Tag: Christianity

Pope Francis has named Bishop Luis Manuel Alí Herrera to be secretary of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and Teresa Kettelkamp to serve as adjunct secretary.

Bishop Alí, 56, has been secretary general of the bishops’ conference of Colombia since 2021, and he is the longest serving member of the commission. Kettelkamp, 72, served as executive director of the U.S. bishops’ Office of Child and Youth Protection from 2005 to 2011 and has been a member of the papal commission since 2018.

Bishop Alí replaces Oblate Father Andrew Small who had been appointed secretary “pro tempore” in 2021 after serving as national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States since 2011.

The announcement, published by the Vatican March 15, “marks a further important step in making our church an ever-safer place for children and vulnerable persons,” said Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley of Boston, commission president.

“Coming from different backgrounds and possessing unique gifts in safeguarding, Bishop Alí and Teresa share a common passion for the well-being of children and vulnerable people, with lifetimes of service to the church in this important area. They bring both stability to the commission’s agenda and a high degree of professionalism to their new roles,” the cardinal said in a written statement released the same day.

“A huge debt of thanks is owed to Father Andrew Small, OMI, our outgoing secretary, who was appointed in 2021 to help the commission realign itself as it became part of the Roman Curia with a new and challenging mandate,” the cardinal wrote.

“With vision and tenacity, Father Small has helped realize several important initiatives,” he wrote, including hiring additional staff and establishing new offices so the commission has been able to “expand its welcome and outreach to victims and survivors, their families and communities as well as church leadership which has greatly impacted access to information about safeguarding at a local level.”

Cardinal O’Malley praised Father Small’s “energy and ingenuity,” which he also brought to the work of the commission, “particularly through the establishment of the Memorare initiative which provides capacity building in safeguarding to poorer parts of the church. … Many people will benefit from his efforts for years to come and for which we are grateful.”

Born in Barranquilla, Colombia, in 1967, Auxiliary Bishop Alí of Bogotá is a psychologist and served as director of the Psychological Orientation Area at the Conciliar Seminary of the Archdiocese of Bogotá from 2007 to 2015. He also taught psychology of human development, social psychology and pastoral psychology there.

He is a senior associate of the Colombian School of Psychologists.

Kettelkamp is an expert in policies and guidelines for the protection of minors and vulnerable adults. She spent 29 years with Illinois State Police, reaching the rank of colonel. She headed the police’s division of forensic services — crime labs and crime scene services — and headed its division of internal investigation, “which was responsible for the investigation of allegations of misconduct within the ISP, as well as in the agencies, boards and commissions under the executive branch of Illinois state government,” according to the papal commission website.

When she retired from law enforcement, she worked for the Gavin Group, Inc. to conduct the first annual compliance audits of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People in the United States.

After serving as executive director of the USCCB’s Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection, she did consulting work and then moved to Rome in 2016 to work for the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, focusing on universal guidelines.

Since she was appointed a member of the commission in 2018, she has worked on the healing of survivors as well as integrating their voices into the ministry of the church.

Kiev, March 15, 2024

Photo: spzh.media     

Security Service raids offices of Orthodox journalists and lawyersOne of the four men detained is the rector of a church in the capital.

“>OrthoChristian reported on Wednesday that Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) agents raided the offices of representatives of the Union of Orthodox Journalists (UOJ) and the Legal Defense Center of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Yesterday, the Union of Orthodox Journalists reported, with reference to the Prosecutor General that more than 20 searches were conducted in four provinces, also involving journalists from the First Cossack outlet and the public union Laity.

The Prosecutor General’s office wrote that the SBU neutralized the “media bloc of the UOC,” allegedly created to destabilized Ukraine. The UOJ notes that the Prosecutor General’s message says nothing about the alleged association with the Russian Security Service (FSB), as was claimed in the earlier SBU statement.

The UOJ published an open appeal to international human rights organizations to respond as they are able to the “detention and persecution” of the journalists, lawyers, and human rights defenders. Five people are currently being held in a pre-trial detention center.

“We are being judged for the published facts of crimes against the UOC, their analysis and value judgments on this matter,” writes the UOJ, while Laity and the Center for Legal Defense are being persecuted for fighting to uphold human rights.

The UOJ also writes that it is no coincidence that the arrests were made just before the parliamentary vote a on a bill to ban the Ukrainian Orthodox Church: “We believe that the arrests … were undertaken to conceal and successfully push through the criminal decision that the Ukrainian authorities are preparing in relation to the Church.”

The head of the human rights organization Public Advocacy informed the UN Human Rights Council about the investigation into the journalists on Wednesday.

Lawyer Robert Amsterdam, who is representing the Ukrainian Orthodox Church for free, also tied the arrests to the state plans to ban the Church. “They have been choreographed by the SBU to stir up fear and animosity and further divide a country at war, and must be condemned by international press freedom organizations,” he added.

