THE UNEXPECTED RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN U.S. EVANGELICALS AND RUSSIAN ORTHODOX
by John P. Burgess: Christian Century

(2 Aug.) Well before special counsel Robert Mueller started investigating possible illegal collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, American evangelicals had formed an odd alliance of their own with leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church. American evangelicals are led to make common cause with Russian Orthodoxy—and with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin — because of a deep and shared suspicion of Western liberal elites.

Evangelical leaders in the United States and Orthodox hierarchs in Russia have accused the Western liberal establishment of being secular, antireligious, and committed to undermining traditional religious and moral values. In recent years, Barack Obama's comments about "bitter" people "who cling to guns or religion" and Hillary Clinton's dismissal of the "deplorables" backing Trump have added fuel to the flames. Sexual and gender politics have generated the most heat, but "traditional values" have also included patriotism, respect for the military, and the celebration of historic religious national identities, as in "Christian America" or "Holy Russia."

In both countries, evangelicals and Orthodox have actively opposed legalized abortion and have called for protection of the "traditional" family. They have turned to leaders who support their causes — American evangelicals to the Republican Party and now Trump; Russian Orthodox hierarchs to Putin.

On this basis, for more than a decade, Russian Orthodox hierarchs — especially Patriarch Kirill and Metropolitan Hilarion — have explored cooperation with American evangelicals and other conservative religious forces both in Russia and internationally. Metropolitan Hilarion, the church’s top diplomat, recently asserted that Russian Orthodox believers and Russian Baptists agree on the need to preserve "traditional Christian values and the institution of the family." At a gathering of religious leaders in England last year, Patriarch Kirill appealed for a united effort to counter the "oppression" of "power groups" that propose ideas "incompatible with the traditional views of Christian morality.... Christians in Europe must strive to defend their values on which the continent was built." This language echoes that of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, who also called for preserving the Christian foundations of Europe.

Metropolitan Hilarion has traveled regularly to the United States to meet not only with Orthodox counterparts but also with conservative evangelical and Catholic leaders. On a 2011 trip, he delivered a speech at the Catholic University of America, perhaps the most conservative of America's large Catholic universities, and then at Dallas Theological Sem­inary, one of the country's most prominent conservative evangelical institutions. While in Dallas, he preached at Highland Park Presbyterian Church, a 4,000-member congregation that has since left the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) over its liberal social stances. [read more...]

DONBAS: LUHANSK: ARMED RAIDS, WORSHIP BANS, FINES
by Felix Corley: Forum 18 News Service

(7 Aug.) Authorities of the self-declared Luhansk People's Republic, an unrecognised entity in eastern Ukraine, have regularly halted worship meetings by a range of religious communities, seized religious literature and fined religious leaders.

The most recent raid came on a Pentecostal church in Alchevsk on 6 August, with two court cases due on 8 August. earlier raids included those on Baptist and Jehovah's Witness communities in Krasnodon, Gorodyshche, Molodogvardeisk, Stakhanov, Nagolno-Tarasovka, Chervonopartizansk, Alchevsk and Luhansk. Many individuals were fined several weeks' average wages for holding "illegal" worship meetings.

Only two of the 18 pre-2014 Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchate churches locally still function. Pro-Russian rebels seized parts of Ukraine's Luhansk region in March 2014 and the following month proclaimed what they called the Luhansk People's Pepublic (LPR). Heavy fighting ensued. The rebel administration, which currently controls about a third of Ukraine's Luhansk region, has declared a state of martial law.

Pro-russian rebels similarly seized parts of Ukraine's Donetsk region in April 2014 and proclaimed what they called the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). Heavy fighting ensued. The rebel administration currently controls nearly half of Ukraine's Donetsk region. the rebel-held area adjoins the rebel-held area of Luhansk region. [read more...]

ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW: FINAL GOAL IS TO GRANT AUTOCEPHALY TO UKRAINIAN CHURCH
from: Religious Information Service of Ukraine

(27 Jul.) Today, President Petro Poroshenko met with the delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate which arrived in Ukraine to participate in the 1,030th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus-Ukraine festivities. This is reported by the official website of the President of Ukraine.

The Head of State expressed his gratitude to His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew "for the constant care of the Mother Church for the faithful of the Ukrainian nation that is experiencing difficult times of aggression waged against our State by the Russian Federation in connection with the illegal annexation of Crimea."

Petro Poroshenko also expressed gratitude for Patriarch Bartholomew's position regarding the Ukrainian Church. "For most Ukrainians, the words of His All-Holiness that Ukraine is not a canonical territory of the Russian Orthodox Church are highly important; that the transfer of control to Moscow in the 17th century took place in a non-canonical way. And just like we do, His All-Holiness believes the Patriarchate of Constantinople to be our Mother Church," he said.

