Nickname fits man's signature recipe

Harriette Kamburis, left, has helped George Rogers become acquainted with the Greek Orthodox religion during his 11 years as the church's custodian and chief chicken cooker at the Labor Day barbecue. (Alvin Benn)

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By Alvin Benn • September 5, 2008

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Chicken George" was one of the most pop ular fictional characters on a trail-blazing television miniseries that captivated the country 30 years ago.

It was called "Roots," and actor Ben Vereen became nationally known for his portrayal of a man whose "fowl" abilities earned him his nickname.

Montgomery's George Rogers is like "Chicken George," too, but he prefers his fowl in a barbecue pit and then in a foam container.

Rogers also can cook up a storm with beef, pork and lamb, but his specialty is chickens -- carefully spiced, cooked and turned over twice before being sold to hungry customers at the annual Greek Orthodox barbecue every Labor Day.

A fixture at the fundraising event for the past 11 years, the 60-year-old church custodian puts on his game face 24 hours before the first chickens are placed on the huge grill.

He arrived at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation about 5:30 a.m. Sunday, took a brief nap and then got to work.

"I didn't get much sleep after that," he said Monday morning outside the pit, where constant heat and smoke combined to test the resolve of everybody but George. "But, I love to cook and I love working here."

He said he's been at it longer than he can remember and was somewhat miffed when he watched "Roots" on TV and saw Vereen's "Chicken George" character.

"I was gonna sue 'em," said George, with a big laugh. "I'm 'Chicken George.' That's what everybody calls me."

He said he got his nickname long before "Roots" and Vereen came along, picking it up from friends who enjoyed watching him cook chickens down in Conecuh County.

George doesn't recall just how old he was or when he got his nickname, but he's proud of it, especially on Labor Day, when it's his time to shine.

He was raised a Baptist but spends much of his time around Greeks. He even lives at a house just behind the church and takes care of the property.

"I don't cut the grass, but I do everything else, including planting flowers," he said. "I can do it all."

The more he works at the church, the more he admires a religion that he knew little about when he first arrived there.

"I'd rather go to church here, and I do a lot," he said. "They treat me good. I don't know much about the language, but I do know a few words."

He's also learned about St. George's Day, a major holiday in some Christian denominations. When he mentions the name of the patron saint, he breaks into a big smile.

"They call me Jorgo around here," he said. "That means George in Greek."

Rogers said he dropped out of high school in Evergreen in the 10th grade, but never looked back. He got his education in the "real world" of daily survival.

"I worked construction for a while," he said. "I could do it all there, too. I operated heavy equipment with the best of 'em, but I always came back to chickens."

Col. Sanders is said to have kept all of his "secret spices" in his head or a in a safe out of reach of prying eyes. George is the same way, but he's a one-man band and doesn't have a big corporation behind him.

"I got my own special recipe, but I'm not tellin' anybody," he said. "You can say it's all in the spices, though. I don't do sauce. That's not my thing."

At 5-feet-7 and only 140 pounds, George virtually disappears from view in all that barbecue smoke that surrounds him, but he's not worried. He's been doing it for more than a decade and plans to keep at it as long as his lungs hold out.

"I don't buy the chickens, I just cook 'em," he said. "What I do is prepare it overnight. Then, I put the big side down and turn it all over two times. Then, it's ready to eat."

He said he's divorced and a grandfather. Other than that, he prefers talking about chickens because that's his thing.

"You bring me a chicken and I'll do it up right," he said. "Chickens, that's my thing. That's why they call me Chicken George."

Alvin Benn writes about people and places in central and south Alabama. If you have suggestions for a story, contact him at 875-3249 or e-mail him at benn8071@bellsouth.net.

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War splits Orthodox churches in Russia and Georgia

A Georgian Orthodox church, left, and a Russian Orthodox church sharing a street in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital. (Justyna Mielnikiewicz for The New York Times)

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By Sophia Kishkovsky Published: September 5, 2008

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MOSCOW: While leaders and generals quarrel over the strategic map of Georgia and Russia's future relations with both its neighbors and the West, the Christians of both nations have fretted over the worrisome loss of Orthodox unity.

Post-Soviet Russia has re-embraced Orthodoxy, as has Georgia, and has used it to stir support on a range of issues - for Serbia, particularly when NATO bombed Serbia in 1999, or in claims against Ukraine, whose western territories are dominated by Uniates, or Eastern Rite Catholics, long at loggerheads with the Orthodox Church.

But the prospect of two Orthodox nations at war did nothing to deter Russia, or Georgia, from war in August. The patriarchs of both the Russian and Georgian Orthodox churches issued strong and immediate appeals for peace. In the case of the Russian Orthodox patriarch, Aleksy II, this was all the more unusual for putting him at odds with the Kremlin.

"Today, blood is being shed and people are perishing in South Ossetia and my heart deeply grieves over it," the patriarch said in a statement published as fighting raged on Aug. 8. "Orthodox Christians are among those who have raised their hands against each other. Orthodox peoples called by the Lord to live in fraternity and love are in conflict."

Two days later, Patriarch Ilia II of the Georgian Orthodox Church gave a sermon in Tbilisi, noting that "one thing concerns us very deeply - that Orthodox Russians are bombing Orthodox Georgians."

According to a translation on the Web site of the Georgian church (www.patriarchate.ge), he added: "This is an unprecedented act of relations between our countries. Reinforce your prayer and God will save Georgia."

Despite the alarm, Orthodox ties proved strong enough to offer some relief to civilians swept up in the conflict. The Georgian patriarch made a pastoral visit, bringing food and aid, to Gori, a central Georgian city that was occupied by Russian forces.

Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department of External Church Relations, said the Russian church facilitated this visit and conveyed letters from Patriarch Ilia to President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Like other Russian politicians since the end of communism, both men have made much of their Orthodox faith.

In the letters, Patriarch Ilia noted that "Russian air forces have been bombing Georgian cities and villages, Orthodox Christians have been killing each other," according to his patriarchate's Web site. He expressed sorrow at Georgian and Ossetian deaths, and rejected Russia's charges of Georgian genocide as "a pure lie."

The Georgia conflict marks the first war between countries with majority Orthodox Christian populations since the Second Balkan War in 1913 pitted Serbia, Greece, Montenegro and Romania against Bulgaria in a prelude to World War I.

Priests and others close to the Orthodox churches, studying their role in post-Soviet society, have voiced anxiety that, while religion has recovered its stature, calls to prayer could not avert bloodshed between two peoples who share Orthodoxy, and centuries of deep cultural, political, economic and social ties.

"What these events show is the collapse of the myth of unity of Orthodox peoples and the collapse of the myth of the supreme peacemaking ability of Orthodox civilization," said Anatoly Krasikov, director of the Center for Religious and Social Studies of the Institute of Europe in Moscow.

"Of course it is not Orthodoxy that is to blame for this collapse, but concrete people, functionaries of the church administrative structures of Russian and Georgian Orthodoxy. They, for all practical purposes, remained aloof and did nothing to end a war that was unjust from all sides."

Russia has the world's largest Orthodox Christian population, with an estimated 75 percent of its over 140 million people identifying themselves as Orthodox (although only 10 percent are regular churchgoers), according to a poll last year by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center. The Moscow Patriarchate is vying with the smaller Patriarchate of Constantinople for predominance in the Orthodox world.

Georgia has fewer than five million people, but is one of the most ancient Christian countries in the world. Its church dates back to the fourth century, far outpacing the Russian church, which dates its founding to the Baptism of Rus in 988, when Prince Vladimir of Kiev brought Orthodoxy to the banks of the Dnieper River.

Russia annexed Georgia, which was seeking protection from Persia, in 1801, absorbed its church and abolished its Patriarchate, which was restored - in name, at least - only after the Bolsheviks came to power.

In Soviet times, Georgia became something of a refuge for persecuted Orthodox monks from Russia, said Nikolai Mitrokhin, a specialist on the Orthodox Church in the former Soviet Union. From Czarist times through the Soviet era, Georgian clergy trained in Russia and Kiev.

"For Georgia, Russia is this love-hate relationship," said Tamara Grdzelidze, an Oxford-trained theologian from Georgia who works at the World Council of Churches headquarters in Geneva and has edited an English-language history of the Orthodox Church of Georgia.

