[Russian Insider] The Russian Orthodox Church is seeing the highest numbers ever training for priesthood, according to an independent Russian news agency.
The sharp rise in seminary admissions across the church's 261 dioceses, known as eparchies, means 1,593 ordinands are expected to begin studies, a 19 per cent increase from the last year, Interfax reported.
Another 827 young men will also start the church's preparation course, 25 percent more than the previous year.
On top of that 5,877 seminarians are currently preparing for ordination, according to the Tablet.
After enduring systematic persecution under Soviet rule, Vladimir Putin has made the Russian Orthodox Church emblematic of the socially conservative values his rule promotes.
Around 70 per cent of the population are now members of the ROC and it has grown to be the largest and most powerful of the 14 Orthodox denominations with 144 million members, 368 bishops and about 40,000 priests and deacons.
By contrast to the ROC's dominance, the Roman Catholic church is Russia has just four dioceses with a membership of about 773,000 – just 0.5 per cent of the population – according to the Vatican's 2017 Annuario Pontificio. [Not pointing out how the Orthodox bellyache when Catholics try to establish new diocese in Russia while they do so with no consideration at all in the West.]
The startling levels of growth are demonstrated in the dramatic increase in Orthodox places of worship in Russia. At the end of Communist rule in 1991, just 6,000 existed but now there are 36,000 – an average of three new places of worship every day.
AMDG
Yes with no Vatican II and crazy hierarchs and Popes, so much more is possible.
ReplyDeleteThe Russian Orthos were/are enablers of Putin and his religious intolerance of Catholics. No matter what, I will always be a Catholic. Always. I can be nothing else.
ReplyDeletePopularity of something doesn't validate it.
All very true what you say. But there is a different way of looking at it. Our Lady at Fatima promised Russia would convert.It will convert. Its a step forward. And the Russian Church is a piece of the Catholic Church that broke away. It is a brach that can annd will be regrafted back onto Mother Church. The Church of Russia has broken away from the Orthodox Church of Constantinople. It is inevitable now that they will looking for a new home. As a Culturally European nation Russia can be either with Constantinople or Rome. Sine Constantinople is gone, snd noe their enemy, they will no choice but drift back into the orbit if Rome...once Rome earns their respect as being theologically sane and morally and politically conservative. The the Fatima prophesy will come true
DeleteI think JMY has valid points.
DeleteCatholics have complete religious freedom in Russia. Even Greek-Catholic parishes have been granted legal recognition and can function regularly. SSPX priests are not denied visas (something small groups sometimes experience).
DeleteOf course, the government privileges the traditional religion of the country i.e. the Russian Orthodox Church. But apart from that there are no problems. I would say Catholics are freer than in many Western countries.
"[Not pointing out how the Orthodox bellyache when Catholics try to establish new diocese in Russia while they do so with no consideration at all in the West.]"
ReplyDeleteI agree with this statement. But is this not what we should be doing in out Catholic majority countries. The Church should be treated as an offically united to the State and any non-Catholic faiths are not to be given the same rights of expression as the State religion. It was Vatican II that said the opposite.
Had Vatican II never happened, and if we had had traditional Popes the last 55 years instead of the "Vatican II can do no wrong" Popes and now a total heretic, the Roman Catholic Church would have experienced growth like this....especially if we had had Popes who by their life and example (like Pius XII) had encouraged and gave impetus /energy to such growth.
ReplyDeleteI've gone to other churches, but would never convert....but you gotta admire the Russian Orthodox for holding to their Faith and traditions. IN the Catholic world, probably only the Poles have the same spirit if Faith.
Damian Malliapalli
The ROC Liturgy went through a major drastic overhaul in the late middle ages.
DeleteThe Orthodox old believers hold fast to their apostolic traditions.
-Andrew
According to the blogger Maurice Pinay 'Orthodoxy' is kabbalistic. That's over my head and maybe I'm wrong but he seems to me to be a competant scholar.
ReplyDeleteConsecrating Russia to Her Immaculate Heart would wipe out modernism very quickly.
ReplyDeleteI'm not an ecumeniac but better to be a Catholic schismatic, than a secularist atheist, new age pagan, or even a liberal- neomodernist Vaticanist.
ReplyDeleteThe CMRI have a chapel in Moscow.
DeleteI would love to see pics or videos of their chapel.
-Andrew
Damian, the Poles are not ones who have a sufficiently good faith. Most of their intelligensia is saturated by Enlightenment thinking. Modern Poland is founded by opposition to the counter Enlightenment thinking of its occupiers: Austria, Germany, and Russia. The Polish uprisings were inspired by Napoleon. Even the Polish national anthem is such a joke: Its called: "Poland still has not lost", which means it ought to, but by the Grace of national love it did not yet. It's words say that Poland was taught by Napoleon Bonapart how to fight our wars, as if Poland never had a history of fighting. A lie, since King Sobieski won one of the greatest of victories against the Turks, at the battle for Vienna. Polish national identity is marred by its confusion between its Catholic identity and its Enlightenment intellectual identity. John Paul II suffered from the same psychological schizophrenic identity complex. He could not rationally know how to resolve the conflict between freedom and free expresssion and, at the same time, Catholicism. So he did as many Poles do: just cover up the inconsistencies and get mad if someone tries to uncover them. Modern Poland suffers from this, and most of all, it expresses itself in the fact that Catholicism means being Polish, and being Polish, means being Catholic. But they do often fail to overcome and transcend this parochialism with a Vision of Catholicism as a Universal Faith that binds and unifies all Catholics from all races and peoples in one Mystical and worldwide Body of Christ. Poles do not see people as" neither slave nor freemen, jew nor greek, slav nor nonslav, Pole nor nonPole. Many are people with a sincere Faith, but a Faith obscured, and sometimes submerged, in national Enlightenment identity.
ReplyDeleteConstantine is at least partly right. There was a Polish general in the American revolution inspired by the Enlightenment. Metternich, whose Austria had probably unjustly conquered part of Poland in its partition in 1795, thought of Poland as a source of rebellion, democracy, and radical thinking. It would be hard to blame a country as mistreated in the last 225 years as Poland.
ReplyDelete***$*** And so he grew up, confused about his own sexual preferences but claiming to be Catholic, knowing that homosexuality is vile and forbidden. He struggled with his desire for a male father figure often in his imagination if not in actual desired aberrant sexual behavior, against the teachings of his professed religion.
ReplyDeleteAre we talking about Gaybrielle? I don’t think he cares about the Church’s teachings.
DeleteWhat’s sinful about having a hero?
Patriarch Kirill recently stated )ews Muslims and R.O. all worship the same God.
ReplyDeleteHe is a heretic.
-Andrew
"Around 70 per cent of the population are now members of the ROC and it has grown to be the largest and most powerful of the 14 Orthodox denominations with 144 million members"
ReplyDeleteSo as the population of Russia is also 144 million, it follows that 30% of ROC members are in countries other than Russia.
The bottom line is that at Fatima the Virgin Mary promised the conversion of Russia. Although the consecration of Russia was already requested in 1929, Pope John Paul II only got around to it after the assassination attempt in the 1980's. Then in five years the Berlin wall came down on the Feast of the Cathedral or Rome (Nov. 9). The rest is history. If we all made the personal consecration and daily rosary, the rest of the promise would also be accomplished: "a time of peace will be granted to the world." It seems impossible, but the conversion of Russia also seemed impossible.
ReplyDelete