Baron Yves Marsaudon: A High Ranking Freemason in the Order of Malta

Yves Marsaudon (1899-1985), High-Level Mason and Minister of the Order of Malta.

Edit: doing some housework as it were, and posting up some articles whose information didn't seem to get much circulation beyond Infowars and Alex Jones' resident Freemason, Leo Zagami., who discussed Msgr. Weninger. It sure looks like someone publicly declared that Masons aren't excommunicated and no one said anything about it after, at least not anyone in authority.

Update: Well, Complicit Clergy had an article up on him in February when this first came out., and this from a normie agglomerator site run by "academics".

by Father Paolo M. Siano FFI*

On 2 February 2017, the journalist Riccardo Cascioli summed up the contents of a letter from Pope Francis sent to Raymond Cardinal Burke, Patron of the Sovereign Order of Malta, on 1 December. In it, he issued "a call for vigilance against the affiliation of Members of the Order of Malta to Freemasonry and to take decisive action to stop those responsible for the distribution of contraceptives through aid programmes in poor countries." It seems that the letter does not speak directly of "freemasonry", but of "associations, movements and organizations that are against the Catholic faith or of relativistic imprint". Cascioli would do well to see at least an implicit reference to Freemasonry.

I was asked: "How is it possible for a Freemason to enter the Order of Malta?" I must confess that I have no further knowledge of the current situation in the Order of Malta, to which I wish in any case that they prosper in complete Catholic fidelity to their religious and charitable charism.

Yves Marsaudon, 1926 entry into the lodge, 1946 to the Order of Malta.

What I know with certainty, however, is that, in the distant past, some cases of dual membership in the Order of Malta and Freemasonry have become known. Probably the most sensational case was that of Baron Yves Marie Antoine Marsaudon (1899-1985). Important details to get to know his life and his thinking, are present in his books "L'Ocuménisme vu par un Franc-Maon de Tradition" (The Ecumenism from the Point of View of a Traditional Freemason, Editions Vitiano, Paris 1964), "De l'initiation masonnique l'orthodoxie chrétienne" (From the Masonic Initiation to Christian Orthodoxy, Dervy, Paris 1965) and "Souvenirs et Réflexions. Un Haut Dignitarie de la Franc-Ma'onnerie révéle des secrets" (Memories and Thoughts. A high dignitary of Freemasonry reveals secrets, Editions Vitiano, Paris 1976).

Growing up in a Catholic family, Yves is only vaguely a believer and at the age of 16-17 and falls into a philosophical and religious indifference. In 1926 he was accepted as a Freemason in the Grand Lodge of France (GLDF). At the time, he was a young entrepreneur who worked in trade with South America. In 1936 he received the 33rd and highest degree of the Old and Adopted Scottish Rite (AASR). In 1937 he became a member of the High Council, the highest authority of the AASR in France, to which the Grand Lodge is attached.

As a high-level Freemason, he turned his back on the Catholic Church and converted to the Orthodox Church in France. He described himself as a Freemason of the (Freemasonic) "tradition" and as a "spiritualist".

In 1964, the High Council of the Old and Adopted Scottish Rite (AASR) split. A group of 33rd-degree freemasons established a new High Council of the AASR for France and joined the Grande Loge Nationale Francoise (GLNF), the only Masonic obedience recognized as regular by English Freemasonry. Marsaudon 33° belongs to this group that crosses. Since this year, he has been a member of the new High Council of the GLNF. He is even (perhaps 1976 or earlier) appointed Sovereign Grand Comtur, the highest honorary officer of the High Council of the Old and Adopted Scottish Rite.

In 1946, at a time when Marsaudon was already a 33rd-grade Freemason, he joined the Sovereign Order of Malta. As Magistral Grand Cross Knight in gremio religionis, he was directly under the leadership of the Order in Rome. In the same year he became Extraordinary Envoy and Plenipotentiary Minister of the Order in France. He maintained close diplomatic contacts with the then Apostolic Nuncio in Paris, Monsignor Angelo Roncalli, the future Pope John XXIII and Saint. In 1951, after criticism of the "integralist party", as the staunch Freemason Marsaudon calls his critics of the Roman Curia, he resigned from his post as Plenipotentiary Minister of the Order of Malta, but remained its Emeritus Minister. This at least until 1976, the year in which his "memoirs" appear in book form (perhaps longer). In this book he revealed that he was not the only Masonic Knight of Malta.