"Our patriarch was educated in Russia, and this is the best he knows and he respects it highly," she added. "This is a very complicated and long history of relationship between the churches.

When Russia annexed Georgia in the beginning of the 19th century, it abolished the king, it abolished the patriarch in 1811, it persecuted the Georgian language at all levels, including the church."

The latest conflict has stirred those memories on both sides, rankling each.

Last week, Patriarch Ilia appealed to Medvedev and Putin to end the confrontation and not to recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia. "This will give rise to separatism in your country, and in the future you will have many more problems than we have in Georgia today," he said, according to the Interfax news agency. "This is worth meditating upon."

The next day, Medvedev said in a televised speech that events compelled him to recognize the enclaves' independence.

"This is an especially painful situation for us because four Orthodox peoples are in conflict," said Deacon Andrei Kuraev, an outspoken Russian Orthodox missionary who is famous for his Web site, books and sermons at rock concerts by bands that have turned to Orthodoxy.

Parts of South Ossetia's and Abkhazia's populations are Orthodox and do not want to be under the Orthodox Church in Georgia, Kuraev said. Ossetia and Abkhazia also have strong pagan elements, said Mitrokhin. Islam is also present there.

The Russian church was surprisingly tepid about Medvedev's recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, saying it did not necessarily mean that their Orthodox communities would come under Moscow's jurisdiction.

"The Moscow Patriarchate must take political realities into account," said the Reverend Nikolai Balashov, the church's secretary for inter-Orthodox relations. But in resolving canonical jurisdiction over the territories, he added, "dialogue with the Georgian church" is more important.

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FOCUS: An unorthodox design Massive church construction project in Carmel features unique architecture

Sat. September 06 - 2008

Scott Olson - solson@ibj.com

IBJ staff

The golden dome that sits atop Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church under construction in Carmel provides a curious sight for those in central Indiana.

But what is even more unusual about the massive structure underneath the dome is a Sixth Century Byzantine design like no other in the world.

“There’s no design like this in history, and it’s never been built before,” said San Francisco architect Christ [pronounced Chris] Kamages, designer of the church. His CJK Design Group specializes in the design of Byzantine-Orthodox structures. The one for Holy Trinity, however, is so unusual Kamages is in the process of having it patented.

It’s modeled after the Great Church of Hagia Sophia, finished in 537 in what at the time was Constantinople. The version at the corner of 106th Street and Shelborne Road, which should be finished sometime in December, contains similar ancient essentials: dome, arches and vaults. The difference is the “triad” configuration Kamages incorporated.
Using a three-leaf clover as an example, the alter sits atop with two wings for additional seating space looking forward. A traditional orthodox church, such as the Hagia Sophia, would have been built in the shape of a four-leaf clover, with the two wings facing each other instead of forward.

The modern, triangulated design improves sight lines, eliminates blind spots, and allows parishioners to be more involved in services, in addition to providing more space. The sanctuary can seat more than 600 people without anyone being farther than 70 feet from the altar. It is flanked to the right by a choir area and to the left by a baptistery that accommodates full immersion.

The 25,375-square-foot edifice dwarfs its 11,399-square-foot predecessor in both size and stature. The interior remains a maze of scaffolding that extends high into the air, but the masonry work and brick exterior give passersby a glimpse of the church’s splendor.

“We’re trying to make this a facility that is more than for the Greeks, but [also] for the neighbors,” said Bob Dine, a member of the church building committee.

By tradition, the building must face east toward Jerusalem and the rising of the sun. Outside the sanctuary, a library, an administrative area and education wing for Sunday School classes also are part of the project. A detached, 8,000-square-foot banquet hall is in future plans.

The church’s geometric intricacies, largely due to the triad design, presented one of the greatest challenges for contractor Shiel Sexton Co. Inc. Project Manager Shawn Hitchcock compared parts of construction to putting together a Rubik’s Cube.

And, of course, there’s the dome and the 20 windows encircling it. At 52 feet in diameter and weighing 50 tons, it is one of the largest Orthodox domes in the Western Hemisphere. Too massive to build atop the church, it was constructed on the ground and hoisted in the air by three cranes.
The steel skeleton is augmented by light gauge metal framing. The custom metal roof is supported by a wood roof decking. During construction, the dome sat on what is called a tension ring, which controlled the tension of the bowl to maintain its circumference. Indiana Steel Fabricating Inc. of Indianapolis and Indy Steel Erectors of Camby fabricated the dome’s structural steel.

On the inside, the dome’s shape is accentuated by plaster that gives it an old-world feel. The challenge with that task was finding a company that actually still does plaster work, church officials said. Locally based Circle B Construction Systems LLC was the contractor on that job.

The significance of the dome is not lost on Rev. Anastasios Gounaris, who has presided over Holy Trinity since 1991.

“The dome is to Orthodox churches what steeples are to Protestant and Catholic churches,” he said.

Yet, the congregation has been without the symbol for at least a half century. It moved from West Street downtown to its current location in the Meridian-Kessler neighborhood in 1960, Gounaris said, at a time when the assimilation movement trumped tradition.

Membership has grown to 540 households, many of which have migrated north, prompting church leaders to search for a more convenient location. This is the only Greek Orthodox church in central Indiana.
Skyrocketing land prices surrounding the current property made it impossible to expand. And even if the church could have afforded to enlarge its borders, the historic homes in the neighborhood are not the type ripe for razing, Gounaris said. In addition, second-floor classrooms in the twostory, 12,219-square-foot building next to the church make it difficult for disabled children to gain access.

Leaders purchased the 20-acre tract in Carmel for $475,000 in 1998 and embarked on a capital campaign in 2005 to fund the $9 million project. Members have raised $7 million so far. The sale of the existing church for $1.5 million leaves the congregation with a small mortgage.

Angie’s List CEO Bill Oesterle bought the three-acre site and is renting it to the Indianapolis Opera to use as a multi-function center offering rehearsal space, classes and small performances. The not-for-profit is subleasing the building to the church until Jan. 31, in case the congregation has not moved in by the end of the year.

“We’re a small church, so we’re very excited about what we’ve been able to accomplish,” said Dennis Dickos, president of the church council and a member since 1968. •

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Orientation of new students focuses on priestly vocation

Fr. John Breck, former faculty member at St. Vladimir’s, and guest speaker at Orientation 2008, greets incoming students (from left) Dustin Lyon of Minnesota, Clive Cabey of Michigan, and Courtney Jones of South Carolina.

“You have come to St. Vladimir’s to discover and develop the foundational call that you have already heard,” noted the Very Rev. John Breck, as he began the first of three talks he delivered to the incoming class of thirty-eight students during Orientation Week, August 21–24, 2008.

Fr. John, Professor of New Testament and Ethics at St. Vladimir’s from 1984–1996, returned to campus as a guest lecturer and focused his remarks on the priestly vocation of Jesus Christ as the model for both ordained and lay ministry. In particular, he defined priestly ministry as offering oneself and others in community to God.

“By coming to the seminary,” he said, “you have renewed an initial commitment to God in a very serious way. And, you have recognized that life is essentially made up of who we are because of what Christ has done for us. Everything changes with this realization.”

In his talks, which were interspersed among a variety of other activities related to orienting the new class to campus, Fr. John concentrated on three, deeply-interconnected themes: “Our Call to Ministry: Self-giving and Others,” “Dysfunctional Family Systems: Personal and Corporate,” and “Spiritual Growth: Life in Prayer.” Throughout, he addressed practical and pastoral concerns taken from his experience as a parish priest and from the classrooms of the three seminaries at which he has taught, St. Vladimir’s, St. Herman Orthodox Theological Seminary in Kodiak, Alaska, and presently, St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute, Paris, France.

In particular, Fr. John emphasized that a seminarian’s academic work and success were functions of a spiritual orientation, and he stressed the inner, personal disciplines of prayer, Scripture reading, and the practice of silence as means to proper formation. “Seminary community life has as its goal the transformation of us into authentic priests, who imitate the love and holiness of Jesus,” he said.

Referring to the book Be My Priest, by Monk Lev (Gillet), which was given to incoming students as a gift from the seminary, Fr. John concluded his remarks with a sobering quotation: “Live a life of obscurity and silence; seeking no awards.”

