Tag: Christianity

Every next-to-last Sunday of October, parishioners and students are invited to help transform the lives of poor and persecuted Catholics around the world by giving to the World Mission Sunday collection.

The collection, taken this year on Oct. 22, is the only one mandated by Church law in every parish worldwide. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is among the largest contributors, raising nearly $1 million in a typical year. That’s in addition to other special collections, including generous emergency contributions to help victims of the war in Ukraine and of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria.

“The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is really a leader, particularly in . . . involving all the school children of the archdiocese, and it really is a model for the rest of the country,” said Msgr. Kieran Harrington, national director of The Pontifical Mission Societies.

World Mission Sunday supports evangelization and faith formation in dioceses where the Church is young, poor, and persecuted. Gifts go to the Pontifical Mission Societies in Rome, where an international committee of missions directors divides them among the works of four pontifical organizations:

Harrington recently visited a village in India inhabited by Dalits — once called “untouchables” – who suffered severe discrimination under the now-outlawed Hindu caste system. Today Dalits are entitled to compensatory public benefits — but lose them if they become Christians.

When Harrington proposed building a school, a Catholic convert asked for a church instead.

“She said, ‘No, Father. We need a church because we need to come together to a place to pray,’” he recalled.

Curious about why she had sacrificed her government benefits by her public witness, he asked why she hadn’t chosen to worship in secret.

She told him, “I realized that, by becoming a Christian, I was becoming a part of a broader community of people who love and care about each other. That’s why you’re here.”

That, Harrington said, describes World Mission Sunday.

“The most important thing about World Mission Sunday is not the channeling of the money. It’s that priests preach on the responsibility of all Christians to recognize their missionary vocation,” he said.

The LA Archdiocese strives to do so by raising public awareness. For instance, on Sat., Oct. 21, at 9 a.m., parishioners at Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Paramount will have an outdoor living rosary.

The archdiocese places a strong focus on youth in its approach to the initiative.

“We want to open their hearts and their eyes to what’s part of their Catholic faith,” said Sabrina Lopez, associate director of the archdiocesan Mission Office. “When a love for the missions is instilled in them at a young age, it definitely changes the trajectory of where they’re going.”

On Oct. 17 at 10 a.m., some 3,000 Catholic school students gathered at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels for the annual Missionary Childhood Association Youth Appreciation Mass, followed by a mission fair with food trucks, music, and exhibit booths.

“It lets them see for themselves, and handle tangible artifacts,” Lopez said.

The exhibits included recordings from missionaries who have visited locally through the Missionary Cooperative Plan, in which the archdiocese vets and approves them to solicit support from local parishes.

This year the Missions Office took tracings of their feet to display at the missions fair, illustrating Pope Francis’ theme for this World Mission Sunday, “Hearts on fire, feet on the move.”

The Mass and fair celebrate what students do all year to support the missions.

At Lord of the Beatitudes School in La Miranda, students recently raised $570 for World Mission Sunday through a “Little Way Dress Down Day,” giving $2 for the opportunity to wear casual clothes to school, said Unica Nino, the fifth-grade teacher and moderator of the school’s Missionary Childhood Association.

Some of her students give talks about the importance of helping other children through missions.

“The students love helping out, because they are helping others around the world,” Nino said. “Sometimes children feel as if they can’t do anything, and I tell them ‘Yes, you are.’ You’re donating money that’s going to help children of your age around the world.”

The students also pray for the missions. Every Monday and Friday in October, students at Lord of the Beatitudes pray a World Mission Rosary, with colored beads representing different regions of the world.

On Oct. 18 a Beatitudes student helped lead a virtual prayer service for the missions, in which students from the LA Archdiocese, the Diocese of San Diego, and the Archdiocese of San Francisco participated.

World Mission Sunday is about much more than what any one person, parish, or diocese does, Harrington said.

“What we are doing is helping the Holy Father support the missions,” he said. “It’s about the Holy Father doing this with the help of Christians all throughout the world. Whether you’re in Los Angeles or San Bernardino or San Francisco or Akron or Cleveland, it’s all of us doing this together. This is an ecclesial response to the Church that is young, poor and persecuted.”

The Order of Friars Minor — affectionately known as the “lesser brothers” of the Franciscan orders for their humility and simple brown robes — have formed a new, unified Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe that spans the United States coast to coast.

The minister general of the Order of Friars Minor, Brother Massimo Fusarelli, established the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe Oct. 17 during a meeting in Kansas City, Missouri, called the “synodal Chapter of Unity,” during which the province’s first minister provincial, vicar provincial and seven councilors were installed.

The new province, with headquarters in Atlanta, unifies more than 700 friars who were previously part of six legacy provinces, which were established over the long history of the Order of Friars Minor in the United States. They include the provinces of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Wisconsin, Holy Name in New York City, Our Lady of Guadalupe in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Sacred Heart in St. Louis, St. Barbara in California and St. John the Baptist in Cincinnati. The Franciscan friars hail from 26 states, the District of Columbia and 16 countries.

As Franciscans, they trace their history to St. Francis, a 13th-century saint in Assisi, Italy, who left a life of wealth and influence to live in poverty and penance while preaching and serving the poor, and St. Clare, who founded a community of women inspired by St. Francis’ model for living the Gospel.

The U.S. friars believe combining provinces paves the way for a renewal of Franciscan life, spirituality and fraternity by living the Gospel through service to the poor and people living on society’s margins.

Provincial Minister Brother Lawrence Hayes said he would like for people “to experience us as we are, as we attempt as best we can to embody the values that the Gospel, St. Francis and St. Clare call us to.”

The new provincial administration includes Brother Hayes, Vicar Provincial Brother Mark Soehner and a provincial secretary to be named in the future. The provincial council includes Brothers John Eaton, Erick Lopez, Roger Lopez, Samuel Nasada, Rommel Perez Flores, José Rodriguez and Edward Tlucek. They will serve a three-year term.

The Franciscan friars chose Our Lady of Guadalupe as the province’s name to “reflect the order’s Marian devotion,” Brother Tlucek said.

“St. Francis had a deep devotion to Mary,” he said. “Our Lady of Guadalupe is the Lady of the Americas. That’s really who we are, when you look at the fact that our friars are in the Americas. She’s our intercessor for this mission we are on.”

As one province, friars expect to renew Franciscan life in America and shape their fraternity’s future within the context of the worldwide Order of Friars Minor by developing contemplative fraternities capable of sharing the Gospel in American society. They also plan to launch new initiatives, prioritize vocational growth and use resources more effectively.

