| The Russian Church Called the Picture of Christ in the Image of a Transvestite as ‘Madness’ Vladimir Legoyda A picture of Jesus Christ in the image of a transvestite made by the Lutheran Church of Iceland, is another manifestation of the European madness around the topic of “gender diversity,” said Vladimir Legoyda, Head of the Synodal Department for Church’s Relations with Society and Mass Media. “I never cease to be amazed at the madness that is going on in Europe around “gender diversity”, Vladimir Legoyda wrote on his Telegram channel. The head of the Synodal Department said with reference to dailymail.co.uk that the national Lutheran Church in Iceland “decided to attract young people to come to the Sunday school in a peculiar way by publishing an advertisement on its official Facebook page depicting Jesus Christ as a transvestite dancing under a rainbow.” The representative of the Russian Church noted, this blasphemy “generated a flurry of indignant comments on the Internet, forcing the authors of this advertisement to remove it from the network, although it will be “showed off”on buses running around Reykjavik for at least two weeks”. “Pétur Georg Markan, the Icelandic Church’s media representative, has been awkwardly trying to justify the portrayal of Christ in this way. According to him, Jesus Christ can manifest himself in various forms, and the Church welcomes diversity,” wrote Vladimir Legoyda. He quoted Pétur Georg Markan: “We are trying to accept society as it is. We have all sorts of people, and we need to learn to speak of Jesus as accepting “all kinds”… Especially because it is very important that everyone sees themselves in Jesus and that we don’t get too stagnant. So it’s okay. ” However, later, the head of the Synodal Department continued, “apparently, under the pressure of a mass of negative reviews, he [Pétur Georg Markan] still had to admit that “it is not okay”. “We know that not everyone agrees that Christ should look like this, and we certainly respect that,” Vladimir Legoyda once again quoted the representative of the Icelandic Church, concluding that comments in this situation are superfluous. |
| Patriarch Kirill Says He is ‘Inspired’ by Today’s Church-state Relations Moscow, August 16, Interfax – Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has said he is inspired by the present-day state of relations between the Church and the state. “It is maybe for the first time that the principle of the church’s separation from the state, proclaimed as a result of the October Revolution, is followed quite correctly today,” he told the Polish media ahead of an August 16-19 visit to Poland at the invitation of the Polish Orthodox Church metropolitan. The result of this principle is that the state and the Church are “autonomous from each other,” the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church said. “We are not interfering in each other’s affairs. We appreciate this autonomy. The Russian Church highly values the freedom and autonomy it enjoys today,” he said. There is not a single normal state that can stay indifferent to ethic issues, he said. “It is impossible to keep regulating human relations eternally only by raising the level of legislation, bolstering law enforcement agencies and improving courts,” the Patriarch said. “All this can produce positive results, but they will be unable to stop a person from entering a movie theatre and killing people there. They will not be able to stop people from committing other insane acts, when parents abandon their children and children kill their parents,” Patriarch Kirill said. Even the most perfect legislation and judicial system are incapable of guaranteeing protection from crimes because crimes are committed by people themselves, he said. “Any sensible government understands the pragmatic meaning of morality in social relations. A moral person is a law-abiding person even if he does not know the laws,” the Patriarch said. Alcoholism, drug addiction, prostitution and growing abortion rates are among the issues on the agenda of relations between the Church and the state, he said. Code for blog Since you are here… …we do have a small request. More and more people visit Orthodoxy and the World website. However, resources for editorial are scarce. In comparison to some mass media, we do not make paid subscription. It is our deepest belief that preaching Christ for money is wrong. |
| A refugee family from Mosul, Iraq/Reuters Australia is favouring Christian refugees over Muslims according to data obtained by the New York Times . Like other Western countries, Australia has taken in a number of refugees from Syria and Iraq, but unlike others, seems to be offering a better chance to Christians. Data obtained through Australia’s freedom of information law shows that ’78 per cent of the approximately 18,563 refugees from Syria and Iraq granted entry from July 1, 2015, to January 6 of this year identified themselves as Christian’ – a far higher proportion than would be expected based on the region’s relative Christian and Muslim populations. The report goes on to suggest that the Australian government is comfortable with the situation. ‘Australia’s conservative coalition government has never denied that religion is an important factor in choosing who will be admitted from Syria and Iraq,’ it says. ‘The favoritism is justified by the claim that Christians are more at risk from the Islamic State and other groups that engage in indiscriminate murder.’ However, Elaine Pearson from Human Rights Watch Australia told the paper: ‘Chrisitans from conflict zones in Syria and Iraq aren’t persecuted more than others… Muslims have overwhelmingly borne the brunt of most of the atrocities by ISIS and by the Assad regime.’ The report suggests the policy is being driven by a belief that Christians are more likely to integrate into Australia’s Anglo-Christian-dominated culture than Muslims. There have been calls for the British government to adopt an approach which favours Christians, but this has not been implemented. In the US, President Trump has intimated that Christians would be favoured in the process for deciding who to accept into the country. However, that idea was denounced by a group of religious leaders , including major Christian organisations. Code for blog Since you are here… …we do have a small request. More and more people visit Orthodoxy and the World website. However, resources for editorial are scarce. In comparison to some mass media, we do not make paid subscription. It is our deepest belief that preaching Christ for money is wrong. |
| Christian Charity “Shocked” as Report Finds One Child Becomes Homeless Every Eight Minutes Source: Premier Christian charity " shocked " as report finds one child becomes homeless every eight minutes Photo credit: Shelter/PA Wire Figures released by Shelter on Tuesday revealed 183 children lose their homes every day in Britain and predicted at least 135,000 will be living in temporary accommodation such as emergency B-and-Bs and hostels on Christmas Day. Housing Justice supports churches, agencies and individuals to engage with homelessness and housing issues. Director Jacob Quagliozzi, told Premier inadequate housing is largely to blame: “Structural problems in the UK housing market and a lack of provision of truly affordable and social housing is a significant contributing factor to these figures. A person who has experienced homelessness as a child is much more likely to become a rough sleeper in later life, according to Quagliozzi. He says government intervention is needed to prevent the problem from escalating. “There is a proven identifiable link between a lack of social housing, and particularly the level of the number of families who find themselves homeless, and unless we dramatically increase the number of social homes available, we will continue to see numbers like this.” Quagliozzi acknowledged that all political parties have made commitments to address homelessness and has encouraged Christians to consider the issue when going to the polls next week. He said: “In a run up to an election, when our doors are being knocked and when we’re getting phone calls from candidates are we asking them what their policies are on homelessness and housing.” Housing Justice works with over 145 night shelters and hundreds of churches across England and Wales throughout the winter period to help those in need. Code for blog Since you are here… …we do have a small request. More and more people visit Orthodoxy and the World website. However, resources for editorial are scarce. In comparison to some mass media, we do not make paid subscription. It is our deepest belief that preaching Christ for money is wrong. |
| Metropolitan Hilarion, “All the Holy Synod Members Have Supported the Canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church” Source: DECR Photo from www.spc.rs In April 2018, the Ukrainian Supreme Rada supported the initiative of the President of Ukraine P. A. Poroshenko to appeal to the Patriarch of Constantinople to establish an autocephalous Church in Ukraine. On May 14, after the Holy Synod session, the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, stated: This problem was not on the Synod’s agenda. However, since His Holiness the Patriarch has received numerous letters from the Ukrainian faithful, it was discussed. The Holy Synod members underscored that it lies beyond the church canonical sphere. The appeal to grant autocephaly was made by the secular authorities of Ukraine with the support of schismatic uncanonical communities. The ecclesial status of these communities, which have separated themselves from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, is not recognized in the world Orthodoxy, that is, it has a zero status. The supreme authority of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church headed by His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry of Kiev and All Ukraine has not addressed itself to the Patriarchate of Constantinople on this matter. It is impossible to assume that a canonical church authority should made a decision on the basis of an initiative made by uncanonical communities or a secular authority whose interference in the internal affairs of a Church in inadmissible. The granting of the status of a ‘parallel’ autocephalous Church to a schism despite the will of a canonical Church in whose canonical territory it is located is an ecclesiastical legal nonsense. All the members of the Holy Synod have expressed support for the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Code for blog Since you are here… …we do have a small request. More and more people visit Orthodoxy and the World website. However, resources for editorial are scarce. In comparison to some mass media, we do not make paid subscription. It is our deepest belief that preaching Christ for money is wrong. |