The Very Rev. John Behr, Dean of St. Vladimir’s, welcomed the incoming class by presenting a history of the seminary, including a memorable quotation from one of the seminary’s earliest deans, Metropolitan Leonid Turkevich: “The Orthodox Church in America should be the avant-guard of Orthodoxy, and should be forced to assume a serious theological foundation. To carry out this role, there should be theological scholarship at the highest level. Otherwise, without [our priests] having proper theological answers to questions, we will end up as sectarians.” Fr. John urged the incoming students to continue in that tradition, which, he said, “has dramatically shaped ‘Orthodoxy’ as we know it today.”

The Dean further distinguished theology from other disciplines of study by defining it as “a confession of faith, a contemplation of who God has shown himself to be in the person of Jesus Christ.” He continued his powerful reflection by stating: “ ‘Theology’ is not ‘words about God,’ for God cannot be the subject of any study, such as history, or archeology, or social work. Theology is not abstract speculation, but rather a reflection on God’s revelation in Jesus Christ, and therefore the application of ‘theology’ is service. Christ showed his glory as Lord by death on the Cross, and if we—as broken, sinful, weak human beings—voluntarily ‘die’ to this life, all our brokenness will become our access to grace. Remember, there is ‘lordship’ [only] in ‘service.’ ”

Fr. John concluded by reminding the students that studying theology required an “ascetical struggle” of the mind, and that “renewal of the mind” through the daily cycle of services offered on campus was essential to spiritually shape the class, both individually and also collectively.

The Very Rev. Chad Hatfield, Chancellor of St. Vladimir’s, recognized the sacrifice the students and their families had made by enrolling at the seminary, and reminded them of the seriousness of their decision. “Ahead of you will be three years of intense spiritual warfare, and you will do battle with the Devil, who is not pleased that you have made this sacrifice,” he warned. He then outlined for them the administrative and communal organization of the campus, sharing practical wisdom to help students immerse themselves to the fullest in opportunities offered by St. Vladimir’s, which he termed “a venerable institution with a global reputation for excellence.”

Other activities of Orientation included informative talks by faculty and staff regarding campus procedures and policies; tours of the SVS Library and Bookstore; class registration; preliminary testing in writing competency and voice testing for choral assignments; campus cookouts; an introduction to the Spouses’ Program, directed by Presbytera Kerri Pappas, which took place at a welcoming reception for the wives of new students hosted by the Dean and the Chancellor; and a session with returning students, who number forty-seven.

To introduce them to the rich cultural resources of nearby New York City, the incoming class took a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, with the Rev. Alexander Rentel, Assistant Professor of Canon Law and Byzantine Studies at St. Vladimir’s, acting as their guide in the Byzantine exhibit.

A concluding session regarding spiritual formation, including the practice of the Jesus Prayer and the discipline of confession, was conducted by Dr. Albert S. Rossi, Adjunct Professor of Pastoral Theology, and the Very Rev. Steven Belonick, Associate Dean for Student Affairs and organizer of the Orientation.

The new and returning students represent a multi-jurisdictional, multi-national presence, and statistically break down as follows: Orthodox Church in America, 29; Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, 19; Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, 13; Armenian Apostolic Church, 6; Serbian Orthodox Church, 5; Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, 3; Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church, 2; Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, 2; Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of America and Canada, 2; the Bulgarian Patriarchal Orthodox Church, 1; and the Patriarchate of Moscow, 1. Additionally, three non-Orthodox students, of the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Evangelical faiths, attend the seminary.

Fr. Steven Belonick summed up the weeklong experience, by saying, “This very important week not only provides the chance for the seminary to share its goals and aspirations with the new students, but also allows us the delightful opportunity to meet the incoming class outside of the busy academic year. We are so pleased to have them, and we wish the incoming class growth in our Lord as they join us.”

SOURCE(with many pictures):

The Sukhumi-Abkhazian diocese seeks to join the Russian Church

05 September 2008, 13:51

Sukhumi, September 5, Interfax - The Abkhazian Church wants to be self-governed Church under the Moscow Patriarchate, administrator of the Sukhumi-Abkhazian Diocese Fr. Vissarion Aplia told journalists.

Orthodox believers of Abkhazia asked the Moscow Patriarchate for it "more than once before, but the republic wasn't recognized and it was the main obstacle for settling the question," he noted.

"We were in a very hard situation after Georgian-Abkhazian war of 1992-93 and it was the Russian Orthodox Church that extended help to the Abkhazian Church, though we asked the whole Orthodox world for help," the diocesan head said.

"Today when Russia recognized Abkhazia's independence, we intend to ask for settling this question again," Fr. Vissarion further said.

The Russian Orthodox Church stated late in August that though Russia had politically recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia, it didn't mean changes of canonical territories of the Moscow and Georgian Patriarchates.

"The political decision has been taken and we must respect it because it is based on the unanimous opinion of MPs from both chambers of the Russian parliament," deputy head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin told Interfax-Religion.

However, the priest further said, "Political decisions don't define church jurisdictions and spheres of pastoral responsibility. These questions should be settled canonically in course of dialogue between the two (Russian and Georgian -IF) Churches."

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After a 4,000 km detour, ecumenical delegation to reach South Ossetia

A pastoral delegation sent by the World Council of Churches (WCC) to Georgia and Russia has not been able to visit South Ossetia from the Georgian side of the ceasefire line. Unable to make the half-hour drive to Tskhinvali from within Georgia, they are now traveling thousands of kilometers to reach the enclave from the Russian side instead.

The ecumenical delegation could not get a guarantee of safe passage from the authorities inside South Ossetia. The route should by now be a corridor for aid, but the humanitarian access stipulated by the ceasefire agreement in mid-August is apparently not being honored. Armed groups are accused of acts of violence in the area.

Government and aid officials in Georgia told the WCC group that up to 7,000 ethnic Georgians are still living in South Ossetia under uncertain conditions. Even the Red Cross has largely been denied access, they said, but the Georgian Orthodox Church has limited access to a few of them.

Early in the war, with help from the Russian Orthodox Church, Georgian Orthodox Patriarch Ilia II secured permission to visit a bishop and a few priests and nuns who have stayed in South Ossetia. Since then the church has brought in food and brought out Georgian casualties that were still lying unburied several days after the war.

“We want to express our immense gratitude that you have come in the difficult situation Georgia is facing now,” the Georgian Patriarch told the WCC delegation.

“Be assured we are with you at this difficult time,” said Archbishop Nifon of Targoviste, Romania, the delegation head. “We have been following the situation in your country with great sorrow,” said Rev. Jean-Arnold de Clermont, president of the Conference of European Churches. “At the same time, we are greatly impressed by your visit to South Ossetia and by the public declarations in favor of peace by the two patriarchates of Russia and Georgia.”

“Russia is our neighbour and we should have good relations with it,” Ilia noted.

In Georgia the WCC delegation also met Armenian Orthodox and Baptist leaders, a member of parliament and a government minister responsible for refugees, the country’s public defender, member agencies of Action by Churches Together (ACT) International and displaced people living in camps and schools.

Humanitarian situation

About two-thirds of the 150,000 people displaced into Georgia by the conflict have now returned to their homes. Most of the nearly 50,000 still displaced are housed in school buildings. Even as more durable solutions become urgent, ACT member agencies and local church aid workers told the WCC delegation of many gaps in meeting immediate needs.

“With schools in Georgia scheduled to open in one week, the people we met do not know what will happen next,” said Rev. Laszlo Lehel, director of Hungarian Inter-Church Aid and representing ACT on the delegation. Some 26,000 of these people are from South Ossetia, with little immediate prospect of returning home.

Lia Gogitze, a woman from South Ossetia living in a Tbilisi school, told the delegation, “We lived so well there with our orchards and livestock. It was like a small paradise. Here we share one cup.” Satellite photos show her village, Kemerti, as one of dozens of communities in the enclave heavily damaged by fire in the days since the major fighting ceased.

To visit the enclave the delegation is making a 4,000-kilometer detour via Moscow and North Ossetia. When they reach the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, they will be just 40 kilometers from where they were on their first day in Georgia.

In South Ossetia the ecumenical visitors will meet with church leaders, local officials and the recently displaced residents who have now mostly returned from North Ossetia. Also of concern are the ethnic Georgian residents still thought to be in the enclave after weeks of violence and many reports of looting, arson and forced evictions.

