Smartphone users warned to be careful of the Antichrist

From The BBC-

People's dependence on smartphones and modern technology could bring about the coming of the Antichrist, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church has warned.

Russian social media users largely responded with humour and scepticism, while some accused the Church of "serving the regime".

Speaking to Russian state TV, Patriarch Kirill said smartphone users should be careful when using the "worldwide web of gadgets" because it represented "an opportunity to gain global control over mankind".

"The Antichrist is the person who will be at the head of the worldwide web, controlling all of humankind," he said.

More here-

https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-46794556?SThisFB&fbclid=IwAR203WOXP9O6IMAnfgrv1gHNAL2oEk9Gf-xFNmNbn3KOdZc4Vl9lQT-vee0

Russian Orthodox Church cuts ties with Constantinople

From The Guardian-

The Russian Orthodox Church has announced it will break off relations with the Patriarchate of Constantinople in a religious schism driven by political friction between Russia and Ukraine.

The Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church elected on Monday to cut ties with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, which is viewed as the leading authority for the world’s 300 million Orthodox worshippers.

The split is a show of force by Russia after a Ukrainian church was granted independence.

Last week Bartholomew I of Constantinople, the “first among equals” of eastern Orthodox clerics, granted autocephaly (independence) to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which previously answered to Moscow.

More here-

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/15/russian-orthodox-church-cuts-ties-with-constantinople?CMP=share_btn_fb

and here-

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-church-russia/russian-orthodox-church-breaks-with-constantinople-in-row-over-ukraine-idUSKCN1MP24G

Archbishop Welby and Patriach Kirill agree to focus on shared interests

From The Church Times-

THE Archbishop of Canterbury and the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, signing an appeal in Moscow to world leaders, have called for effective measures to defeat terrorism and help Christians who are suffering persecution in the Middle East.

Archbishop Welby — who was making his first-ever visit to Russia — and Patriarch Kirill denounced what they called the mass killings of Christians in the Middle East and Africa, the desecration of holy sites, and the expulsion of millions of people from their homes.

“Our hearts are pained by the mass exodus of the Christian population from those places where the Good News began to be spread throughout the Christian world,” they said. The war had taken away tens of thousands of lives and left millions of people homeless. They called for “speedy help” from the international community to support Christian and other populations in the Middle East, and said that widescale humanitarian assistance was needed for the vast number of refugees, especially those in Europe and the United States.

More here-

https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2017/24-november/news/world/welby-and-patriach-kirill-agree-to-focus-on-shared-interests

Russian patriarch concerned about Anglican developments

From Catholic Culture-

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church met with the Archbishop of Canterbury in England on October 18 and expressed his concerns about developments within Anglicanism.

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow “drew Archbishop Justin Welby’s attention to the Russian Orthodox Church’s concern over the liberalization of the Church of England’s teaching on church order, particularly, the ordination of women as priests and bishops and on the family and morality,” according to the Moscow Patriarchate.

“His Holiness Kirill expressed hope that the Church of England will oppose [the] challenges of the modern world and seek to preserve the Gospel’s teaching,” the patriarchate added.

More here-

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=29690

Joint Declaration of Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill

From The Vatican-

Pope Francis and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia met in Havana, Cuba on Friday (12 Feb) to sign an historic joint declaration.

The official English translation of the full joint declaration is below:

Joint Declaration of Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the holy Spirit be with all of you” (2 Cor 13:13).

1. By God the Father’s will, from which all gifts come, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the help of the Holy Spirit Consolator, we, Pope Francis and Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, have met today in Havana. We give thanks to God, glorified in the Trinity, for this meeting, the first in history.

More here-

http://www.news.va/en/news/joint-declaration-of-pope-francis-and-patriarch-ki

Russian Orthodox Church Ends Ties With Protestants Over Gay Marriage

From Radio Free Europe-

The Russian Orthodox Church says it is severing ties with the main protestant churches of France and Scotland over the issue of same-sex unions.

The Moscow Patriarchate said on June 3 that "formal contacts" with the two institutions were pointless after France's United Protestant Church last month voted to allow pastors to bless same-sex marriages and the Church of Scotland approved ordaining clergy in same-sex civil unions.

