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FIRST, THE NEWS: |
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BULGARIA: GOVERNMENT AND THE CHURCH REACH CONSENSUS OVER THE RELIGIOUS DENOMINATION ACT
from: Novinite.com
(5 Oct.) The government and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church have agreed that the controversial amendments to the Religious Denominations Act will be changed between first and second reading in the Parliament. The salaries of clerics will be increased and will be equated with those of the teachers.
Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said after a meeting in the Synodal Palace on 4th of October, the state would give at least 15 million BGN for the pay rise, reports BNT.
Two drafts - one submitted by GERB, BSP and MRF, and the other one by the United Patriots - propose amendments to the Religious Denominations Act. The changes united the ruling and opposition parties, but triggered criticism by the Holy Synod.
Yesterday, the Metropolitans came up with a position saying they did not approve the allocation of the subsidy for religions the way it was proposed. They also disagreed with the idea for control over the funding in the Church.
Part of the amendments aim to "close all doors" of external influences. Therefore drafters insist on a threshold for donations from abroad, which [at present? - ed.] are not subject to control. [read more...]
KAZAKHSTAN: SENATE APPROVES MORE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM RESTRICTIONS
by Felix Corley: Forum 18 News Service
(28 Sep.) Wide-ranging amendments to Kazakhstan's Religion Law and about 10 other laws that seem set to increase still further the already tight restrictions on freedom of religion or belief were approved almost unchanged in both their first and second readings in parliament's upper house, the Senate, on 27 September.
The draft Amending Law ignores previous UN Human Rights Committee and OSCE legal recommendations, and imposes among other things: more restrictions on parents' and children's freedom to attend worship meetings and teach beliefs; more restrictions on and punishments for religious teaching without state permission; more restrictions on sharing beliefs; and apparently increased but vaguely defined confiscation of religious literature which does not pass the compulsory state censorship.
One person has described the Law to Forum 18 as "extremely harsh." Parliament ignored a call in May by Kazakhstan's Human Rights Ombudsperson Askar Shakirov to send the Amending Law for an international review.
The Senate's main changes from the version of the Amending Law approved in May by parliament's lower house, the Majilis, were the removal of restrictions on gaining religious education abroad and the removal of a ban on using emblems of "destructive religious movements" in advertising. [read more...]
EXARCHS OF THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE OF CONSTANTINOPLE TO UKRAINE MET WITH THE CHAIRMAN OF UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT
from: Religious Information Service of Ukraine
(5 Oct.) Following the announcement of the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, appointing Archbishop Daniel, the ruling hierarch of the Western Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA to the formal responsibility of an Exarch of the Ecumenical throne to Ukraine, the archbishop traveled to the capitol of Ukraine – Kyiv in order to begin the fulfillment of his temporary assignment along with His Grace Bishop Ilarion of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA reports.
The Chairman of Ukrainian Parliament, His Excellency Andriy Parubiy held a meeting with the Exarchs of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Ukraine - Archbishop Daniel of the Western Eparchy of the UOC in the United States of America and Bishop Ilarion of Edmonton and the Western Eparchy of the UOC in Canada on October 5, 2018. In the formal discussion, the hierarchs touched upon the historical significance of the Mother Church of Constantinople in the life of the Ukrainian nation and the Church of Kyiv-Rus Ukraine.
Archbishop Daniel informed the Speaker about the steps already taken towards reconciliation and unification of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and readiness of His All-Holiness to act upon the request of the people of Ukraine, the President of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Parliament, to grant Autocephalous Status to the Church of Ukraine.
Greeting the Exarchs of the Ecumemnical Throne, Mr. Parubiy emphasized that this visit "is the fatherly response of His All Holiness the Patriarch to the two historic appeals expressed by the majority of the Ukrainian parliamentarians about granting Ukraine the Tomos of Autocephaly." According to him, "the Ukrainian people are mobilized more than ever before. 'All the Orthodox Christians of Ukraine are awaiting for the Ecumenical Patriarch's decision." [read more...]
