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KYIV AUTHORITIES SUPPORT DRIVE TO DEMOLISH UOC-MP CHAPEL IN KYIV
from: KyivPost
(10 Feb.) Kyiv City Council supported on Feb. 9 the petition demanding to take down the chapel of Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate on Volodymyrska Street in the heart of Kyiv. The chapel allegedly was built illegally in 2006 near the remains of the foundation of Desiatynna Church on the property of Kyiv’s National Museum of Ukrainian History.
In November, activists created a petition on Kyiv City Council’s website demanding the chapel’s demolition. The petition received 10,000 signatures required for the application to be considered by city’s authorities. The author of the petition says that the chapel was built illegally on the land of cultural and historical significance.
Kyiv City Council decided to support the petition and forwarded it to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko who now has to sign it. Previously Kyiv authorities said that they didn’t give a permission to build the chapel. The chapel got in the spotlight after the activists of nationalistic S-14, Traditions and Order and Falcon groups took down an information desk at its territory on Jan. 25. The same day police arrested architects Oleksandr Horban and Oleksii Shemotiuk for allegedly attempting to set the building on fire.
Shevchenkivsky district court on Jan. 27 ordered to arrest both for two months as pre-trial detention with Hr 2.2 million for bail each. On Feb. 5 the court released both architects without bail on personal guarantees from several members of parliament. Horban and Shemotiuk were accused of intentional destruction or property damage. The arrest of Horban and Shemotiuk led to the protest against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate on Feb. 3, with hundreds of people demanding to demolish the chapel. [read more...]
AZERBAIJAN: PENTECOSTAL CHURCH RAIDED; BAPTIST PASTOR FINED
by Felix Corley: Forum 18 News Service
(6 Feb.) On 28 January 2018, police raided a Sunday worship service of the Pentecostal "Star in the East" church in Azerbaijan's second city Gyanja. Police phoned the schools of children present at the service. Fines might follow. Police in Gyanja's Nizami District raided the Sunday meeting for worship of this Pentecostal Church, held in the home of 45-year-old church member Adalat Sariyev. About 100 people - 40 of them children - were present at the meeting when the police arrived, Report.az news website noted on 30 January.
"The invasion came during the service, and officers filmed everyone present with video-cameras and took their personal details, including of children," one church member told Forum 18 from Gyanja. Police detained Sariyev and sent information about him to the State Committee for Work with Religious Organisations, Report.az noted. Following the raid, schools attended by the children received calls from the police, church members told Forum 18.
The man who answered the phone of Nizami District Police chief - who would not give his name - refused to explain why officers raided a meeting for worship in a home. "Ask the Interior Ministry," he told Forum 18 on 5 February. The officer then admitted that local police, not officers from the Ministry in Baku, had conducted the raid, but still refused to explain why it had been launched. "We work according to the laws of Azerbaijan," he insisted and then put the phone down.
On 31 January, Azerbaijan's Constitutional Court in the capital Baku wrote to Baptist pastor Hamid Shabanov in Aliabad in the northern Zakatala District to tell him it would not be considering his further appeal against a large fine for meeting for worship without state permission handed down in December 2016. Pastor Shabanov - a former prisoner of conscience - must now pay the fine of more than three months' average wages for those in formal work. Another Baptist from the same church, Mehman Agamammadov, has now paid all three instalments of his fine.
"The Constitutional Court wrote to say that I lodged the appeal too late," Pastor Shabanov told Forum 18 from Aliabad on 6 February. "I must now pay the fine. The law demands that I pay - they warned me that if I don't, they'll be further action."
Another Baptist from the same church, Mehman Agamammadov, has now paid all three instalments of his 1,500 Manat-fine at the insistence of the court bailiff. Despite being repeatedly refused the written decision and despite objecting to being fined for exercising his right to freedom of religion or belief he paid the first instalment of 500 Manats in early December 2017. "Mehman has now paid the other two instalments," Pastor Shabanov told Forum 18.
The fines followed a November 2016 raid by police and the local State Committee official on an "illegal" meeting for prayer in Pastor Shabanov's home. Police detained more than 30 adults and children present, after which 16 women and 10 men were questioned at the local police station until 10 pm at night. Police sent confiscated religious literature to the State Committee in Baku for alleged "expert analysis." The literature was all returned the following month. [read more...]
(1 Feb.) The most valuable agents of the KGB in the episcopate of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine in 1947 were “Petrov” in the east and “Hlibov” and “Ivanov”" - in the west, according to a note published by historian Roman Skakun.