His Eminence Metropolitan Theodosy of Cherkasy, who is Another Ukrainian hierarch hospitalized under pressure of state persecutionThe canonical hierarch spent eight months last year in round-the-clock house arrest, and is still under nighttime house arrest.

“>also persecuted by the state, called on the faithful to pray for the Orthodox journalists, especially those who are now being held in a detention center.

His Eminence Metropolitan Luke of Zaporozhye, Criminal proceedings opened against Metropolitan Luke of ZaporozhyeThe fiery and outspoken hierarch of Zaporozhye is the latest target in the state persecution of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

“>another target of the state, also commented on the arrests, saying: “He who fears the Truth and fights against it is an accomplice of the devil.”

The UOC’s Diocese of Chernivtsi and Bukovina also issued a call to prayer.

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“If other ages felt less, they saw more, even though they saw with the blind, prophetical, unsentimental eye of acceptance, which is to say, of faith. In the absence of this faith now, we govern by tenderness. It is a tenderness which, long cut off from the person of Christ, is wrapped in theory. When tenderness is detached from the source of tenderness, its logical outcome is terror. It ends in forced-labor camps and in the fumes of the gas chamber.”

— Catholic novelist and short story writer Flannery O’Connor

Way back in the 1950s and ’60s, Flannery O’Connor foresaw the doleful effects of contemporary identity politics.

“On the subject of this feminist business,” she once wrote to a friend, “I just never … think of qualities which are specifically feminine or masculine. I suppose I [divide] people into two classes: the Irksome and the Non-Irksome without regard to sex.”

That’s shorthand for saying I judge people — I like people — according to their character, not their labels.

O’Connor was born, raised, and lived most of her adult life in rural Georgia. She also attended the Iowa Writers Workshop, lived in New York City for a time, and liked to read a few paragraphs of Aquinas’ “Summa Theologica” before going to bed.

Struck down with lupus in her 20s, she returned to Milledgeville to live out the rest of her life — she died at 39 — with her mother, Regina, a widow who capably ran a dairy farm.

Contemporary academics, perhaps a touch too gleefully, have “exposed” O’Connor’s racism: she famously turned down an opportunity, for example, to join Regina in hosting James Baldwin at their home.

In mid-century rural Georgia, a social code had been worked out by which to her mind both blacks and whites could operate while retaining their privacy and dignity. That’s not to say the code was ideal, or right.

But she would not try to make herself look virtuous or tolerant by participating in an insincere charade.

She would not throw Regina — who supported and loved her — under the bus. “In New York, it would be nice to meet [Baldwin]; here it would not,” she wrote to a friend. “I observe the traditions of the society I feed on — it’s only fair.”

In fact, she was “an integrationist on principle and a segregationist by taste”: “About the Negroes, the kind I don’t like is the philosophizing prophesying pontificating kind” (among whom she counted Baldwin, while also applauding some of his work).

Change should and would come. But to divide humankind into victims and oppressors with the oppressors all bad and the victims all good, O’Connor well knew, is a lie at least as dangerous as the lie undergirding racial prejudice.

Some of her favorite protagonists are nihilistic college grads who try to shame their elders into socio-political enlightenment, with deliciously tragicomic results.

They seldom have jobs, these young intellectuals. They’re disabled (Hulga in “Good Country People” has a wooden leg), or neurasthenic (Asbury in “The Enduring Chill”), or suffer from a heart condition (Wesley in “Greenleaf”).

Though adults, they’re supported by their hard-working, hopelessly backward mothers. Julian in “Everything That Rises Must Converge” almost dies of embarrassment when his mother — condescendingly to his mind, kindly to hers — offers a penny to a young black boy. In “Revelation,” a sullen girl reading a book called “Human Development” hurls it at Mrs. Turpin’s head, whispering “Go back to hell where you came from, you old warthog.”

We must be “nice,” such clear-eyed activists insist. We must not offend. We must enlarge our horizons. No one must feel “unwelcome.” We must exercise compassion — though not, of course, toward the unenlightened.

Based on the criteria of this godless, self-appointed moral elite, the unenlightened must instead be forced to be “good.”

As O’Connor recognized, without faith such “compassion” eventually requires us to ignore what is right in front of our faces, to spout absurd untruths, to contort every event to fit a templated narrative, and to be stripped of our right to like who we like based on Irksome vs. Non-Irksome or whatever criterion we darn well please.

Such “tenderness” would destroy a child in the womb rather than let him or her be born into poverty. Such tenderness eventually invites the addicted, the elderly, and the diminished to kill themselves. “Let us think for them!” exclaim the tender. “Surely they wouldn’t want to be a burden.”

O’Connor was a daily Mass-goer and, by all accounts, a lifelong celibate.

“I went to St. Mary’s as it was right around the corner,” she wrote of her neighborhood church, “and I could get there practically every morning. I went there three years and never knew a soul in that congregation or any of the priests, but it was not necessary. As soon as I went in the door I was at home.”

