For the last two months, the world (well, the Western world anyway) has been treated to non-stop videos and stories about the “heroic” President of Ukraine.
We are told that he is a cross between a Leonidas and a Richard the Lionheart. That he is a brave warrior, utterly committed to the cause of Ukraine’s ultimate victory.
No doubt, we will see him take Vladimir Putin’s surrender in the halls of the Kremlin itself.
What we are not told is that Zelensky wasn’t always such an overt Russophobe. In fact, he actually liked Russians. Did you know that his first language is Russian and that he had to “brush up” on Ukrainian in order to further his career? His wife and children have been baptized Orthodox Christians who belong to the canonical Orthodox Church in Ukraine, the one that is an eparchy of the Moscow patriarchate. There are rumors that he himself is an apostate Jew who converted to Christianity years ago.
Have we forgotten that he won his overwhelming 73% victory against his predecessor on a promise of making peace with Russia and ensuring autonomy for the Russian-speaking eastern part of Ukraine?
Don’t believe me? Please enjoy this video of St Zelensky talking like a peace-loving liberal five years ago:
https://youtu.be/Kl2A6RQ-X0w
Who’da thunk? Oh, wait. I did! Three years ago, when he beat Poroshenko. [Please read especially the second paragraph. Did I call it or what?]
Here it is:
Ukraine: Now What?
Well, it looks like Ukraine has a new president. Volodymyr Zelinsky, a Jewish comedian, and television personality overwhelmingly won the election. It wasn’t even close: he didn’t just beat the incumbent, he slaughtered him, winning 74 percent of the vote.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48007487
Now, I’m under no illusions that he is going to succeed in implementing a reformist program. There are several reasons for this, one being that there are still several neo-nazi militias such as Svoboda and Pravy Sektor that range freely across that benighted country, imposing their will as they wish. Secondly, the levels of institutional corruption are deep; one has to go to Africa to find anything approaching such malevolent levels of malfeasance. Third, Ukraine has been hobbled by its heterogeneity and its geography.
Certainly, there are other reasons that will make Zelinsky’s tenure difficult.
Still, there are signs of hope. First of all, the level of his landslide is truly historic. That means that despite the corruption, there was no way that Poroshenko could cobble together his coalition or jigger with the election machines to barely squeak by a 50.0001/% majority. That’s huge in and of itself. It means that Zelinsky has enough breathing room to at least try to enact his reforms. Even if he just barely succeeds on certain issues, his popularity will not recede. [OK, I blew this one: His popularity before the war had sunk to Bidenesque levels.]
Secondly, Zelinsky is a Russian speaker and four of the five largest cities of Ukraine are majority Russian speaking. These facts give the lie to the idea that all Ukrainians are necessarily Russia-haters. Thirdly, Zelinsky has signaled that he is willing to talk to Putin in order to end the rebellion in the East. That may be a bridge too far but Putin can always dangle a few juicy carrots if that’s what it takes to keep Ukraine as part of the Russian “Near Abroad”. Regardless, I think it’s safe to say that the Ukro-nationalist program of Poroshenko has failed miserably.
Fourth, there’s a glimmer of hope on the ecclesiastical front, in that officials in the Rada have already stated before the election that any properties confiscated from the canonical Ukrainian Church will be returned to them. That may have been an electoral olive branch to undecided voters. If true, this means that the whole schismatic church thing was not nearly as popular as liberals in the West and its ecclesiastical stooges had us believing in the first place. So yes, if I had to guess, I’d the bloom is off of Mr. Dumenko’s and his schismatic sect’s rose.
The unknowns are these: is he a captive to the West? Will he demand Ukraine join the EU and/or NATO? Time will tell.
A final thought: Zelinsky’s election, like Netanyahu’s stunning reelection in Israel and Orban’s, Balsonaro’s, Salvini, etc., signals that Trumpism is an unstoppable force. We are talking about amateurs who have defeated the establishments of their respective states. This means that the people of these countries have absolutely had it. And that even the powers-that-be could not stand in the way of change.
We live in interesting times.