UNIFIED LOCAL CHURCH HEAD TO BE ELECTED AT UNIFYING ASSEMBLY AFTER CONSTANTINOPLE GRANTS AUTOCEPHALY - HEAD OF KIEV PATRIARCHATE
from: Interfax-Religion
(1 Oct.) The head of the unified local Orthodox church in Ukraine will be elected at a unifying assembly after the Ecumenical Patriarchate grants autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox church, leader of the Kiev Patriarchate Filaret Denisenko said.
"The head of the Ukrainian church will be elected at a unifying assembly, and a unifying assembly will be comprised of 41 hierarchs of the Kiev Patriarchate, 12 hierarchs of the Autocephalous Church and 10 hierarchs of the Moscow Patriarchate," Filaret said in an interview with Channel Five.
The head of the church will be elected as soon as Constantinople decides to grant autocephaly to the Ukrainian church, and he will accept Constantinople's tomos (ordinance), he said.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople recently signaled its intention to grant autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox church, thus setting up a local church independent of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine. These plans are opposed by a significant number of parishioners of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate but are welcomed by parishioners of the Kiev Patriarchate. [read more...]
RUSSIA WAGES A RELIGIOUS WAR AGAINST UKRAINE
from: Wall Street Journal
(30 Sep.) The Kremlin is trying without success to dominate the Eastern Orthodox Church. Russia’s assault on Ukraine unfolded along military, economic and diplomatic lines. Vladimir Putin’s Moscow also is waging a less-noticed war on Ukraine’s religious sovereignty.
To understand this, look at the structure of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. The church consists of 14 autocephalous, or self-governing, churches. Religious and national identities often overlap, as in the Orthodox Churches of Russia, Romania, Bulgaria and Georgia. Each national church falls under a particular patriarchate, and the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople is considered first among equals.
In recent centuries, Ukrainian believers had belonged to the Russian Orthodox Church. Shortly before the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991, a council of bishops in Ukraine declared the church’s independence from Russia. In the ’90s, the new leader of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church—Filaret, the metropolitan bishop of Kiev—came under pressure from Russian church and security officials to resign. He refused. In 1997 the patriarch of the Russian church excommunicated him and declared his followers schismatics.
An estimated 12,300 parishes in Ukraine continue to follow Moscow and belong to what is known as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. Meantime, some 5,100 parishes switched to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate, led by Filaret.
Patriarch Filaret seeks recognition of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as autonomous and independent, and he is about to get it. The ultimate arbiter in this dispute is Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople. On Sept. 23 he confirmed his intention to issue a tomos, or decree that confers the independence of a local church, for Ukraine. [read more...]
CHURCH ATTENDANCE IN POLAND PLUMMETING: REPORT
from: Radio Poland
(5 Oct.) The number of church service attendees is falling in Poland at the fastest rate in the world, according to research cited by a Polish daily.
A Pew Research Center study conducted in 108 countries across the globe found that 26 percent of Poles aged below 30 regularly go to Sunday mass, the Rzeczpospolita daily reported. The proportion stands at 55 percent in the case of Poles aged over 40, the paper said.
According to Poland's Institute for Catholic Church Statistics, 51 percent of Catholics regularly took part in Sunday service in 1980. By 2016, the figure had dropped to 36.7 percent.
About 93 percent of Poles declare themselves to be Catholics, according to statistics released by the institute in January. [read more...]
OTHER NEWS HEADLINES:
HIT FILM ON ROGUE PRIESTS SHAKES UP POLAND'S CATHOLICS
from Financial Times
ADVENTISTS OPEN CENTER FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL ABILITIES IN TERNOPIL REGION
from Religious Information Service of Ukraine
INCREASED PERSECUTION IN CHINA SPARKS ATTENTION
from Mission Network News
COMMUNICATION WITH SCHISMATICS COULD LEAD TO EXCOMMUNICATION, UKRAINIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH WARNS CONSTANTINOPLE
from Interfax-Religion
SBU: RUSSIAN SPECIAL SERVICES TRY TO CREATE HAVOC IN UKRAINE TO COUNTERACT THE GRANTING OF THE TOMOS
from Religious Information Service of Ukraine
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 'THE HOLY SCRIPTURES IN THE CHANGING WORLD' TAKES PLACE IN ETCHMIADZIN, ARMENIA
from Russian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate
AN ORTHODOX FRACTURE WITH SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES
from First Things
AN OVERVIEW OF ORTHODOXY IN UKRAINE, PART 1
from Orthodox Christianity
VATICAN-CHINA AGREEMENT CRITICIZED BY US RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ADVOCATES – ANALYSIS
from Eurasia Review
WHY DO RUSSIA'S MYSTERIOUS 'SPIRIT-WRESTLERS' CONTINUE THEIR STRUGGLE IN CANADA?