Ecumenism from the point of view of a Freemason

Let's take a quick look at some of the ideas of the Freemason Marsaudon, which he presented in his books. In the aforementioned book of 1976, he describes himself as a pupil of the 33rd-grade Freemason, Oswald Wirth, whom he calls a "Great Initiate". Wirth (1860-1943) is an occult Freemason who had moved from the Grand Orient of France to the Grand Lodge (GLDF). In the same book by Marsaudon 33° there are various esoteric images typical of the books of his master Wirth. Marsaudon is convinced of the Templar and Rosicrucian roots of modern Freemasonry and claims that the Rosicrucian is "Christian" and "cabalistic". In his 1964 book, he praises the thinking of Teilhard de Chardin (p. 60).

Marsaudon writes that the Church is a "prisoner of dogmatic texts". To underline this assertion, he describes the situation of a remarried divorcee in a way that is as exaggerated as it is erroneous, but sentimental: "he must not be admitted to the sacraments and will die without absolution, unless he denies the mother of his children ...". Therefore Marsaudon justifies the divorce and cites as positive examples the Protestant "churches" and the Orthodox Church, while in the Roman Church he sees only dogmatic and inhuman intransigence (p. 63f).

Marsaudon despises the primacy of the Roman Pope and shares the view of André Gide (1869–1951), an aberrosexual Nobel prize winner from Calvinist upbringing: "What counts is not to be Catholic or Protestant, but simply to be a Christian".

Marsaudon makes fun of certain dogmas, such as Hell (p. 65). He rejects the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, as well as the mediation role of Mary and the infallibility of the Pope in matters of faith and morality (p. 85f)

Marsaudon sees ecumenism in the Masonic sense as over-dogmatic and relativistic. As late as 1976, he wished that Roman Catholicity would open up to the equality of all Christian denominations ... Marsaudon asserts that "the Orthodox Church is closest to the Gospels, while the Vatican must bow to Freemasonry and take a step towards rapprochement, not the other way around" (p. 363).

Marsaudon considers himself tolerant of philosophical and metaphysical questions. He lets a certain panvitalism seep through when he declares to respect every way of life (environment, oceans, plants, animals) because "life is one". He is against abortion, but accepts contraception. He also reveals esoteric convictions when he claims that the animals are our "unknown superiors", a term typical of the hierarchy of the esoteric movement of Martinism, and that "we must reclaim paradise on earth" (p. 380ff).

The Marsaudon case is indeed irritating: a 33rd-degree Freemason is granted admission to the Order of Malta and given a high dignity that guarantees him diplomatic immunity, while at the same time advocating divorce (and implicitly advocating Communion for the remarried divorcees, until he eventually even transitions to the Orthodox Church) and advocates contraception, which is anti-Catholic and anti-Roman , and who acts as an anti-dogmatic and relativistic ecumenist as well as an esoteric animal and environmentalist.

Whether there is anyone in the Order of Malta today who shares all or part of Marsaudon's heretical beliefs, I do not know. But even if this were the case, I would not be surprised by the current ecclesial situation.

*Father Paolo M. Siano is a priest of the Order of the Franciscans of immaculates. He is considered one of the best Catholic connoisseurs of Freemasonry.

Photo: Corrispondenza Romana

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Church Attendance on Christmas in Russia Lower than Holland

Moscow (AsiaNews) - The Sova statistical research center, one of the most authoritative in the country, has published data on church attendance region by region during the Orthodox Christmas liturgies of the past week.  The figures range between 1 and 3%, for an overall average over Russia not exceeding 2%, in line with the last few years, even if slightly decreasing.  This is the lowest frequency found in all Christian countries (France, one of the most secularized, is around 5-7%).

This poor propensity of Russians to participate in liturgical ceremonies illustrates the specific character of Russian orthodoxy, which is affirming itself through national-popular, rather than expressly religious identitification. Boris Yeltsyn, the first post-communist president in the 1990s, would often refer to his countrymen as "Orthodox atheists".  The representatives of the patriarchate of Moscow have not commented the data, but they do not seem to be particularly worried about them, so much so that they continue to develop ecclesiastical building programs that increasingly contrast with the low attendence of faithful.