I remember. I followed Zelensky debating Poroshenko. I know Ukrainian, so I understood when Zelensky said, ” the Autocephaly was a victory for Filaret, not for you.”
Actually, at one time Poroshenko himself belonged to the canonical church. That was before he decided that Ukrainianism was more important than Orthodox Christianity. Too bad.
As for the Church in Ukraine:
https://orthochristian.com/146007.html
The city has about 80,000 people.
This is, remember, funded and held up by the US federal government, including the Trump administration. The OCA has overtly taken the side of these people.
I am reminded of Bartholomew’s words, “We temporarily tolerate the existence of the Moscow Church in Ukraine.”
https://orthochristian.com/146005.html
A hegoumenos (I make a point to not use Catholic words like abbot or matins) was killed by shrapnel. There were no Russian forces around, so apparently the Ukrainians were just firing guns for no reason. As with everything in this war, official reports vary from local reports.
The OCA has announced that it “stands with the Ukrainian people”. Does it stand with this man? I visited a very historic OCA church Sunday, and there were so many petitions for the Ukrainian people and the war that I lost count. Is this hieromonk part of Ukrainian mass, or does he not count because he was killed by Ukrainian forces?
<>
Surely that’s the kind of person the OCA would hold up as an ideal. Will we see his face plastered on the OCA website?
<>
That’s interesting, that he was laity for most of his life. But with a name like Partheny, he probably spent his life in virginity while in the world. Will the OCA hold him up as a model for lay piety, for keeping the faith in times of total secularism?
What about the EP? Bartholomew assures us that he loves each individual like a mother hen with her chicks. Will he welcome this Fr Partheny into his bosom? Will he commemorate him at the liturgy? Perhaps make an icon of him at his new Ukrainian Athonite monastery?
What about ROCOR? They assure us that they’re Orthodox to the core and always on the right side of canonicity. Will ROCOR say anything about this man who carried on the tradition and bore witness to it with his life and death?
We keep hearing that this is a “fratricidal war”. Who better embodies the fratricide than a Ukrainian hieromonk in the MP killed by some kind of bomb?
Sorry Austin Martin, but the OCA has not overtly taken the side of these people. In my parish, and the (OCA) parishes near me, we don’t walk around with Ukrainian flag lapels, and sign petitions. Granted, there obviously are OCA parishes where you have people that aren’t very well-informed or are politically naive, but you also have those kind of people in all Orthodox parishes across the U.S. So, please don’t judge the entire OCA by what you see at one or two parishes.
I suspect Austin Martin was speaking more from the top down than the bottom up, with regard to the OCA’s position on the Ukraine situation. With Metropolitan Tikhon relocating the HQ of the OCA to Washington DC in a month or two, it is probably instructive to look at events like this:
https://washtheocon.org/wtc_events/ecumenism-as-a-peace-movement-the-case-of-ukraine/
This event will be hosted at St Nicholas in DC, soon to be Metropolitan Tikhon’s base church? That the OCA would allow something like this, at St Nicholas of all places, speaks volumes.
Certainly there are good parishes in the OCA (none in my area, sadly), but for large scale issues like the drift towards ecumanism and embracing schismatic churches, one has to look at the leadership. The OCA has issues at the Synod and Metropolitan Council level, it seems.
On top of that the Covid Protocols speak volumes. Refuse to comply and don’t attend. There is no faith here.
Lex caritas
It’s unfortunate that the OCA has been drifting that way. If this move is indeed allowed by Met. Tikhon then it probably shows the direction they are moving. There is also rampant ecumenism on the top level, at least from what I’ve seen on Instagram.
If this continues then I would expect parishes within the OCA to slowly start to drift away. I’m of the opinion that if we’re going to call out the GOA, we need to be prepared to equally call out the OCA and really any jurisdiction that begins to sway. I emailed the office of St. Nicholas cathedral voicing my displeasure on this event, and I recommend others do the same. Our voices matter and the pressure we put on these things matter. There was a recent event in Alaska that has been sanctioned because enough people complained.