That probably describes the situation for many of us at our “neighborhood” church. The Church doesn’t much welcome anyone, in the way of the social-club welcome demanded by today’s aggrieved. It welcomes us as members of the soul-sick, as those ravenous with hunger and need of the Eucharist.

Lent is a good time to remember that Judas, keeper of the purse, was the über virtue-signaler, primly suggesting giving money to the poor rather than wasting it on nard to anoint Jesus. Then he sold his friend for 40 pieces of silver.

Or as O’Connor once observed: “The operation of the Church is entirely set up for the sinner, which creates much misunderstanding among the smug.”

St. Louise de Marillac was born on August 15, 1591, near Meux, France. She received her education at the Dominican convent at Poissy, Although she discerned a calling to religious life, after discussing it with her spiritual confessor, she decided to marry Antony LeGras instead, in 1613.

After Antony’s death in 1625, Louise began to think again of entering religious life. She met St. Vincent de Paul, and he became her spiritual director. Through his guidance, she formed a group of women dedicated to serving the sick, poor, and neglected.

In 1642, Louise wrote the formal Rule for the Daughters of Charity, and they received approval from the Vatican the following year. She then began traveling around France, forming convents and instituting Daughters as workers in hospitals, orphanages, and anywhere else they could help the poor and neglected.

St. Louise died in 1660 in Paris. She was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1934, and was named the patron saint of social workers in 1960.

    

—Vladyka, bless. My first question is: It is sometimes difficult for believers to find a confessor, many do not have one. How would you advise such people?

—Go to confession to any priest who is available and make a good confession. There are many books about how to confess that can be found and read. It is very important to prepare for confession: to pray, to explore your life since the last confession. How have you spent your time with respect to your neighbor, yourself, and your God. Were my actions pleasing to God or not? Thus, a person notes everything that needs confession, every spiritual wound to the heart. He writes down everything he wants to say so as not to forget anything but instead to confess everything. That soul will receive God’s grace when the prayer of absolution is read over him. So, the first thing one needs to focus on is confessing as well as you can. Then, he needs to find a priest who is available. It is important to want to change and pray that God will enlighten the priest to whom you go, and give him the right word for you. Sometimes the priest will say very little other than, “be patient and pray.” Receive that word with gratitude, remembering what is most important—that by participating in the mystery of confession, you receive the grace of God, and your sins are forgiven. This alone should encourage you not to stop on the path to salvation and move forward.

Of course, it’s a great blessing if a person has a good confessor. But even if someone cannot find that confessor, it is possible for Christians to lead a very serious spiritual life in Christ, a blessed life in which you change from the worse to the better, a life through which you will feel a taste of Heaven.

    

—If a person still has a confessor, how should this spiritual relationship be built so that it is correct and pleasing to God?

—It seems to me that any confessor needs to look at the person coming to him from a specific perspective. It is to see a person not only as he is at the moment, but also as he can become by the grace of God when he overcomes his passions. A person changes if he follows the commandments of God, if he lives the life of the Church. You need to look at a person from this perspective. How does God look at a person? As being in His image. God wants us to reveal His image in ourselves. And this is our starting point. The confessor sees what a person can become, and his main task is to support him, to encourage him to live a churchly life. Such a life includes regular participation in the sacrament of Confession, in Communion with the blessing of the priest, in the struggle against the passions, in the pursuit of humility. And when all this is present in a person’s life, such spiritual relationships eventually transform his life and become a blessing for him.

—Vladyka, at the University of Thessaloniki you studied patristics and psychology, and defended your doctoral thesis. What is the main cause of Psychogenic Depression: The Orthodox ViewIt turns out that the main origin of neurosis is not stress and troubles, but a person’s personality. And this personality is internally upset. Sin, as the root of any evil, brings neurotic disorders with itself.

“>depression in modern people? How can they get rid of this condition?

—A depressed person views his life as black. Everything around him is dark. His future seems to him dark and hopeless. Such a person also sees himself in a dark light, he does not see anything good inside himself. But for Christians, if they are real Christians, there is a different perspective of looking at themselves and the world. Of course, there are passions within Christians that they are trying to overcome, but they also see the virtues that need to be developed and the prospect of their development.

When a Christian looks around him, he sees his brothers and sisters, each one of them as an image of God. He goes to church and kisses the holy icons there. And he understands that he is not alone in this world, that there is a “cloud of witnesses” around him (Hebrews 12: 1), a truly great multitude of holy witnesses. When a Christian looks forward to his future, he sees the possibility that he will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, that he will abide forever with Christ, with the King of all, with the Most Holy Theotokos, the Heavenly Queen and with all the saints. And thus, it is already very difficult to stay depressed.

    

I think that it is very good for Orthodox Christians to always remember the examples of the holy martyrs who held on to the holy Orthodox faith to the very end and thus received their crowns. These holy martyrs became triumphant in their struggle for Christ, and they were joyful at the moment of their martyrdom, which we read about in their lives. They knew that they would be tortured, that they would have to endure much physical pain. People around them hated them, mocked them, and they endured it all. In the end, after all sorts of torments, everything ended in physical death. If you look at the feat of the martyrs from a worldly point of view, they should have been the most depressed people in the world. But what do we see? They remained joyful. And all because they turned their eyes to Christ and felt that He was with them in all His power.