Out of the 17 bishops and one metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1947, only three were not agents of the KGB. This is indicated in the statement on the operational work of the "O" Department (for operative work among the clergy) of the USSR Ministry of State Security, published on Facebook by historian Roman Skakun.
"Our republic has 17 eparchies, one metropolitan and 17 bishops - and at the same time 'agents in the episcopate': 15 (in general, the ROC inUkraine included 574 agents and 1636 whistleblowers) ... It would be interesting to know who those three of 18, who did not cooperate with the KGB," he wrote. Among the most valuable agents the document lists "Petrov" in Voroshilovgrad (now Luhansk) region, "Hlibov" in Lviv and "Ivanov" in Drohobych (territory annexed by the Soviet Union in 1939 after the separation from Poland and Germany).
According to the note, in 1947, a total of 80 new agents were recruited. In a commentto his post, Roman Skakun noted: "Agent 'Hlibov' is Bishop Makariy Oksiyuk of Lviv, and 'Ivanov' is the bishop of Drohobych, Mykhailo Melnyk. 'Petrov' is obviously Nikon Petin, Bishop of Donetsk and Voroshilovhrad," writes the historian. [read more...]
WHY DO THE RUSSIANS TRUST THE CHURCH SET UP BY THE KGB?
by Ksenia Luchenko: Newsweek
(10 Feb.) It was to a resounding silence that the news broke last December that today’s Russian Church’s organization was essentially formed under the watchful eye of the NKGB, a precursor to the KGB. The 1945 Local Council that elected Patriarch Alexy I (Simansky) and adopted the church’s current name was organized and conducted by the Soviet political police, documents recently declassified by the Ukrainian Security Service show.
The Russian Orthodox Church could have found itself in a tight place had anyone paid attention. But few were interested. Today's Russian society is undeterred in its respect for the church. The January 1945 council's delegates were selected from among "persons who were held in high religious regard by the clergy and the people of faith and at the same time proved their worth as part of intelligence or patriotic work," one of the released documents said.
The council, the first such gathering since the revolution of 1917, ruled that the church would henceforth be called the "Russian Orthodox Church." (One of the names used before the revolution was the "Orthodox Catholic Greek-Russian Church," but official monikers varied.) The mainstream view is that the 1945 council was vital for the church under the Soviet rule: Patriarch Alexy's trustworthiness helped bring back to the fold many of the secret believers who had shied away from the preceding Patriarch Sergius (Stragorodsky) because of his publicly expressed loyalty to Stalin (neither he nor the church organization would have survived otherwise).
But according to those radically opposed to Soviet rule, the Bolsheviks completely destroyed the canonical Orthodox Church that had existed from the Baptism of Rus' up to the revolutionary days of 1917. The Moscow Patriarchate, this thinking goes, is an organization that can trace its history only to 1943, the year when Stalin summoned the three highest-ranking bishops of the time to the Kremlin and told them he was prepared to legalize the Orthodox Church and reopen the churches and seminaries.
The papers made public by the Ukrainian security agency showed that the crucial meetings of the Russian Orthodox Church and the patriarch selection process were police controlled. But the reaction on Russian social media was along the lines of "What's the big deal?" and "Haven't we heard about this before?" [read more...]
RUSSIAN SOCIETY NOT READY FOR POPE TO VISIT - CATHOLIC PRIEST
from: Interfax-Religion
(2 Feb.) Priest Igor Kovalevsky, the general secretary of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Russia, said he does not see the possibility of the pope visiting Moscow. "I will give my personal, private opinion. I don't see the possibility of a visit by the pope to Russia. Russian society is not currently ready for that. Why rush things?" he said at a press conference in Moscow on Friday. Kovalevsky referred to an Orthodox bishop who said that Orthodox and Catholic Christians believe in "different gods."
"I think his words were misinterpreted. Something was said differently, and the information was reported by a Ukrainian agency, they could have mistranslated it, but there is currently no official refutation," the priest said, adding that "it is not a problem for dialogue" between the two churches. Nevertheless, Kovalevsky believes that it would be good for Russian society for the pope to visit. "But I don't think [it can happen] today," he said. [read more...]