My caveat is that I am not a member of the OCA and not overly familiar with the inner workings of this, I’ll divert that to George & Gail who are way more informed than me. The OCA parishes I’m familiar with (Diocese of South & Diocese of Alaska) are great and function more like ROCOR than the OCA of the northeast.
I completely agree with you, Petro.
When I clicked on the link and saw all these Uniates, it made my skin crawl. Even though I have nothing against the ordinary laymen and clerics within the Uniate churches, the overall idea of these sects –and their bishops parading around in Orthodox garb–makes my skin crawl.
Two things:
(1) they are neither fish nor fowl. Be Orthodox –or not.
(2) the entire Ukraine is now paying the price for the original Unia. Those who are true Orthodox believers (even those Orthodox who follow Denisenko, Maletich or Dumenko) are trapped in this quagmire because of Unia.
FWIW, I’ve know too many Ukrainian Orthodox (especially those over 30 years old) who never thought of themselves as anything but Russians of the frontier lands. Like the Byelorussians, Carpatho-Russians, etc, Russians with distinctive sub-cultures.
Now that’s all gone to pot.
Dude, the Synod said it themselves.
https://www.oca.org/holy-synod/statements/holy-synod/statement-on-ukraine
Tikhon sent a letter to Kirill.
https://www.oca.org/news/oca-news/metropolitan-tikhon-sends-letter-to-patriarch-kirill
Also, side note. The are where I had quotes, which HTML cut out.
Very well said, Austin.
“…even the powers-that-be could not stand in the way of change.”
They are making a fight of it…unfortunately.
Zelensky is a puppet and always has been. He was a creation of Kolomoysky, a Jewish Ukrainian oligarch who started his tv show in order to campaign for his eventual election. I”m sure he said whatever he needed to in order to get elected but he never called the shots. That’s been the State Department from the get go as well as whatever influence the Ukronz’s could exert.
The picture of what will happen in the Ukraine is becoming clearer to me. Russia will keep and probably annex the Donbass and Novorossiya over to Transnistria. The rest of the country will become a firing range – a frozen extended conflict for testing Russian weapons systems on incoming Western materiel and personnel. As such, the denazification will be incomplete; however, the demilitarization will likely succeed.
On the whole, this is not a bad outcome.
I feel you’re correct, ceteris paribus. The wild card are the ideologues who currently rule the US and the EU. These people are bat-shit crazy. They literally have no idea of what they’re doing or what will happen if they follow their present course of action.
Now I realize that there are some massively wealthy business magnates in the Establishment. Janet Yellen, the Sec of the Treasury speaks for them. And there are still some smart military types in the Pentagon who have made a realistic assessment of current Russian military doctrine and know that NATO is not up to snuff.
I realize that there are in other words, cooler heads behind the scenes.
I am afraid however that they will not prevail.
It is easy to be influenced by what Western leaders say rather than solely by what they actually do. I would suggest that what they say is of no value at all. They are all pathological liars as recent history has demonstrated.
Judging by what they have been willing to actually do, they are not interested in any full-scale conventional war with Russia, much less a nuclear exchange. They are very big talkers, but there is nothing whatsoever stopping them from direct NATO activity with boots on the ground, no fly zones, etc., other than fear of what the Russians will do in that event. So far, they are taking the cowardly route and simply arming the Ukies and assisting them to some extent with intel. That is, they are willing to fight Russia to the last Ukrainian. And they are getting there. The average age of the surrendering Ukrainian troops now is about 40.
There is no getting around the fact that Western powers have no balls. The only courage they have is for economic self-immolation. The politicians may be trying to talk their MIC’s into actually getting actively involved, or they may simply be barking like dogs and hiding behind saner, cooler military heads. The Uniparty does seem united in a hawkish stance, but the country is not there as the recent primaries serve to demonstrate. The J.D. Vance’s of the country want no part of the Ukraine war and it may end up hanging like an albatross around necks of Unipartisans, Republican and Democrat alike.