It seems to me that the solution to the problem of depression would be to change the way a person looks at the world, a kind of μετάνοια (Greek: change of mind.—A. K.). It is necessary to change this view from secular, mundane, spiritless to a sacred spiritual perspective and start looking at the world with the eyes of faith. Of course, there are clinical cases of depression, when the cause of the illness is a chemical imbalance in the human brain. But, of course, even this state is very much influenced by the way a person looks at the world. Does he look at the perspective of the Gospel and the holy fathers? Or is it a godless view, as if there were no God? In the latter case, we must admit that this is the outlook of a fool: The fool says in his heart: there is no God (Ps. 13:1).

There are many people who look like believers. They go to church, venerate the icons, are baptized, but, unfortunately, these are people of little faith, whom the Lord in the Gospel calls, ye of little faith (Mt. 6:30). What does a believer of little faith need? We need to pray: “Lord, send me more faith, such a strong faith as that of the saints.” And if we have faith like the saints, if we have the same love for Christ as the saints, then we will have the same joy as the saints. Then we will understand what the holy Apostle Paul meant when he said, Always rejoice (1 Thess. 5: 16). And that’s really what we Christians need.

—Is it possible for a modern person to acquire faith as strong as the saints had?

—To gather such faith, prayer is necessary and important: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” We need prayer before going to bed; prayer when we wake up; prayer throughout the day. Love for Christ is important. We need to look for opportunities to please Him. In every situation, we have a choice whether to act according to the passions or to do what is pleasing to God. We should always ask ourselves: “How can I react to this or that situation in a way that will be most pleasing to my beloved Lord Jesus Christ?” You have to act based on this. And then, Christ will send us a little of His grace every time. If we gradually acquire God’s grace in our hearts, it will help the grain of faith in our hearts to grow. And a beautiful fragrant flower may appear from this watered seed.

    

Each of us has a living heart that beats, loves and hurts. And we need to try to love Christ more, to grow in love for Him, to love the Mother of God more, to try to be more obedient to the commandments of Christ. Some describe this increase as a ladder, some as climbing a mountain. But the essence does not change, it involves spiritual growth. And it shouldn’t be abrupt, with lunges, no. It should be done softly, gradually, step by step. Remember, as the Savior said: And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward (Matt. 10: 42). The small steps that Christians take because they are Christians and want to show God that they love Him will all together grow. And eventually a person will become a saint. Again, I would like to emphasize that this is a matter of faith. We have examples of saints, including modern ones, who show with their lives that holiness can be achieved.

—Vladyka, please tell me, have you met people yourself who could be called saints? Could you tell us about your experience with them?

—Yes. I think I’ll name a few who are known to everyone. For example, I met the Venerable Elder Ephraim of Katounaki. I once climbed into his cell in the Katounaki, which was in a hard-to-reach place. But then I was young and was able to do it. He was already old and blind; he couldn’t see anything. He was surrounded by his disciples. He gave me his blessing. And I, an inexperienced young novice, felt at that moment that I was in the presence of a spiritual giant of impressive strength. He resembled a prophet from the Old Testament, like the prophet Moses. This is a sanctity that can be felt like a thunderbolt.

I also met About a Miracle of St. PaisiosThen one day I had a dream. I saw Elder Paisios coming towards my bed, and he took me by the hand and carried me somewhere.

“>St. Paisios of the Holy Mountain. What can I remember about him? His extreme kindness, simplicity and great humility. At that time, I was just a novice; let’s put it bluntly—nothing and nobody. But this holy man came up to me and asked for my blessing (probably seeing that the novice would become Bishop Alexey one day.—A. K.). He showed great humility towards me. I also met the Venerable “Everything I Am and Will Be is Because of Him”He’s not canonized but we all believe that he’s a saint; and saints like him are very rare—they’re very, very unique.”>Elder Aimilianos from the monastery of Simonospetras. This meeting was probably one of the most important in my life. I came to Simonospetras together with a brother from my monastery who was a hieromonk. The Elder spoke with the hieromonk, but didn’t have time to speak with me, a novice. This was only right from the elder’s perspective. But before coming to Mount Athos, I had read about this elder and really desired to speak with him. I admit, I was a little upset that he did not have time for me, but had time to speak with my companion. I went to the cave of St. Simon and made prostrations. And at some point, one of the monks came up to me with the words: “The elder now says he will receive you.” I immediately went to him.

Schema Archimandrite Emilian (Vafidis)   

As I mentioned, this meeting was one of the most important in my life. The elder told me much about what would happen to me later. He gave me some advice on how to keep the fire of faith in my heart, the joy of Christ. But together with his words, I was impressed by the fact of his presence next to me, his sweet and peaceful smile that remained on his face.

