David, these are very wise words. If you’re in the GOA and a devout Christian, stay there for as long as you can. Your witness may convict the heart of some of the bishops. Same if your an East Coast OCA member. (In the OCA at least, we’ve shown how ordinary people can burn down the phone lines in Syosset if they think that the Holy Synod is going to throw in the towel. That ain’t nothing.)

      If I may come to the defense (as it were) of the EP during the Ottoman yoke, yes, there were scoundrels on the patriarchal throne. Of this there can be no doubt. That said, none of the men were ever against the Church or its teachings (at least not publicly: I believe that a few were privately Freemasons). What is going on today is nothing less than the public refutation of Orthodox ecclesiology on the one hand, and the public affirmation of the globalist system and its attendant anti-Christian morality (yes, yes, yes, that means the whole Alphabet People nonsense).

      To put not too fine a point on it, the laity had no reason to expect heresy or the embrace of unreality from their episcopate. To be fair, neither did anybody else have anything to fear from their religious leaders for that matter, whether Greek, Turk, Arab, Jew, black, white, African Bushmen from the Kalahari or Finns and Laplanders.

  15. “one has to wonder what exactly is “ecumenical” about his patriarchate?”

    Easy. Ecumenical means involved in the heresy of Ecumenism. Or Hell bent on uniting all religions under You Know Who 😉

    • Accurate lol

    • Solidarity Priest says

      Bingo! I think one reason the EP is after Metropolitan Onufry is because he ISN’T an Ecumenist. Photos showed Metropolitan Onufry’s predecessor fully vested with the Uniate Metropolitan also vested. I don’t believe anyone ever saw Metropolitan Onufry in such a manner. In happier times, videos show Metropolitan Onufry standing at a military parade in Kiev, together with “Patriarch” Filaret and the Uniate Metropolitan. But for Ukrainian extremists, being a patriot is not enough. You must subscribe to total hatred of anything Russian. That type of patriotism is indeed Nazi-like. I can’t support it and neither can the canonical church.

  16. Once again, the faithful today prevented the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and Information Policy from entering the Lavra. In Ukrainian:

    MCIP commission again blocked from entering Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra

  17. Joseph Lipper says

    The reason the UOC is being persecuted is for their refusal to seek and/or to fully declare their autocephaly. They have not even asked the Moscow Patriarchate for this. Of course the Church of Latvia did, and so far it’s gotten them nowhere. So it now seems unlikely that the UOC will even pursue that route.

    Although the UOC has wiped away any mention of Moscow from their charter, they are still considered to be part of the MP. Even Patriarch Kirill acknowledges this. I have to wonder, though, if refusing to be fully autocephalous is really a good reason to suffer persecution. Can such persecution actually qualify martyrs and confessors of the faith?

    The Old Calendarists in Greece were severely persecuted for refusing to adopt a newer calendar. The Old Believers in Russia were persecuted for their traditional piety. Both these groups were persecuted for their steadfastness, or perhaps obstinacy. Indeed they were persecuted, but I’m not aware of any Orthodox saints that came out of those persecutions.

    • The UOC has already declared full independence. They had to. They’re being persecuted because the state sanctioned church wants their parishes/property and wants them gone.

      There can be but one canonical Orthodox Church in Ukraine. This is the Russian Orthodox Church. Bartholomew enabled the schismatic church, now under him, the schismatic nationalist church, i.e. Nazi, to crush the canonical Church just to get back at Russia. But with God’s help, the UOC will be able to hold their own, as 90+% of the canonical Church around the world supports them. Even many of the Greeks support them. They hate what Bartholomew did in Ukraine.

      https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/uoc-mp-asserts-full-independence

      You don’t know what Metropolitan Onufriy and Patriarch Kirill talk about, Joseph, and what does the Church of Latvia have to do with anything?

      If the UOC is considered part of the MP, why is Bartholomew inviting them to come under him? Is he trying to poach them when their backs are against the wall?
      Of course he is! He hates Russia and wants to take everything from them.

      If the OCU were to become part of Bartholomew’s eparchy, he’ll later join them them to the OCU, under Epiphany, and turn them all into schismatics like himself.

      RE: “I have to wonder, though, if refusing to be fully autocephalous is really a good reason to suffer persecution.”

      The UOC is not refusing to be autocephalous. Russia hasn’t granted it. In the meantime they’re operating as an independent Church which Moscow has allowed.

      They’re being persecuted because the OCU wants to take all the UOC’s parishes and property. This isn’t new. They’ve been trying to do this since 2018 when Bartholomew created this mess. We’ve seen in shocking detail how the OCU, under Bartholomew’s direction (according to the tomos, as they can’t move in on any church unless he approves it), is going into little parishes and literally pulling out canonical priests by their robes and desecrating their alters.

      The Lavra Caves are just the beginning. Dr.Lyudmila Filippovich, purportedly a religious scholar said, the monks of the UOC-MP have 3 options – go to the OCU, create their own monastery subordinate to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, or leave for Russia. This is the canonical Church they’re talking about!

      I think very soon, Russia and the Chinese are going to remedy the situation. I also think the canonical Church is going to start thinking about what they need to do to take care of Bartholomew. I certainly hope so.

      • I also think the canonical Church is going to start thinking about what they need to do to take care of Bartholomew. I certainly hope so.

        I really hope you’re correct on this as well.

        With the arrest of Metropolitan Paul of the Lavra and with the major persecution against the UOC, it’s past time for the Church to come together and anathematize Bartholomew and the OCU, and quite possibly consider suppressing the Ecumenical Patriarchate all together.

        All you have to do is look at the videos of the UOC laity kneeling and praying and people mocking them and doing satanic dances around them to know this is from Satan.

      • LonelyDn says

        As for option three, “or leave for Russia” I pray that Russia comes to them and rescues our brothers! Recapture Kiev, guys. Come on!

  18. Oleg Petrovich says

    Please look at this and share, especially among the Pat. Bartholomew supporters and inner circle! Ukrainian ethnofiletists dance their pagan dances around the Orthodox woman praying on her knees.

    https://t.me/churcher_info/1921

    Comment says ‘This way, with dancing, we will defeat these Muscovites and defend the rights of the Ukrainian Church and the dignity of the Ecumenical throne!’

    And, for a moment, it’s the Great Lent time… Are they aware of it? Does it mean something for them at all?