"We regretfully acknowledge, that today we have a new divide in the Christian world, not only regarding theological subjects, but regarding moral issues as well," the patriarchate said in a statement.

More here-

http://www.rferl.org/content/russian-orthodox-church-cuts-ties-with-protestants-over-gay-marriage/27052909.html

Russian Church chagrined by Church of England vote allowing women to be bishops

From Interfax-

A senior Russian Orthodox bishop slammed Monday's vote at the Church of England General Synod that allowed women to become bishops.

"The Orthodox Church takes a negative stance on so-called female priesthood and female episcopacy. We see this process as representing the diversion of the Anglican Church and a whole range of Protestant denominations from the initial church order and as following modern liberal trends. We regret that such decisions have been made," Metroplitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Synodal Department for External Church Relations, told Interfax-Religion.

Moves like this do not bring various Christian communities closer to unity "that is still proclaimed at inter-Christian meetings as the aim of such meetings," he said. "The space for dialogue is narrowing down at the fault of our partners, and it is with great regret that we have to state this."

More here-

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=11397

Russian Orthodox tell Archbishop of Canterbury: ordain women bishops and you can forget about unity

From The Telegraph-

There's a quaint Anglican concept of the universal Church known as the "branch theory". This claims that there are three main branches to apostolic Christianity: Roman, Orthodox and Anglican. It's much favoured by Church of England clerics who aren't very keen on "Romans", as they call Catholics, and convey their anti-Papist sentiment in pro-Orthodox code, forever banging on about the riches of Byzantine spirituality, the mystical power of icons, etc. Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, is an example of this breed.

What these pro-Orthodox Anglicans don't stress is that ordaining women priests was just as great an obstacle to unity with Constantinople and Moscow and it was to unity with Rome. And women bishops? Metropolitan Hilarion, head of ecumenical relations for the Moscow Patriarchate, delivered a pretty blunt message to the new Archbishop of Canterbury last weekend (H/T Gillibrand):

The introduction of the institution of female bishops will lead to the elimination of even a theoretical possibility of the Moscow patriarchate recognising the church hierarchy of the Anglican church, the communications service of the Department of External Church Relations reported on Saturday.

More here-

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100209298/russian-orthodox-tell-archbishop-of-canterbury-ordain-women-bishops-and-you-can-forget-about-unity/

Russians threaten to end dialogue with Anglicans

From The Church Times-

THE Russian Orthodox Church has threatened to withdraw from dialogue with Anglicans because of the “liberalism and relativism” of some Anglican Churches, and the development of women bishops in the Church of England.

In a speech at Lambeth Palace on Thursday of last week, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk attacked the Anglican Church for what he described as “betraying our common witness by departing from traditional Christian values and replacing them by contemporary secular standards”. He urged the Archbishop of Canterbury to resist pressure from liberal Anglicans.

Metropolitan Hilarion, the chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s department for external church relations, was speaking at the Nikaean Club annual dinner. His prolonged attack on liberalism in the Anglican Church stunned Dr Williams, onlookers said.

In his speech, the text of which was released later by the department for external church relations, the Metropolitan said: “The abyss that exists today divides not so much the Orthodox from the Catholics or the Catholics from the Protestants as it does the ‘traditionalists’ from the ‘liberals’.

“Some Christian leaders, for example, tell us that marriage between a man and a woman is no longer the only way of building a Christian family: there are other models, and the Church should become appropriately ‘inclusive’ to recognise alternative behavioural standards and give them official blessing.

More here-

http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=100650

Orthodox extend hand to Duncan's new Anglican Church

From The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette-

The spiritual leader of the Orthodox Church in America offered to begin talks aimed at full communion with the new Anglican Church in North America, then named a series of obstacles whose removal could tear apart the hard-won unity among the 100,000 theological conservatives who broke from the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada.

"What will it take for a true ecumenical reconciliation? Because that is what I am seeking by being here today," Metropolitan Jonah said to a standing ovation from 900 people assembled in a tent on the grounds of St. Vincent Cathedral in Bedford, Texas.

He spoke of St. Tikhon, a 19th-century Russian Orthodox missionary to the United States who initiated a close relationship with the Episcopal Church that later cooled.