“It’s an exciting time,” Brother Tlucek said. “We hope we would be a powerful blessing for the church in the United States. I really feel we have something to offer the church here. There is a certain freedom of spirit about us that I think can generate a more engaged Catholic community.”

He noted that in context of the global Synod on Synodality underway at the Vatican, “we’ve been doing synodality for a long time: We simply call it ‘discernment.’ We’ve been doing it for centuries. That was a gift St. Francis offered us. I believe we can offer the church modeling for how to be our best selves as Catholics in this country.”

The Franciscan friars will continue to serve the poor, the forgotten and the marginalized alongside people of goodwill in locations across the United States, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Jamaica.

“The great blessing to the friars themselves, to the order and to the church in the United States in creating this new province at this moment, is that the friars have — under the guidance of the Holy Spirit — taken charge of what is happening rather than simply drifting along,” said Father Jack Clark Robinson, a Franciscan historian, in a statement about the new province. “They are reconsidering as brothers how to be better agents of renewal, evangelizers and stewards of God’s generous gifts.”

While Christian faithful across the globe prayed and fasted for peace in the Holy Land, a rocket struck the Christian hospital in Gaza City where hundreds of people were being treated, but also where hundreds were taking shelter. U.S. President Joe Biden is on his way to Israel to make a quick visit Oct. 18.

While Palestinian officials said the hospital was hit in an Israeli strike and had killed some 500 people, the Israel Defense Forces said intelligence showed Palestinian Islamic Jihad group was responsible for the “failed rocket launch” that struck the Anglican-run al-Ahli Arab Hospital, called Baptist Hospital by many media outlets as it was managed between 1954 and 1982 by the Medical Mission of the Southern Baptist Church.

“An analysis of IDF operational systems indicates that a barrage of rockets was fired by terrorists in Gaza, passing in close proximity to the hospital in Gaza at the time it was hit,” IDF posted to its Telegram account.

The hospital was sheltering more than 5,000 people at the time of the strike, said Joseph Hazboun, regional director for CNEWA’s Jerusalem office. CNEWA, Catholic Near East Welfare Association, is a pontifical charity founded by Pope Pius XI in 1926 to help residents of “historic but unstable” lands of the ancient Eastern churches — the Middle East, Northeast Africa, India and Eastern Europe. The Catholic organization supports the hospital.

“The rocket hit the children’s playground and the courtyard in front of the library, at the back of the hospital,” Hazboun said. “The area hit was the place where most of the psychosocial program activities were organized in recent years.”

“It’s the only Christian hospital in Gaza,” Michael La Civita, director of communications for CNEWA USA, told OSV News hours after the attack. “It’s one of the most important institutions in our network of partners for decades. It’s a significant player in the region.”

La Civita also said the hospital was accommodating “about 5,000 people” who had been seeking refuge there.

“That includes those who were in the hospital itself seeking treatment, the medical staff, as well as folks who were seeking refuge, because it’s in northern Gaza and was under a mandatory evacuation order from Israel,” he said.

La Civita described his reaction as one of “disbelief” and “horror.”

The United Nations World Health Organization issued a statement strongly condemning the attack on the hospital, one of 20 in the north of the Gaza Strip facing evacuation orders from the Israeli military.

“The order for evacuation has been impossible to carry out given the current insecurity, critical condition of many patients, and lack of ambulances, staff, health system bed capacity, and alternative shelter for those displaced,” said the WHO statement.

With the possibility of an Israel land incursion into Gaza still unclear, the majority of the Gazan Christian community has gathered at the Catholic and Greek Orthodox church compounds, and community leaders have been amassing necessary supplies to last for at least a month with support from CNEWA.

“They bought barrels of water for washing and normal use and bought enough drinking water for at least a month. We also supplied canned food, spaghetti, rice,” said Hazboun. Much of the purchases have been bought on credit including hygiene kits and fire extinguishers, he said, and they will need to raise almost $25,000.

A surprise terrorist attack by Hamas on communities along the southern Israeli border with Gaza killed more than 1,400 Israelis. Some 199 Israelis are now being held captive in Gaza and family members fear they may be killed in the Israeli retaliation attacks. More than 2,800 Palestinians in Gaza have died since.

An estimated 1 million people have been displaced in Gaza in one week, a United Nations spokesperson said after Israel also issued warnings to Palestinians in northern Gaza to evacuate to the south as they aim to eliminate Hamas’ leadership.

At least four homes belonging to Christian families have been destroyed in the bombings. Israel says it is bombing Hamas targets, and has warned civilians in the area to move by dropping pamphlets from the air. As of Oct. 16, Hamas had lobbed more than 6,000 missiles into Israel as well, and though Israel’s defensive system known as the Iron Dome has intercepted most of them, some have landed on buildings killing several Israelis.

The majority of Christians who live in Gaza City in northern Gaza have chosen to seek shelter at the churches as they feel protected by Jesus there, said Gaza Holy Family Parish priest Father Gabriel Romaneli in a written WhatsApp response to OSV News. The priest found himself stranded in Bethlehem and unable to return to Gaza following the Hamas attack.

CNEWA’s Hazboun noted that the IDF is aware of the geographical coordinates of the Christian institutions.

“They don’t know where to flee to because they say there is no safe place. The danger of death is very real in all of Gaza Strip these days,” Father Romaneli said. “Let’s pray that God grants the gift of peace, to Israel, Palestine and the whole world.”

Communication with those in Gaza directly has been difficult, and OSV News was unable to reach community leaders or religious there for direct comment.

Though initially Israel cut off all fuel, electricity and water to Gaza, they have allowed for a humanitarian corridor so Palestinians can move south and have allowed for access to water.

Egypt has not yet opened its Rafah crossing in the south of Gaza for local residents and foreign nationals wanting to leave. Some 60 Brazilian laypeople who had been visiting Gaza had taken shelter with the Rosary Sisters, but moved to the church compound following an Israeli bombing and are now awaiting for coordination to be able to leave through the Rafah crossing, which Egypt is delaying opening for fear of having to absorb millions of Gazans attempting to escape.

Human rights groups have said the forced evacuation and bombings could constitute a war crime, while Israelis say the terrorist attack which killed civilians was also tantamount to war crimes.