For me, the bottom line is that the US does not have the courage to start a nuclear war and the Russians have no need to do so, inasmuch as they are winning in the Ukraine and could also fend off NATO if need be. Now, to expedite and punctuate matters I would not put it past them to lob a few tactical nukes at invading NATO troops. But I seriously doubt that will transpire (why not just use hypersonic missiles or a MOAB type device?).
At the end of the day, Russia has a larger nuclear arsenal than America and – and this is seldom understood in the West – has a sizeable number of tactical (low yield, artillery type nukes). For Russians, nuclear war is far from the unthinkable suicide mission it is conceived as in the West. It is simply another contingency. This makes perfect sense given Russia’s history of being invaded and the numbers of casualties they have suffered in these wars.
The Russians are already wiping the floor with an army trained to NATO specs with NATO weapons and they are using only a small fraction of their own forces and significantly less troops than the enemy. That is why the Western leadership is going bonkers. They are losing a World War. In fact, it’s worse than that. They are too paralyzed by fear to even begin to fight a World War. Nothing but jabber, jabber, jabber, sanction, sanction, sanction. To no avail.
Russia has found power lying in the street and is merely picking it up.
They won this war by preparing since 2014 and sealing deals with China and India. It all just has to play out. This is the Eurasian century. I’m not even convinced that China will be the senior partner in the new hegemonic bloc. Russia struck the West first. That courage is a mark of leadership. China needs Russia’s nuclear umbrella in the Pacific for its expansive policy. The Middle Kingdom only has a relatively small number of nukes, a few hundred, and lacks the ability to project its nuclear arsenal widely and accurately. That may never come into play, but it is something that Western military leaders have to bear in mind. But now what they also have to bear in mind is that Russia and China are allies (“without limits”) and China is supporting Russia in the Ukraine adventure. And Russia can project its nuclear power into the Pacific.
So while it is true that China is more economically powerful than Russia, Russia is the muscle. In the short term, arms are decisive, long term it is economics. However, Russia may end up an economic powerhouse through trade with China, India and the Rest. The night is young.
Really good summation, Misha.
I do find it ironic that the U.S is doing all of this to economically devastate Russia and foment a regime change in Moscow when in reality it is America (and more-so Europe) that will be economically devastated and most likely a massive regime change flowing from that. If things play out as The Duran has talked about, come Midterms then the Democrats will be decimated. Or so we can hope.
As usual, Misha, another very well thought-out analysis.
For me, it comes down to this: if there are any real warriors left at the Pentagon, their time is being wasted in Pronoun Seminars. Voltaire said “show me who you can’t criticize and I’ll show you your masters.”
Americans at all levels are paralyzed with fear of the Alphabet People. The fact that real men with high T-levels at the Pentagon have to bend the knee tells us all we need to know about the longevity of our civilization (as presently constituted).
Misha, in re-reading your post, this insight came to me, when you said that the Western leaders only “have courage for economic self-immolation.”
I must (respectfully) disagree. The Western elites will suffer no economic consequences at all for their bellicose stupidity. They are immune from the normal economic turmoil that afflicts 98% of the world’s population on a daily basis.
Several years ago, I wrote an essay called “Failing Up” which detailed the immunity that elites experience whenever they screw-up. I look at a non-entity like Jen Psaki and know for a fact that she will make more money sitting on her ass at MSNBC spouting the same lies she spoke as press secretary for President Brandon. And no one (save for Steve Doocey) called her to account for a single syllable that was vomited out of her mouth.
That goes for all the retired generals who speak on Fox, CNN, etc. When was the last time that America fought a war against a heavily-armed enemy? One with tanks, an Air Force? Korea? Yet here they are, making boo-coos of bucks sitting on the boards of the MIC to which we can now add the Fake News Industrial Complex.
When things like this are taken into consideration then I feel that the present ideologues will go on their merry way risking an actual nuclear exchange. The economic sanctions against Russia are threatening to tear the EU apart from America. As for the ordinary people of the West, our living standards are plummeting precipitously.
Anyway, that’s my very real fear.
In general, George, I agree with you, but it underlines my larger point. No doubt you are correct that the elites will not suffer directly from the economic self-immolation of the West, though the current crop of politicians may be displaced from power. That is why they have the courage to instigate it.