At the same time the mayor of Moscow, Putin's loyal Sergey Sobjanin, has lauded the great success of the "Journey into Christmas" festival, which took place in the capital from 13 December to 12 January, and which registered  over 15 million visitors.  Last year the event reached 18.6 million participants over a longer period;  Sobjanin expressed his pride in the record for "the biggest Christmas party in Europe", where various cultural events, winter sports competitions, Christmas culinary proposals and a wide selection of souvenirs are held.

AMDG

Orthodox Bishop Isolated for Condemning Unnatural Acts Between Married People

Edit: after condemning unnatural acts between married couples, an Orthodox Bishop not only finds himself the odd man out among Cyprus’ episcopate, but he has narrowly avoided being charged with hate speech against aberrosexuals. Aberrosexuality was still punishable in Cyprus until 1998, but they decided that membership in the satanic European Union was more important than having a Godly society.  It’s amusing to see one of his brother bishops echoing Patriarch Bartolomeos by saying he has “no business in a married couple’s bedroom”. Well, Bishop, what goes on in + Neophytos’ diocese is none of your business, but I digress. This Bishop has remained firm in his position and was ready to face jail in the increasingly evil island Republic that has been home for the Orthodox Christians for two thousand years.

Cyrpus’ Attorney General has decided that no hate crime exists and will not prosecute the bishop, but evil voices persist that would like to silence anyone, be he bishop or layman, who would dare to condemn the evils of Sodom.

Police in Cyprus have opened an investigation into homophobic remarks made by a controversial bishop.

[Guardian] At the request of the island’s attorney general, investigators will examine whether the Greek Cypriot Orthodox prelate, known popularly by his first name, Neophytos, violated hate speech laws after he claimed that homosexuality could be passed on when pregnant women had anal sex.

“It is, they say, a problem that is usually transferred to the child from the parents,” the bishop of Morphou said in one of a series of talks billed as “spiritual meetings of dialogue”. “And, they say, it happens … when the parents [indulge] in erotic acts that are unnatural.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/04/cypriot-bishop-faces-hate-speech-inquiry-over-homophobic-remarks

AMDG

Greek Bishop: “Your Atheism Has Brought Down the Wrath of God Upon Us!”

Greek Orthodox Bishop Ambrosios von Kalavrita has accused the Greek Prime Minister of being complicit in the severe fires in Greece

Athens (kath.net) Greek Orthodox Bishop Ambrosios of Kalavrita has accused the Greek Prime Minister of being complicit in the severe fires in Greece. "Atheist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is drawing the wrath of God upon us," writes the bishop on his blog. "The atheists of Syriza are the cause of the great disaster! Their atheism draws down the wrath of God upon us!" He emphasizes again. In the forest fires in recent days 74 people have died. But the Archbishop of Athens has emphasized that this is only the personal opinion of the bishop.

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Pope Promises no “Uniatism” in Relationship to Orthodox Churches

Francis in address to delegation led by Moscow Foreign Minister Archbishop Hilarion: The way of unity is the "only way" - No mission among non-Catholic Christians

Vatican City (kath.net/KAP) Unusually, Pope Francis has reaffirmed his commitment to ecumenism with the Russian Orthodox Church and its Patriarch Kyrill. The path of unity is "the only way that promises us something certain, the path of division will only bring us war and destruction," the Pope said in a short speech to a Russian Orthodox delegation whose text the Vatican published on Saturday.

"The only patriarch in Moscow, in Russia, is yours," Francis assured the delegation. This was under the direction of Metropolitan Hilarion, the foreign chief of the Moscow Patriarchate, who visited Italy from Monday to Wednesday. Shortly before returning to Russia, the group had been received by the Pope.

In his address, Francis gave a clear rejection to any Uniatism, that is, the mission among non-Catholic Christians. If "some Catholic believers - whether lay people, priests or bishops" propagate this, he says: "That does not work anymore, that's over." Of course, the existing Eastern churches unified with Rome, which have arisen in past centuries, must be respected. Today, however, this is no longer a way to unity, according to the Pope.