The trip will end in Moscow with visits to the Russian Orthodox Church and the government. In addition to Nifon, de Clermont and Lehel, the delegation includes Rev. Elenora Giddings-Ivory and Mr. Jonathan Frerichs from the WCC secretariat in Geneva.

Media contact in Georgia/Russia: +41-79-814-5637

More information on the visit:
http://www.oikoumene.org/en/news/news-management/eng/a/article/1722/wcc-delegation-visits-ge.html

Action by Churches Together response to the conflict:
http://act-intl.org/appeals/appeals_2008/UpCaucasus-1-08.html

Informations complémentaires: Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org

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School swamped as rivers overflow in day of widespread flooding

The Dropping Well pub in Milltown in Dublin after the Dodder overflowed.Photograph: Cyril Byrne

MARK KENNEDYPAMELA NEWENHAM and

SCHOOL MAY be cancelled for more than 80 children on Monday following flooding of the Russian Orthodox Church in Dublin.

Fr Michael Gogoluff described yesterday’s flooding as a “total disaster” saying it was the fourth inundation of the church and school in Harold’s Cross. “We had to pump 350,000 litres of water out of the church after the river Poddle overflowed into the back of the church,” he said.

Fr Gogoluff blamed Dublin City Council for the damage, adding “it’s not a new problem, it’s existed for years, as they have failed to put concrete protection by the river”.

Met Éireann says 40mm of rain fell on the greater Dublin area between 6am and 6pm, causing flooding on roads including the Kylemore Road at Labre Park, the River Road in Ashtown, the Coast Road at Dún Laoghaire and the Glasthule Road in Sandycove.

The river Dodder overflowed in Milltown, with damage to The Dropping Well pub.The Grand Canal burst its banks at Bluebell, but levels subsided when Waterways Ireland opened the locks.
Bray, Co Wicklow was on flood alert and some 1,000 people living in low-lying Little Bray beside Castle Street were told they may need to evacuate their homes.

Bray town clerk Christine Flood said that up to 6,000 sandbags had been distributed to households in the last few weeks.

Some streets flooded yesterday but there was no serious property damage, said Ms Flood. In Arklow, Co Wicklow, some streets were closed after drains overflowed, with the junction of South Green and Tinnahask described as a “mini lake”. In nearby Avoca, a number of houses in Brook Meadows and Ballanagh were damaged by floodwater.

The rain was also heavy in other parts of the State. Met Éireann meteorologist Joan Blackburn said Co Wexford received 40mm between midnight and 6pm yesterday, while parts of Cork had 29mm of rain.

Ms Blackburn said today will be much improved, while tomorrow will be mostly dry and bright with the odd shower. Monday, however, will bring more rain, and mixed weather conditions are expected into next week, she said.

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Righteous Elizabeth the mother of St John the Baptist

Commemorated on September 5


The Righteous Elizabeth was the mother of the holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord, John. She was descended from the lineage of Aaron, and St Elizabeth was the sister of St Anna, the mother of the Most Holy Theotokos. The righteous spouses, "walking in all the commandments of the Lord (Luke 1:6), suffered barrenness, which in those times was considered a punishment from God.


When Elizabeth gave birth to a son, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit she announced that his name was John, although no one in their family had this name.


They asked Zachariah (who had been rendered mute) what the child's name was, and he wrote the name John down on a tablet. Immediately the gift of speech returned to him, and inspired by the Holy Spirit, he began to prophesy about his son as the Forerunner of the Lord.


When King Herod heard from the Magi about the birth of the Messiah, he decided to kill all the infants up to two years old at Bethlehem and the surrounding area, hoping that the new-born Messiah would be among them.


Herod knew about John's unusual birth and he wanted to kill him, fearing that he was the foretold King of the Jews. But Elizabeth hid herself and the infant in the hills. The murderers searched everywhere for John. Elizabeth, when she saw her pursuers, began to implore God for their safety, and immediately the hill opened up and concealed her and the infant from their pursuers.


In these tragic days St Zachariah was taking his turn at the services in the Temple. Soldiers sent by Herod tried in vain to learn from him the whereabouts of his son. Then, by command of Herod, they murdered this holy prophet, having stabbed him between the temple and the altar (MT 23: 35). Elizabeth died forty days after her husband, and St John, preserved by the Lord, dwelt in the wilderness until the day of his appearance to the nation of Israel.


On the Greek calendar, Sts Zachariah and Elizabeth are also commemorated on June 24, the Feast of the Nativity of St John the Baptist.


Troparion - Tone 2
The memory of Your prophets Zachariah and ElizabethWe celebrate today, O Lord.By their prayers, we beseech You,O Christ God, save our souls!


Kontakion - Tone 4
As the full moon brightly reflects the light of the sun,you reflected the glory of the Messiah, the Light of wisdom!With Zachariah you walked in all of the Lord¹s commandments, Elizabeth, beloved by God.So as we bless you with fitting songs,we praise the Lord, the bountiful Light, Who enlightens all.


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SAINT OR FEAST POSTED THIS DATE 2007:

Russia needs strong military, says Orthodox church official

3 September 2008 08-0706

Jonathan Luxmoore

Warsaw (ENI). A senior official of the Russian Orthodox Church has made a scathing attack on Western countries and has said they should not impose their standards on other nations. "We should have a strong State and a strong military, for we would then have the will and ability to repel any invasion against our way of life and interests, and our ability to influence events developing in the world," said the Rev. Vsevolod Chaplin, deputy head of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations.


In an interview broadcast on Russia's Soyuz television channel, the church official urged his country to defend "its free, original political choice" and reject Western models, "setting its laws and rules the way which is natural for our nation, its destiny, mentality and historical ways".

Speaking of Western countries, Chaplin said, "In spite of all their talk of adhering to international law and respecting self-determination, these countries have always acted solely in their own interests and applied quite contrary principles."

Chaplin is a member of the central committees, or main governing bodies, of both the World Council of Churches and the Conference of European Churches, and is a member of an expert panel on freedom of religion of the Organisation on Security and Co-operation in Europe.

His interview was also carried by the Interfax news agency on 31 August, ahead of an emergency meeting of European Union leaders the following day to discuss responses to Russia's recent military action in Georgia.

Defending the Russian army action, Chaplin said the United States and NATO had sent troops to countries where "the people have never asked for it, and neither referendums nor votes were held on the question".

He added, "Why does the West believe, as [U.S. President George W.] Bush has clearly stated, that only one form of democracy and of people's participation in decisions, the Western form, is compulsory and should be set out for all nations and countries?"

Chaplin asserted, "Survival is impossible for a society deprived of faith as a foundation of public life and of any purpose except consumption, and which embraces the ideal of imposing a particular form of democracy around the globe simply because it is expedient for American banks, Western governments, and the world economic and media elite."

In his Soyuz interview, Chaplin said Western governments had "omitted and rejected the idea of territorial integrity" by recognising the independence of Kosovo in February, and had said nothing about Georgian violence in South Ossetia. He noted, "We need to remain strong, and be determined to say 'no' to everyone who tries to spread their influence in the world at our expense, by infringing our interests."

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ABKHAZIA: "Of course" authorities won't defend Georgian monks and nuns

By Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service
http://www.forum18.org

Two monasteries of Georgian Orthodox monks and nuns in the Upper Kodori Gorge, captured by Abkhaz forces from Georgian forces in mid-August, are being pressured by the Abkhaz Orthodox Church to change their jurisdiction. "They must submit to the authority of our Church or leave Abkhazia," the head of the Abkhaz Orthodox Church, Fr Vissarion Aplia, who visited the monks and nuns within days of the fighting, told Forum 18 News Service. Asked who had given him the right to pressure members of a different religious jurisdiction to submit to his authority, Fr Aplia responded angrily: "It's not your business. It's our territory." Abkhaz Deputy Foreign Minister Maxim Gvinjia backs the right of the Abkhaz Church to enforce its will on the monks and nuns. "Of course we won't defend their rights, given the context of current developments," he told Forum 18. "Abkhazia is a Christian Orthodox country and the Abkhaz Orthodox Church is the main church." Since the expulsion of a Georgian Orthodox priest in April, the two monasteries are the only remaining Georgian Orthodox institutions left in Abkhazia.