However, that same cowardice is what should prevent them from launching a nuclear exchange, IMHO. I.e., they pay no price for destroying the Western economies, being insulated at the top of the food chain. However, they would pay dearly for instigating a nuclear war. They are prime targets.
If the US slips into recession, even depression, and Europe slips into a deep depression, money will insulate the elites.
If a twenty-megaton warhead goes off over DC, all the money in the world will not save them.
If we don’t launch, it is almost given that the Russians won’t launch. So the West can go right up to the edge. The Russians know they can defeat the West militarily with conventional weapons. The Russians have not fired a shot at the West except for the 200 or so volunteers in the west of the Ukraine near L’vov (the barrage of 30 hypersonic missiles).
It would take a full on war against NATO which the Russians were clearly losing to cause them to launch nuclear weapons first, probably at troops that already had crossed into the RF or were in imminent danger of doing so.
All that being said, power is an almost magical rush. If the liberal elite feel themselves surrounded on all sides – by MAGA and the Republicans at home, and by Russia, China and India abroad, not to mention the rest of the Rest – then they may decide that the only hope of political survival for Liberal, Inc. is a full on shooting war against Russia which might turn them from internal pariahs to war heroes, alleviate their plight in the 2022 congressional election, and put them in a better position for 2024.
Since at least the Vietnam War, there has been an unspoken rule in International Relations that US and Russian (then Soviet) troops do not come into direct conflict. The reason is that escalation from that point might very well depend too much on emotion on both sides rather than sober logic. I do believe you are right, George, that the Western elite may risk that first threshold of direct engagement out of sheer stupid arrogance. In the end, the Pentagon will follow orders, I assume.
That, I suppose, is the real danger. Not that one side decides to initiate a nuclear war but that matters spiral out of control without any premeditation.
How about, Will the real person behind Biden please stand up.
There is no real person behind Biden. He is godless and his animating energy comes from the bowels of hell itself.
Agree with that. But some one person or group is calling the shots. He is not capable.
Who is it?
In reality, the question is immaterial. He ran for office, the Democrat Party jury-rigged him into the nomination (mainly because they were terrified that Bernie Sanders was going to win), then did everything in their power to steal the election from Trump.
No one will stand up to take the blame. Hence, the man who placed his hand on the Bible on Jan 20, 2021 –no matter how incapacitated, corrupt or venial he may be–will be the one who will take the blame.
The Sword of Damocles hangs only over one man’s head at all times. Biden’s the culprit.
If I were to pick one name, I’d go with Susan Rice. Only because she was SO high profile with the Obama admin, clearly willing to do/say whatever it takes to please Barack and Hilary, and now she has been there for almost a year and half and has managed to stay completely under the radar? I’d say that is because she is happy being the one who takes direction from globalist shadowy types and former presidents and helps lead the manipulation of the bumbling fools sitting in the POTUS and VP spots.
Or Obama himself.
Probably Obama through Rice. But Jill is the handler. I think it’s not explicit enough that Biden can’t put his foot down, however. I can’t see, for example, how the Afghan withdrawal was any baby but his own.
Probably he’ll totally lose it and resign before the end of his term, likely after the midterms. Harris may or may not be worse.
Or a combo of Valerie Jarrett/Bathhouse Barry.
World War III….US Intel Assisted In Sinking Russian Flagship Vessel: Officials Claim Bombshell Escalation
Less than 24 hours after The New York Times issued a provocative report citing unnamed US officials who are celebrating that American intelligence-sharing with Ukraine’s military has helped take out multiple Russian generals since the Feb.24 invasion, NBC News is out with yet another bombshell claim sourced to the deep state US intel officials.
Amid what seems escalation after escalation, and new revelations of Washington’s deepening and perhaps increasingly direct role in fighting Russia in Ukraine, NBC brings us this doozy… “Intelligence shared by the U.S. helped Ukraine sink the Russian cruiser Moskva, U.S. officials told NBC News, confirming an American role in perhaps the most embarrassing blow to Vladimir Putin’s troubled invasion of Ukraine.”