And it is also necessary, perhaps, to talk about the abbot of the Karakallou monastery, where I became a brother and received the great angelic schema from Archimandrite Philotheos. He was a disciple of Father of a Huge FamilyThe prayer is not transmitted by precepts—not in the letter, but in the spirit. You live with an elder and you draw from his spirit.

“>Elder Ephraim of Philotheou. His special kindness and love deeply touched my soul. I remember once when he prayed. I was next to him then and felt like the sun was shining next to me with real warmth.
All these people were united by sincere love for everything and everyone, in simplicity with fervent faith in God.

—You served in the women’s monastery of St. Demetrius in Nea Kerdyllia. Do you think there is a difference between men and women’s monasticism? Why are there so few women among the saints glorified by the Church?

—Of course, the essence of monastic life is the same for everyone in any monastery. Men, by the way, often note that women are more successful in arranging their monasteries. Nuns are the best cooks, the best gardeners, they decorate the monastery usually more beautifully than the monks. The main difference, in my opinion, is the greater refinement of the female soul, which is visible through these external manifestations.

The image of monastic life is the same for everyone, and the achievement of holiness happens differently for everyone. The nuns try to humbly please God, to do the will of God in their lives, while the monks strive to become spiritual athletes, exhausting themselves with fasting and a number of prostrations. I also think that the monks are trying to somehow acquire in the heart a drop of the tenderness that the Mother of God has, because by nature men have less of it. And the nuns see the feat of the martyrs and try to gain more masculinity and perseverance as a virtue. These are the differences, in my opinion. But the goal of all monastics is the same—to live in Christ. This is common and most important.

    

As for the saints, we have the Most Important Saint—the Most Holy Theotokos. St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain said that She is the second in the Kingdom of Heaven to the Holy Trinity. Remember how we have a service for all saints after Pentecost, when we honor saints, known and unknown? To be honest, I’m not sure there are more men in the Kingdom of Heaven than women. The only thing I think is that the appearance of a holy man is more noticeable on earth than a holy woman. This is probably the reason why there are more men among the saints.

—You have translated the books about St. Paisios of the Holy Mountain from Greek into English. Please tell me about it.

—I translated two books about him in obedience to my abbot. The first was written by Hieromonk Isaac, it was the biography of Elder Paisius (according to which later a Russian team made a multi-series film about the saint.—A. K.).
The second book was called, The Guru, the young man, and Elder Paisios. It was about a young man who visited Elder Paisios. But, still searching for the truth, he went to India and visited ashrams there. The translation of this book was requested from Australia, where there were many young people who also visited India, looking for the truth in Hinduism. And so I translated it first. In particular, there are beautiful teachings about Elder Paisios, his holiness and simplicity. I confess that it was not easy for me to work on this book, but I know that in the end it was useful for many people.

—Tell us about your ministry in Alaska. What difficulties and joys do you have?
—Alaska is such a wonderful place where beautiful people live! I never thought I would become a bishop in this state. But here I see the Providence of God. You know, there’s even something in common between Greece, where I served for a long time, and Alaska. There are many Orthodox villages here. And it is a great joy for me that many locals identify themselves as Orthodox. They are not Russians, but many of them had Russian ancestors, maybe great-great-grandfathers, great-great-grandmothers. And this is quite common. Thanks largely to the marriages of Russians with indigenous people, Alaska at one time became Orthodox. To this day, you can see many echoes of Russian culture here. It is a great joy for me to visit local Orthodox parishes.

Photo: kucb.org     

But there are, of course, difficulties. When Russia sold Alaska to America in the nineteenth century, the American government began to exert great pressure on the Orthodox. Protestants, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians and representatives of other denominations were sent here. People in the government had the idea of completely wiping out every trace of Russian Orthodoxy in Alaska. They closed Russian parish schools all over Alaska because they spoke Russian. Moreover, they tried to suppress the Indian languages spoken here; that is, they tried to destroy the local culture, so that they would adopt American culture.

We have very few priests now. Under my direct supervision there are eighty parishes and a total of twenty priests for all these parishes. A century after those harsh events, the existence of the Orthodox Church in Alaska is a miracle of God. After all, it could have been completely destroyed through American missionaries of other denominations who came here with the Bible in their hands.
Recently we celebrated the Nativity of Christ, and my parishioners sang, “Thy Nativity O Christ our God” (he sings in Church Slavonic). My heart rejoices when I hear them. I was in one parish in a place called Atka, and the Atka faithful sang for me the Christmas troparion in Church Slavonic. They are very proud to have known St. Yakov, since the Orthodox Church functioned there in the nineteenth century. They haven’t had a permanent priest since then. And when we served there, the whole village came to confession, and then to the Liturgy, to Communion. To be honest, I see modern little miracles happening to my dear Alaskan flock.