"We need to pick up where they left off," he said. "I occupy the throne St. Tikhon held as the leader of the Orthodox Church in America. Our arms are wide open."

The Anglican Church in North America hopes to be recognized as a new province of the 80 million-member global Anglican Communion, of which the 2.1 million-member Episcopal Church is the U.S. province. The new church believes the Episcopal Church failed to uphold biblical authority and classic doctrines about matters ranging from the divinity of Jesus to biblical morality, a criticism that the Orthodox share.

The Orthodox Church in America is a self-governing daughter of the Russian Orthodox Church. Metropolitan Jonah, who was elected last year in Pittsburgh, is a convert who was raised as an Episcopalian. He spoke with humor about both traditions, warning, "I'm afraid my talk will have something to offend just about everybody."

More here-

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09176/979788-84.stm

100 days of Patriarch Kirill

From the London telegraph. (The Orthodox always get the best hats!)

Patriarch Kirill was installed in office on February 1. His first 100 days have been marked by innovation not only in terms of style, but also in substance – much like the reign of Pope John Paul II.

“Today, the church and society are in fact one and the same thing,” a spokesman for Kirill said. “Our believers go to discotheques and rock concerts, and if there’s a chance to give some church tinge to such youth gatherings, if young people are glad to hear a few words from a priest, why shouldn’t he go there and say a few words?”

On March 8 in Moscow, Kirill showed the type of spirit that he is bringing to his pastoral task. He warned during a Sunday sermon not to trust radical Orthodox believers who are battling for the “purity of faith” and whose motto is “Orthodoxy or death!”

“When we meet a man who claims to be fighting for the purity of Orthodoxy, but his eyes are lit with the fire of anger… if we find someone who is ready to shake the foundation of church life to defend Orthodoxy… this is the first sign of that we have a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” he said.
On March 17, during a ceremony at the Danilovsky Monastery marking the return of the church bells that had spent the past 80 years in safekeeping at Harvard University, Kirill told John Beyrle, the US ambassador to Russia, that the bells were a symbol of the improving relationship between the two countries.

On April 1, Kirill met Putin and said his goal was to make the churches that were opened during the reign of Alexy II flourish. In this way, Kirill hopes to bring benefit to Russian society by promoting Christian values.

More here-

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/russianow/5388401/100-days-of-Patriarch-Kirill.html

Primates greet new Patriarch

Why is it the Orthodox get all the cool hats?

The Primates of the Anglican Communion have written to Cyril I (Kyrill) congratulating him upon his election as Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.

In a letter dated Feb 2 sent from the 2009 Primates’ Meeting in Alexandria, the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams conveyed the primates’ “warm and fraternal greetings to you, our brother in Christ, on your election to the Patriarchate of Moscow and All Russia. This is an ancient and noble office, and one to which all the Christian world looks for an exemplary Christian witness.”

The Churches of the Anglican Communion, Dr Williams said, had “always valued and respected their links to the Orthodox Churches, and not least their warm relations with the Patriarchate of Moscow, and we trust that these fraternal bonds may be upheld and sustained in the years ahead as you embark on your ministry.”

Pope Benedict XVI earlier welcomed Cyril’s election writing, “May the Almighty also bless your efforts to seek that fullness of communion which is the goal of Catholic-Orthodox collaboration and dialogue.”

Metropolitan Cyril of Smolensk and Kaliningrad was elected Patriarch in a secret ballot Jan. 27 at Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow. The son and grandson of priests, Cyril has led the church’s department for external relations since 1989. He received 508 of the 700 votes cast by delegates to the church’s Senior Council, defeating conservative rival, Metropolitan Clement of Kaluga and Borovsk, who received 169 votes. The third candidate nominated by bishops, Metropolitan Filaret of Minsk and Slutsk, withdrew before the vote and urged his supporters to back Metropolitan Cyril.

http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/news/?NewsID=3932

Russian leaders attend installation of Orthodox patriarch

I'm not even going to comment on the hat-

The Russian Orthodox Church enthroned the 16th patriarch, the first to be elected since the fall of the Soviet Union, in an elaborate ceremony on Sunday attended by hundreds of hierarchs and Russia's top political leaders.