However, Francis also urged the Russian Orthodox Church to take concrete steps in ecumenism. As examples Francis called for prayer, charitable commitment or pilgrimages. Although one must continue to discuss the theological divergences, one should not wait until at some point, for agreement to exist in all teaching differences.

As a further clear assurance to the Orthodox side, the Pope said: "The Catholic Churches in Russia must not interfere in the internal affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as in politics." This is his attitude and that of the Holy See, the Pope said. Finally, he called on Orthodox and Catholic believers for mutual prayer for each other. This brings the sisters and brothers of both churches closer together.

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Orthodox Church of Puerto Rico Enters Into Union With the Catholic Church

“This news comes from Puerto Rico:
June 10, 2017 the Pan Orthodox of St. Spyridon in Trujillo Alto, PR community were received into the Catholic Church as a Greco Catholic Byzantine community under the “Omophorion” (jurisdiction) of the Latin Archbishop, Metropolitan Roberto González, O.F.M.

 
The welcome ceremony was presided over by the Vicar General of the Archdiocese, father Alberto Figueroa Morales on behalf of the Archbishop. The priests and parishioners made the profession of faith and during the liturgy were commemorated the Supreme Pontiff, Francisco and metropolitan Robert.

 
This makes the community of San Espiridión the first Eastern Catholic in Puerto Rico community. Welcome to the priests and parishioners of San Espiridión to the Catholic Church. They will continue celebrating the Divine Liturgy and sacred mysteries according to the Byzantine tradition. The continuous liturgy in the Church Slavonic language, English and Spanish… following the liturgical calendar Julian (old calendar).

 Link...

AMDG

Syrian-Orthodox Archbishop of the Holy Land Arrested

Archbishop Swerios Malki Murad (left) with the Latin Patriarch
and Franciscan Custodian of the Holy Land

(Jerusalem) An unusual and serious incident took place in Bethlehem this weekend. The Palestinian police temporarily arrested the Syrian Orthodox Archbishop Swerios Malki Murad, as the Catholic news agency Fides reported. Archbishop Murad is responsible for the Syrian Orthodox faithful in the Holy Land.

The arrest occurred last Saturday night, April 2. According to a local observers report,   Palestinian police officers were on a vehicle convoy, collecting the church representative who was then on a visit to the Palestinian village of al-Khader, to Jerusalem. The diplomatic representation of Palestine to the Holy See announced, meanwhile, that the archbishop was released after a short interview. The Palestinian judicial authorities have not commented on the reasons for the arrest.

Text: Fides / Giuseppe Nardi

Image: Lpj (Screenshot)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Pope Receives Major Archbishop Schewtuschuk, to Calm the Waves After the Cuba Meeting with the Moscow Patriarch

Major Archbishop Schewtschuk and Pope Francis: Ukrainian Catholics
Concerned and Discouraged by Rome [Who isn't?]

(Rome) The waves, because of the historic meeting between Pope Francis and the Russian Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow, have not been smoothed in Ukraine. The Greek Catholic Ukrainians, about 12 percent of the population, feel "betrayed". They accuse the Pope of representing too pro-Russian a line. To dispelled the fears, Francis  received a delegation of the Uniate Ukrainians last Saturday  in the Vatican.

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The meeting between the two heads of churches on 12 February on the Caribbean island of Cuba earned general praise, but not in Ukraine. The apostolic nuncio tried in February to reassure the Greek Catholics. The day after the meeting in Havana, Nuncio Claudio Gugerotti went  so far as to explain to  the Ukrainians united with Rome in Kiev, they should simply "forget" the "Joint Declaration " of Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill I of Moscow. It is a counsel, which, considering  a conflict that has been brewing for centuries, and has meant persecution and oppression to the Uniates, is not sufficient. Certainly not, since an armed territorial dispute prevails in  Eastern Ukraine  between Ukraine and Russia. At the same time the nuncio assured the Uniate Ukrainians that Pope Francis was "close" to them.

The head, of the Orthodox Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, who has been in union with Rome since the 16th century, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kiev-Halych, translated on 13 February, the words of the Nuncio for his confreres into Ukrainian, but not sparing his comments.