Ukraine's Head of State also thanked representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate for having participated in the celebration of such an important event for Ukrainians. "Thank you very much for this prayer. Thank you very much for supporting us. Thank you very much that tomorrow we will jointly celebrate this important anniversary," the Head of State said. [read more...]

POROSHENKO DISMISSED AN OFFICIAL WHO PROMISED HIM AUTOCEPHALY TO THE DAY OF RUSSIA'S BAPTISM - MEDIA
from: Interfax-Religion

(2 Aug.) Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko dismissed deputy head of his administration Rostislav Pavlenko "in connection with transition to another job," the presidential decree posted at his website says. Pavlenko replaced Vladimir Gorbulin at the post of director of the National Institute for Strategic Research.

The Ukrainian media reported that in Poroshenko's administration Pavlenko was a curator of the idea of providing autocephaly to Ukraine. According to Strana.ua, on Pavlenko's suggestion Poroshenko voiced that Ukraine would receive the Tomos to the Day of Russia's Baptism.

"It was clear that such a complicated question could not be settled in few months in such a conservative structure as the Church, especially taking in consideration opposition of Moscow and the Russian Orthodox Church," the source in the administration told Strana.ua.

According to him, there was a group of people headed by Pavlenko in the president's surroundings who decided to give Poroshenko a Wunderwaffe (wonder weapon) for winning the elections. [read more...]

EXPLOSIVE GROWTH OF RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH HAS LEFT IT CORRUPT AND BACKWARD – OPED
from: Eurasia Review

(9 Aug.) The corruption and obscurantism of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate has less to do with the personal commitments of its leaders than with the explosive growth of the church after 1991, a growth that has been possible only thanks to its special relationship with the government and that has elevated new hierarchs far too quickly.

That judgment is offered by Russian commentator Igor Nadezhdin in an important article on what he calls "the Worker-Peasant Red Church," an institution that despite its claims is not a restoration of pre-Soviet Orthodoxy but the creation of a new institution based on links to the state and peasant rather than urban roots (churchslaves.lenta.ru/meninblack).

In 1991, when the Soviet empire collapsed, there were approximately 6500 parishes of the ROC MP, of which "two thirds were in Ukraine." Today, the ROC MP has "more than 36,000 parishes, of which about 25,000 are in Russia," with even more dramatic increases in the number of bishoprics and monasteries.

There was no one with adequate background to restore the church to what it had been thanks to the depradations of Soviet power; and consequently, the ROC MP relied on what it had: rural people who retained some idea about religion but who lacked the training to serve as priests let alone as hierarchs.

The negative impact of their views has been especially great in the hierarchy. While parish priests may stay in one place for a long time and do harm only in a narrow circle, the explosive growth of the church meant that those who were ready to rise through the church establishment did so at dizzying speed and without the kind of preparation they needed.

These people brought with them their peasant values, Nadezhdin says; and these people not only brought their peasant or more precisely collective farm values with them but used their position to impose these values on those who flocked to the church, insisting that new priests and parishioners follow the most obscurantist of positions. [read more...]

GREECE DENIES VISAS TO RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH'S PRIESTS AFTER WORSENING RELATIONS DUE TO UKRAINE
from: Unian

(9 Aug.) Priests of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) are facing problems obtaining Schengen visas through the Greek consulate due to the conflict between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Patriarchate of Constantinople over the issue of granting autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC).

"This is the policy of the Greek government. Now the priests of the ROC are perceived as potential spies and agents of influence," a source close to Constantinople said, the BBC's Russian Service reports.

At the same time, the ROC and Constantinople said the problems with visas for Russian priests are related to the process of granting tomos to the UOC. "The Patriarchate of Constantinople is struggling with the Russian Church for influence in the Orthodox world. The Moscow and Constantinople Patriarchates are in tense relations today because of Ukraine," a source close to the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church said.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the Greek government expelled two Russian diplomats, and banned two more diplomats from entry, accusing them of interference in domestic affairs and illegal actions against Greece's national security. [read more...]

KIRILL AND BARTHOLOMEW TO MEET AT MONTHS' END FOR ORTHODOX PEACE IN UKRAINE
from AsiaNews.it

COURT ISSUES PERMISSION TO DETAIN YANUKOVYCH IN THE CASE OF ARCHBISHOP OLEKSANDR (DRABYNKO)’S ABDUCTION
from Religious Information Service of Ukraine

MEETING OF MOSCOW, CONSTANTINOPLE PATRIARCHS WILL PROVE FUTILITY OF EFFORTS TO SPLIT CHURCH - UKRAINIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH (MP)
from Interfax-Religion

HARASSMENT OF AFRICAN STUDENTS UNDER RUSSIAN ANTI-EVANGELISM LAW CONTINUES
from Moskovskii Komsomolets

1,030 YEARS AFTER THE BAPTISM OF RUS’, THE VATICAN IS TURNING ITS BACK ON UKRAINIAN CATHOLICS
from Catholic Herald

Our first news article THE UNEXPECTED RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN U.S. EVANGELICALS AND RUSSIAN ORTHODOX tells us some of the reasons why both Russian Orthodox and U.S. Evangelicals are united in their concern about the current secular-humanist-socialist sociopolitical agenda targeting traditional Christian morality. We need this kind of positive cooperation between Christians in East and West!