See: https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-intel-assisted-sinking-russian-flagship-vessel-officials-say-bombshell-revelation
LonelyDn, thanks for this info.
FWIW, Jake Tapper is hastily walking this whole thing back. If true, then the Russians will start taking out high-level Ukrainian assets in Kiev. According to Jacob Dreizin, Andrei Maryonov, et al, the only reason the Russians have not done so is because they didn’t want to take out American/NATO officers who are directing the Ukrainian army.
Also, word on the street is that the Russians have extricated a Canadian general from Azovstal and he’s being debriefed in Moscow at present.
12 Reasons for Christians to avoid all pro-war demonstrations concerning Ukraine:
https://orthodoxreflections.com/12-reasons-for-christians-to-avoid-all-pro-war-demonstrations-concerning-ukraine/
This interview with Metropolitan Luke of Zaporozhie is a complete “must read”:
https://orthochristian.com/146022.html
So, it looks like the latest counter-offensive by the Ukrainians was personally ordered by the Coked-up Kid of Keev, Zelensky himself. (He overrode the recommendations of the professional Ukrainian military.)
Here’s what’s pathetic: the British leaned on Zelensky to take this suicidal measure.
Question: how long will the Ukrainian military staff allow Zelensky to use the blood and treasure of ordinary Ukrainian regulars at the behest of Western clowns like BoJo?
Should we be starting a betting pool?
“Translation: MOSCOW, May 10. /TASS/. The order to attack Serpent Island, during which the Ukrainian armed forces suffered significant losses, was given by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on the advice of British consultants, despite the objections of the leadership of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Such data were reported on Tuesday by a source in the Russian power structures. “The order for the incredibly stupid attack on Serpents’ Island was given personally by Zelensky and demanded to achieve a” media “result by May 9,” he said. According to the source, “there is confirmed information that [the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery] Zaluzhny and his General Staff were against this suicidal operation, the idea of which was suggested to Zelensky by his British advisers.” “The finale of this action was supposed to be a joint statement on the so-called” victory “(Ukrainian” victory “) – the British Prime Minister [Boris] Johnson and Zelensky, but in the end only Johnson spoke yesterday, without mentioning a word about the catastrophe of the operation to storm the Serpentine “, – said the source.
“You know what? I believe this. Not taking anything away from heroism of, say, British and Polish paratroopers but this rings so familiar. Yes, Operation Market Garden. Monty (a man of some genuine military talents) being pissed off by Ike’s, as Monty thought, “overly cautious” broad front strategy got to Ike (as Monty did to everyone else in SHAEF), and he literally squeezed from him his consent for the Market Garden. Monty wanted his own version of Blitzkrieg and Deep Operations and, boy, did this whole thing go down south from the inception and resulted in a very sad fate for the British 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem. This is a very British thing, to put it mildly, to try to pursue lofty objectives while not having required resources.
“So, to be objective, let’s remove Pentagon as main planner behind Zmeinnyi (Serpent) Island debacle and bestow the dubious “honor” for this spectacular failure on British military. Pentagon, then, wisely sat this one out, not to mention the fact that it already has its hands full with its own, much larger, strategic debacle on the whole theater of operations in 404, not some separate “direction” or tactical episode. What do you expect, in the end, Zelensky is literally a clown, BoJo has degree in English Literature–what can possibly go wrong? (/s).”
Dear Old England! Saving the Croatian Catholics from the big bad Serbs. Saving Ukrainian Catholics from the big bad Russians. Keeping six counties of Irish Catholics under her own rule.
What’s interesting to me, Fr, are the long-term ramifications for Zelensky’s idiocy. Given that (a) he’s Jewish, and (b) that the Russians are going to carve up the Ukraine (along with the Poles and possibly the Hungarians), when the realization hits the Slavic majority, are they going to take out collective revenge against Zelensky? Especially when the entire country would have remained intact had he sat down with Putin and avoided this entire fiasco?
I imagine the retribution against the Jewish minority will be particularly destructive if Zelensky bugs out on the last plane out for Miami with his boatload of cash and the Ukrainians are going to be left to pick up the pieces.