Pope Francis called the assistant parish priest, Father Yusuf Assad, who is with the parishioners in the Holy Family parish, and they asked him to pray for peace in Gaza and for the people who are suffering. They hold nightly prayers to sustain the people who have sought safety with them.

Along with his call for an international day of prayer and fasting on Oct. 17, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch, issued a special message for the Christian youth urging them also to pray, noting that while the prayer may not change reality immediately, it did “spark a light.” He also took part in a coordination meeting for Christian nongovernmental organizations to set up relief funds for Gaza.

Jerusalem churches held prayers for peace throughout the day Oct. 17. Abbot Nikodemus Schnabel led the monks and students at the Benedictine Dormition Abbey in a 24-hour recitation of the 150 psalms. These were uniting prayers recited by all Christians and Jews, as well similar to prayers in the Quran, he said.

“The emotions contained in the psalms, the fears and lamentations, the anger and sadness, but also the longing and hope, ultimately the gratitude in God are to be spoken out loud in this way, and carried before the cross on behalf of so many people especially in this country,” he said. “There are new wounds, new blood, new hate going into a deeper dimension.”

He normally enjoyed giving interviews and speaking his mind, he said, but he now was at a loss for words and shocked at the “enormous crime” committed by slaughtering civilians in Israel’s south, noting that some of those murdered were migrant workers including Filipinos and Thai nationals.

At the Franciscan St. Saviour Monastery, Father Francesco Patton, custos of the Holy Land, joined in noon prayer with the friars.

Samy Helou, 48, the head of the monastery’s IT department who came to the prayer, said that when missiles fall in the Tel Aviv area he calls his Jewish Israeli friends to make sure they are safe. He has even invited them to come to his house in Jerusalem.

“I plead so my God will open hearts and remove hate from this world,” he said, despite differences in political and religious beliefs. “People don’t deserve to die, and there should only be justice and peace for all.”

When Archbishop José H. Gomez and Auxiliary Bishop Matt Elshoff both stood and extended their hands above their heads with some 800 people packed into the gym of Cathedral High School, it might have looked like they were administering an enthusiastic blessing.

In reality, the two were caught up participating in “the wave” from their courtside seats at the fifth edition of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ Priests vs. Seminarians Basketball Game on Oct. 13, a tightly contested matchup that saw Team Seminarians hold on for their fourth win in the series, a 47-43 outcome that wasn’t decided until the final minutes.

A free throw by seminarian Michael Crogan broke a 42-42 tie with two minutes left in the game. Teammate Christian Eguaroje followed by converting with a layup with 1:23 left and was fouled by Team Priests’ Father Michael Masteller. Because that was his fifth foul, Masteller had to take the bench for the rest of the game. 

It proved to be a tough blow for the priests. Masteller, associate pastor at St. Helen Church in South Gate, had scored nine of his team’s 11 points in the fourth quarter and kept Team Priests close. He finished with a game-high 19 points.

Eguaroje, a second-year theology student at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, led Team Seminarians with 13 points and was named Player of the Game. Teammate Deacon Tommy Green, the Player of the Game in the previous two contests, added five of his 11 points in the decisive fourth quarter. But until that point, he had been strategically defended by the Team Priests.

“We had a box-and-one defense and just trying to tailgate him,” said Father Andrew Chung, who was assigned to shadow Green all over the court for the evening. “The goal was met — he didn’t get the MVP.”

And, if all goes as planned, Green will be joining his longtime opponents in the next game after his ordination to the priesthood in the spring of 2024.

Chung’s defensive assignment on Green, as well as scoring nine of his 10 points in the first half, kept Team Priests even with Team Seminarians, 27-27, at halftime.

Chung, currently the administrator at St. Pancratius Church in Lakewood, was playing in his fifth game with Team Priests, which this year had 12 clerics on the roster. He said he has seen the value of the community event pull together his parishioners who came to cheer him on. On the court after the game, he even gave a blessing to his school’s principal, Melina Ramirez, who was participating in the Long Beach half-marathon the next morning.

“This is one of the few opportunities for us to get together and play like this,” said Chung. “While everyone else may have been out getting tattoos on Friday the 13th, we’re all praying for vocations and having a great time in this gym.”

Eguaroje, participating in his third game for the 18-man Team Seminarians squad, only started playing basketball in the last two years since leaving his native Nigeria to come to the seminary. He grew up playing soccer and admitted he is still learning not only how basketball is played, but its vocabulary.

“I was surprised to get Player of the Game because I missed a lot of layups … I mean, free throws,” he said with a laugh. “Sometimes it doesn’t matter how many times you miss, it’s how many you get in.

“This event is an awesome opportunity to spread vocations because some may think seminarians are just studying 24 hours a day and praying. We have hobbies and need exercise and play sports.”

The timing of this latest edition of the matchup was different from the first four editions of the game, which had been played early in the calendar year (including the last one in February of 2023). Due to a change in the seminary’s formation schedule — transitional deacons are now finishing their studies and graduating in December instead of May — October will be a better fit for the game. 

It was also the first time the game was played at Cathedral High School near downtown LA, a more central location compared to Chaminade College Preparatory in Chatsworth and Santa Clara High School in Oxnard, where the previous games had been played. 

Father Sam Ward, who served in the vocations office from 2013 until 2022, helped organize the event from its beginnings five years ago. He was the game’s public address announcer, helping keep the crowd engaged during the game and at timeouts.

“This game was definitely the closest and most exciting, but every one of them has been exciting because of the spirit of our seminarians and our priests, and by God’s grace, because of so many people here as sports brings everyone together,” said Father Ward, now pastor at St. Raymond Church in Downey.

The game is now organized by Director for Vocations Father Mike Perucho and his associate Father Peter Saucedo, who worked the crowd by tossing souvenir T-shirts into the crowd and even delivering pizzas. Perucho hopes the family fun event, which raised funds to help seminarians attend formation opportunities next year like SEEK24 and the National Eucharistic Congress, keeps a sense of momentum going. 

“Having this in LA, the heart of the archdiocese, having the bishops here, made it all totally awesome,” said Perucho. “You could sense the spirit in everyone.”

Photo: orderofsaintgeorge.org     

As we spoke to our contacts in Gaza Sunday afternoon (10/15/2023), we could hear the squealing of rockets and the percussive impacts of bombs going off all around them, every few seconds. The bombardment started in the middle of the night, at 10:00 PM local time in Gaza, while innocent civilians were sleeping. It has not let up at all. We can hear the sounds of children crying, as adults, who are terrified themselves, try to give them comfort.

