Saturday, January 25, 2020
Church Attendance on Christmas in Russia Lower than Holland
Monday, June 12, 2017
Russian Greek Catholic Church Feels Neglected by Rome
The small church of the Byzantine rite, unified with Rome, has met for its first synod in a century. It wants its own bishop and resources for priestly education.
Bergamo (kath.net/jg) The Russian Greek Catholic Church accuses Pope Francis not to taking their concerns into account so as not to jeopardize the approach to the Russian Orthodox Church. This has been reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The leadership of the church, which is unified with Rome, wishes for its own bishop and resources for priestly formation. Currently, the Russian Greek Catholic Church is headed by Joseph Werth SJ, the Latin diocesan bishop of Novosibirsk.
"The survival of the Russian Greek Catholic Church is at stake," says Lawrence Cross, one of her priests, who lives in Melbourne, Australia. The head of the Russian Greek Catholic Church is meeting for the first synod for a century in Bergamo (Italy).
The relationship with the Russian Orthodox Church is strained. The Moscow Patriarchate tolerates the Greek Catholic clergy in Russia. However, a bishop of the Greek Catholic Church in Russia is unacceptable to the Orthodox, says Ronald Roberson, an adviser to the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the United States. [But Orthodox Bishops in Italy are acceptable?]
With fewer than 30,000 members, the Russian Greek Catholic Church is one of the smallest churches in Rome. Most of them live outside Russia. There are communities in Western Europe, the USA, South America and Australia.
AMDG
Monday, May 29, 2017
New Utopian Novel in Italian: Fate of the Russian Pope
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The Russian Pope |
What if the next Pope were Russian? Would the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary be made possible by the Mother of God in Fatima 100 years ago as an essential step on the road to world peace?
A utopian novel
The author
The conclave
The Pope, who isn't liked
"The pope daily demolishes many of the so-called inviolable assumptions of prevailing thought. He makes it easy. He finds greater and greater approval among the people, but he also attracts an ever-widening dislike" (145).
"He is trying to revive the sacredness of past times. In his sermons he contradicts secular (laicistic) values and the rights obtained. And as if that were not enough, he stressed traditional reservations about democracy. Very soon his course of action will turn out to be destabilizing."(147).
World Government and World Religions
"The British are doing what the Americans order. The Germans and the Italians are irresolute and fickle "(134).
"The world government, the united world currency (called Bancor), and the world unity religion that unites and overcomes all religions" (120).
"Even some bishops, whether from superficiality or conviction, can imagine that catholicity will in the future mix and equate with other religions or their absurd parodies" (108).
Optimistic start, gloomy continuation
"It is not just a fascinating story, but a no less exciting 'game', that will enable readers to figure out who is behind the fictionalized names the author has chosen for his novel. This is also the only fun the novel offers, because the rest is the tragic image of a world in which the obscure 'brotherhood' dictates the rules," says Corrispondenza Romana .
Image: Corrispondenza Romana / Wikicommons
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link...
AMDG
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Magadan in Russia: Yesterday a Place of Death -- Today Also a Place of Life
At the Heart of the Gulag System is The Church of the Nativity
We Make People Aware that Life is Sacred
"The More People Who Love God and Glorify Him, the More Graces He Bestows"
image: tempos / Wikicommons
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Russian-Ukrainian Volunteer Corp Wishes to Enter the Syrian Conflict
Rasumowski had published a video address on the creation of a volunteer force. He directed his appeal "to all veterans of military services in the Soviet Union, to the entire Russian and Ukrainian officer corp." Ukrainian authorities have not responded to the Colonel on this initiative.
Source Russian Voice...
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Words of Praise from Russian Orthodox Leaders for Benedict XVI

Moscow(kath.net/KNA) The Head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kyrill I, has recently found words of praise for Pope Benedict XVI.. In the “difficult situation” in which western Christianity finds itself, the Pope has defended “courageously” the positions and moral values of his church said Kyrill II according to church reports of Sunday evening during a meeting with the new Russian Ambassador to the Holy See, Alexander Awdrejew. Without these positions the Church would not be able to endure any longer and be transformed into a “mixture of various Christian organizations”.