| Metropolitan Onuphry Encourages Believers to Pray for Doctors and Follow Their Recommendations on COVID-19 Photo: news.church.ua In connection with the autumn increase in the number of COVID-19 cases, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry, Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, urged believers to strengthen their prayers for doctors and to follow their recommendations. “I urge everyone to pay close attention to the recommendations of the Ministry of Health, to observe quarantine standards, not to ignore personal protective equipment, and to observe social distance and disinfection regime,” the Ukrainian Primate noted in his address on October 20, 2020. His Beatitude Onuphry emphasized that in the current situation “entrance sanitary control should be carried out in churches and on church premises”. The archpastor specifically pointed out the danger of coronavirus for the elderly, and therefore asked them “not to put themselves in danger, avoid places with a large crowd of people and not leave their homes unless absolutely necessary.” Regarding medical workers, Metropolitan Onuphry urged believers “to strengthen … church and home prayers, including for doctors who continue to fight the pandemic at the cost of their own lives and health.” Reminding that everything in life happens according to the will of God, the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church expressed the hope that the current situation with the coronavirus “may not be a reason for despair or despondency, but be perceived as a test of our love, humility and patience.” Also recalling that, according to the holy fathers, “diseases are given for spiritual cleansing and the salvation of the soul,” Metropolitan Onuphry pointed out that today the “blessed duty” of all believers is “to change their sinful life for the better and grow spiritually in Christian virtues”. Code for blog Since you are here… …we do have a small request. More and more people visit Orthodoxy and the World website. However, resources for editorial are scarce. In comparison to some mass media, we do not make paid subscription. It is our deepest belief that preaching Christ for money is wrong. |
| New Parish of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Opens in Canada The UOC Church of the Nativity of the Holy Theotokos. Photo: lavra.ua With the blessing of His Beatitude Onuphry, Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine, a new parish of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church dedicated to the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos opened in Richmond Hill (the Greater Toronto Area) in Canada, reports the website of the Kiev-Caves Lavra . According to the report, this parish “is truly in unity with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which carries its salvation mission under the omophorion of His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry”. It is reported that currently the issue of canonical affiliation in Canada is acute since the so-called “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” of the Patriarchate of Constantinople operates in the country. The report also said that due to the fact that Patriarch Bartholomew granted Ukrainian schismatics “autocephaly”, many people “who do not agree with the actions of Patriarch Bartholomew, as well as those Local Churches that supported him, want to remain in the bosom of the canonical Church”. To solve this problem, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry blessed the opening of the parish of the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is spiritually guided by the Holy Dormition Kiev-Caves Lavra. According to the site of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, the church is currently undergoing renovations, and regular services will begin in January 2020. Metropolitan Pavel Vyshgorod and Chernobyl, the viceroy of the Kiev-Caves Monastery, noted that “the opening of this parish will help our compatriots, who for various reasons have found themselves far beyond the borders of their historical homeland, to remain in the bosom of the canonical Church, to remain faithful to the Church Tradition and the structure of the Church”. Code for blog Since you are here… …we do have a small request. More and more people visit Orthodoxy and the World website. However, resources for editorial are scarce. In comparison to some mass media, we do not make paid subscription. It is our deepest belief that preaching Christ for money is wrong. |
| Patriarch Kirill Urges Believers to Fight New Idolatry in Their Own Lives Photo (fragment): Oleg Varov/foto.patriarchia.ru Our ancestors abandoned man-made idols during the Baptism of Rus, but today many believers worship new idols said His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russian. “With the Baptism of Rus, idols disappeared, and people began to worship the one true God The most important thing was probably that our ancestors abandoned idols – false gods,” said the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church on the feast of the Baptism of Rus on July 28 after the Divine Liturgy in St. Alexander Nevsky Skete near Peredelkino. However, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill continued, if you think about what is happening in society today, analogies with ancient idolatry arise. “The ancients worshiped man-made gods, but what do people worship today? First of all those who are deprived of faith in God, faith in Christ, but not only them, because many Christians worship new idols,” said Patriarch Kirill. His Holiness noted that “today the mass media impose certain tastes, a style of behavior, so that we are taught to worship idols again,” and added that, for example, “a certain image of a person is being