Uniates see themselves as the Eastern Orthodox Church, which adheres to the agreement of 1439

The Uniate Ukrainians, some five million believers, see themselves as representatives of the historical reconciliation of Western and Eastern Church at the Council of Florence of 1439. The remaining of  orthodoxy  approved the agreement of Florence, and  sealed it with their signatures  but then they  have not kept it. It's a breach of contract which the Uniates refused to join. The Orthodox churches, especially the Russian Orthodox Church,  see in contrast the Uniates as renegade Orthodox, which  serve as "bait" by Rome.

The Moscow Patriarchate, according to estimates has 150 million believers worldwide, considers the Ukraine part of the Rus. In recent decades  Rome was expected to  retreat to the pastoral care of  Latin Catholics. That's three percent of Ukrainians. The question of Unitarianism was illuminated the historian Roberto de Mattei: The "historic" meeting between Francis and Kiril  ).

Pope Francis receives Greek Catholic Ukrainians in Vatican

As the words of the Nuncio were not enough to calm the Uniate Ukrainians, Pope Francis on Saturday, March 5, received the Major Archbishop Shevchuk of Kiev-Halych and other bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the Vatican. Ukrainians reiterated here that the encounter between Pope and Patriarch have been "prophetic" per se. But they have expressed at the same time also their unease over the political part of the "Joint Declaration" of Havana.

Rome states that the essential aim of the "Joint Declaration" is the creation of an alliance between Catholics and Orthodox against the persecution of Christians in the Middle East.  Moscow also spoke of an alliance against the "crisis of the family", "against abortion and gay marriage."

While the Greek Ukrainians were shocked that the statement in the form of union with Rome is referred to as "outdated",  Metropolitan Hilarion, the "Foreign Minister of the Moscow Patriarchate" showed himself to be happy "about it and spoke of satisfaction that had befallen the Russian Orthodox Church. The Declaration of Metropolitan Hilarion was published last Friday by the Osservatore Romano as an editorial.  For the Russian Orthodox "Foreign Minister", the declaration is a step toward a "durable peace" in Ukraine.

Yves Hamant: Political Part of the explanation of Havana "is" Moscow

For the French Russia expert Yves Hamant, that it is "evident that the meeting serves the  political interests" of both Patriarch Kirill  just as much as Russia's President Vladimir Putin . "Kirill is recognized by the pope as the head of a community of a country where religion flourishes, while much of the rest of Europe is completely secularized."

Through the meeting, said Hamant, Francis had recognized the Moscow Patriarch  as equal, as in Orthodoxy all the patriarchs have the same rank.

Barely an hour after the signing of the "Joint Declaration," Pope Francis showed himself, however, already worried about the political orientation of the document. In the airplane on the way to Mexico he tried to minimize the political side. "This is not a political statement, it is not a sociological statement, it is a pastoral statement," said the Catholic Church leader.

The Greek Catholics of Ukraine saw it differently and are  still concerned. Then there was also the secrecy which formed ahead of the meeting in Cuba. The declaration was negotiated without the involvement of Ukrainian Catholics.

Kirill told the Russian news agency, Interfax that before signing, only five people on his staff knew the content of the "Joint Declaration."   "It is impossible to prepare for an event of this kind in public," said the Patriarch.

Last Saturday Rome has tried to address the concerns and fears of the Uniate Ukrainians.  Has it  succeeded?

Text: Giuseppe Nardi 
Image: Cruxnow (Screenshot)

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

Ukrainian Orthodox Patriarch of Kyiv Being Kicked Out of His Own Cathedral

At a recent press conference in Kyiv, Klyment, Archbishop of the Simferopol and Crimea Ukrainian Orthodox Church Kyiv Patriarchate announced that the Russian Arbitration Court in Crimea had ruled that premises belonging to the Crimean Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Kyiv Patriarchate (KP) would be seized and confiscated.

The Archbishop explained that the ruling concerned the Cathedral of Saint Volodymyr and Olha in the centre of Simferopol.