from Russia Beyond the Headlines
ROMANIANS VOTE ON PUTTING GAY MARRIAGE BAN IN CONSTITUTION
from Herald-Whig
NOW, OUR VIEWS:
Here's the "Start" page of our new "Agaape Restoration Communities" slideshow: 22 slides and short articles that explain the "how" and "why" of our "Building the ARC" project. Click the pic and take a look!
Our first news article BULGARIA: GOVERNMENT AND THE CHURCH REACH CONSENSUS OVER THE RELIGIOUS DENOMINATION ACT tells how the Bulgarian state will support clergy on a pay scale equivalent to teachers. This may sound strange to those of us in the U.S. but it's normal for European governments to have close ties between church and state. Citizens who declare themselves to belong to a given church are charged a tax that goes to support that church. The result is that if people don't want to pay this tax, they declare themselves unbelievers.
The two news articles EXARCHS OF THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE OF CONSTANTINOPLE TO UKRAINE MET WITH THE CHAIRMAN OF UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT and UNIFIED LOCAL CHURCH HEAD TO BE ELECTED AT UNIFYING ASSEMBLY AFTER CONSTANTINOPLE GRANTS AUTOCEPHALY - HEAD OF KIEV PATRIARCHATE describe how the Ukrainian government and Orthodox leaders are working out the details with the two exarchs from the Ecumenical Patriarchate on the creation of a new Ukrainian Orthodox Church. At this point, we don't know what will be the name of this new church or who will be its top hierarch. It is significant that the second article mentions "10 hierarchs of the Moscow Patriarchate" will be part of this new, autonomous church. We also don't know exactly when this will take place: it could be as early as next week when the Holy Synod meets again in Constantinople (Istanbul).
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Our sixth news article CHURCH ATTENDANCE IN POLAND PLUMMETING: REPORT and our first news headline HIT FILM ON ROGUE PRIESTS SHAKES UP POLAND'S CATHOLICS both illustrate the efforts by Satan to diminish the size and influence of Christianity in that country. Similar trends are taking place all over the world: why? In my humble opinion, it is largely because we as Christians have abdicated our social responsibilities in favor of the state. We have allowed the state to take over the educational system, medical system and the system of care for the poor, widows, orphans and elderly.
Those were all domains where churches were taking the lead from the fourth century up to 50-75 years ago: see my articles "Seek the Welfare of the City, Parts 1 & 2." Many universities, hospitals and facilities for elderly still have names that suggest a Christian heritage but they now operate on secular, often profit-oriented principles or are funded by the government. Once the churches have relinquished control of these institutions, it is very difficult to reclaim because it's hard to compete with "free stuff" that the government provides or subsidizes. Of course, it's not really "free" - we're all paying for it through taxes, but what we receive is of diminished quality due to government bureaucratic waste and excessive overhead costs.
The news headline AN ORTHODOX FRACTURE WITH SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES is worth reading: it describes how the creation of a new Orthodox Church in Ukraine will diminish if not demolish the Russian myths of the "Third Rome" and the "Russian World" centered, of course, around Moscow. Christianity came to the Slavic world through Kyiv over 1,030 years ago at a time when Moscow didn't even exist. Then, the next news headline AN OVERVIEW OF ORTHODOXY IN UKRAINE, PART 1 is a Moscow-oriented attempt to rewrite this history by claiming that ancient Rus' based in Kyiv is actually today's greater Russia.
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Law vs. Grace, Part 2
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
In my first essay on this topic, "Law vs. Grace: Which Will Win?," I wrote that St. Paul made a clear disctinction between Law and Grace, and that nobody can be saved by merely observing the Law of Moses.