The Patriarch stresses at the same time the stand points of the Russian Orthodox and the Catholic Church agree in the “most significant questions of the past”. Both churches should continue to work together, so that the Christian message as much in the East as also in the West will be convincingly preached. Kremlin Chief, Vladimir Putin had named the former Russian Culture Minister Awdejew as Ambassador of to the Holy See in January.
Since the election of Benedict XVI., the diplomatic and ecumenical relations between the Russian Orthodox and Catholic Church have been remarkably improved. According to the political change of 1989, the Moscow Patriarchate reproached Rome for building of Catholic church structures in the states of the earlier Soviet Union, to serve to proselytize their faithful. The Patriarchate consider the Federation States as the canonical territory of Orthodoxy.
Link to kath.net…
Also a Russian Orthodox theologian has his own words of praise for Pope Benedict:
Russian scholar praises Benedict XVI, slams John Paul II
"His decision to resign deserves respect. He has been a powerful leader, and would be able to continue his mission successfully if it weren't for his age," Roman Silantyev told Interfax-Religion.
Benedict took charge of what was "a church that had been seriously weakend by his predecessor," Silantyev said.
"John Paul II wanted to be liked by everyone, and as a result he did huge harm to the Catholics, turning millions of people away from his Church. His tenure saw mass-scale closures or conversions of Catholic Churches in Europe. Seminaries with histories spanning many centuries lost their students, and orphanages in Third World countries became the main source of new clergy," the scholar said.
During Benedict's tenure, "the useless 'thrust toward the East' [alleged proselytism by Uniates], which was taking up huge resources, has come to an end, there has been an improvement in relations with the Russian Orthodox Church, which has proved to be the Vatican's main ally in asserting the Christian way of life in the European Union," Silantyev said.
Benedict "hasn't had the idee fixe of coming to Moscow because he has repeatedly met with the incumbent Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia anyway," he said.
"It appears to be most likely that an Italian cardinal will be elected to this post," Silantyev said.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Relics of Saint Alexander Nevsky Stolen
[Novite] Relics of 13 saints including those of 13th century Russian national hero Knyaz Alexander Nevsky have been stolen from a church in St Petersburg a law enforcement source reported on Wednesday. An employee of St Catherine the Martyr Church on Vasilyevsky Island reported the theft to police on Tuesday RIA Novosti reported. On Monday night the perpetrators entered the church through a window on the first floor and went to the office of the rector where they stole relics of 13 saints including those of St Alexander Nevsky.
They also stole a communion cup of white metal with the image of saints and five baptismal crosses of yellow and white metal the source said The Russian police have opened a criminal case into the theft. The relics of St Alexander Nevsky the 13th century Russian knyaz who defended Eastern Orthodox Christianity against the Catholic Teutonic Knights were supposed to arrive in Bulgaria on Wednesday for veneration by believers at the cathedral in Varna.
On Tuesday however a day before the theft is reported publicly the Varna Bishopric of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church said the display of the St Alexander Nevsky relics had been put off for November.
Novite....
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Rome: Letter of Protest Written in 1930 by Priest -- Found by Jesuit at Archive
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White Sea. Solovetski Golgotha and the Crucifixio hermitage |
Imprisoned priests wrote the Central Committee of the Communist Party in 1930 -- Jesuit found document in the archive of the Papal Oriental Institute.
Rome (kath.net/KAP) A till now unknown document about the persecution of the Church in the Soviet Union during the Second World War was recently discovered in the archive of the Papal Oriental Institute in Rome. The periodical "Pro Oriente" reported this on Saturday, which appeared in an article by "Osservatore Romano" (Friday Edition). The uncovered Russian language document was by a Polish Priest Eugeniusz Senko, who was a researcher from 1917 for years in the Papal Oriental Institute, about the Communist Church persecution.
The document dealt with information resulting from a letter of protest by a Catholic Priest Adolf Filipp to the Central Committee of the Party, dated from 29 June 1930. Filipp was incarcerated with 31 other priests on the island of Anzerskij -- a Solovki Island. How the document came to Rome, may not be reconstructed, it is said.
