®Monomakhos

The Blood of Christians Is the Seed of the Church

by

Just when things can’t get any bad for the Orthodox Christians in Ukraine, the Rada finally did what they promised to do:  outlaw the canonical Orthodox Church.  You can read this late-breaking story from our friends at Helleniscope here:  https://www.helleniscope.com/2024/08/20/democracy-of-ukraine-bans-uoc-the-church-followed-by-70-of-orthodox-ukranians/

So much for “religious freedom.”

It’s a sad story, not only because Ukrainian Christians are suffering, but because they will continue to do so until the Russian army puts the house of the Ukraine in order.  Of course, the minions of the demonic West will do everything to delay that outcome but, God willing, the end of the present wicked Kievan regime will soon come to an end.

Many people in the West will have to answer to the Lord for this persecution; truth be told, even the previous administration will be called to account; Mike Pompeo especially.  But also holdovers from the Obama administration, especially Victoria Nuland.  If not this life, then most assuredly in the next.

We can add other names to this sorry list:  Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom, Emmanuel Macron of France, Angela Merkel of Germany, and of course, Vladimir Zelensky.  This man in particular will pay a heavy price because he rode to a stupendous electoral victory as a peace candidate.  That said, these people were all political actors whose actions were based on secular ideas.  They can be somewhat forgiven for not realizing there was a spiritual dimension as well.  We could say that they were deluded by the Western fantasies of “liberation,” “tolerance,” or “diversity”; the golden bricks that have paved the primrose path of Western ideology for far too long.

Today however, I want to bring attention to the one man who knew better –or should have known better.  That would be Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, the “first among equals” of the patriarchs and metropolitans who head the autocephalous Orthodox Churches throughout the world.

We know how this process started.  First, he illegally and uncanonically sent an exarch into the metropolis of Kiev, an autonomous archdiocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.  The pretext for doing so was farcical, that this ancient archdiocese in actuality belonged to Constantinople and that Moscow only held it on a “provisional” basis.  Once this was recognized (if only in his mind), he would unilaterally grant Ukraine autocephaly.  Even if it meant he would defy every other Orthodox primate.

And so, in 2019, he did.  And then the Kievan regime decided that they had the moral authority to persecute the canonical Orthodox Church of that land.

For what it’s worth, The RAND Corporation had come up with plans for this war in 2019.  It’s all right here:  https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB10014.html

Make no mistake:  this was all done by design.  The State Department had long wanted to bust up the Russian Federation and they were always looking for an excuse.   Let’s be honest, there was no way that Metropolitan Onuphriy would give them permission to do so; needless to say, neither would Patriarch Kirill.

The Ecumenical Patriarch on the other hand, was all but willing to give his blessing to this sorry enterprise.

Now, don’t get me wrong; Bartholomew could not have stopped NATO’s plans from using Ukraine as  a battering-ram against the Russian Federation.  Let me repeat myself:  he could not have done so even if he was inclined to do so.  Nor for that matter could he have instigated NATO to incite hostilities against Russia.  No matter how much he views himself as the “Eastern Pope,” he’s not that powerful or influential.  Far from it.

He is, however, an Orthodox bishop.  On the spiritual side, he knew that by going into Kiev and illegally granting autocephaly he was committing a grave sin.  It was in fact an ecclesial crime of the first order.  He didn’t have to do that.  He could have stood up to the West and told them “Gentlemen, what you are planning is immoral, therefore, I cannot give you a blessing to do what you have already decided to do.  If I do so, then the blood of innocent Christians will be on my hands.”

These would have been the words that a stalwart bishop would have said.

I realize that defiant ecclesiastical leaders are few and far between.  But the ones that do stand up to secular authorities are not only heroic, they  are saints.  St Ambrose of Milan, who stared down Emperor Theodosius the Great was one such hierarch.  St Leo the Great, who confronted Attila the Hun was another such man.  Closer to our times, St Germogen of Moscow, sacrificed his life when he stood up to the Poles and gave the Russians the courage to drive them out of Holy Russia.

Bartholomew of Constantinople on the other hand, is not such a man.

He is instead, a willing pawn of the evil authorities that rule the West.  And because he is so, the blood of innocent Christians is upon his hands.