 “We’ve been asked to pay half a million rubles to the Ministry of Property and Land Relations, vacate the premises within ten days and prepare for the fact that the building will be confiscated because all communications, water, light, power and heat supplies are located on these 112 square metres.”

http://euromaidanpress.com/2016/02/01/ukrainian-orthodox-church-kyiv-patriarchate-in-crimea-evicted-from-cathedral/#arvlbdata

Orthodox Churches Seek Closeness -- Synaxis Meets in Constantinople

(Constantinople) The Orthodox seek unity with one another. The assembly of Primates of the Orthodox Church has begun In George's Church of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.  The Patriarchate of Moscow thereby is also searching for the solidarity and support of Orthodoxy  in the Ukraine crisis and will probably get it.

In Constantinople, now Istanbul, today, the Synaxis of the Primates of the Orthodox Churches has opened. This is something  the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, has invited    - not without some rumblings of the Russian Orthodox - to discuss a meeting of the Holy and Grand Council, the whole Orthodox  Church that could begin, after 50 years of announcements and preparations, perhaps in 2015.

Will the Holy and Grand Council of the Orthodox Take Place?

The crisis in Ukraine, which is also an East-West conflict, are of particular importance to today's meeting to understand the direction in which the inner- Orthodox  relations between the autocephalous Churches could develop in the coming years, but also the ecumenisml between the Orthodox Churches and the Catholic Church.

A number of recent signals suggest that in the three-day meeting at the Phanar, at the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarch, the Orthodox Churches  will move closer together after years of bickering and divisiveness  and consolidate again its close internal unity.. It features a new dynamic of recovered unity with a Divine Liturgy celebrated on the 9th of March, Sunday, the day of the " Triumph of Orthodoxy ". This still refers to the first millennium triumph of the veneration of icons against the iconoclasts, but in a broader sense, the triumph of Orthodoxy over the heretics. It is the triumph of the "small, persecuted flock," a "triumph of the martyrs and confessors," as it committed to Orthodoxy.

Ukraine Crisis is Leading to  Inner-Orthodox Closeness

For a long time the participation of the most influential Orthodox Church leader, Patriarch Kirill I of Moscow was not certain. Yet the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia has finally traveled to Istanbul. For him, it comes to receiving the support of all the Orthodox Primates for the second part of his title. According to Moscow's understanding of the tripartite Russia (Great Russia, Little Russia, Belarus), his primacy extends not only to the state of Russia and ethnic Russians but also through Ukraine and Belarus. The question of the autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which during the crisis has come down on the side of the anti-Russian independence movement is, therefore, not to affect the assembly.

Patriarch Filaret was on the side of U.S. Secretary of State Kerry over Martyrs' Square in Kiev

As it stands, all canonically recognized Orthodox Churches will continue to repudiate a canonical recognition of a Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate independent of Moscow headed by Patriarch Filaret of Kiev. Filaret, has been Russian Orthodox Metropolitan since 1966, he became after 1990, after the death of Pimen I his successor as Metropolitan of Kiev and throughout Ukraine. When Ukraine gained independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Filaret called  for the autocephaly of the Orthodox church in the country, which  Moscow rejected. In 1995, he called arbitrarily for Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and the Patriarch of Kyiv and all Ukraine .

This division of Orthodoxy in Ukraine has continued still, so that today  three feuding Orthodox Churches face each other. Only the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate is officially recognized, to which appends still the majority of Orthodox believers. Filaret was excommunicated in 1997 by Moscow and returned to the lay state.  Despite various attempts by anti-Russian Ukrainian politicians speaking of  the recognition,  the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, has  not previously affirmed it. Although  Ukrainian he has had 20 years of independence, the Kiev Patriarchate  has not expanded its position, since the majority of Ukrainian parishes and monasteries belong almost entirely to the Moscow Patriarchate.

Filaret is Considered in Canonical Orthodoxy as Excommunicated Schismatics

Patriarch Filaret of Kyiv remains in the eyes of the recognized Primates as one excommunicated, who is also accused of giving titles and jurisdictions to schismatic groups and strange creations  imparting to secularized priests to self-appointed priests and vagrants, dealing moving in various countries outside the Church control. There is talk of a "schismatic International," calling into question the apostolic succession of the Orthodox Churches undermines in some parts of the world and place. An expression that reflects the mood within  canonical Orthodoxy on the subject.