Before the October Revolution, one of the largest Orthodox monastic cities was located on the Solovki islands. Following the Bolshevik seizure of power it was used for holding, and then established as a work camp for political prisoners, above all, Christians of all confessions. The camp on the Solovki islands formed the foundation of the so-called "Gulag". On the island Anzerskij, on which the Catholic priests were imprisoned, a dungeon was constructed in the consecrated Church of the Trinity.
Adolf Filipp's letter of protest was, according to information by P. Senkos, clearly written by hand originally and then typed on a machine -- the errors in writing the names of the priests incarcerated with Filipp were explained, it said in the broadcast.
The priest described "illegal methods" of the " "Gossudarstwennoje Polititscheskoje Uprawlenije" (GPU), the former Secret Service of the Soviet Union. These were said to have made constant infringements against the codes of the Soviet Constitution regarding freedom of conscience. Filipp stressed that the incarcerated priests, in view of the "enormity of the constitutional infringements" by the GPU could not remain silent any longer, because even such silence could be constituted as a "crime". The priest also described the unbearable conditions in the camp.
He wrote, describing information about the Communist Party promoted campaign of atheism, for example, the mass closing of churches, extreme taxation of churches and their members, as well as the imprisonment and deportation of clergy and their followers and the oppressive activities ascribed to the organizations founded by J.M. Jaroslawksij or "Societies of Godless Militants".
P Senko published the protest letter in the Italian language which included footnotes, to make the background more clear. Till now it is not known if the letter of protest actual reached the Central Committee and what consequences the letter of complaint against State Atheism and the activities of the GPU had for the author, it read.
Link to kath.net...
Link to photo...
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Russia Names New Submarine After Saint
He was born on May 30, 1219 at Pereaslavl, a fief of his father, Prince Yaroslav, who was of the house of the Grand Prince of Suzdal. He spent the first years of his life in this small city which stood on the shores of a lake among the trees and meadows and was defended by a simple wooden palisade. His parents, real country nobility, were very devout, they contributed to the adornment of the cathedral and of a monastery established nearby on a hill and they were present at all the divine services celebrated in a small chapel which was connected with their residence by a wooden arcade.Here's the article from Ministry Values:
A new Russian nuclear submarine has been named after Saint Aleksandr Nevsky of Russia, and will be fitted with its own Orthodox chapel after the vessel finishes its sea trials. It has become the second nuke-carrying sub equipped with a sanctuary in addition to ballistic missiles.
Veneration of Saint Alexander Nevsky as a saint began soon after his death. The remains of the prince were uncovered in response to a vision, before the Battle of Kulikovo in the year 1380, and found to be incorrupt. He was glorified (canonized) by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1547. His principal feast day is 23 November. By order of Peter the Great, Nevsky’s relics were transported to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg where they remain to this day
The military chapel on the submarine will allow sailors to attend religious services right on board during the sub’s long missions.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
The SSPX Harvest is Large in Eastern Europe
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SSPX Pilgrimage to Tsechenstochau |
This was written by the District Superior for East Europe, Fr. Karl Stehlin in his Christmas letter.
The Society can only devote twelve priests in eastern Europe. Actually, the present pastoral work would require thirty priests -- so says Father Stehlin.
In Warsaw the Fathers will be shortly leading a third old Mass on Sunday.
Every week there are about four hundred Catholics who appear for Mass -- doubled the number as there were two years ago.
The Brick Work of the Gymnasium Stands
According to Father Stehlin the reason for the growth are Society's new schools.
They are attracting young families.
At the Pius elementary school sixty children are being instructed and the Gymnasium [high school] there are 46.
The student population has jumped a third in comparison to last year.
That's why the Society is presently planning to increase the size of its Gymnasium.
The new construction will accommodate the separation of the boys and girls so that the instruction can be tailored to the respective genders.
The brickwork of the new school was recently completed.
Churches and Chapels are bursting at the seams
There are nine Society priests active in Poland.
For the Ascension the Society is establishing its fourth priorate in the country in the Pomeranian village of Baersee (Bajerze) -- not fare from the city of Kulm.
From these bases the Society can serve more chapels.
A new chapel opened recently in October in the city of Posen [Pzchyzchńyzyń].
A hundred Catholics came to the opening of this chapel.
In many locales these chapels are bursting at the seems and the Society is collecting donations for the construction of proper churches.