Comments

  1. https://www.orthodoxianewsagency.gr/patriarxeia/oikomeniko_patriarxio/stin-konstantinoupoli-apo-1-eos-3-septemvriou-i-synaksi-tis-ierarxias-tou-oikoumenikou-thronou/

    The entire synod of the EP will be meeting next week for the first time since 2021. This includes the hierarchs from every eparchy and those within Greece who are under the EP.

    It’s going to be very interesting to see what is said regarding the UPC/OCU especially given the vocal support the entire Orthodox world has given since the UOC has for all practical purposes been banned.

    You have to wonder how the bishops under the EP who reside in Greece are feeling about the OCU. Greece is much more hostile to them than the direct EP hierarchs.

    There is no way they are going to be able to get around discussing Ukrainian Orthodoxy. Besides the demographic collapse of GOARCH, Ukraine would have to be the #1 thing that needs to be discussed.

    Bartholomew recently had conversations with Patriarch John of Antioch and I believe others, and apparently it was told directly to Bartholomew that the OCU will never be recognized. Pair that with the words from just today from Patriarch Daniel of Bulgaria and it should be beyond obvious to Bartholomew that his goose is cooked.

    If he was wise and wanted to get out of this situation the best way to do it is to listen to the words of Patriarch John and convene a pan-Orthodox synod to answer the Ukrainian situation.

    • Not only is Patriarch John a hero but I’ve had a “feeling” about Patriarch Daniel of Bulgaria being a dark horse from the start. There was just something about his mien that intimated to me that he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with.

      • Agreed. Glory to God. Patriarch Daniel does indeed seem to be part of the “new crew” that Met. Neophytos has spoke of.

        I’ve been saying for a while now that Bartholomew’s misadventure into Ukraine is going to be the catalyst for what foils his union with Rome next year. Between that and a Russian military victory I just don’t see how a union is possible.

        As Patriarch Daniel noted, 11 out of 15 Churches have not accepted the OCU and even within Greece, Cyprus and Alexandria the acceptance of the OCU is questionable.

        If the Churches aren’t willing to follow Bartholomew on that then there’s an even less chance they’ll accept union with Rome.

  2. After passing the anti-UOC bill the Orthodox world seems to be turning decisively agains the OCU and Bartholomew.

    Patriarch John of Antioch has come out with unwavering support for Met. Onuphry and the UOC. Going so far as to say it is the only legitimate Orthodox Church in Ukraine with legitimate apostolic succession and ordinations.

    He is also calling for a general council of the Church to answer the Ukrainian situation. I suspect that this was part of the conversation he had recently with Archbishop Anastasios of Albania who has also been calling for a council since the begging.

    This is on top of the Patriarch of Serbia’s very vocal support of Met. Onuphry.

    I’m starting to think this is why Bartholomew is now realizing that not only has he not unified Orthodoxy in Ukraine, he has led to the outright banning of the UOC by his actions.

    The Church of Russia this past week also called out Bartholomew directly and correlated him to Annanias and Caiphus due to his betrayal of canonical Orthodoxy.

    I think it’s safe to say that no one in the Orthodox world outside of some Greek sycophants any longer views the EP or Bartholomew as the head of Orthodoxy and I’m starting to be of the opinion that Bartholomew is now realizing this.

    The question is: What is Bartholomew going to do?

    Will he convene a council?

  3. As usual, a trenchant observation about the Russo-Ukrainian War by Taki Theodorocopoulos:

    https://www.takimag.com/article/another-stupid-war/

    Here’s the takeaway: “Let me explain: The Kursk offensive conjures up unwelcome ghosts from the past, especially for the Germans. In July 1943, the biggest tank battle in history took place in Kursk, and it only ended when Hitler was forced to pull two armored divisions from the area in order to defend against the American invasion of Sicily. Von Manstein’s Panzers were actually inferior to Zhukov’s T-34s, but the Luftwaffe had kept the two-week-long nonstop battle even, with the German side slightly favored. Today’s fighting is mere shadowboxing compared with the real thing. The undisputed winner of this is Vladimir Putin, something the armchair war lovers and profiteers back in Washington and London have yet to grasp. These greedy types have yet to understand that by Ukrainian tanks trundling though Russian villages, they are handing Putin the greatest propaganda victory since the death of Hitler. Putin has for years insisted that eastward expansion of NATO was a hostile alliance’s plan to intimidate and threaten Russia. Putin’s warning to the Russian people that the West was out to subjugate Russia has handed him unexpected proof.”