As Abkhaz Orthodox leaders insist to Forum 18 News Service that a group of Georgian Orthodox monks and nuns in the north-east of Abkhazia must submit to their jurisdiction or leave Abkhazia, the unrecognised territory's Deputy Foreign Minister Maxim Gvinjia has told Forum 18 that the authorities will do nothing to protect the monks' and nuns' rights to religious freedom. "Of course we won't defend their rights, given the context of current developments," he told Forum 18 from the capital Sukhum (Sokhumi in Georgian) on 4 September. "We're not deporting them - they're being given the option of submitting to the Abkhaz Orthodox Church if they want to remain to serve the people here."

The Georgian Orthodox monks of St George Monastery and nuns of St Nino Convent live in the village of Ajara (Gulripsh District) in the Upper Kodori Gorge. Upper Kodori was the only part of Abkhazia that remained under the control of the authorities in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, until recently. However, the area was captured by Abkhaz forces in an operation that began on 12 August. Abkhaz and Russian media reports say the monks and nuns hid in a cave during the fighting.

Forum 18 was unable to reach the monks and nuns to find out their reaction to the pressure to change their jurisdiction or leave their monasteries. The Georgian Orthodox Patriarchate in Tbilisi referred Forum 18 to Metropolitan Daniil (Datuashvili), the exiled head of its Abkhazia diocese and to whom the monks and nuns are subject, but he was unavailable on 2 and 3 September. However, one Georgian Orthodox from Abkhazia told Forum 18 on 3 September that the monks and nuns are under such heavy pressure from the Abkhaz that it would cause them further problems were they to be contacted.

Abkhazia has remained out of the control of the Tbilisi authorities since a bitter war in the early 1990s, which the Tbilisi authorities lost. Almost all ethnic Georgians fled Abkhazia in the wake of the war. The Republic of Abkhazia has been recognised only by Russia.

Although tens of thousands of ethnic Georgians still live a precarious existence in Abkhazia, mostly in Gali District in the south, the Abkhaz authorities have prevented the Georgian Orthodox Church from ministering there. The only Georgian priest in Abkhaz-controlled territory until the capture of Upper Kodori, Fr Pimen Kardava, who was serving in his native Gali District, was expelled on orders from the Abkhaz Orthodox Church in April. The Abkhaz State Security Service (SSS) enacted the expulsion, but denied any involvement to Forum 18 (see F18News 23 April 2008 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1118).

In the wake of Fr Kardava's expulsion from Gali, Georgian Orthodox told Forum 18 that many local Georgians boycott the priest named by the Abkhaz Orthodox, Fr Matvei Tuzhba. "People don't go to him," one told Forum 18. "Many can't even understand Russian, the language he speaks. They can't and won't confess to him and have nowhere to go to church." The source said the only possibility of participating in church life is when local Georgians cross over into Georgian-controlled territory.

"We have lost our one and only priest there," the source added, "but even then one was not enough. But how can our Patriarch name ten priests when even one is not allowed?"

The monastery and convent in Ajara remain the only Georgian Orthodox institutions still functioning on Abkhaz-controlled territory.

The weekend after the Abkhaz capture of Upper Kodori, the monks and nuns were visited by a delegation led by Fr Vissarion Aplia, the head of the Abkhaz Orthodox Church, a jurisdiction that is not recognised by the canonical Orthodox Churches, although the Russian Orthodox Church has provided it with some practical support. The Georgian Orthodox Church regards Abkhazia as an integral part of its canonical territory.

After initially denying that he had travelled to Ajara to pressure the monks and nuns to submit to his Church, Fr Aplia eventually confirmed it. "We went to serve a moleben (prayer service) there in the wake of the fighting and discovered there were monks and nuns there," he told Forum 18 from Sukhum on 3 September. "We discussed with them how they could continue here on the territory of the Abkhaz Orthodox Church."

Fr Aplia and his delegation offered the monks and nuns the possibility of joining the Abkhaz Orthodox Church or becoming a representation of the Georgian Orthodox Patriarch Ilya II on Abkhaz Orthodox territory (which would be tantamount to their recognising that Abkhazia is not the canonical territory of the Georgian Patriarchate). "We gave them a free choice," he claimed to Forum 18. "They must submit to the authority of our Church or leave Abkhazia."

Fr Aplia declined to tell Forum 18 what the response of the monks and nuns had been to his demands. However, the Abkhaz government press agency Apsnypress reported on 18 August that the monks and nuns said they would consult their church superiors and give their response "in the near future".

Asked what would happen if the monks and nuns continue to recognise the authority of the Georgian Patriarch, Fr Aplia responded: "Let them pray in Tbilisi. The monasteries were founded only ten years ago, specially to cause a scandal. They want to stage a political show."

Asked who had given him the right to pressure members of a different religious jurisdiction to submit to his authority, Fr Aplia responded angrily: "It's not your business. It's our territory."

The Abkhaz presidential spokesperson Kristian Bjania was quoted on the presidential website on 16 August denying that the monks and nuns had been pressured over their choice of jurisdiction. He blamed the "Georgian propaganda machine" for such "false reports".

Gvinjia, the Deputy Foreign Minister, insisted to Forum 18 that the Abkhaz government "does not get involved in religious issues". "We can't influence the church. Abkhazia is a Christian Orthodox country and the Abkhaz Orthodox Church is the main church," he maintained. "All other religious communities – including Catholics, Muslims and Lutherans – all submit their documents to the Abkhaz Orthodox Church as the main religious community. This is the framework that operates here, as in all countries of the world."

Asked why one religious community has to submit to another religious community and how this fits with Abkhazia's Constitution - which guarantees religious freedom and recognises human rights set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Gvinjia insisted: "This is how it is in every country of the world."

While claiming that Abkhazia respects religious freedom, Gvinjia continued to defend the 1995 presidential decree banning the Jehovah's Witnesses, which he said is still in force (see F18News 23 April 2008 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1118). (END)

A survey of the religious freedom decline in the eastern part of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) area is at http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=806.

A printer-friendly map of Georgia, including Abkhazia (whose extent in the north-west is not marked), can be found at http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/atlas/index.html?Parent=asia&Rootmap=georgi.

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MECC GS VISITS HB ARCHBISHOP CHRYSOSTOMOS II OF CYPRUS

From mecc <mecc@cyberia.net.lb>
Date Thu, 04 Sep 2008 02:19:20 -0700

At the Archbishopric of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus on the 16th of August ,
MECC General Secretary met His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostomos II to
discuss the forthcoming Executive Committee meeting (29 September ­ 2
October 2008). The MECC General Secretary briefed His Beatitude about the
priorities of MECC such as the Christian presence and the Christian-Muslim
dialogue. His Beatitude welcomed the meeting of MECC Executive Committee in
Cyprus and offered hosting the meeting at Kiko Monastery. MECC General
Secretary thanked His Beatitude for his generous contribution to host the
meeting in the mentioned famous Monastery as an expression of the ownership
of the Church of Cyprus to the Council. The Church of Cyprus is one of the
founders of MECC.

>Middle East Council of Churches
>Office of International Ecumenical Relations
>P.O. Box 5376, Beirut, Lebanon

Guirgis Ibrahim Saleh, General Secretary

mecc@cyberia.net.lb or guirgissaleh@cyberia.net.lb

>1-353-938
>http://www.mec-churches.org/

SOURCE:

Holy Prophet and God-seer Moses

Commemorated on September 4


The Holy Prophet and God-Seer Moses was of the tribe of Levi, the son of Abram and Jochabed (Exodus 6:20). His life is described in the Bible (Exodus 2 through Deuteronomy 34:12).


Moses was born in Egypt around 1689 B.C. When Pharaoh ordered all male children of the Hebrew slaves to be killed (Exodus 1:22), Moses' mother placed him in a basket of papyrus coated with pitch, and set him adrift on the Nile. Pharaoh's daughter found him and raised him as her own son.


At the age of eighty, Moses fled to Midian, where he spoke to God in the Burning Bush on Mt. Horeb (Exodus 3:2). God chose Moses to lead His people from the slavery of Egypt. They crossed the Red Sea as if it were dry land, and for forty years they wandered in the desert.


Arriving in the land of Moab, Moses went to the top of Mt. Nabau, or Nebo (Deuteronomy 32:49), which is called Phasga (Deut. 34:1). There, according to the will of God, he died in 1569 B.C. at the age of 120 without entering the Promised Land.