The patriarch, Kirill I, was elected Tuesday by a council of bishops, other members of the clergy, monks and lay people of the Russian Orthodox Church to succeed Aleksy II, who had led the church out of the Soviet era and died in Moscow on Dec. 5.

In evidence of the changing relationship between church and state, President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin attended the service, standing prominently near the front of Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow, a church that was blown up on Stalin's orders in 1931 and lavishly rebuilt after the fall of the Soviet Union.

In a short address at the end of the service, Medvedev said that the enthronement of a new patriarch offered "new conditions for a full-fledged dialogue" between the church and the state.

He also said that Russia's diversity placed extra responsibility on the patriarch. "Russia is a complicated state, inhabited by many different peoples, by followers of different faiths, and in this sense also the mission of the patriarch of Moscow and All Russia is extremely notable," he said, without elaborating.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/02/europe/02patriarch.php

His Holiness Alexy II Dies

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church died yesterday. It may be worth converting to Orthodoxy just for the nifty hats.

His Holiness Alexy II, who died in Moscow on December 5 aged 79, was Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church during an era of profound change.

He became Patriarch in 1990, a year after the Berlin Wall had come down and at a time when the Communist bloc was on the verge of collapse. The Soviet Union had been officially atheist, but under the new Patriarch Russia was to see a remarkable revival of faith and a restoration of the Church's moral authority.

Alexy inherited a Church which, under successive Communist dictators, had seen its places of worship vandalised or neglected to the point of ruin; now many were restored to their former glory, and worshippers flocked to them to attend sumptuous masses, some of which were broadcast on television.

Perhaps the most famous of these churches was the cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, erected in the 19th century in gratitude for the deliverance of the city from Napoleon's armies. It had been destroyed under Stalin to be replaced by an open-air swimming pool, but was now rebuilt, reopening in 1997.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/3567608/His-Holiness-Alexy-II.html

Russian Orthodox church stolen — brick by brick

From the "You Can't Make This Stuff Up" Department.

MOSCOW – Wanted: One missing Russian church. Last seen in July. Reward for its return.

Orthodox officials in a central Russian region say an abandoned church building that was to be put back into use has been stolen by local villagers.

Orthodox priest Vitaly of the Ivanovo-Voskresenskaya diocese says officials last saw the two-story Church of Resurrection intact in late July. Sometime in early October, however, people from the nearby village of Komarovo, northeast of Moscow, dismantled the building, he said.

Villagers apparently sold it to a local businessman, one ruble (about 4 cents) per brick, Vitaly said. Orthodox priests use only one name.

"Of course, this is blasphemy," he told The Associated Press. "These people have to realize they committed a grave sin."

Vitaly said police were investigating the theft.

The 200-year-old building, which no longer had its icons and other religious valuables, was a school for disabled children during the Soviet era before it was closed down in 1998 and turned over to the church.

Vitaly said the diocese was thinking of reopening it for services.
The Orthodox church has experienced a major resurgence in Russia and has restored or built thousands of churches.

In poorer, rural regions, vandals or petty thieves regularly steal gilded icons or donations from churches and sell them for alcohol or drugs.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081113/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_stolen_church_1;_ylt=AnRUJtorS4Ym9oiksiZCLIJbbBAF

Moscow in warning to Anglican Communion

Now we got the Russians mad at us ! But you gotta love the hat.

"In a report printed last week, Moscow said that its representative told Dr Williams of its distress over the July decision by General Synod not to provide legal safeguards for traditionalists opposed to the consecration of women bishops. The consecration of women bishops would be an “additional obstacle” to Orthodox-Anglican dialogue, Bishop Hilarion (Pictured) told Dr Williams, adding that such a move would exclude “even the theoretical possibility of the Orthodox churches acknowledging the apostolic succession” of Anglican bishops."

http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/news/?NewsID=2562

Now the Russians are mad at us over women's ordination

(Sigh)

The Russian Orthodox Church has released a statement denouncing the Church of England, calling the July 7 vote by General Synod not to create legal safeguards for opponents of women bishops an abandonment of the true faith.

http://www.religiousintelligence.com/news/?NewsID=2412