Our first contact, who wishes to remain anonymous as he fears for his safety, had to quickly end the call to seek a safer shelter, though, he tells us, there is no such thing as a safe shelter in Gaza tonight. No one there is sure if a bomb will land on them within their shelter. The bombing is relentless and is focused on residential areas, stores, and health facilities. Whether this is intentional or not, no one is certain, but the bombardment is ongoing and extreme. Our anonymous contact reports that “the [Israeli Defense Forces] are indiscriminately dropping bombs.” His Eminence, Archbishop Alexios of Tiberias, who is in Gaza, told the Order on Sunday during a phone call that “[the IDF] are bombing the streets to weaken the foundations of housing developments so that the buildings will collapse.” People in desperate need of food and water are afraid to go out in search of what limited provisions still exist in Gaza for fear of bombs and collapsing buildings. Nowhere is safe, not even their homes and churches amidst what His Eminence calls “absolute, widespread devastation.”

Many of those seeking refuge within Gaza have turned to St. Porphyrios Orthodox Church in the heart of the war zone in Gaza. St. Porphyrios is one of the oldest Christian communities in the world and the third-oldest church, built in the 3rd Century by St. Porphyrios of Gaza. The church is currently providing shelter, food, and activities for 500 people. Archbishop Alexios says that around 95% are Orthodox Christians – just over 40% of the Christian population of Gaza. The other 5% are comprised of other citizens of Gaza. His Eminence has opened the doors of the church to anyone in need of shelter in Gaza. He will not turn anyone away, as, he says, “We are all children of the Lord, and the church is a refuge for anyone in need.”

The church has a generator, but they are quickly running out of fuel to keep it running. They are running out of everything: Food, water, medical supplies, and fuel. People are sleeping on chairs, pews, and the ground because there are no mattresses available. The local mattress store and factory were destroyed by bombs. Children need toys. Many of the elderly have medical conditions and need treatment and medication. Yet, they are blockaded into the city that is being destroyed around them. Food, water, electricity, medicine, fuel, and even money are not being allowed in. His Eminence does not know how long their limited provisions will last. “It could be ten days. It could be more. It could be much less, depending on how many more people come.”

At least 10% of the Christian population of Gaza have lost their homes so far. We have no reports on the roughly 60% of the community that is not currently seeking shelter at St. Porphyrios. We may not know the extent of the loss of life and property until this war ends. As we cannot get supplies or money to our suffering brothers and sisters yet, Archbishop Alexios tells us that the real need will be after the war, the worst he has ever seen in his quarter-century in Gaza, as his flock will need help rebuilding their homes. “This is our homeland,” he tells us. “We will not abandon it. Our fate is with Christ, and we accept whatever outcome He allows, whether we live or die.”

St. Porphyrios Church in Gaza. Photo: alarabiya.net     

Translating for the Order and His Eminence, a Palestinian clergyman said to Archbishop Alexios, “You are like Christ in the wilderness, with your people coming to you for sustenance, literally dividing the loaves to feed your people.” His Eminence replied, “I am not Christ. I am not a miracle worker. It is Christ Who sustains us!” This is the hope that they have, and it is all they have. There are no NGOs, nonprofits, or even government officials left in Gaza, except the Holy Orthodox Order of Saint George the Great Martyr, which was finally able to connect with His Eminence on Sunday. None of the NGOs that were there were concerned with the Christians of Gaza. No news media has addressed the plight of the Christians of Gaza. His Eminence was feeling “alone and abandoned” by everyone but Christ. He told the Order that we are “the Light of Christ in Gaza.” In a very real way, we are all they have. His Eminence told the Order, “We are suffering. We need help, and there is no one coming to help us.” The Holy Orthodox Order of Saint George is with them and is preparing to help them. We are the voice for the voiceless, as they are cut off from the world by the war and the blockades.

The Holy Orthodox Order of Saint George was established primarily to give aid to Christians in the Holy Land and the Greater Middle East. At no time has this been a more pressing and urgent mission. As of October 14, we have established a monetary campaign to allow us to give as much aid to these suffering servants of God as we can. Our preliminary goal, which we hope to meet by the end of November, is $1 millon. This is just a preliminary goal. It will barely make a dent in what these families need. We are urging all of our members to contribute, and we are asking the public to help as well. We would like to reach out to every Orthodox parish in the United States at a minimum, and welcome assistance from other churches, businesses, and organizations as well.

The Grand Knight, Konstantine Pandolfi, head of the Order of Saint George, had the following message on Monday: No time has been so great or important than now to stand shoulder to shoulder in support of our Orthodox Christian brothers and sisters in Gaza. If you are truly a member of the Order of Saint George the Great Martyr please donate. Let your monetary donation speak to our cause and to what we stand for as an Orthodox Christian Order of knighthood. We are a “lifeline to the Christians in Gaza.” Even if you are not a member of the Order, please consider giving a monetary donation to support the oldest Christian community in the word, for these are our people! The Orthodox Christians in Gaza and throughout the Holy Land are keeping the light of Christ alive even until today in these darkest of times.

His Eminence asks that we all keep the suffering Christians of Gaza in our prayers, “that the Lord is with us, has mercy on us, and gets us faithfully through this. Then, when this is over, we will all pray together, either here in St. Porphyrios Orthodox Church or in the eternal liturgy.”

For more information on how you can assist, please visit orderofsaintgeorge.org or reach out to publicrelations@orderofsaintgeorge.org.

Gaza fundraising campaign:

Link to first Press Release from the Order:

See all the Order’s emergency fundraisers:

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ROME – Participants in the Synod of Bishops on Synodality selected by organizers to speak with the media have said Pope Francis’s comments on women priests and blessings for same-sex couples prior to the gathering eliminated the distraction of getting hung up on specific issues, thereby creating space for other topics to be addressed.

The pope’s spokesperson for the synod, Italian layman Paolo Ruffini, head of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, also stressed that the synod is not a “talk show” in which participants respond to queries from the press but is rather a “spiritual conversation” aimed at discerning God’s will.

Days before the synod, the Vatican published Pope Francis’s responses to five dubia, or doubts, presented by five conservative cardinals who are not participating in the assembly, and which focused on women’s ordination, the blessing of same-sex unions and the authority of the synod to issue binding teaching.