formed, the main value of which is not in love, not in spiritual joy, not in purity of thoughts and life, but in strength; and many other factors affect consciousness today, forcing the worship of false gods, idols.” “Idolatry has not gone anywhere, and therefore the fight against idols remains relevant,” the Patriarch emphasized, inviting every believer to ask themselves a question: do they worship “some idols and pagan gods, attention to which pushes the genuine saving faith in One True God and Jesus Christ sent by Him to the periphery?” “And this question, directed to oneself, to one’s conscience, should help us understand: are we idolaters, even if we formally belong to the heirs of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir?” added Patriarch Kirill. The Primate of the Russian Church wished that the recollection of the “epochal historical event” – the Baptism of Rus’ – would help people to think about “whether we are truly the heirs of Holy Rus or whether we fell into idolatry, so powerful in ancient times and no less influential today.” |
| Prayers for Deliverance from Coronavirus Epidemic to Be Held Weekly at the Chinese Metochion in Moscow Source: Foma (Russian) Photo: st-nicholas.ru A prayer service for deliverance from the coronavirus epidemic, which is spreading in different countries of the world, will be performed weekly at the Chinese Patriarchal Metochion in Moscow. Archpriest Igor Zuev, Rector of the metochion, stated that the services will take place at St. Nicholas Church in Golutvin. According to him, the services will be held weekly on Sundays after the Chinese Liturgy, at 9:15, until the situation improves. “Prayer singing and prayer for the health of God’s servants in the land of China will be performed during a destructive pestilence and a deadly ulcer,” said Father Igor, reports RIA news agency. The priest noted that prayers during various large-scale emergencies are a natural tradition for the Orthodox Church. Archpriest Igor Zuev said that before the revolution, it was common for believers during epidemics of cholera or plague to impose a multi-day fast on themselves, perform prayer services and hold religious processions with miraculous icons or to holy places. Father Igor recalled, prayers “during a fatal plague and a fatal ulcer” were performed, for example, in 2009 in the Voronezh Metropolis on the occasion of the flu epidemic. Speaking about the essence of prayer, the clergyman emphasized that “a prayer is not a panacea or magic.” “From the point of view of the Orthodox faith, death, illness and suffering are the result of human sin… Therefore, in prayers for health and getting rid of pestilence, it is imperative to ask God to forgive our sins,” the archpriest explained. Earlier the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized the outbreak of a new coronavirus as a public health emergency of international importance. Translated by pravmir.com Code for blog Since you are here… …we do have a small request. More and more people visit Orthodoxy and the World website. However, resources for editorial are scarce. In comparison to some mass media, we do not make paid subscription. It is our deepest belief that preaching Christ for money is wrong. |
| Thessaloniki, July 5, Interfax - Russian State Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin has called on the parliaments of Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy member countries to include the issue of protecting Christians under persecution in the Middle East in the international agenda. Sergey Naryshkin “Today Christians find themselves subject to severe persecution and even lose their lives for their faith in different places on the planet, primarily in the Middle East. We, representatives of our countries’ legislatures, are bound to take measures to protect them by all means available and persistently place these problems on the international agenda,” Naryshkin said at the opening of the 23rd General Assembly of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy. MPs should discuss both ways to help refugees and the reasons behind the current events, he said. “In other words, [they should discuss] the irresponsible policy of a number of Western countries, which, acting under the pretext of the fight against regimes that are undesirable to them, destroy the very statehood of whole peoples and provoke chaos and lawlessness across vast territories,” he said. “And certainly it is necessary to jointly counter terrorists – these barbarians of the third millennium, who savagely eliminate people and monuments of world culture, at the same time covering the evil perpetrated by them by one of the most ancient religious, Islam, which certainly has nothing to do with terrorism,” Naryshkin said. Terrorist gangs’ recruiters are playing on the basest feelings and passions, “and it is easier for them to find their prey in the dysfunctional environment, where young people are doomed to illiteracy and a shortage of cultural upbringing,” he said. Parliaments ought to double their efforts in cracking down on this and seek to raise people’s standards of living in order to minimize conditions for terrorist threat growth, Naryshkin said. Code for blog Since you are here… …we do have a small request. More and more people visit Orthodoxy and the World website. However, resources for editorial are scarce. In comparison to some mass media, we do not make paid subscription. It is our deepest belief that preaching Christ for money is wrong. |
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