Give that Priest a Raise!

Unlike the docile people who call themselves Christians here in America, the believers in Eastern Europe are made of sterner stuff.

Enjoy! (I did!)

Ukrainian priest slaps Pussy Riot sympathizers with censer

Source: The Voice of Russia

Several men with stockings on their heads entered a small Ukrainian Orthodox church in the village Barvinkovo on Thursday night to perform a “punk prayer” of their own but met fierce defiance of the priest who smacked them with a censer and handed them over to the police.

The arrested are reported to be members of the local music band called Dick Revolt.

Voice of Russia, Interfax

Comments

  1. Several members of the OCA synod of bishops with stockings on their heads entered Metropolitan Jonah’s Orthodox Cathedral to remove him but met fierce defiance of the Metropolitan Jonah’s supporters who smacked them with a censer and handed them over to the be flogged.

    The floggies are reported to be members of the OCA synod called Dick Revolt.

    All this talk about love for His Beatitude is wasted. Real love required real action, the AAC was our chance, we have failed our Master. How can we repent once we turned our backs on His Beatitude. He was an innocent and we let the wolves devour him.

    • the only thing to do is continue the battle. Just because one skirmish is lost doesn’t mean we stop the war.
      The present incumbent is entering with lots of baggage, some created by him going along with the power mongers and his not even trying to stop them as far as we know. If he had he probably wouldn’t be where he is now. And technically, constitutionally Met+Jonah is still Met. For a while there were two popes, and that sorted itself out. We need to continue to sort this out.

      • Who will be the new bishop for the eastern Pennsylvania diocese? Drezlo says the candidate is
        Bishop Mark. Will a former Antiochian bishop, with a background that does not embrace
        monasticm, be a good choice for St Tikhon’s monastery and seminary?

    • AAC might have been everyone’s chance, but it seems as though there were no protests and nobody raised their voice at the council. All talk, no action as usual.

      • Hey, I was there! As were others-where were you? Because of our small size and no permit . . . . we protested at the hotels as the buses and cars rolled out. . . .

        • oliverwendeldouglas says

          Yeah, right. Where are the videos or photos from Parma? Where is the action. You all talked a good game about your outrage at what happened and your unending support for Metropolitan Jonah, but when it came down to (as they say in certain parts of the south) the nut-cutting time, you all folded like last week’s newspaper. I’d be willing to bet that all the talk of not sending money to Syosett (sp) is just that talk-when the basket comes around on Sunday you just fold up your little pre-printed envelope and submit it. Blah blahblah. You get what you deserve. I’d be willing to be that in today’s OCA, that priest in Ukraine would be called to account for himself and possibly reprimanded for not having a sufficient attitude of love. So, adios muchachos. Stew in your own juices. I have bigger, better and stronger fish to fry. You are all just . . .annoying.

          BY the way, +BT, how’s it going with all that confession and prayer with the poor, needy and imprisoned you’ve undertaken instead of writing snarky crap on the internet . . . like people like me.

          • All in the Family says

            Dear oliverwendeldouglas,

            Thank you for giving all of us your “sufficient attitude of love.” It is an inspiration and your words truly befit a member of the OCA. May God bless you.

    • All in the Family says

      @ Dennis R.

      You are right about action, however the memory of the execution of Archpriest Joseph Fester in DC by the Synod sent a chilling message to the rest of the OCA clergy. You fight for +Jonah, you get the wrath of the OCA Synod. You say anything in Parma and you will be noticed. “Yes, your attitude has been noticed.” (Dr. Zhivago)

      • Thomas Paine says

        Look, Fester should have been deposed. He was lucky he wasn’t defrocked. He should have never been in any authoritative post after his involvement with RSK.

        • George Michalopulos says

          Why do you say that? What canonical infraction did he commit?

        • And Thomas, you now lay out for all the world to see the real motive behind the persecution of Fr. Fester.

          Those Stokovites et al have a “kill list” and were unable to get Fr. Joseph ensnared in the Kondratick kangaroo court.

          Unfortunately, Fr. Fester was on that list. There was no canonical reason. All they need is an excuse and any flimsy one will do and did do.

          If someone was to be deposed, how about Bp Mark for his email theft and his conspiracy against the bishop to whom he owed obedience?? And, of course, his sidekick David Morretti “should have never been in any authoritative post after his involvement with Maymon.” Oh, wait, I guess he took care of that himself…

    • The wolves are not done yet. And neither are we. We were not permitted to raise any issues at the council. One priest tried to ask a question about the ballot procedure, I think to help make it more workable, and he was told that his remarks were inappropriate and improper.

      The entire meeting was a kangaroo court. No — and I mean NO — discussion was allowed. I returned home discouraged that I had not done more than vote twice for Metropolitan Jonah, but there was nothing else I could do unless I wanted to start a fist fight. That would not serve the Church or +Jonah well.