In his responses, published Oct. 2, two days before the synod began Oct. 4, Francis upheld the church’s ban on women priests, but said the issue could still be studied, while he cautiously approved blessings for same-sex couples on a case-by-case basis, so long as doing so does not lead to confusion regarding the church’s sacrament of marriage.

In the wake of those statements, some observers complained that Pope Francis had impeded the synod’s discussion and discernment process, as those were two key issues expected to be addressed during the month-long gathering.

Yet when panelists at an Oct. 18 synod news briefing were asked if they were glad Pope Francis had issued those instructions, or whether they would have preferred for the issues to remain open-ended going in, they said they were pleased.

Australian laywoman Reneé Ryan, a professor of theology and philosophy at the University of Notre Dame in Australia, said, “It’s always good to know, always good to get a bit of a lead on what the Holy Father would like to guide us in as our spiritual leader.”

Regarding the question of women’s priestly ordination, Ryan said that “as a woman, I’m not focused at on the fact that I’m not a priest. I think that there’s too much emphasis placed on this question and what happens when we place too much emphasis on this question is that we forget about what women, for the most part, need in the world.”

Most women, she said, are focused on the needs of their family the practical realities of everyday life, and are not caught up in internal church debates.

“Some people are very focused on this idea that only if women become ordained will they have any kind of equality, but we’re not looking at equality as a one-for-one thing in the Church,” she said, saying, “we can become too distracted by this particular issue and what that does is it detracts from all of the other things that we could be doing.”

Other areas of focus, she said, are finding ways to ensure that professional women are not forced to choose between family and career, and that families receive the support they need amid various economic pressures.

“I think that’s a far more interesting conversation for most women than what I tend to think of as a fairly niche issue,” she said.

Bishop Anthony Randazzo of Broken Bay, Australia, said there is a history of popes receiving questions prior to large ecclesial gatherings, and pointed to the question of priestly celibacy at the time of the 1962-65 Second Vatican Council.

Paul VI, who penned the 1967 encyclical Sacerdotalis caelibatus on the topic, at the time of the council “intervened directly and reserved the question for himself, not to say you can’t speak about it, but so it could undergo a more broad conversation, a more profound study, then later on produced something that is an ongoing reference point for formation and discussion to this day,” Randazzo said.

Regarding Pope Francis’s decisions, Randazzo said, “I think it’s a good thing that the Holy Father took the lead to be able to respond, and he’s good at that.”

“He has a real charism in being able to speak to issues that are real for people by listening to them, not dismissing them, and allowing them to sit where they are so that they come to a maturity, maybe not at the moment, but as things grow a little further,” he said.

Nigerian Father Agbonkhianmeghe Emmanuel Orobator, president of the Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar and former Jesuit provincial for Africa, also weighed in, insisting that the synod is merely a consultative body, and thus “it doesn’t make decisions.”

He said the process is more important than whatever decisions are made, and that in the process, “if we’re not distracted by concentrating on niche issues, but allowing ourselves to build a process, a framework that actually works, it becomes possible for us to address these issues in a way that is constructive and not confrontational.”

Asked about women deacons, Ryan said there are still “question marks,” and that as a synod body, “what we’re identifying at the moment is whether there needs to be more theological consideration of different issues, and I think I can safely say this is one that needs more consideration given that this is an issue that has been looked at before.”

According to synod organizers, issues addressed in the synod discussion during Monday’s afternoon session and Tuesday’s morning session also included clericalism as an obstacle to communion; potential changes to canon law; co-responsibility between laity and Church hierarchy; the relationship between leadership and service; priest shortages, and the need to not “clericalize” laity.

Discussion also touched the role of bishops in promoting ecumenical and interfaith dialogue; the possibility of more consultation in the selection process for bishops; and the need for bishops to understand that they are not alone and cannot do everything by themselves, especially when it comes to financial matters.

Ongoing formation of bishops, priests, religious and laity was also mentioned, especially for so-called “baby bishops” recently appointed, and mention was also made of the need for bishops to listen to abuse victims.

The role of women was also discussed, with synod organizers referring to calls for a “new spiritual intelligence” in the Church, as well as the women’s diaconate, and proposals for women to give homilies, based on the fact that they were the first to proclaim Jesus’s resurrection.

Participants noted that Oct. 17 marked the special day of prayer and fasting for the Holy Land requested by Pope Francis given the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas.

It was also noted that Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago left the synod and returned home following the unexpected death of his auxiliary bishop Kevin Birmingham.

Asked whether there were differences in priorities between participants from developed versus developing nations, Spanish Cardinal Cristóbal López Romero, Archbishop of Rabat, Morocco, said differences exist, but they are not “clear cut” and do not amount to “clashes.”

“There are no conflicts, so the method of a conversation in the spirit makes sure there is basic respect among all of us…each one says what in their conscience they feel they need to…but we do not speak in response to what the others have said, so there are no clashes, clashes you typically seen in a political parliament,” he said.

While differences exist, “quite honestly, it’s more what unites us than what separates us,” he said.

In response to a question on whether synod participants are aware of the primary areas of interest for the media and whether those areas of interest align with what participants see as priorities, Ruffini said that while there is a media blackout, “we’re not closed,” and synod members are aware of what’s in the news.

“The synod is not thought of to respond to the questions of journalists, it’s a discernment of the Church born of…a long process of listening to the entire Church in the whole world, and from there are born the conversations we are having,” he said.

Asked whether hot-button issues in the synod’s working document such as the status of women and the welcome of the LGBTQ+ community are being taken seriously, Ruffini said yes, and that impressions that there will be no results at the end of the synod are “inexact and false.”

“We have said repeatedly that we are in the middle of a path and that the synod will end, this assembly, with a synthesis document and it will be sent back to the people of God and then there will be another assembly,” he said.

Referring to the round tables that participants are seated at during synod sessions, a visibly irritated Ruffini said that to speak of the round table “as if it’s a talk show is exactly the opposite” of what is happening.

“It’s not a roundtable, it’s a conversation in the spirit that’s trying to make a discernment to respond to what was requested by the people of God,” he said.

Orobator said issues of key interest such as the status of women and the welcome of LGBTQ+ Catholics are being discussed “seriously and passionately” in the synod hall and are not being ignored.