When U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry these days made his walk across the Martyrs' Square in Kiev, he was accompanied by various Ukrainian religious leaders. Right next to Kerry, more visible than any other, was Patriarch Filaret. On the Russian side, Patriarch Kirill I tried to restrain the conflict in Ukraine. All the more so, since Archimandrite Chaplain of Russian Military had designated the  intervention in the Crimea as a "peace mission".  Additionally, Kirill said: "Our nation is composed of people with different perspectives and political convictions, including those which are being  faced on  the barricades. The Church is located at the side of any party in the political struggle."  These words are a message to Metropolitan Onufry  they contain the current locum tenens of the Moscow Patriarchate in Kiev.

Moscow is Seeking Assistance and is Willing to Grant Such

Not only Moscow but also the Ecumenical Patriarch urges a closing of the Orthodox ranks. This not only has to do with the Ukraine crisis. At the same time, the unity will also strengthen the role of Bartholomew as primus inter pares, and thus guarantor and coordinator of Orthodox unity. Therefore, the "foreign minister" of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion found many words of praise and grateful appreciation for Bartholomew and also Metropolitan Ioannis of Pergamon, the major theologians of the Ecumenical Patriarchate .

Hilarion: "We must identify the problems of the world today, not those of the 70s"

Hilarion expressed in the preparatory meetings currently in session  at the Synaxis the full readiness  to participate for the  first time in the preparation of the Holy and Grand Council, which has been considered by Moscow with little attention in the past: "New realities, new problems have emerged and we must, for our flock  and the world, identify the problems  that approach  us today and not those which concerned the Orthodox Churches in the 70s and 80s of the last Century. "

Impact on the Primacy Issue between Orthodoxy and Catholicism?

Whether the new unity of Orthodoxy will have an impact on the willingness of Moscow to talk with the Catholic Church on primacy remains to be seen. Recently,  Moscow has been deaf on this topic therefore, and for thus it did not recognize the leading role of the Ecumenical Patriarch in this question.  However, there seems to e a relaxation in progress between Moscow and Constantinople. 

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Vatican Insider

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMGD

Relics of Saint Alexander Nevsky Stolen

[Novite] Relics of 13 saints including those of 13th century Russian national hero Knyaz Alexander Nevsky have been stolen from a church in St Petersburg a law enforcement source reported on Wednesday. An employee of St Catherine the Martyr Church on Vasilyevsky Island reported the theft to police on Tuesday RIA Novosti reported. On Monday night the perpetrators entered the church through a window on the first floor and went to the office of the rector where they stole relics of 13 saints including those of St Alexander Nevsky.

They also stole a communion cup of white metal with the image of saints and five baptismal crosses of yellow and white metal the source said The Russian police have opened a criminal case into the theft. The relics of St Alexander Nevsky the 13th century Russian knyaz who defended Eastern Orthodox Christianity against the Catholic Teutonic Knights were supposed to arrive in Bulgaria on Wednesday for veneration by believers at the cathedral in Varna.

On Tuesday however a day before the theft is reported publicly the Varna Bishopric of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church said the display of the St Alexander Nevsky relics had been put off for November.

Novite....

In Russia, Two Out of Three Trust Church

In Europe, only one out of three trusts their church.

Moscow (kath.net/KNA) 68 percent of the Russian people have shown in a recent questionnaire that they have trust in the Orthodox Church of their land. Only twelve percent have mistrust for the Church, as a public poll conducted by the religious information service >>Sreda<<.

A subscriber poll of the "Reader's Digest" (Stuttgart) of Europeans in 16 countrie shows that 38 percent distrust their churches, while 59 percent on the other hand have little or no confidence.

30 percent of Russians surveyed see a strong dependence of their church on the State, 25 percent see it as low. 30 percent of respondents want the official state religion to be Orthodoxy. The majority of 48 percent, however disagrees that church and state should remain separate.


53 percent appreciate the work of the Russian Orthodox Moscow Patriarch Kirill I very much; another 40 percent rate it as mediocre, however, the remaining 7 percent below average.

In contrast, Europe (16 European countries including Russia), the Churches and Ecclesial Communities and their representatives, enjoy in comparison to other institutions, below-average confidence. This came from the aforementioned consumer survey by "Reader's Digest" (Stuttgart) which appeared at the end of March 2011. 38 percent of the approximately 33,000 respondents trust the churches there, 59 percent have little or no confidence in them.