Churches destroyed during the Communist occupation
In Lithuania three priests are in a priory. From there, they serve the faithful in White Russia and Russia.
The chapels there are still very small.
In Estonia the Society is planning the building of a church. At the present there are problems with a building permit.
Here the Society is being helped by Lutheran preachers, says Father Stehlin:
"We're dreaming, that after his conversion he will open a Catholic school for Estonia."
In Latvia, a certain Father Valerius, about whom Father Stehlin has no further information, is taking care of the construction of a church and a rectory.
In all of the Baltic countries, many conversions of from Protestantism are being made.
The Society have to scrimp and scrape because of the shortage of priests and resources.
There are already vocations
The work of the Society is awakening vocations in Eastern Europe.
Seven seminarians are presently studying in the seminary of Zaitzkofen near Regensburg.
A Polish seminarian will be formed in the seminary of Ecône in Switzerland.
Link to kreuz.net...
Photo: © Piusbruderschaft.de
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Russia Refuses to Sign Useless UN Resolution on Sodomy
Bulgaria signing this would be sort of understandable, but Ireland?
Joint statement on ending acts of violence and related human rights violations based on sexual orientation & gender identity
Delivered by Colombia on behalf of: Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, the Central African Republic, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the former-Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Malta, the Marshall Islands, Mexico, Micronesia, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu, the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Ukraine, Uruguay, Vanautu and Venezuela
1. We recall the previous joint statement on human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity, presented at the Human Rights Council in 2006;
Read the whole article, here...
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Modernization in Russia to base on moral norms - Patriarch Kirill
"True modernization always bases on modern principles... Modernization without moral dimension turns to unrestrained pursuit of temporary goods and pleasures, heartless technocracy, results in perverted relations between people," the Patriarch said on Thursday at a ceremonial session dedicated to 150 anniversary of serfdom cancellation in Russia at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow.
According to him, a lesson of the 19th century reforms is that even most sensible and logical reforms "didn't resonate with ordinary people if they were performed impetuously, without looking back to the previous experience and traditions."
Read further...Interfax.
Monday, January 31, 2011
From Village Boy to Soldier, Martyr and, Many Say, Saint
Published: November 21, 2003
KURILOVO, Russia — Shoulders back, chest out, the young soldier stands as if on parade in his camouflage fatigues — his boots polished, his rifle at his shoulder, a halo around his head.
His face is the blank mask of a man for whom duty is life. It is not easy being a soldier, or a saint.
Portraits of this young man, Yevgeny Rodionov, are spreading around Russia — sometimes in uniform, sometimes in a robe, sometimes armed, sometimes holding a cross, but always with his halo.
Related article and photo, here... Except he hasn't been canonized by the Orthodox Church yet.
New York Times Article further, here...
H/t: JonB
Monday, December 20, 2010
Such Judgments Provoke New Tensions: EU Court Meddles in Russian Society
Strassburg/France (kath.net/APD) The Russian Orthodox Church has called on the Russian Executive to cooperate in reconsidering a human rights charge. The call clearly mirrored the December edition of "Orthodoxy Today" over which the anger of the Moscow Patiarchate was against that of the European Supreme Court for Human Rights in Straussburg which called for the alowance of the "Gay Parade". It could not be that the EGMR Russia would prescribe a homosexual demonstration, explained the representative of the Moscow Patriarchate in Strassburg, Igumen Filaret (Bulekov)..
For a year long the Moscow city authorities had refused to allow a "Gay Parade" in the Russian capital. While the organizers came before a Russian court with their complaint, the European Supreme Court gave way to it. The Court ruled on 21. Oktober that the Moscow City authority's ban against the homosexuals contravened three fundamental rights: the right to assemble -- and association, the right to effective representation as well as the prohibition against discimination.
While the Russian homosexual movement considered this ruling as a victory, the Russian Orthodox Church criticized the judgment. Such decisions are not only unsuccessful attempts to create social peace and to strengthen personal liberties, they promote even newer tensions as well, explained the 33 year old Igumen, who has represented his church since 2004 fat the European Council and also the Pastor of the All Holy Church in Strassburg.
Thanks again to Kath.net, which enjoys the endorsement of the Holy Father.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Solzhenitsyn's Books Were Christian Says Widow
Moscow, December 2, Interfax - Widow of the world famous Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn is convinced that all books of her husband were Christian.