Photo: kucb.org   

Of course, being here is God’s blessing for me. Yes, it’s very difficult, but it’s truly a blessing. And any priest from Russia who gets to these places will be able to serve the Liturgy here without hindrance. We will be very happy. The priests of our diocese look towards Russia with great love.
In general, people in Alaska still have a warm love for Russian priests, because when Russian Orthodox Christians came here, back in the eighteenth century, they did not destroy anything, but on the contrary, supported the local native population. And what did they do? They added to the local culture faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and the beauty of the Orthodox faith. When Americans came here, they tried to destroy both the faith and culture of indigenous nationalities, wanting to make them regular Americans. It’s wonderful here, of course, and I’m very happy and grateful to God for being and serving in Alaska.

—Vladyka, you visited Russia. Please share your impressions of our country.

—Oh, it was a great joy for me to visit Russia and Moscow! I was very touched by the wonderful beauty of Russian churches, beautiful divine services, the deep piety of Russian people, and their warm hospitality! I pray that the Lord will allow me to visit your country again.

—What could you say in parting to Russian believers?

—I’d probably just remind them of what they already know. Orthodox believers are of the true faith, and there is no other. I am the way and the truth and the life” (Jn. 14:6). Holy Orthodoxy is the treasure of all treasures. Therefore, people need to adhere to the holy Orthodox Church, they need to regularly participate in the Church’s Sacraments, they need to read the Lives of the Saints, to have the Jesus prayer both on their lips and in their hearts. Try to restore everything that was holy and sacred in Holy Russia, observe the Church fasts and feasts. And then the Russian faithful will make Russia radiant. And it will become what it should be—a light for the rest of the world, glorifying God. Amen.

Note from the author concerning the word “agape” (ἀγάπη) of Greek origin used in the title. One of its meanings is unconditional love. It is often found in the New Testament to indicate love for God and neighbor.

People’s gaze often turns to Africa when conflicts erupt, portraying them as ethnic or religious strife.

However, beneath the surface, a more insidious connection exists—one that intertwines mining and war, according to Johan Viljoen, Director of the Denis Hurley Peace Institute of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC).

“The nexus between mining and conflict in Africa is quite clear although in the rest of the world it seems to be a bit opaque because whenever these wars break out, the media and the rest of the world always report them as being of ethnic or religious nature,” Viljoen told Crux.

He said increasing evidence in several conflict-affected parts of Africa point to a clear link between mineral resources and conflict, with examples from Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique coming readily to mind.

In Nigeria, Viljoen said Boko Haram attacks have depopulated whole communities in Nigeria’s North East, and very conveniently, Chinese mining firms have stepped into the picture.

“There is evidence that in many of the places in the North East, in Borno State, there are blue diamonds and many of the places where entire communities have fled because of Boko Haram attacks; they are now mining diamonds there,” he told Crux.

He also cited the example of Niger state in Nigeria where conflict has driven out communities and their land is now occupied by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote.

“The second example in Nigeria is Benue State. This state was known as the breadbasket of Nigeria, it’s the most fertile area of the country with one of the largest rivers-the Benue River flowing through it. And for a number of years after 2017; there were communities along this River under relentless attacks. Those entire communities fled, and the land has now been given to Dangute to build a sugar refinery and sugar plantation,” Viljoen said.

In Mozambique, conflict in the Cabo Del Gado region, usually framed as ISIS fighting to create a caliphate in the country’s north, also happens to be where French company Total has been working.

“If you go to Cabo del Gado where the war is raging, the people who are there – the IDPs themselves – will tell you that this has nothing to do with religion. Catholics and Muslims have been living there for centuries,” Viljoen told Crux.

“In fact, in some families, one parent and some of the children are Christians and the other and some of the children are Muslims and there has always been harmony, and now suddenly war breaks out, and conveniently after two years, oil was discovered and just after, Total started to put its installations in Cabo Del Gado,” he said.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the country’s mineral-rich eastern regions have been unsettled for decades. Viljoen recalled that in 2019, Catholic bishops in the DRC issued a statement undercutting the prevailing narrative that it was a tribal war, but rather “a deliberate attempt to exterminate the population in the areas where mining is being conducted so that those lands can be given to multinational corporations.”

On a visit to the DRC last year, Pope Francis made a passionate plea against the exploitation of the continent’s mineral wealth with little benefitting the African populations.

“Hands off Africa! Stop choking Africa: it is not a mine to be stripped or a terrain to be plundered,” the pope said.

Viljoen said one doesn’t need to go far to know who is at the root of Africa’s conflict.

“So if you look at any conflict in Africa, the first question you have to ask yourself is, ‘who is profiting?’ Once you have identified who profits from that conflict, you will know what the source of it is,” he said.

The issue is so serious that the Symposium of the Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) had to convene a seminar on the theme of mineral exploitation and conflict in Africa from March 8-10 in Accra, Ghana.

The seminar brought together approximately forty participants, including bishops, priests and lay Catholics.

Addressing participants, SECAM President and Bishop of Kinshasa, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo noted that it was paradoxical that significant foreign investments in oil, gas, mining, and natural resources fail to adequately benefit the local populations of the continent.