The first two Biblical Odes are attributed to Moses: "Let us sing to the Lord…" (Exodus 15:1-9), which was sung on the shores of the Red Sea after the Hebrews had crossed it. "Attend, O heaven…" (Deut. 32:1-43) was sung in the land of Moab, a few days before Moses' death. He is also regarded as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament).


The holy Prophet Moses performed many miracles during his lifetime, and also after his death. He appeared on Tabor with the Prophet Elias at the Transfiguration of the Lord (August 6).


On the day that St John of the Ladder (March 30) was installed as abbot of Mt. Sinai, the Prophet Moses was seen going around and giving orders to the cooks, stewards, and servants. When the guests had gone and the monks were sitting at table, they wondered what had become of the stranger who had been giving orders. St John said, "Our Lord Moses does nothing strange by serving in the place which belongs to him."


Troparion - Tone 2
You ascended to the heights of the virtues, Prophet Moses; therefore, you were deemed worthy to see the glory of God. Having received the grace-filled tablets of the Law,and bearing the grace of the writing within yourself,you were the honorable praise of prophets,and a great mystery of piety.


Kontakion - Tone 2
The choir of prophets rejoices with Moses and Aaron today,for the fulfillment of their prophecy is in our midst.The Cross, by which You have saved us, shines forth today.By their prayers, O Christ God, have mercy on us.


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SAINT OR FEAST POSTED THIS DATE 2007:

Delegation Aims to Reconcile Georgia, Russia Churches

By Ethan Cole
Christian Post Reporter
Wed, Sep. 03 2008 03:12 PM EDT

A delegation from the World Council of Churches began its five-day visit to member churches in Georgia and Russia on Wednesday with the goal to facilitate harmony between the two Christian communities despite their countries’ current political conflict.

"We expect this visit to encourage Christians in both countries to keep talking to each other and praying for each other," said Elenora Giddings Ivory, WCC director of Public Witness and Global Advocacy.

"If Christians in Georgia and Russia manage not to allow the divide between their countries to separate them, they may help their governments to move towards a peaceful resolution of the conflict."

In addition to encouraging peace between churches in the two countries, the delegation will also visit people displaced by the recent violence as well as meet high-level representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, Georgian Orthodox Church and others.

They will also visit humanitarian work by Action by Churches Together International and its local partners.

The Georgia-Russia conflict began in mid-August when Georgia ordered troops to stop the province of South Ossetia from seceding. In retaliation, Russia sent in forces to South Ossetia and bombed other areas in Georgia to support South Ossetia’s desire to be independent from Georgia.

South Ossetia, which borders Russia, is predominantly made up of Russians. Although the province has an autonomous government, many South Ossetians still want to break away from Georgia to unite with the neighboring Russian province of North Ossetia.

The presidents of both countries have signed a cease-fire agreement that includes the withdrawal of forces to pre-conflict lines. But Russia has left behind troops near a key port in Georgia, causing the European Parliament on Wednesday to call on Russia to “honor its commitments” to withdraw its troops according to the agreement, as reported by The Associated Press.

Currently, there is diplomatic suspension between the two countries and both have closed their embassies in one another’s countries.

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Venerable Theoctistus

Commemorated on September 3


Saint Theoctistus of Palestine was a great ascetic who lived in the Judean wilderness in the Wadi Mukellik. At first, he was the companion of St Euthymius the Great (January 20) in the ascetic lfe. So great was their mutual affection and oneness of mind that they seemed to live as one soul in two bodies. They were persons of similar virtue and holiness, and they encouraged one another in their struggles. Each year after the Leave-taking of Theophany, they would go into the desert to struggle and pray in solitude, returning to their cells on Palm Sunday.


After five years together, Sts Euthymius and Theoctistus went into the desert for Great Lent, and in a wadi they discovered a large cave which later became a church. They decided to remain there, believing that they had been led there by God. They ate wild herbs to sustain themselves, and met with no other people for some time.


The Lord did not wish these great luminaries to remain hidden, however. He wanted their wisdom and holiness of life to become known in order to benefit others. One day, shepherds from Bethany found the ascetics and went back to their village and told others about them. After that, many people came to hear of them, and monks came from other monasteries to visit them. Some even stayed there in order to be instructed by them.


So many monks gathered around them that they were obliged to build a lavra over the cave church. St Euthymius made Theoctistus the igumen of the lavra, while he himself lived in seclusion in the cave. The wise Theoctistus accepted all who came to him, confessing them and treating the infirmities of their wounded souls with appropriate spiritual remedies.


When he had reached an advanced old age, St Theoctistus became very ill. St Euthymius (who was ninety years old himself) visited him and took care of him. When St Theoctistus went to the Lord in 467, Patriarch Anastasius of Jerusalem came and presided at his burial service.


St Theoctistus of Palestine should not be confused with St Theoctistus of Sicily (January 4).


Troparion - Tone 4
Dedicated as God’s priest from your youth,You spurned all worldly aims.O Righteous Theoctistus you were radiant in your solitudeAnd strict in the training of monks.Guide those who come to you and lead them in the way of salvation.


Kontakion - Tone 4
You kept your soul pure and presented it to God as his creation.Enlightened by him, Theoctistus, you rose to the peak of endeavor.By your works you confirmed the grace that was given you.


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SAINT OR FEAST POSTED THIS DATE 2007:

Russian Orthodox monks, the video from the year of 1986.

Beautiful.

Russian and Georgian Orthodox leaders seek understanding amid conflict

By Ecumenical News International

2 Sep 2008

A Russian Orthodox Church missionary has defended Georgian Orthodox Patriarch Ilia II against charges that he is a Georgian nationalist, whilst other leading Russian clerics have warned against the war between their country and Georgia turning into an ethnic vendetta - writes Sophia Kishkovksky.

Deacon Andrei Kurayev, famous for his books, website and missionary trips around Russia and Ukraine, said that efforts in some Russian media to portray Patriarch Ilia as an anti-Russian fascist were based on wrong translations of statements he made in the early 1990s, when Georgia was embroiled in civil war.

Patriarch Ilia is reported to have said that anyone who kills a Georgian will be subject to abomination but in fact, Kurayev told the Interfax news religion service on 19 August, he said that, "Any Georgian who kills another person shames his nation."

Kurayev added that both Patriarch Ilia and Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Aleksei II were doing all they could so that the war did not become "a people's war, a holy war, as is sung in the famous song about the Great Patriotic War", as Russians call the Second World War.

As well as Kurayev, other clergy and hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church have warned against a cycle of ethnic hatred and revenge taking hold as a result of the current violence in South Ossetia, a pro-Russian enclave in Georgia. Kurayev called the looting of Georgian homes by Ossetians "shameful, and there can be no justification for this".

The Rev Vsevolod Chaplin, deputy chairperson of external relations for the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, told Soyuz, an Orthodox Church television channel, "Only a madman today can declare all Georgians the enemy, and inflame anti-Georgian sentiment in the country."

At the same time, both Chaplin and the Rev Dmitry Smirnov, who is in charge of the Moscow Patriarchate's military relations department, said that Georgia should also be grateful to Russia for its help over the centuries.

"I think the time has come to remind the government of Georgia and its people of what Russia has done for this country," Smirnov was quoted as saying in the 20 August edition of Argumenty i Fakty, a weekly national newspaper. "At one time, Georgia asked to become part of Russia so as not to be destroyed and enslaved by Turkey."

Patriarchia.ru, an official Web site of the Moscow Patriarchate, reports that Patriarch Aleksei has blessed the use of a new prayer "for peace in the Caucasus".

Separately, at a vigil service on the eve of the Feast of the Transfiguration, celebrated by the Russian Orthodox Church on 19 August, Archbishop Feofan of Stavropol and Vladikavkaz, both Russian regions near the war zone in South Ossetia, counselled believers to control themselves.

"Now, as difficult as it may be for us, under no circumstances must we give way to our emotions," he said. "We must not address our anger against Georgians, who often live among us.
For this is the power of our Christianity: not to be like those who raised arms against peaceful citizens."

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The Russian Church hopes a cultural wall won’t divide Russia and Europe

02 September 2008, 13:12

Moscow, September 2, Interfax – Professor of the Moscow Theological Academy Deacon Andrey Kurayev has pointed out the Orthodox Russia and classical Europe share the system of values.

The Gazeta daily on Tuesday quotes Fr. Andrey “Europe for me is not a Europe of the European Parliament and I don’t want cultural walls to be erected between Russia and my Europe of Dickens and Hugo,” as saying.

