Total freedom (from conscience)
The other day, Orthodox journalists have released a new documentary. After seeing it, you will be able to make your own judgment about the authorities’ biased way of protecting (or clearing out?) the rights of religious communities in Ukraine, following their statute and making it mandatory for others.
The film features in detail a raider seizure of an Orthodox church. It becomes clear why those who call this process "the transition of the faithful from the Russian Church into Ukrainian one," so fiercely want to denigrate the authors of true stories: this is entirely inconvenient truth for the dominant state propaganda.
Hypocritical can only be described the appeals of the authorities and dependent information sources to consider students who came out on Maidan demanding immediate European integration and visa-free regime "kibalchishes" (good guys) and seminarians, who did not lose heart to stand up for their faith, - "bad guys" .
The seminarians’ fault is evident and lies in the fact that they are opposed to hypocritical power, which is trying at all costs to suppress any dissent. The regime, under which the chief official for religion is favored by one of the smallest denominations, while the freedom of belief of the largest denomination is under threat. The regime, which decides and will decide all disputable issues in favor of the side which serves it without a murmur.
We will not go into details for what achievements Mr. Yurosh has been granted three high awards from the self-proclaimed Kiev Patriarch. Perhaps for the same thing as the accused today of embezzlement and abuse Korban, or failed to meet any of his pre-election promises Mr. Poroshenko. When the country is ruled by hypocrisy, deceiving its own people, it is forced to rely exclusively on the similar hypocrites and double-faced men who conceal their division and inevitable failure under a perforated veil of the national idea.
They will falsely accuse everybody who objects to them. They will mar and defame all who struggle for justice and truth. But, according to St. John Chrysostom, "better to speak the truth that hurts and then heals, than tell a lie, which soothes, and then kills."
Pavel Karnazytsky, journalist
Read also
The Papacy Is Not a 'Development'—It's a Contradiction
The Holy Canons assert the absolute authority of each bishop within his own diocese. The Ecumenical Councils, while acknowledging the Pope's symbolic primacy, also explicitly checked his attempts to exercise superior authority over the Church, or to place himself above his fellow bishops. And the Church Fathers fleshed out this ecclesiology, affirming the rights of bishops and synods while checking papal ambitions.
Meet the New Rome, Same as the Old Rome
J.D. Vance’s comparison of the Ecumenical Patriarch to the Pope highlights growing tensions within Orthodoxy, as critics accuse Patriarch Bartholomew of pursuing "Greek papism" and aligning with U.S. geopolitical interests, risking the erosion of his primacy of love and the unity of the Orthodox Church.
The Trial of Met. Tychikos: When the Church ‘Washes Her Hands’
A look at the clear parallels between Pilate’s trial and the trial of Met. Tychikos.
From Protestant Pastor to Orthodox Priest
Joshua Genig was the son of devout Lutherans. From an early age, he dreamed of serving the Lutheran church as a pastor and teacher. He got his wish—and yet one thought kept him up at night: "Is any of this real?" After years of searching, Genig and his family were received into the Orthodox Church, and the Rev. Mr. Genig is now Father Joshua.
Analysis: The ‘Appeal’ of Metropolitan Tikhikos and the Patriarchal Synod
The Synod of the Church of Constantinople is going to review the high-profile appeal of Metropolitan Tychikos, who was removed from the Paphos See by the Cypriot Synod. What decision will the Synod members of Constantinople make?
The Abp. of Cyprus, the Euros, and the Phanar
What explains the certainty of the Archbishop of Cyprus that the Patriarchate will validate his own and the Synod’s illegal actions in the case of Tychikos? Does he know the decision long before the Synod convenes?