The trust shown for churches in Germany is about a third (34 percent), while in the previous year was 40 percent. Even more dramatic is the fall in their trust in the Switzerland where it fell from 43 percent to 34 percent. There was only a slight loss in the prestige churches in Austria - from 37 percent to 36 percent.

In this pan-European survey, Russia was also included at the time, because the investigation "Reader's Digest European Trusted Brands" (Reader's Digest trusted brands) since 2001, has been conducted annually in the following countries: Belgium, Germany, Croatia, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Hungary.

Photo: (c) the Church in Need

The Pope Receives Metropolitan Hilarion

The number two of the Moscow Patriarchate is at present in discussions at Castel Gandolfo.

Vatican City (kath.net/KAP) The Foreign Minister of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion, is being received in an audience with Pope Benedict XVI. in Castel Gandolfo.  It was the third meeting between the two since the "Foreign Minister' took his office in February of 2009.

On the day before Hilarion had talks with the Vatican President for the Office of Christian Unity, Cardinal Koch.  That meeting dealt with the theological dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox as well as around questions of practical collaboration between the Churches, according to the Vatican.

On Thursday Hilarion wanted to meet additionally with Cardinal Secretary Tarcisio Bertone and the Presidents of the Vatican Council of Culture, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi.

The relations between the Vatican and the Moscow Patriarchate have improved significantly since a frosty period in years past.  That has been significantly contributed to especially by visits and personal contacts with the Vatican Minister of Ecumenism, Cardinal Walter Kasper and -- since the Summer of 2010 -- his successor Kurt Koch.

A lowpoint had been reached in 2002, as the Vatican established Diocese in Russia.  The Orthodox accused Rome then of proselytism -- unfair missionary activity on Orthodox terrain.   Relations have improved substantially since then, especially with the election of the new Patriarch Kyrill in the beginning of 2009, relations have become much easier.

Hilarion came for an introductory visit at the beginning of 2009 in the Vatican.  On another visit in May 2010 was for a concert, which Patriarch Kyrill gave in Rome for the honor of the Pope, which was a work performed by Hilarion.

Hilarion, who led the Orthodox Community in Vienna after 2003, had a  musical education in addition to a theological one.

Two weeks ago, Metropolitan Hilarion declared in an interview in the Vatican the desire to undertake with greater effort, the open questions of serious disagreement between the two  Churches, in order to make a historical meeting between the Pope and the Moscow Patriarchate possible.  A substantial barrier to this meeting is correspondingly, the conflict between the Orthodox and the Greek-Catholic Church in the Ukraine.  "As soon as there is an understanding here, then preparations for such a meeting can begin,"  said Hilarion to the news agency Reuters.

Pope Benedict XVI himself praised the particular nearness of the Catholic to the Orthodox Churches in parts of his Germany trip.  Catholics and Orthodox had "both the same old-Church structure" and for that reason may "hope, that the day is not too late,  to celebrate a common Eucharist",  said the Pope at a meeting with representatives of the Orthodox and Ancient Oriental Churches in Germany in Freiburg.


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Turkish Schools Describe Christians as Traitors in High-School Textbook

According to a Report from the newspaper "Radikal" [Monday] Christians were described in a Turkish high-school textbook as traitors to the country.

Istanbul (kath.net/KNA)Representatives of the Syrian-Orthodox Christians in Turkey have criticized a portrayal of their faith communities in a state schoolbook. According to a report from the newspaper "Radikal" [Monday], the Christians were described as traitors to the country in a high-school textbook, as they were supposed to have left Turkey to the West "to become political and religious tools of those countries". Representatives of the Syrian-Orthodox Christians complained in the report, that the antagonism which exists against the Christian minority will be deepened still further.

In past decades many Syrian-Orthodox Christians have fled their homeland in south east Anatolia, because have been caught in a war between the Turkish state and the Kurdish PKK Rebels. Most of these emigrants settled in Germany and in Switzerland. In recent times some have returned to their old villages in the area of the ancient Monastery of Mor Gabriel in the Province of Mardin in south eastern Turkey.

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