Just wondering aloud. I hope I’m wrong, but I can see it happening given that among all of the Rusyn people, it’s the Ukrainians who have had the most negative interactions with the Jews throughout the centuries. This, also given the fact that most of the Ukrainian oligarchs are Jewish themselves. If it’s found out that they’ve bugged out for Cyprus and/or Israel with their wealth, I can see the recriminations.
That plays into a highly negative anti-Semitic trope, does it not?
George, there is a historic reason for antisemitism in Ukraine. The Poles used the Jews as middlemen when they ruled Ukraine. So did the Hungarians, except the Hungarians never ruled Ukraine; unless you count that area called Transcarpathia. And many of the Slavs there don’t identify as Ukrainian.
I do appreciate the clarification Fr.
When the rubber hits the road however, the motive will be forgotten while the actions will be apparent.
The Jewishness is a separate issue for the UkroNZ’s. Being a NZ there fundamentally means being an anti-Russian fascist, not anti-Semitic. That is lost on most Westerners. The Jews aren’t much of a factor in their present ideology except some passive hostility. Now, that may certainly become active again at any time, especially if they see Zelensky and the West as selling Ukraine out.
I fully expect in the end that many Ukrainians who are at present passionately opposed to Russia will be driven into the Russian camp by the realization that the Russians are indeed stronger than the West and the West sold them out. That would be in keeping with the worldview of the respective ethnic groups there.
I read earlier this week that Sinn Feinn (Irish nationalist republican, mostly Roman Catholic, party) is now the biggest party in both parts of Ireland, which is certainly an interesting development. It’s a pity that they’ve shifted to a liberal social-democratic position, as opposed to their previous hard left ethno-nationalism.
Any thoughts from Brendan, our resident Celt?
October 13, 2021
Sinn Fein Votes to BAN Catholics From Praying Publicly
https://www.catholicarena.com/latest/sinnfein131021
‘ Anti Catholic political party Sinn Fein, who picketed a Dublin church earlier this year in a 12th of July style rally, have dramatically voted to BAN public prayer near abortuaries in Northern Ireland.
The party have been working extremely hard to implement Westminster’s abortion edict in the six counties, tirelessly doing the bidding of their wage masters in the House of Lords. Sinn Fein actually abandoned their previous policy of resisting British rule in the North and embraced it for the first time in order to support the aborting of Irish babies, by accepting this ruling they have now accepted that London has full authority to impose its power in the North.
Sinn Fein are often portrayed in international media outlets as ‘populist’ or even as ‘nationalist’. While those epithets once had some credence, that has not been the case for at least a decade, with their ‘Catholic’ ‘nationalist’ counterparts the SDLP also joining them this week in voting to ban Catholics from praying publicly against abortion.
The so called ‘exclusion zones’ are in response to successful outreaches from prolife groups to support those who are availing of abortion because of desperation, with many prolife groups in the North offering material and emotional support to those being coerced into destroying their baby by partners, family or friends.
Prolife groups have suffered severe intimidation and aggression from Westminster’s supporters, who have attacked them both physically and verbally. Ironically, these ‘exclusion zones’ are now being brought in on false charges of intimidation by Catholics and prolife groups, intimidation which never actually happened.
In a strongly worded Facebook post, Belfast priest Fr. Paddy McCafferty wrote:
Faithful Catholics please take careful note.
Today, every single “nationalist” and “republican” MLA in Stormont voted to prevent and criminalise peaceful and prayerful protests outside abortion mills in Northern Ireland.
Every single one of them – including those who, lyingly and deceptively, have described themselves as ‘Pro Life’ to get our votes – the likes of Nichola Mallon, Daniel McCrossan, Pat Catney and some others.
They have alleged that there is “intimidation” and they have slandered the protesters as “extremists”. They have not produced one shred of evidence to support these claims.
There is no “intimidation”. There is prayer and the attempt to save unborn lives. There is the presentation of an alternative to abortion – in other words REAL CHOICE!