But there is a further distinction that must be made: St. Paul himself was not condemning those Jews who would choose to continue observing Jewish religious customs. As Paul wrote - "...when they perceived the grace that was given to me, James and Cephas and John, they who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcision. They only asked us to remember the poor -- which very thing I was also zealous to do" (Galatians 2:9-10).
So basically, what he's saying is that it doesn't matter whether you observe certain religious customs {"the circumcision") or not ('the Gentiles"): the thing that really matters is faith in Christ and demonstrating that faith by remembering the poor. Note carefully that at the First Council in Jerusalem, the Apostles did not condemn those Jews who wanted to retain their religious customs: "For Moses from generations of old has in every city those who preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath" (Acts 15:21), clearly implying that the Jewish believers in Jesus could continue observing their traditions. The main point was that Gentiles who believed in Jesus as the Annointed One ("Messiah" in Hebrew, "Christ" in Greek) did not have to first become Jewish proselytes and observe the Mosaic Law before they could become Christians.
Paul makes this point again, this time rather sharply, in ch.5, v.4 - "You are alienated from Christ, you who desire to be justified by the law. You have fallen away from grace." If you believe that all you need to do in order to have salvation is to observe a collection of religious customs, rituals and ceremonies, you're sadly mistaken! The essence of the Christian faith does not consist of certain ethnic foods, or speaking in an archaic dialect, or singing in a certain strange manner, or using square and triangular musical notes, or crossing oneself right-to-left vs. left-to-right - those are all cultural traditions, human traditions, not Holy Tradition. The Christian faith is faith in Christ! All those other things are optional, not essential!
And in v. 6, Paul clarifies - "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision amounts to anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love." Merely following religious ritual ("circumcision") or no rituals ("uncircumcision") without faith doesn't save. What saves is a practical, working faith: if we say we "love mankind" but that love doesn't work out in practical, visible ways of loving that sometimes unlovely relative or neighbor, we're simply fooling ourselves when we say we have faith in Christ. Paul sums it up again - "For in Christ Jesus neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation" (Galatians 6:15).
What is this "new creation"? Paul tells us what happened to him: "For I, through the law, died to the law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me, and gave Himself up for me" (Galatians 2:19-20). "Crucified with Christ" = "Christ in me" = "being in Christ" - see 2 Corinthians 5:17 - "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new."
In Ephesians 1:22-23, St. Paul focuses on the Church, emphasizing the community or group nature of our salvation: "He [God the Father] put all things in subjection under His [Christ's] feet, and gave Him to be Head over all things for the Church, which is His Body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all." Where is this "fullness" of God's glory to be found? In Christ's Body, the Church!
St. Paul's whole first chapter of his letter to the saints in Ephesus uses over and over the plural "you" and "we" or "us" - he's not interested in preaching the modern-day Gospel of "Just Jesus, My Bible and Me" rugged individualism, self-centered pseudo-salvation that's simply a self-deceiving, phony easy-believism ticket to heaven. This heresy is called "Antinomianism" - it teaches us that we don't need to do anything, certainly not follow a bunch of rules, simply believe, because "doing things" might make us think that we are trying to save ourselves by our good works, not by faith.
Such people mis-quote Ephesians 2:8-9 - "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast." They indulge their fleshly passions and lusts, thinking that they don't need to do any good works. But they conveniently omit the very next verse - "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them." That word "walk" refers to our day-to-day behavior, our actions or works.
Many Christians labor under confusion about the meaning of "works" in St. Paul's New Testament letters: Paul uses the word "works" in two distinctly different ways - "the works of the Law" that refer to trying to keep the ritual Law of Moses, versus "good works" that refer to the way faith works through love. The first "works" he always describes negatively: they can't save us. But the second "works" he always describes positively as the evidence of Christ in us! All religions including Christianity have rituals and traditions - they're not bad as such, but they aren't the essence of Christianity. So here's how we should understand "Law vs. Grace" - Law is our human, fleshly efforts to save ourselves through religious ritual, but Grace is Christ's resurrected life in us empowering us to do good works.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Christ is among us! He is and ever shall be!
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Please remember to pray for Christians in socialist countries, and for...
Your fellow-servants,
Bob & Cheryl
p.s. The answer to the ever-present "Why?" is the everlasting Who.
, 07 Oct. 2018