Photo: stylishbag.ru     

I am informed that Sr. Vassa recently presented an in-person lecture and spiritual reflection at the seminar “Women and Lived Orthodoxy” at the New Valaam monastery in Heinavesi, Finland on September 15-17, 2023. Presumably this is the event she referred to in her Coffee with Sr. Vassa blog of September 17, under the title “Women’s Issues in our Church”.   In her blog she described the conference as one to which “men were also invited, (but only one attended),” and at which “many women shared their concerns about the difference between the roles or “place(s)” open to them outside of church, and those open to them within the church”. I do understand why only one man attended, given the fact that the event promised to be a platform for the usual feminist attack on the Tradition of the Church. Why fly to Finland for something that you could get for free anytime online on Public Orthodoxy?

In her blog, Sr. Vassa wrote: “The vocations of women have expanded ‘outside’ church, not because of any rebellion or revolution brought about specifically by Orthodox Christian women, but because of various, God-given, historical circumstances, like the fairly-new (in the big picture of world history) reality of women receiving higher education, leadership and management positions in various fields, e.g., often being the primary bread-winners in their own families; prime ministers in government (as was a woman here in Finland, just recently); CEOs in corporations; tenured professors at academic faculties, etc.                                                    

But within the church, women’s vocations are still governed by canonical texts penned by men well over a millennium ago. And if any of us women try to speak about our new situation today, which calls for new canonical forms and norms, the reaction of our church-men to such a conversation is often like the reaction of the Apostles to the news of the women, who came from the empty Tomb on that Sunday morning two millennia ago: the men dismiss our testimonies as ‘idle tales.’ In fact, seeking to talk with our church-men about the need for new canonical forms and norms for women’s ministries often feels like seeking ‘the living among the dead.’”

It is not clear to me what Sr. Vassa means by “canonical texts penned by men well over a millennium ago”. Does she refer to the canons of the Church councils? Or perhaps the canonical Scriptures of the New Testament which clearly forbid women to function as teachers and clergy in the Church? Either way, it does seem clear that she is objecting to the Church’s two-millenia exclusion of women from such leadership positions in the Church as the clergy. In this she is hardly alone: such women as Elizabeth Behr-Sigel (d. 2005 at the venerable age of 98) and Eva Topping (d. 2011 at the age of 91) have been pushing this agenda for many years.  

The reason she gives for objecting to this exclusion?—that times have changed culturally and that since women now occupy positions of authority in the world (such as “the primary bread-winners in their own families; prime ministers in government; CEOs in corporations; tenured professors at academic faculties”), there is no rational reason apart from anachronistic and outdated “canonical texts penned by men well over a millennium ago” that women may not now occupy such positions of leadership in the Church. In other words, the Church’s original rationale for excluding women from the priesthood and the episcopate was cultural and political, not theological. But is it?

For anyone formed by the patristic phronema, one must begin with the Scriptures, since that is the root to which the Fathers always returned. A complete exegesis and survey of the Biblical material is not possible here. But here I would like to focus upon a single text, as characteristic of the whole: that of 1 Timothy 2:11-12. It reads: “A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness.  But I do not allow a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a wrongdoer.”   

We note in this text that, assuming Pauline authorship (a topic too large to be debated here), the quietness in which a woman must remain in the liturgical assembly is not absolute: presumably a woman could pray or prophesy (with her head covered), and sing along with the rest of the assembly (1 Corinthians 11:13, 14:31, Ephesians 5:19). What was forbidden her here as elsewhere was authoritative speaking, teaching, and judging such as were done by the presbyters.

We note too the reason for the exclusion—it was not rooted in any lack of education or political power, but in the hierarchical order of creation. It is when she transgresses this taxis and order that the Enemy is able to step in and deceive. Denouncing this as “Rabbinical exegesis” (in the words of Behr-Sigel) is unworthy of truly Orthodox exegesis. We may or may not like it, but this prohibition is found in Holy Scripture (a “canonical text” though penned “well over a millennium ago”) and we are stuck with it. But we may still delve deeper into the proffered rationale for the prohibition, and ask why women are barred from the role of priest in the Church.

As C. S. Lewis intuited long ago in his essay Priestesses in the Church? a priest is not something that a person does, but something a person is—in other words, there is an iconic dimension to priesthood. In particular, a priest is not just someone who preaches, baptizes, liturgizes, counsels, etc. A priest is someone who functions as a father to a family, an icon of paternal authority, and gender is not unrelated to such fatherhood. In some single parent families, women may be forced to try to fill the father’s role, just as men may be forced to try to fill the mother’s role. But fathers and mothers are not interchangeable, as any young child can tell you. Men and women have different gifts, different approaches to life, and different roles in the family, and these differentia are supported by their biology. That is, the differences between male and female are not confined to mere anatomy; they go all the way to the heart and bone, and the job of the father in the family must inevitably draw upon those basic differences. Mothers and fathers are very different and these differences are rooted in biology. And because a priest functions as a father to the Church, priesthood is confined to men. (A more detailed examination of this topic can be found here.)

What happens in the world is irrelevant to this, for things like companies with CEOs, governments with Prime Ministers, and academic faculties with tenured professors are not families. They are human constructions, and do not partake of the divine hierarchical realities that families do—including the family that is the Church of God.

True lived Orthodoxy is rooted in the family of the Church—a family built upon apostolic foundations. And those foundations preclude women from the ordained priesthood. Women indeed have a valuable ministry—a ministry every bit as valuable as that of the priesthood, as do all the holy and baptized laity. But that ministry lies outside the confines of the altar. For Orthodoxy to be truly and well lived, it needs to be built upon apostolic foundations and remain within the limits set by the apostles.

St. Luke is one of the four Gospel writers, and his account of Jesus’s life is the most extensive. He also detailed the earliest history of the Church in the New Testament. He is considered the founder of Christian iconography, and was known to be the physician and companion of St. Paul. 

Luke came from Antioch, a part of what is now Turkey. His homeland became an important center of early Christianity, having already been known for arts and sciences. It is not known whether Luke was originally a Jew or a pagan, although it is suggested that he was a gentile before his conversion. Luke was educated as a physician, and one of the top historians of his time. 

After Paul converted to Christianity and began to follow Jesus, Luke accompanied him as a physician and biographer. It is thought that Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles, which details many of their journeys. 

After Paul was killed as a martyr in 67, Luke is believed to have gone to the Mediterranean to preach the Gospel, and may have died there as a martyr himself. 

The writings of Luke are the first to incorporate the personal testimony of Mary, and to outline her role as Christ’s mother and the Blessed Virgin. He is credited with several paintings of Mary, including the “Salvation of the Roman People,” which is still in the Basilica of St. Mary Major today. 