      Jeff is right. The war is not over though this skirmish be lost.

      As for those who think that we delegates did too little to support +Jonah, please forgive us if we let you down. We are pretty down ourselves at how little we could do.

      But this is not over. There is still the demand for an independent investigation pending as well as other action.

      And, oh yeah, my tithes are still being directed outside the OCA.

      Never say die.

      • George Michalopulos says

        Isn’t it ironic that here, in a supposedly free country, delegates of an American church were forbidden to say anything at all? Am I the only one who gets this?

      • Archpriest John W. Morris says

        Perhaps you should let it get over. Met. Jonah is not going to come back. Met. Tikhon is the new Metropolitan of the OCA and will be accepted by the rest of Orthodoxy in his new office. There comes a time to cut your losses and go on with life. Right now the most important thing is the survival of the OCA. I learned a long time ago to let God take care of His Church and to concentrate on the salvation of my flock and myself and to let God deal with everything else. The OCA is not a purely human organization. Is is also a Spirit filled Orthodox Church, which despite its problems is protected by God.
        It is well within the principles of normally accepted parliamentary procedure not to allow discussion of matters not related to the purpose of the meeting. The Sobor in Parma was not a normal ordinary Sobor but was called for one matter, the election of a new Metropolitan of the OCA. That was its sole concern, not the state of the OCA.
        I will tell you how I experience the OCA. As most of you know, I am recovering from a total knee replacement, which by the way is not fun. My wife is in an extended care hospital for wounds that will not heal because of her dieabetes. Yesterday, as my therapist was beginning, the hospital called and told me that they were taking my wife to the emeregency room of the full service hospital because of heart problems. My therapists helped me get dressed and took me to the hospital. I stayed with my wife until they decided that nothing really was wrong and that she had had a reaction to some of her medication. Just as I was trying to find a ride home, Fr. Paul Yerger of Holy Resurrection OCA Church in Clinton, a suburb of Jackson and his wife walked into the room. He had read something on the internet about my wife being taken to the emergency room (my people send our alerts by E mail about my wife and my condition) and drove all the way to Vicksburg. That is to me the OCA, not arguments about who should be Metropolitan, but one Orthodox Priest caring about the needs of another brother Orthdoox Priest. At the same time a member of my parish is in serious condition in a hospital in Jackson, Fr. Paul is faithfully visiting him. That is how we are one Church, not by arguing about minor liturgical differences, bu by loving each other and recognizing that what unites us is far greater than that which divides us.
        Whatever problems the OCA or any other Orthodox jurisdiction has, God will take care of them. Let us learn to trust in God and stop acting as if the survival of the Church depended on us, because it does not. It depends on God. To quote the Divine Liturgy, “Let us love one another that in one accord we may confess….”

        • V.Rev.Andrei Alexiev says

          Father John,
          You are in my prayers.May I have you wifes name,so that I might mention her in my private prayers and at proscomedia.My late wife, Olga, was diabetic,I know it’s a terrible affliction.

          • Archpriest John W. Morris says

            My wife of Khouriyee (Arabic for Presbyteria) is Cheryl. We both could use your prayers. I am still in a lot of pain from my operation. Cheryl is in a rehabilitation hospital due to wounds on her feet that will not heal.

        • See if you can find one or two logical fallacies in this advice:
          God is the one who builds up the Church, not us; therefore, we don’t need to worry about the health of the OCA. Instead it is absolutely critical that we each put all of our efforts into helping the OCA survive during this time when it’s survival is so tenuous.
          ——————-

          If you ignore and enable abusive behavior, you cannot just expect God to magically clean it up. Here is an alternative approach: Put people and your faith in God first and let God take care of the prestige of the institution. Isn’t that both more ethical and more consistent with faith in an all-powerful God?

          I think all that anyone cares about anymore is that Jonah is not abused further. It is wrong to say his abuse should not matter to anyone. Orthodoxy cannot be so insecure and myopic as to ignore the abuse of one created in God’s image. If you cannot care for Jonah, you cannot care for anyone. If you cannot care about Jonah, who cares if your dreams and manifest destiny materialize. If the OCA cannot care for a good man like Jonah, I would hope that the OCA does not survive. I sincerely hope that no person of faith works to protect a false image of the OCA at the expense of a real person.

          The OCA has slandered and libelled Jonah and removed him from diocesan ministry (his job) without following agreed upon procedures for doing so. These are not actions of the Holy Spirit, even a pagan can see that. What you have is a crisis of faith until you either decide the OCA is not the Church or see it act like the Church. If you are in the OCA and you love Jonah, then you are the Church. If you are in the OCA and you use Jonah for personal gain or abuse him out of spite, then you are not the Church. The heathens and Holy Scriptures can agree on this point. Can you?