Many of these concerns are valid, because the attacks on Christian morality follow the same pattern as Nazi Germany's propaganda campaign against Jews: see "How Religious Freedom Erodes, One Step at a Time" and "Religious Freedom as Freedom to Discriminate?" The latter article describes how secular-humanist-socialist language uses code words such as "discriminate" to paint traditional Christian morality in a negative light: of course all religions "discriminate" - if they didn't differ from the surrounding culture, they wouldn't be religions! By definition a religion urges people do be better, to improve, to strive for the good and against our baser instincts.

In the last issue of Hosken-News, several of the articles spoke of the 1030th anniversary of the Christianization or Baptism of Ancient Kyivan Rus' in 988 A.D. when Moscow didn't even exist. Let's briefly review the history of Slavic Christianity: It wasn't until 1147, about 240 years after 988, that Moscow came into existence. The Mongol Horde captured Kyiv in 1265 A.D. and went on to conquer much of the surrounding Slavic lands that today make up Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. In 1380, Dmitri Donskoi defeated the Mongols at the Battle of Kulikovo Field, which allowed him to move the Orthodox metropolitanate to Moscow.

In 1439, Isodore, the Metropolitan of Moscow, attended the Council of Florence where he signed the Treaty of Union between the Eastern and Western Churches, but when that treaty was rejected in Constantinople, Isodore flipped and became Roman Catholic, settling in Rome. In 1480, Ivan the Great's "Gathering" of Slavic principalities brought Kyiv under Moscow's control and Moscow proclaimed its "Third Rome" doctrine, proclaiming that after Old Rome fell to the pagans and New Rome (Constantinople) fell to the Muslims, Moscow became the Third Rome "and a fourth there would never be." This provided the ideological justification for Moscow's empire-building. So the Orthodox Church based in Moscow ruled over Kyiv and Ukraine for only about 500 years, just half of the time since the Baptism of Ancient Rus' in 988.

The July 29, 2018 issue of The Church Messenger, the monthly newspaper of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Church, features an article on page 3, "Hierarchs of the UOC of the USA Meet with Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople." On June 29-30, Metropolitan Antony and Archbishop Daniel of the UOC of the USA met with the Ecumenical Patriarch to discuss the question of autocephaly for the Orthodox Church in Ukraine. Metropolitan Antony "thanked the Patriarch for his unending effor in support of the Holy Church in Ukraine and assured him of the prayers of tens of millions of Orthodox faithful throughout Ukraine and their desire to reaffirm their allegiance to the Ecumenical Patriarchate as the Mother Church of Ukraine."

The Ecumenical Patriarch "reminded the congregation about spiritual and canonical rights of the Ecumenical Throne on the Ukrainian Territory: 'Let us not forget that Constantinople never ceded the territory of Ukraine to anyone by means of some ecclesiastical Act, but only granted to the Patriarch of Moscow the right of ordination or transfer of the Metropolitan of Kiev on the condition that the Metropolitan of Kiev should be elected by a Clergy-Laity Congress and commemorate the Ecumenical Patriarch."

It continues: "Listen to what is mentioned in this regard in the Tome of Autocephaly, which was granted by the Mother Church to the Church of Poland: 'For it is written that the original separation from our Throne of the Metropolis of Kiev and of the two Orthodox Churches of Lithuania and Poland, which depend on it, and their annexation to the Holy Church of Moscow, in no way occurered according to the binding canonical regulations, nor was the agreement repected concerning the full ecclesial independence of the Metripolitan of Kiev, who bears the title of Exarch of the Ecumenical Throne...'"

This clearly states that Moscow's takeover of the Metropolitanate of Kiev did not follow the canons of the Orthodox Church. The Ecumenical Patriarch is taking a firm stand on his authority to recognize the Orthodox Church in Ukraine as being an "Exarchate" (coming directly under the umbrella) of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople - not under the Patriarch of Moscow.

Time is fast approaching to enroll in our four-week Introductory Course of our "Social Ministry of the Church" one-year program: don't put it off! By this time next year you could be fully trained to minister to "the poor, the maimed, the lame and the blind" ...or you could do nothing and by this time next year you'll be thinking: "Maybe I should have... maybe I could... oh, well, maybe later!" One day, it will be too late!