St. Luke is the patron saint of artists, bachelors, doctors, and surgeons. 

The Russian Church Abroad (ROCOR) mission in Pakistan was established twelve years ago, but Fr. Joseph FarooqFarooq, Fr. Joseph

“>Fr. Joseph Farooq remains the only ROCOR priest there till now, though there are clerics of other jurisdictions. In an interview, he explained why people from other denominations embrace the Holy Orthodoxy and how the mission lives in a difficult environment in a non-Orthodox country.

Fr. Joseph Farooq with parishioners     

—Dear Father, is it dangerous to be a Christian, particularly an Orthodox Christian, in Pakistan?

—Yes, it is dangerous to be a Christian in Pakistan, and especially an Orthodox Christian. They are suffering, they have difficulties and hardships because the extremist groups are very powerful in Pakistan. However, we live there because this is our country, where we were born. We love our country, we love Pakistan. Christians are not criminals, we do not speak anything against the state and the Constitution. We respect all the laws, and we respect our country.

—I suppose you were born in Islam since Pakistan is a predominantly Muslim country?

—No, I was born in a Christian family that belongs to another denomination. Our ancestors and forefathers embraced different religious faiths: Hinduism, Sikhism, and Monotheism, Part 3: IslamThe difference between the Old Testament religion of the Law and Islam is not only that the latter emerged more than two thousand years after God gave on Mount Sinai the Ten Commandments and other precepts that governed life for the chosen people. The most important difference is that the Law of Moses has a Divine source. The founder of Islam, however, did not have a Divine revelation.

“>Islam. The origins of Christianity are very old in Pakistan. It came from British rule, but some historians say that Christianity came to our country with the preaching of the Holy Apostle Thomas.

—What are the features of the life of a Christian mission in a Muslim country? What are the differences?

—We are Christians, but it is very hard to follow Orthodox Christianity in Pakistan. First, because only Orthodoxy is the true faith, and we have to follow all that was taught by the Holy Fathers of the Ecumenical Councils. We have to follow all the rules and traditions of the Orthodox faith.

Besides that, we have some difficulties—for example, as we are following the old calendar. We are celebrating the feast of The Blessed Feast of the Nativity of Christ in PakistanI most humbly extend my heartfelt thanks to all our kind donors who have generously contributed with pure heart for the Christmas gifts, ration for widows and warm clothes and gifts for the children. May God bless their humble donation and charity for the poor.

“>Nativity, Bright and Glorious Resurrection of Christ: Celebration of Holy Pascha in PakistanTriumph of life, Christ’s Resurrection brings many blessings for the Orthodox Church in Pakistan and throughout the world.”>Holy Pascha, the fasts in different days, not like other denominations. People do not know the history and Church traditions, because they are not aware of the true teachings of the Eastern Orthodox Church—the Mother Church. So, sometimes our parishioners come to me and say, “Father, these people are saying this.” I can answer, “There is no problem, because we are following Holy Orthodoxy.”

But in general, people in Pakistan respect Holy Orthodoxy, they love our traditions and appreciate our veneration of the holy icons and how we are serving the Divine Liturgy. All these things touch their hearts, and they come to me and say, “Father, it helps our spiritual life.”

—When people, regular Pakistanis, learn that you are an Orthodox Christian priest, don’t they say you are crazy?

—No, no, no. We’ve had our mission for the last twelve years, so people recognize our church and know that we are Orthodox Christians. They know my clergy cloth, my black cassock, and they understand immediately: Oh, this is an Orthodox priest.

—And to be honest, isn’t it difficult and even dangerous to be Christian in a Muslim country?

—Yes, it is difficult to be an Orthodox Christian in a non-Orthodox country where the majority belongs to other denominations. We have a very small Orthodox community, and sometimes we face problems. However, we are growing day by day, with the blessing of God and with the help of the most Holy Theotokos. I have translated the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Orthodox prayers, and the catechism into Urdu, so people can read them. We have a Sunday school, and we are preaching Holy Orthodoxy in different areas of Pakistan. People from other denominations invite me to preach. Then they become catechumens, learn Orthodoxy, and after six months or a year, we baptize them.   

—You’ve already begun answering my next question. How is your mission living, and how do you interact with the environment?

—We are very friendly with other Christians and our Muslim neighbors. We have no problems with them. Everything is good.

    

—What is the mission’s everyday life?

—Every day I work in my office, people come with different questions. Sometimes, they want to get a birth certificate or ask me to go to the hospital to help somebody who is sick. I help them to get medications or admission to the hospital. People seek support when they have problems, for example, in civil courts, so I go with them. If they want to find a job, I also trying to find them a position. I also help our young parishioners to get admission into school or college. This is my everyday job.

Of course, we have religious services. We visit people in the evening because it is very important that they live strong in the faith. We serve Vigils every Saturday and Divine Liturgies every Sunday morning. We celebrate all the great feasts together. And, yes, I travel a lot every day because it is important to visit our four mission stations in Pakistan.

—You mentioned Sunday school…

—Yes, we have Sunday school and also an adult education center for Christian girls and women. Every evening, they learn how to read and write; they learn Orthodox prayers. They also receive some skills in embroidery and stitching. This center works for all women, even if they belong to other Christian denominations.

—How do your parishioners come to Orthodoxy, and why do they join the Russian church?

—From the time we began our first missionary Orthodox studies in 2010, we have been teaching about the differences between the Orthodox Church and other denominations. So, when people listen to our teaching, they can see the differences. There were so many people attracted; they found real spirituality and real strength in the Orthodox church. They saw how we love the Most Holy Theotokos, how we celebrate feasts, and how we venerate icons. They saw true worship, with nothing mixed in. People love this; they embrace Holy Orthodoxy because they know that in the Orthodox church, we never use other things in the Divine services like other churches do. They like how we enter the church, how we venerate, that we have candles and incense—so many things. And people do not want to go back.

—What support does your mission need, and how can people, from Russia for example, help?

—Yes, the Russians can help us by sending missionaries to Pakistan and supporting us financially. At the government level, they can speak to the Pakistani authorities and tell them that they must protect and help Christians in Pakistan. Our government has land, so they can provide it to the Orthodox community to build an Orthodox church there.

Also, we ask our kind donors to help because we need funds to build an administrative office and a large temple. Until recently, we had a small prayer house. Now, with the blessing of Metropolitan Nicholas, we renovated it into to a holy temple so that people could worship according to the true traditions of the Orthodox Church.