He believes that “Europe is our home, and Europe doesn’t mean NATO.”

“System of values shared by a Russian Orthodox Christian is also shared by a representative of the classical Europe,” the famous theologian said.

He thinks today this classical Europe “sinks and dies,” as a wave of “nihilist consumer kitsch” overflows it as well as Russia.

“Thus we have the same springs and the same swamps,” Fr. Andrey believes.

SOURCE:

Metropolitan Kirill to consecrate an Orthodox church in Tokyo

02 September 2008, 14:19

Moscow, September 2, Interfax – A new Russian Orthodox church of St. Alexander of Neva was built in the district of Meguro in Tokyo.

“The church has a new iconostasis and is being prepared for the consecration which is to take place on September 12 on the patronal festival,” the secretariat for inter-Orthodox relations of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations told Interfax-Religion.

The DECR chair Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad is to conduct a consecration.

The number of the Japanese who identify themselves with Orthodoxy equals to about 30,000 people.

The Japanese Autonomous Church was founded by St. Nikolay (Kasatkin) who came to Japan on 1861 on the decision of the Holy Synod. He founded and headed the Russian Orthodox mission in Japan in 1870. He translated the Holy Scripture and liturgical books into Japanese and built the Resurrection Cathedral in Tokyo. The Russian Orthodox Church canonized Archbishop Nikolay in 1970. The Moscow Patriarchate granted autonomy to the Japanese Orthodox Church the same year.

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Tbilisi's Decision to Break with Moscow Leaves Georgians in Russia with Fewer Defenders

September 01, 2008

WINDOW ON EURASIA

Septemebr 1, 2008

Paul Goble

Tbilisi's decision to break diplomatic relations with Moscow following the Russian invasion has left ethnic Georgians living in the Russian Federation with fewer defenders, created new complications for Georgians with dual citizenship, and set up new obstacles for Russian citizens who may want to travel to Georgia.

The Georgian government's action has not led to the closure of its consulate in Moscow – Under diplomatic rules, consulates can continue to function even after a diplomatic break – but it remains unclear which third country embassy will house a Georgian interest section – those of Ukraine and Azerbaijan are most often mentioned.

After the diplomats of Georgia and Russia who are in the process of returning home, the people most immediately affected by this decision are the estimated half million ethnic Georgians living in the Russian Federation and their families at home who often depend on transfer payments from their relatives working abroad.

Given the rising hostility to Georgians that the Russian media have whipped up over the conflict, many of these people are at risk of being attacked by xenophobic groups like the Movement Against Illegal Immigration (DPNI) and skinheads and now they face these threats without the protection that embassies can give.

Not surprisingly, given its earlier call during the course of the Russian invasion for Moscow to intern all Georgians living in the Russian Federation, DPNI's website yesterday celebrated reports that the Russian militia is stepping up its fight against "the Georgian mafia" in Russia.

But as commentaries in the Moscow media have pointed out, the Georgians in Russia face other problems: First, it is unclear how the Georgian consulate in Moscow will be able to intervene on behalf of Georgians who live far from the Russian capital. Second, it is uncertain how they will be able to send transfer payments home.

And third, given that some of them now have married Russians or have taken Russian citizenship, it is unclear how they will arrange to travel to Georgia, a problem that may be especially acute in the case of Georgians living in the southern portions of the Russian Federation and in border areas there.

That is because Tbilisi has changed the rules for getting a visa, something that affects both Georgians in that category and Russian citizens more generally. In the past, such visitors could obtain a visa at border crossing points by paying a little more than 40 U.S. dollars, but now Russian citizens must obtain one in a third country.

At the very least, that will complicate the lives of those Russian citizens who had wanted to travel to Georgia, and more likely, it will lead to a significant decline in the number doing so, depressing investment in the Georgian economy and making it more difficult for Tbilisi to rebuild after the devastation visited upon that country by Russian forces.

Not surprisingly, Russians and Russian officials are outspokenly angry about all this, but so too are at least some ethnic Georgians in Russia. A Moscow priest whose church houses the parish of the Georgian Orthodox Church there said today that Tbilisi's decision "will create difficulties" for innocent people.

No one can blame Tbilisi for breaking diplomatic relations with Moscow. That is the normal course of action for a government whose territory has been invaded by the armed forces of another state. But given the interrelationships of these two countries, this move will have serious human consequences, which tragically some in each capital are quite ready to exploit.

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Orthodox Church Spreads Antisemitic Propaganda in Kamenets-Podolsky, Ukraine

(September 2, 2008)

A Ukrainian reporter spotted antisemitic leaflets inside a Russian Orthodox cathedral affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate in Kamenets-Podolsky, Ukraine, according to an August 27, 2008 report by the Kiev-based newspaper "Gazeta 24." According to the article, posters calling for a boycott of kosher products hang outside the city's Aleksandr Nevsky Cathedral. Inside the cathedral, a newspaper article is posted claiming that "kikes" were behind the creation of "Ukraine" (referred to with pejorative quotation marks, along with the term "Ukrainian language"). Supposedly, "kikes don't like the words Russia and Russians" so they created an artificial state called Ukraine to divide and weaken the Russian empire. Somehow, this Jewish conspiracy was behind both the Russian Revolution that brought the Communists to power in 1917 and the 2004 Orange Revolution, all in the service of brainwashing the nation in the service of the USA, according to whoever wrote the posters. The author of the article sharply criticizes the local diocese for distributing antisemitic propaganda.

UCSJ has asked a local Jewish advocate to interview someone from the cathedral to explain why these articles, which clearly violate Ukraine's laws against hate speech, are displayed at the cathedral.

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St John the Faster the Patriarch of Constantinople

Commemorated on September 2


Saint John IV the Faster, Patriarch of Constantinople (582-595), is famed in the Orthodox Church as the compiler of a penitential nomokanon (i.e. rule for penances), which has come down to us in several distinct versions, but their foundation is one and the same. These are instructions for priests on how to hear the confession of secret sins, whether sins already committed, or merely sins of intent.


Ancient church rules address the manner and duration of public penances, established for obvious and evident sinners. But it was necessary to adapt these rules for the secret confession of undetected things. St John the Faster issued his penitential nomokanon (or "Canonaria"), so that the confession of secret sins, unknown to the world, already testifies to the good disposition of the sinner and his conscience in being reconciled to God, and so the saint reduced the penances of the ancient Fathers by half or more.


On the other hand, he set more exactly the character of the penances: severe fasting, daily performance of a set number of prostrations to the ground, the distribution of alms, etc. The length of penance is determined by the priest. The main purpose of the nomocanon compiled by the holy Patriarch consists in assigning penances, not simply according to the seriousness of the sins, but according to the degree of repentance and the spiritual state of the person who confesses.


Among the Greeks, and later in the Russian Church, the rules of St John the Faster are honored on a level "with other saintly rules," and the nomocanons of his book are accounted "applicable for all the Orthodox Church." St Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain (July 14) included him in the Manual for Confession (Exomologitarion), first published in 1794, and in the Rudder (Pedalion), published in 1800.


The first Slavonic translation was done quite possibly by the holy Equal of the Apostles Methodius, at the same time as he produced the Nomocanon in 50 Titles of the holy Patriarch John Scholastikos, whose successor on the Constantinople cathedra-seat was St John the Faster. This ancient translation was preserved in Rus in the "Ustiug Rudder" of the thirteenth century, published in 1902.


From the sixteenth century in the Russian Church the nomocanon of St John the Faster was circulated in another redaction, compiled by the monks and clergy of Mount Athos. In this form it was repeatedly published at the Kiev Caves Lavra (in 1620, 1624, 1629).


In Moscow, the Penitential Nomokanon was published in the form of a supplement to the Trebnik ("Book of Needs): under Patriarch Joasaph in 1639, under Patriarch Joseph in 1651, and under Patriarch Nikon in 1658. The last edition since that time is that printed in the Great Book of Needs. A scholarly edition of the nomocanon with parallel Greek and Slavonic texts and with detailed historical and canonical commentary was published by A. S. Pavlov (Moscow, 1897).


Troparion - Tone 4
In truth you were revealed to your flock as a rule of faith,an image of humility and a teacher of abstinence;your humility exalted you;your poverty enriched you.Hierarch Father John,entreat Christ our Godthat our souls may be saved.