"I think that all books by Alexander Isayevich are books of a Christian writer though he never tells about his faith and doesn't push or pull anyone to it," she said in her interview published by the Foma magazine in December.However, according to Natalya Solzhenitsyna, the writer has never considered religion and faith "compulsory for every person."
"He put it straight that a believer can be disgusting and an atheist can be a man of good morals, even a righteous person, ("but nevertheless there is no supreme light for him," he added). But while we are alive no one stands still," Solzhenitsyna explained the writer's position.
Origina. article, at Inter-fax here.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Seven Thousand Signatures Against Mosque Construction in Moscow
"We gathered about 450 sheets with a total of 6,536 signatures. Very soon we will send the signatures to an appeal addressed directly to President Dmitry Medvedev," group coordinator Mikhail Butrimov told a press conference in Moscow on Wednesday.
Signatures were collected only among resident of the areas adjacent to the Volzhsky Boulevard where the mosque was to be built, he said.
Read further Interfax...
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
New Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin orders city to find 200 land plots for Orthodox Churches
Just off the heals of President Dimitry Medvedev's recent decision to create a new Russian holiday - a public holiday that marks the adoption of Christianity in 988, new Moscow Mayor has ordered the city administration to locate 200 building lots to construct new Orthodox Churches.
This is the latest demonstration of the Kremlin's support for an Orthodox Church that has grown increasingly powerful since the fall of Communism.
Not wasting anytime, new Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin, in one of his first offical administrative decisions has ordered the city to locate building lots to raise 200 Orthodox Churches throughout the city of Moscow.
Read further...
Friday, October 22, 2010
Stalin Icon Venerated in Russia
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Controversy in Moscow: Stalin icon revered
by Nina Achmatova
The initiatives of some Russian parishes that exhibit portraits of the Soviet dictator alongside those of proclaimed saints stirs controversy.
Moscow (AsiaNews) - The figure of Stalin continues stir controversy in Russia, where the bloodthirsty dictator has left behind him a confusing tangle of veneration and rejection. Icons of the Red Tsar are still present throughout the country and rumours that some see him as a saint. The latest in a series of sacred representation of the "little father" has appeared in Moscow in the church of Saint Nicholas (Starovagankovsky lane): the icon depicts the life of Matriona, the blind saint, in an alleged meeting between her and Joseph Stalin. The Soviet dictator is not depicted in a religious manner, but he is placed next to the famous ascetic. An aspect that makes the story even more grotesque, is that Matriona (1885-1952) was forced to live in hiding to avoid arrest by communist regime. According to a legend, which was rejected by the Orthodox Church, Stalin visited Matriona in 1941, who predicted victory over the Nazis. In July of that year he is said to have addressed the nation on radio using the traditional greeting of the Orthodox Church "brothers and sisters". Almost a sign of his change of attitude towards Christianity.
A church is a strange place to find Stalin, who, despite his education at a seminary in Georgia, was responsible for a brutal religious repression in the USSR.
Read further...
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
New finds in Romanov family killing case are grounds for new probe - Russian Imperial House
"The new finds indicate that not everything has been investigated yet. For this reason, the investigation should be continued. There are still a lot of things that are unclear," Zakatov said.
The Romanov family is not ready yet to recognize the authenticity of the remains found near Yekaterinburg. In addition, the Romanov family are demanding the resumption of the investigation into the criminal case involving the killing of Russia's last emperor. The Investigations Committee of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office decided to close the investigation on January 15, 2009.
On Monday, it was reported that beakers believed to have been used to store acid to destroy the royal family's remains had been found in the Sverdlovsk Region.
Link to Interfax...
Friday, September 24, 2010
Priest's Widow Wrote Novel About Suicide Bombers
According to the author, the book focused on complicated spiritual searches of the main heroine. She is a young girl and falls in love with a man who turns out to be a terrorist and takes her to the training camp of the so-called "Shahids".
"The book was approved by the Moscow Patriarchate Publishing Council and will soon be published," Sysoyeva told an Interfax-Religion correspondent.
It is not the first writing experience for Yulia. Her book "Notes of Priest's Wife" was issued several times.
Read further... interfax...