He called on Africa “to adopt a pastoral approach to integral ecology and ecological conversion informed by its social doctrine, particularly in relation to extractive industries.

A statement by the General Secretary of SECAM, Father Rafael Simbine Junior, said several proposals were made to change the picture, amongst which was “a call for enhanced education on integral ecology, as well as increased involvement of legal and media professionals in monitoring natural resource exploitation and advocacy efforts.”

“The overarching objective is to ensure that Africa’s abundant resources contribute to economic development, benefit the majority of its populace, foster peace, and alleviate poverty,” the statement said.

The Diocese of Buffalo in New York has announced the sale of its headquarters in downtown Buffalo nearly four years after it declared bankruptcy amid hundreds of sexual abuse lawsuits filed against it.

The diocese announced in Western New York Catholic this week that “​​the Catholic Center, the diocesan central office building since 1986, has been listed for sale” for $9.8 million.

In 2020, the diocese formally filed for Chapter 11 reorganization under the U.S. bankruptcy code. At the time the diocese said it was acting to provide the most compensation for victims of clergy sex abuse while continuing the day-to-day work of its Catholic mission.

Diocesan officials announced in October of last year that the diocese would be putting forth $100 million to settle the numerous abuse claims lodged against it.

Some of those funds would come from the sale of the Buffalo headquarters as well as the former Christ the King Seminary campus in East Aurora about 20 miles outside of the city.

The diocese said it purchased its headquarters building in 1985; before that, it had been home to the local Courier-Express, which had gone out of business in 1982.

The building was constructed in 1930 in the then-popular art deco style, the diocese said.

“Following the purchase in 1985, renovations began to house all diocesan offices serving the faithful of the eight counties of Western New York in one location,” the announcement said. Staff from 20 departments as well as staff from the nearby chancery moved into the new location about a year later; the building was dedicated in September 1986.

The sale “includes the 95,000-square-foot building,” an additional two-story building, and “an adjacent garage structure,” along with three parking lots.

An official with the Buffalo Diocese told CNA on Thursday morning that the diocese staff remain in the building for the time being.

Count Yuri Alexandrovich Olsufiev On March 14 and 15, the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra prayerfully commemorates the servant of God George (Yuri), who was martyred in 1938, and his wife Sophia, whose life was cut short five years later in a Soviet labor camp. Their whole life was a true spiritual labor of salvaging the holy shrines of the Lavra, of sacrificial love for others, of confession of the faith, and finally, martyrdom. The Olsufievs and a group of like-minded people literally saved the vast majority of the priceless treasures and the most important buildings of the Lavra from destruction, and today we pay tribute to them with gratitude.

Count Yuri (George in Holy Baptism) Alexandrovich Olsufiev was a Russian art historian, restorer and museum worker; he was also a spiritual son of the Venerable Elder St. Anatoly (Potapov) of OptinaAugust 12 is the commemoration day of Venerable Anatoly (Potapov), one of the last of the Optina elders. In contrast to the preceding Optina saints, there was no one left to compose the life of this elder after the Revolution. There remained only fragmented memories of pilgrims, notes of spiritual children, and letters of the elder, in which biographical details were often lacking, but in which his image rises up brightly and vividly. We honor the memory of the elder and reminisce with these recollections.

“>Anatoly (Potapov) the Younger of Optina (commemorated July 30/August 12). He graduated from the Department of Law at St. Petersburg University. In 1902, he married Sophia Vladimirovna Glebova and took up residence in the Buytsy family estate in the Tula province, where he was eagerly involved in charity activities, building an orphanage and a school. He carried on the work started by his father, heading the Committee for the Construction of the church in honor of St. Sergius of Radonezh on Kulikovo Field. The author of the design was the architect Alexei Viktorovich Shchusev (1873­–1949). Sophia Vladimirovna Olsufieva, the count’s wife, greatly contributed to the organization of a monastic community and sewing workshops at the church. She herself embroidered banners and a shroud for the church. A cross with a particle of the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh was kept in the Olsufiev’s house, which was to be donated to the church. It was supposed that this shrine would make the church a destination for pilgrimages, but this never came to pass. The church was completed in 1917, after the Olsufievs had already moved to Sergiyev Posad. Soon afterwards, the monastic community at the church was dispersed.

Yuri Olsufiev made an archaeological collection with a description of the objects that peasants had found on Kulikovo Field.

“So he established a real museum, which had, for example, such treasures as a copper monastic cross found on Kulikovo Field. It is known from the chronicles that only two monks fought in the Russian Army: Alexander Peresvet and Rodion Oslyabya. Peresvet was killed in single combat with the Tatar champion Chelubey (Temir-Mirza). Therefore, the cross belonged to him… Sophia Vladimirovna was a very religious woman. When the Revolution broke out, St. Sergius of Radonezh appeared to her in a dream and told her to come and live near his shrine. She fulfilled his will,” recalls Prince Sergei Mikhailovich Golitsyn (1909–1989) in his Memoirs of a Survivor.