Kontakion - Tone 4
You became like your namesake, the Forerunner, O John,For you were radiant with fasting and purity;And Christ has revealed youAs a worthy shepherd of his flock:Now pray for those who honor your holy memory!

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SAINT OR FEAST POSTED THIS DATE 2007:

Conflict between Greek monks flares up

Published: Sunday 31 August 2008 15:22 UTC
Last updated: Sunday 31 August 2008 15:22 UTC

A conflict between a groups of monks has flared up on the holy mountain of Athos in Greece, following years of dispute. A group of extremely orthodox monks is threatening to blow itself up according to the Greek media.

The group has isolated itself from the 19 other monasteries on Athos because it fiercely opposes dialogue with the Roman Catholic church. The other groups of monks think they should leave the mountain because of this. But the extremist monks say they will blow their monastery up with dynamite, petrol and gas bottles if they have to. There were skirmishes on Sunday, when another group of monks tried to enter the rebel monastery.

There were similar incidents 18 months ago on the eastern peninsula of Chalkidiki, in which seven monks were seriously injured.

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Greece: Pagans call on Athena to protect the Acropolis

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Helena Smith in Athens
The Guardian, Monday September 1 2008
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Thrusting their arms skywards and chanting Orphic hymns, Greek pagans yesterday made a comeback at the Acropolis as they added their voices to protests against the imminent inauguration of the New Acropolis Museum.

Ignoring a sudden rainstorm and irate officials, white-clad worshippers gathered before Greece's most sacred site and invoked Athena, the goddess of wisdom, to protect sculptures taken from the temples to the new museum. It was the first time in nearly 2,000 years that pagans had held a religious ceremony on the site.

"Neither the Romans nor the Ottomans or any other occupational force ever took anything from this holy site," said Yannis Kontopidis, one of the high priests who officiated over the affair.

"It's scandalous that antiquities of such value, carved in honour of Athena, should be wrested from their natural environment and moved to a new locale."

Not since Pericles oversaw the construction of the Parthenon had any of its classical artworks been officially removed - until last year, when thousands of items were transferred by crane to the New Acropolis Museum beneath the citadel.

The £94m glass and concrete edifice, designed by the Swiss-American architect Bernard Tschumi in collaboration with Greece's Michalis Photiadis, has divided Greeks.

Supporters praise its cavernous space and have claimed the building will offer better protection of the antiquities and a superior viewing space for spectators, who previously had to negotiate the confines of a tiny museum atop the hill.
Government officials said its opening later this year should end the British Museum's argument that Athens has no place decent enough to house its classical artworks, including the Parthenon sculptures on display in London since Lord Elgin seized them from the temples more than 200 years ago.

An Ipsos-Mori poll, conducted before the new museum's inauguration, recently showed that 69% of Britons believed the marbles should be returned to Greece.

However, opponents, including architectural purists, have argued that the new museum insults Greece's cultural heritage, it being in the wrong location and far too big in grandeur and scale.

Yesterday's ceremony represented a major coup for Greek polytheists whose faith, which is described by the powerful Orthodox church as a "miserable resuscitation of a degenerate dead religion", has long been banned in the country that gave birth to the gods of Mount Olympus.

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Cyprus mass cancelled at Limnitis

Famagusta Gazette 01.SEP.08

No Mass will take place at the Christian Orthodox church of Saint Mamas in Turkish occupied Morphou, following the occupation regime's decision not to give permission to Greek Cypriots to pass through Limnitis crossing point to attend an organized pilgrimage to celebreate the Saint`s day on September 2, President Demetris Christofias has said.

"Unfortunately the position of the other side on the organised pilgrimage has not changed and rightly the Bishop of Morphou decided not to hold the Mass," the President said, adding that the Bishop called him to discuss this issue.

Christofias said the decision of the Turkish Cypriot side not to allow Greek Cypriots to pass through Limnitis "is not the best omen" just a few days before the commencement of the UN-led direct talks between him and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, on September 3.

He expressed regret because the "unilateral good will moves by the Greek Cypriot side have not yet found response by the Turkish side."

President Christofias said that during a long telephone conversation he had with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat the latter gave him assurances that the decision for the opening of Limnitis crossing point will soon be taken.

"We will keep our commitment to begin talks with good will hoping that we will find an extended hand by the other side. We are aware of the difficulties which emerge from various factors and circles of the other side and I sincerely hope that there will be no actions that will pose obstacles and undermine the (solution) efforts," Christofias said.

The Cyprus government has requested from the Turkish Cypriot occupation regime to allow Greek Cypriot pilgrims to visit Saint Mamas Church, following the permission granted from the Cyprus government to Turkish Cypriots to visit Kokkina as part of an annual event to commemorate the bombing of Greek Cypriot villages in the area during the intercommuncal clashes in 1964.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. - Copyright © Famagusta Gazette 2008

Eighty Milan priests headed by Cardinal Tettamanzi round off their visit to Russia celebrating Assumption in the Novodevichy Convent

01 September 2008, 10:37

Moscow, September 1, Interfax - Delegation of eighty Catholic priests headed by Archbishop of Milan Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi attended a festival Assumption liturgy in the Novodevichy convent in Moscow.

Greeting the guests, Metropolitan Yuvenaly of Krutitsy and Kolomna stressed traditionally good relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Milan Diocese and expressed hope for their successful development, the Moscow Patriarchate official website has reported.

Tettamanzi thanked for hearty welcome and said he considered important for his diocesan clerics to get acquainted with Orthodox spiritual tradition.

The Catholic delegation had already visited Vladimir and Sergiyev Posad. The cardinal met with the Rector of the Moscow Theological Academy Archbishop Eugeny of Verea and donated to the Holy Trinity St. Sergius Laura a cross with a particle of St. Ambrose of Milan relics reposed in the Milan Cathedral.

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Church to Honor St. Yared - the Great Ethiopian Composer

Ethiopian Reporter
Photo: Getty Images

By Yelibenwork Ayele

Saturday, 30 August 2008

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, - The Ethiopian Orthodox Church, in a press conference, said it would hold a great event next Sunday at the Millennium Hall commemorating St. Yared, the Ethiopian author of cantatas, traditional education and various pieces of religious literature.

Zema or the chant tradition of Ethiopia, particularly the chants of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, is attributed to St. Yared, a composer and a choreographer who lived in Aksum in the 6th century AD. He is credited for inventing the Zema of the Church; the chant that has been in use continuously for the past 1500 years. His music has defined the ritualistic feature of all the major fasts and feasts of the Church.

St. Yared was born to a family of a long line of church scholars in Axum in the sixth century. At the age of six he was assigned to a priest so that he could learn, but Yared turned out to be a poor student and was sent back to his parents. After his father passed away, his mother gave him away to her brother, Aba Gedeon, who was then a well known priest-scholar of the church of Axum Zion, to look after his education. Read More.

Related:St. Yared - the great Ethiopian composer (Tadias)


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Most Georgians disapprove of cutting ties with Russia - priest

01 September 2008, 10:42

Moscow, September 1, Interfax - Georgia's decision to cut diplomatic relations with Russia runs against the will of the majority of Georgians, the chief priest of the Georgian parish in Moscow said.

"Of course, the Georgians do not want relations with Russia to be severed. Not always do the authorities of a country represent the will of the majority. I think that this [Georgia's decision to sever diplomatic relations with Russia] is a case in point," priest Fyodor Krechetov of the Church of the Holy Martyr George the Conqueror, told the Interfax-Religion.

Georgia's move "will create difficulties for people who are not to blame for any of that, both Russians and Georgians," Fr. Fyodor said.

The priest expressed the desire that "the media in Russia and in Georgia stop painting enemy images."

"The Church believes in man's Divine image, that he seeks friendship and love and not hostility and separation," he said.

The cleric expressed the hope that "eventually common sense and goodwill will be triumphant" in Russian-Georgian relations.

The priest also said his Georgian parishioners "are agitated and fear being deported from Russia."

He slammed Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili for "behaving in an unseemly and undignified way."

"I think that the majority of Georgians are against any problems being dealt with by unleashing war," Fr. Fyodor said.

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Martyr Aithalas of Persia

Commemorated on September 1


The Holy Martyr Aithalas the Deacon, by order of the Persian emperor Sapor II, was put to death by stoning in the year 380 for confessing Christ.


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