    

​

Happy is the man who has a place on the earth that he loves more than anything, a place where his heart lies. A place, a land, that as the ancient tales say, gives him strength. And for me, this place on the earth is the The Holy Dormition Pskov-Caves MonasteryToday, the fourth Sunday after Pentecost, we celebrate the memory of all the saints of the Pskov-Caves Monastery in Pechory, Pskov Province, Russia. This monastery became especially important to the Russian Orthodox people during Communist times, because it was the only men’s monastery in Russia that was never closed by the atheist regime, becoming an oasis of Orthodox life in a socialist desert.

“>Pskov Caves Monastery. It’s the most beautiful, most beloved place, and can never be replaced in my heart. Although I grew up in Moscow, and have been to many places in Russia, to many other countries, there is no more beautiful, warmer, closer place than the Pskov Caves Monastery.

I thank God with all my heart that thirty-one years after I had to leave for Moscow on Saint Porphyrios on ObedienceFor Christians as well as those outside the Church, probably no topic is as misunderstood as obedience. And yet, obedience is foundational not only to our relationship with Christ but for the whole of the Church’s life. Obedience to Holy Tradition, to our bishop and our conscience all serve to keep us united to God and our brothers and sisters in Christ.

“>obedience, He heard my prayers. Thirty-one years went by, and I returned here. How could I ever have imagined that I, first a pilgrim and then a novice in the cow barn, would return to the Pskov Caves Monastery, which was wholly then and still is for me a sacred place, from every stone to every person, and though sinful and unworthy, become its abbot. But this happiness did not last long (smiles)—only five years. The Lord tears us away from what the heart becomes attached, even the spiritual. The heart must be attached only to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Only this is worthy and meet—all else is a mixture of the lofty and the human, the passions, and tender feelings—not divine, but human, emotional. Therefore, the Lord changes situations in life—sometimes inside the monastery, and sometimes outside of it.

I would like to thank with my whole heart the brothers of the monastery for lovingly and condescendingly receiving me here as their brother, as their old friend and comrade; and that they tried to help in every way, although I was at times not right—but they corrected me. And this gave us the opportunity to more rightly do our common work. And our common work here, besides personal salvation, is the good of this monastery. It is absolutely alive. This is an especially living being—of course, in a certain connotative sense. But if it is as we heard today [the feast of the Protection of the Mother of God] in the tradition concerning Roman the Sweet-Singer—the church is filled with worshippers, and the Most Pure Theotokos herself is present here—this place truly is completely special and lives its own life. And people who come here, even the unbelieving, this monastery transforms and gradually leads to the faith. And each of us knows a great multitude of such instances.

I would like to thank the monastery itself with all its inhabitants, both living and those who have gone on to the Lord, with the guardian angels, the spirits of the righteous, with all who abide here in the heavenly world, who instruct us, console us, give us the right thoughts, and fill us with courage when the moment comes that is according to God’s Providence, but not completely fathomable to us.

I would like to thank the parishioners of our monastery, the Pskovians and pilgrims, for their great spiritual feelings for our monastery. Some people come, take a look, yawn, and leave—“Well, yeah, it’s not bad.” But there are people who are of one soul with us and feel an absolutely special beauty, the unearthly beauty of this place.

I would like to thank our reposed fathers, whom I had the honor to know, and those whom I never saw but who participate in the life of this monastery.

I would like to thank the Pechorans, who have courageously endured all my furious activity in transforming the town of Pechory. Of course there was some remonstrance, many grumbled, and are now saying, “Well, how do you like that, he’s dug everything up and now he’s leaving.” Don’t worry my dears, it will all be dug back in. The sewer pipes, the heating pipes—it will all be buried again by winter. And above it all will spring parks, beautiful houses, wondrous streets, park benches, playgrounds, sports complexes for the youth, where the kids can run around and work off their energy. In the middle of the pond will be an island, and on the island will be risers, and on these risers artists will sing beautiful songs, and the Pechorans will sit in this ancient amphitheater and listen to these songs. Wind orchestras will come and play marches and waltzes from the early twentieth century. And I, God willing, will also come and listen to them. Then the next stage of renovation will start, and some will start grumbling again: “A-a-a, the Muscovites have swarmed in, what are they doing here?” That’s okay, you’ll just have to be patient. Everything will be alright. There will be a beautiful skating rink beyond the water tower. And there’ll be lots more. I am sure that Fr. Hilarion [the abbatial locum tenens], the new leaders in our region—and well, I’ll also be a little bit nearby—we’ll finish it all, so that not only in the monastery but all around it Pechory will be the nicest, prettiest, and tastiest place in Russia; in any case in Northwestern Russia.

I would like to thank His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, who suddenly and unexpectedly told me, “You’ll be the bishop of Pskov and the abbot of the Pskov Caves Monastery.” This was totally unexpected for me, I couldn’t even have dreamed about such heights. I could dream—well, as long as they’ve made me a bishop, maybe St. Petersburg, or something like Crimea, in the warmth. But Pechory… I didn’t dare to dream. Well, dreams come true and quickly pass.

I wish you, dear fathers, brothers, and sisters, to “take the precious from the vile” as the Prophet Jeremiah said (Jer. 15:19). Take from what has been done here, redone here, and find the beautiful and good; and continue on, Fr. Hilarion.

Of course, I thank Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)

“>Fr. John (Krestiankin) and all our elders. I understand how important it was to come to them, to ask them for help and wisdom. This is incomparable power and truth, to come to them at their graves and as a sinner, a sinful son, ask with my whole heart for their help and instruction. And the Lord is now giving an answer through them.

Brothers and sisters, may the Lord save you; forgive me a sinner if I have done anything wrong, if there have been some mistakes. If I have offended anyone, forgive me and bless me. God forgives you and blesses you. And pray for me. That is a different diocese there, a large one. It has its complexities; but I will always be happy if someone comes in the midst of the heat… What is Crimea? What was Crimea in Ancient Greece? The Kolyma! It was the Kolyma! For us it’s Crimea, but for them it was a place where people didn’t live a normal life. People were exiled to there—St. John Chrysostom, and St. Clement, Pope of Rome. To the Kolyma! And now I’m being sent to the resorts in the Kolyma. No, of course it’s beautiful there. Beautiful… but it’s not Pechory.

May the Lord protect you!