          Caring for Jonah is not a distraction. He is a real person, created in God’s image. Caring for Jonah IS the work of the Church.

          I do not believe the OCA is or wants to be the Church. But I’d be delighted to have the synod surprise us all and treat Jonah honorably going forward.

  2. The information you provided above is false. It would be wise to research more before post such things. However, not only you – even big media organization ate it first before they discover it is falsification.

  3. Holy smack down Batman!

  4. No sign of a YouTube on this subject.

    Looks fake, at this point.

  5. “Enjoy! (I did!)” George, have you taken complete leave of your senses? If this be true, the priest in question is in serious trouble.

    Canon 27 of the Holy Apostles mandates that “as for a Bishop, or Presbyter, or Deacon that strikes a believer for sinning, or unbelievers for wrong-doing, with the idea of making them afraid, we command that he be deposed from office. For the Lord has nowhere taught that; on the contrary, He Himself when struck did not strike back; when reviled, He did not revile His revilers; when suffering, He did not threaten.” (See also Canon 9 of the 1st-and-2nd). If this priest’s Bishop actually does his duty, Fr. Whoever is done like dinner. For clergy, the entire canonical tradition of Holy Orthodoxy demands the complete and total renunciation of violence.

    So if you’re insisting on akrivia in, e.g., the case of Bishop Melichizedek and his canonical release, how much more should you insist on it here.

    Fr. Philip

    • Thomas Paine says

      Sure, and Archbishop Nicholas of Myra didn’t punch Arius at the First Ecumenical Council in 325. He should have thrown him out a window.

      • Michael Bauman says

        After which Archbishop Nicholas was kicked out of the council and would have been deposed except for the intervention of the Theotokos.

        Not a good idea for priest to go ’round punchin’ people.

      • If you’ll recall, St. Nicholas WAS deposed for hitting Arius. It was only by reason of the Theotokos appearing to several bishops individually, asking that St. Nicholas be restored, that his deposition was reversed at the close of the Council. And the fact that St. Nicholas sinned does not justify anyone else sinning in like manner. Being a full-blooded Sicilian male, I can understand viscerally the temptation to violence; but yielding to that temptation is still sin.

        Fr. Philip

        • Michael Bauman says

          Fr. Philip, yes he was depopsed and reinstated, I conflated the whole thing by saying, “would have been deposed”.

  6. Ronda Wintheiser says

    There were 17 of us who voted for Metropolitan JONAH on both ballots.

    • I was one who did this as well, Ronda.

    • Could you tell us anything based on your conversations, observations why so few voted for him or some other outside bishop? I get the impression from other posters there was a tight lid on discussion making it very difficult to bring up Metropolitan Jonah’s situation without being very disorderly which might well have done more harm than good.

      What was the mood on the ground? Their reactions to comments and speeches and the like? I get the feeling few were happy about any of it…it was just a chore to get done so they could leave once it was obvious there would be no opportunity to be heard. But then again, I get the feeling there is also a broad swath of the OCA clergy who had little feeling/loyalty towards Metropolitan one way or the other. If he was gone, they would cast a vote for whomever they hoped to see elected next. For them Metropolitan Jonah was yesterday’s news.

      It would be helpful…perhaps, to get a sense of what it was like to be there and how everyone felt about it.

      • Tymofiy Hawrysh says

        From one who attended, I was told the mood of the AAC was very peaceful, seemed to be more peaceful than previously attended AACouncils. This attendee says he and others expected some type of large demonstration supporting Met. Jonah. Only four ladies stood at the entrance to the church. To him all of the outcry for Met. Jonah was as fluff with little substance.
        What evidence do you have when you say, “I get the feeling few were happy about any of it…” ? All of your sentences are conjecture.
        Seraphim98… it seems wiser to talk to someone who attended the AAC.

        “Die daily, that you might live eternally, for the one who fears God will live forever.” -Saint Anthony the Great

        • It’s the feeling I get in trying to interpret the posts of those who did attend. It was peaceful, on the whole pleasant, heavily scripted, something that needed to be done, but not particularly joyful or inspiring to do…anyway, that’s the vibe/sentiment that flavors a lot of the attendee feedback that I’ve encountered so far…coupled with a sense of relief that one of the worse candidates didn’t get many votes or get the nod.

  7. Pere LaChaise says

    “Dick Riot” completely misses the point. It’s not revolutionary for men to behave this way, it’s not even cute. It’s derivative and unimaginative, sheds no light on anything. The PR girls did something foolish but intended to make a serious point about power and its abuse in church. The men may feel similarly, but will have to invent another kind of action (or inaction) that will signify anything.