Countess Sophia Vladimirovna Olsufieva (nee Glebova) and her family     

The appearance of St. Sergius of RadonezhUndoubtedly, the most outstanding establisher of the truly selfless “life equal to the angels” in fourteenth century Russia is St. Sergius of Radonezh, the founder of the famous Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Monastery, which embodies in its historical legacy his blessed precepts, and gradually became a kind of spiritual heart for all of Orthodox Russia.

“>St. Sergius in a dream was not immediately perceived as a sign from above. The wife told her dream to Yuri Alexandrovich. They both decided that they should not hurry to do anything because dreams should not be trusted. But after the dream repeated three times, the couple went to Optina Monastery and Its Era”While travelling I stopped off in Optina Pustyn and carried away a remembrance that I shall never forget. I think that on Mt. Athos itself there is nothing better. Grace is visibly present there. One can even sense it clearly in the external serving (in church)”.”>Optina Monastery to ask St. Anatoly for advice, and he blessed them to move right away. Olsufiev’s presence at St. Sergius’s shrine played an exceptional role in preserving the Lavra’s shrines and relics during that difficult time.

So, in the spring of 1917 Yuri Alexandrovich, his wife and son left the estate and bought a house on Valovaya Street in Sergiyev Posad [where the Lavra is located].

The Olsufievs’ house on Valovaya Street in Sergiyev Posad     

Count Olsufiev became an active member of the Commission for the Protection of Monuments of Art and Antiquities of the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra, then worked at the Sergiyev¹ History and Art Museum (from 1918–1928). Here he courageously labored to save the Lavra shrines. Yuri Alexandrovich worked out a plan for the restoration of the architecture and paintings of the Holy Trinity Cathedral, was in charge of purchasing bricks for restoration work, restoring icons of the Holy Trinity Cathedral and bells of the Lavra bell tower, and examining icons of the sacristy and the churches and miniatures in the books of the Lavra library. He also worked with the archives of Archbishop Nikon (Rozhdestvensky) and solved many other issues.

When the plan became known of removing St. Sergius’ relics from the Lavra and their possible destruction, in March 1920, with the blessing of Patriarch Tikhon

“>His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon, Count Olsufiev together with Fr. Pavel Florensky secretly hid St. Sergius’s holy skull.

Despite their difficult financial situation, the Olsufievs always tried to help others. They sheltered two noble families in their house on Valovaya Street: the Mansurovs and the Komarovskys. When the Russian religious philosopher and writer Vasily Vasilievich Rozanov became seriously ill, Sophia Vladimirovna helped him, was present at his death, and took all the arrangements for his funeral upon herself. In during the year 1939, Sophia Vladimirovna visited Rozanov’s seriously ill daughter in a Moscow hospital, and after eventually took her into her own home and cared for her. In the hungry 1920s, under the direction of Count Olsufiev, an agricultural cooperative was set up in Sergiyev Posad.

Portrait of Sophia Olsufieva by Valentin Serov (Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts) In 1925, the local authorities attempted to initiate a legal case by arresting several “former nobles”. Olsufiev was charged at the same time with the following “crimes”: “He is of noble origin, had connections with counterrevolutionary monarchist elements, and conducted counterrevolutionary activities in order to overthrow the existing Soviet Government.” However, he was soon released due to lack of evidence.

In the spring of 1928, a slander campaign against the “former nobles” who lived in Sergiyev Posad began in the central and local press—specially against Priest Pavel Florensky and Count Yuri Alexandrovich Olsufiev, the co-authors of the book, “Ambrose, the Trinity Wood-Carver of the Fifteenth Century”, which was published in 1927 and provoked fierce criticism of its authors in the press. Olsufiev then managed to leave town, avoiding arrest. He lived with his wife Sophia Vladimirovna near Moscow, worked at the Central Restoration Workshops, and then at the State Tretyakov Gallery. Salvaging works of ancient Russian painting—icons and frescoes, Yuri Alexandrovich traveled the length and breadth of central Russia, all over the North, the Novgorod and Pskov regions. His spouse accompanied her husband everywhere. There is no doubt that the Olsufievs lived in order to keep the hidden skull of St. Sergius and save the shrines that could still be saved.

Yuri A. Olsufiev. Photos from the investigative case     

Yuri Alexandrovich Olsufiev was arrested in January 1938 and charged under Article 58-10, “Spreading anti-Soviet rumors”. He was executed by a firing squad at the Butovo firing range near Moscow. His wife Sophia Vladimirovna Olsufieva was arrested on November 1, 1941, when the authorities decided that the surviving aristocrats were allegedly waiting for the Nazis. She was sentenced to ten years in prison and sent to the Sviyazhsk correctional labor colony (on the site of the former Sviyazhsk Dormition Monastery in Tatarstan), where she died on March 15, 1943—five years and one day after her husband.