There is the truth that abortion is murder and an appeal not to kill a child.
There is also the troubling of the consciences of those who advocate the slaughter and that is the REAL REASON why they want the prayerful witnesses stopped!
If wanting to prevent infanticide means that Sinn Fein, the SDLP and their cohorts will label you an “extremist”, then so be it.
I have no hesitation whatsoever in appealing to faithful Catholics not to vote for any member of Sinn Fein or the SDLP. Do not vote for them ever again. I say that as a priest and I make no apology for it.
They have nailed their colours firmly to the evil mast of abortion. It is time for us to reject them at the ballot box.
There is currently a similar effort underway in the South to do the same by banning Catholics from praying in public against abortion.
After the success of Catholics in getting an abortion mill shut down in London in recent months, it is easy to see why those who wish to kill in the womb are so determined to quash such prayers.
‘
I still think it’s incredibly sad that Catholic Ireland voted for abortion by popular vote. Here in America it was foisted on us, but, Ireland voted for this.
Just 20-30 years ago this would have been unimaginable.
The Roman Church has much to answer for,
but the loss of Catholic Ireland is the hardest blow
it has got since the Reformation.
I used to be Roman Catholic and have been to Ireland, it’s one of my favorite countries of Europe, mostly because of the Irish people themselves. They really make you feel like you’re “home.”
But, it’s not just Ireland. It’s almost all of western & northern Europe.
I’m Dutch/English/German & Sicilian and the first time I went to Europe (circa 2006) I was so excited to go to Mass in those countries where my family was from. When I did, I found it to be very “sad” (if that’s the right word). The last time I went (2019), I popped into Mass in Italy, just out of curiosity, and found the same situation but fewer people.
I converted to Orthodoxy in 2017 so when I was in Europe in 2019 I obviously had to go to Divine Liturgy. Of the four cities I was able to go to liturgy in (Budapest, Bucharest, Warsaw & London) all were packed to the brim with people. My understanding in the case of Budapest & London were that almost all were immigrants, but, slowly “natives” are converting to Orthodoxy. I was told many Italians have converted to Orthodoxy, mainly at Romanian parishes it seems. The priest at the Orthodox cathedral in Warsaw was fascinated that I, a Roman Catholic, converted to Orthodoxy. I told him it was pretty common in the States and he thanked God.
So, with the death of Catholic Ireland and Spain and France and possibly even Italy -plus- with the irreligion of Protestant Europe, it seems like there is indeed hope for them if they are able to embrace Orthodoxy, which they slowly seem to be doing. Maybe Roman Catholicism & Protestantism had to fall so that Orthodoxy could rise? I couldn’t imagine my devoutly Catholic Sicilian great-grandparents converting to Orthodoxy, but, now it seems Italy is ripe for the picking.
God Willing.
Thanks for sharing that, Petros!
Poor leadership.
Wow, the apple really has fallen far from the tree. Sad!
It’s not just abortion that has broken Irish Christianity;
it’s the corruption of children by paedophile priests and bishops,
that has done them down in the eyes of the people.
Abortion is just the final straw…
Yes, I realize that the Poles oppressed the Ukrainians mightily and that they used the Jews as the arredentors, middlemen, tax-collectors, etc.
George W. Bush Tells Pranksters Why West
Broke Promise to Russia Not to Expand NATO
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2022/05/no_author/george-w-bush-tells-pranksters-why-west-broke-promise-to-russia-not-to-expand-nato/
‘ Asked to address Russia’s oft-repeated argument that James Baker, US secretary of state under George H.W. Bush, had promised Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev not to expand the bloc eastward in 1990, Bush Jr. suggested that such promises were irrelevant because they were made a long time ago.
“Listen, times change. Baker was the secretary of state with my dad, which was years ago, and so, uh, the United States [was working under the] principle of adjusting to the times. … ”
Asked whether he agreed with the sentiment that the conflict in Ukraine was really a confrontation between the West and Russia, Bush answered curtly “Yeah”. … ‘
The Constitution was signed a long time ago.
Is that why they are ignoring it now?
Just adjusting to the times?