KYRGYZSTAN: BURIAL BLOCKED WITH VIOLENCE "RESOLVED PEACEFULLY"?
by Mushfig Bayram: Forum 18 News Service
(1 Feb.) Kyrgyzstan continues to refuse to defend residents wishing to bury their dead in the way they and the bereaved families wish. Mob rule backed by violence and threats continues to be a normal experience for such families which, along with the authorities' complicity in such violations of the rule of law, causes families and friends great distress. One of the latest such known incidents took place in the village of Barskoon, in Jeti-Oguz District of the north-eastern Issyk-Kul Region, local Protestants, who wished to remain unnamed for fear of state and unofficial reprisals, told Forum 18 on 30 January.
The local imam, accompanied by what was described as a mob of young men and officials, refused to allow the burial of a Christian villager to take place. As soon as the imam was asked by local Christians by what authority he could do this, the mob also threatened local people that unless they stopped talking they would be beaten up. Forum 18 has been told that some villagers still fear for their lives and are very distressed. The imam admitted to Forum 18 that he had blocked the burial, but then denied all responsibility and tried to blame everything on the villagers
The village kenesh's [council's] legal expert claimed to Forum 18 that "it's only a one-off incident. It was resolved peacefully." Asked whether the village authorities or higher authorities had or would take any steps to punish the Imam or the mob, Toktogonov answered: "No. This is not a big problem."
Ravshan Eratov, Head of the Muslim Board's Fatwa Section, adamantly denied that a burial in Barskoon had ever been stopped. "I do not know where you are getting your facts. No such thing ever happened," he claimed to Forum 18. He refused to reply when asked why a colleague of his, village officials, the local Imam, and local Christians had all stated that the incident happened. [read more...]
OTHER NEWS HEADLINES:
KAZAKHSTAN: 279 KNOWN ADMINISTRATIVE PROSECUTIONS IN 2017
from Forum 18 News Service
PRESIDENT OF UKRAINIAN WORLD CONGRESS REQUESTS PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW TO GRANT AUTOCEPHALY TO UOC-KP
from Religious Information Service of Ukraine
HELP GROW THE PASSIONATE CHURCH IN FAR EAST RUSSIA
from Mission Network News
RUSSIAN PRO-LIFER THANKS TRUMP FOR STRUGGLING AGAINST ABORTIONS
from Interfax-Religion
BUREAUCRATS MAKE SILLY ENFORCEMENT OF YAROVAYA LAW ON PROTESTANT CHURCH
from Novyi Kaliningrad
RUSSIAN RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES CARRY OUT A HUMANITARIAN ACTION IN SYRIA UNPRECEDENTED IN SCALE
from Russian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate
FIVE TATARSTAN INMATES BAPTIZED IN FONT BUILT BY FELLOW PRISONERS
from Orthodox Christianity
THE UNEXPECTED: A MINISTRY TO WIDOWS IN THE UKRAINE
from Christianity Today
VIETNAM: CATHOLIC ACTIVISTS GET HARSH SENTENCES
from Eurasia Review
UKRAINE’S UNESCO CHURCHES: TRADITIONAL CARPATHIAN WOODEN CHURCHES ARE TOPIC OF LECTURE
from Ukrainian Weekly
NOW, OUR VIEWS:
Finally I've gotten over the bad cold that I mentioned last time, and I'm getting caught up on reading my five assigned books plus a new Bible, The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha (left). The other two Bibles are the Orthodox Study Bible (center) and the NIV Study Bible (right). Two books are on the writings of the early and later Christian fathers, and the other three books are for my homiletics course: we must prepare a sermon for each class session.
In our third news article IN 1947, 15 OF 18 ORTHODOX BISHOPS WERE KGB AGENTS and our fourth WHY DO THE RUSSIANS TRUST THE CHURCH SET UP BY THE KGB? you must first consider the sources: one from Ukraine, the other with a Ukrainian family name. Western-oriented sources tend to portray Russia as the bad guy, while Russian-oriented sources often portray Russia as a paragon of virtue and the West as a corrupt cesspool. Neither side is completely true.
On my "Literature" web-page you'll find several new shorter articles you can download and read about the Early Church. I feel it's vitally important for today's Christians to understand how the Church of the first several centuries was formed and how it interacted with society, setting up the first orphanages, hospitals, homes for the elderly, leprosaria, and hospices. So take a look.
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Forgiveness Sunday
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
On February 18, Forgiveness Sunday, the beginning of Great Lent, the Epistle reading is Rom. 13:11 - 14:4, and the Gospel reading is Mat. 6:14-21.
We call it "Forgiveness Sunday" and it's a very special, moving service of mutual forgiveness. But every Sunday – in fact, every day – should be Forgiveness Day. In today's Epistle, we read in Rom. 14:1-3 – "Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats, for God has received him." As we enter Great Lent, keep in mind that it's not a game of spiritual one-up-man-ship. Some can fast, others just can't. St. Paul says here that he who eats only vegetables is weak in the faith: we fast to strengthen our weak faith, not to show how spiritually strong we already are. Nor should our Evangelical friends who eat meat during Lent look down on those of us who fast – that's not receiving the weaker brother. Each of us – Orthodox, Catholic or Evangelical – will answer to his own Master, Christ, not to us (v. 4).
Our Gospel reading today begins with - "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Mat. 6:14-15). How often do we unthinkingly rattle off the words in the Lord's Prayer in Mat. 6:9 – "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors"? Forgive and accept those brothers and sisters in the faith who do secondary things differently! Fasting isn't the main thing, nor are our beloved ethnic foods and customs. Folk dances, fish fries or halushki never got anyone into or kept anyone out of heaven. This is Forgiveness Sunday, so let's forgive and accept one another!
Mutual forgiveness implies repentance – "metanoia" – a change of heart and direction. That is what Lent is all about. So let's go a bit further in today's Gospel text: the Lord gives instructions on how to fast – "Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly" (vv. 16-18). The Jews put ashes on their heads when fasting, but put oil on their heads for joyous occasions (NIVSB), so put on a happy face when you fast. Do you tell others about your fasting? Stop it! Doing that loses all the benefit of fasting! As Christ said in v. 5, "And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward." Do you fill your belly with tasty "fasting foods"? Cut it out! That's fake fasting: real fasting is simple and spare eating.
What to the Church Fathers say about it? St. John Chrysostom wrote – "What good is it if we abstain from eating birds and fish, but bite and devour our brothers?" (OSB note). Blessed Augustine said – "Pride can appear not only in the pomp of worldly wealth but even in the garment of sackcloth, where it is all the more dangerous because it is a deception under the pretense of service to God" (ACCS).
This leads us to the next thought, about false wealth and true treasures – "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust corrupt and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (vv. 19-21). "Moth and rust" represent all agents and processes that destroy worldly possessions (NIVSB). So you bought Bitcoin as it went up to $20,000? Now it's down to $6,000 and you've lost your shirt. You grew your business and built yourself a million-dollar mansion, did you? One night your soul will be required of you, and the tax man will take most of that, thank you. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Mat. 5:3). Which are you: poor materially but striving for more wealth, or truly poor in spirit? The Greek word for "treasure" is "thisauros" (KJV+) from which we get "thesaurus" – a thick volume containing a treasury of fancy synonyms you can use to sound like you're well-educated: could this be another earthly treasure we are not to seek?
Trusting in worldly goods is useless, as James writes (ch. 5:2-3) – "Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasures for the last days" (NOAB). The "last days" are the Last Judgment, when all worldly wealth and status will go up in smoke. Again, Chrysostom writes – "The love of money wounds the center of your vitality, your soul, your very life, and may overthrow your salvation. In relation to God's providence, all things about which we are anxious will pass away" (ACCS). Our very salvation is at stake: serve God or mammon, you can't serve both.
Finally, Blessed Augustine writes – "How can a heart be clean while it is wallowing in the mud? On the other hand, if it be fastened upon heaven it will be clean, for whatever is heavenly is unpolluted. A thing becomes defiled if it is mixed with a baser substance, even though that other substance be not vile in its own nature. Gold, for example, is debased by pure silver if mixed with it. So also is our mind defiled by a desire for the things of earth, although the earth itself is pure in its own class and in its own order" (ACCS). The soul was made for higher things than earthly treasures: keep it undefiled!
In conclusion, 1) forgive, don't judge or hold a grudge; 2) fast plainly and without show; 3) speak and live simply, don't strive for earthly treasure or status. Do all this to inherit the Kingdom of God.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Christ is in our midst! He is and ever shall be!
______________
Sources:
ACCS = Ancient Christian Commentary on the Scriptures, on this passage (e-Sword add-in)
KJV+ = King James Version with Strong's Dictionaries and Concordance (e-Sword)
OSB = Orthodox Study Bible (used throughout except where otherwise noted)
NIVSB = New International Version Study Bible
NOAB = New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha
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, 10 Feb. 2018