  5. Meanwhile, here is an opinion on whom it was that arranged
    the ascension to office of Bart’s intended ‘unification partner’:
    :

    “Archbishop Viganò: Bergoglio owes his ‘election’ to McCarrick”
    https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/archbishop-vigano-bergoglio-owes-his-election-to-mccarrick/?utm_source=popular

    In a new interview given to journalist Franca Giansoldati of the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò claims that Francis “owes” his 2013 election to disgraced ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

    In the interview published by Il Messaggero on Wednesday morning, Viganò was asked, “You have accused Pope Francis of having ignored the rumors relating to the homosexuality and abuse of minors by Cardinal McCarrick, who was later convicted of pedophilia, reduced to the lay state, and expelled from the College of Cardinals. The Vatican only took action in 2017 after an accusation that was considered credible. Why didn’t it act earlier? What concrete evidence was there?”

    In response, Viganò answered, “As Delegate for the Pontifical Representations, I dealt with the McCarrick case myself, and since then I have asked for his dismissal from the Cardinalate.”

    “My direct superiors are responsible for not having taken due account of my judgment based on incontrovertible testimony,” Viganò alleged. “Obviously, McCarrick’s work was convenient for someone in the Secretariat of State, starting with the huge sums raised through the Papal Foundation that the Cardinal had set up in the United States.”

    “I remember well a comment made to me by the Argentine Leonardo Sandri, then a Monsignor with whom I shared the same office for 11 years when we were both secretaries of the Substitute: ‘But this McCarrick is always here!’” Viganò continued. “Sandri later became the Substitute, and it was precisely to him that I delivered my Note detailing McCarrick’s misconduct, but ambition and the prospects of advancing his career led him to keep quiet and cover up the scandals.”

    Viganò then stated that Francis “owes his ‘election’ to McCarrick: McCarrick himself declared this during a conference at Villanova University where on October 11, 2013 he affirmed that he had favored the election of Jorge Mario Bergoglio during the General Congregations prior to the Conclave held a few months earlier, and that he had spoken about it with ‘a very influential Italian gentleman’ who supposedly confided to him how in the space of a five-year period the new Pope would ‘reform’ – that is, revolutionize – the Church.”

    Viganò also claimed to the outlet that the reason Francis laicized McCarrick in February 2019 was because “the scandal was no longer manageable, despite the fact that McCarrick’s crimes had been known for decades.”

    “The paradox arose with the publication on November 10, 2020, of a substantial Report on McCarrick drawn up by Attorney Jeffrey Lena and costing the Holy See millions, in which he falsely goes so far as to say that I was the one responsible for the failure to timely initiate canonical proceedings against McCarrick,” Viganò concluded.

  7. All Orthodox need to pray for this man: Patriarch Daniel of Bulgaria may be the focus for the revival of Orthodoxy in the Balkans.

    https://orthochristian.com/163005.html

    He’s been able to stand up to Patriarch Bartholomew so far but I expect NATO to put the screws to him.

  8. If Bartholomew really wanted to fix this he would call a council of all the Primates of the Churches and settle the looming questions of the OCU ordinations.

    Or, he can demand that the OCU be validly ordained since that is the major crux of the problem the majority of the Orthodox world has with them. It’s been almost 6 years and only **portions** of 3 Churches have accepted the OCU. None are likely to follow and all other Churches have been vocally supportive of the UOC/Metropolitan Onuphry.

    Until then, he can do all he wants and find as many “solutions” he wants and still no other Church will accept the OCU.

    Not to mention that apparently (according to Helleniscope) the Patriarchs of Antioch & Bulgaria (and others?) have very recently made it clear to Bartholomew they will not be accepting the OCU and in fact support Met. Onuphry.

    It also is starting to seem that Bartholomew has very much been duped by those in his own patriarchate and within the OCU:

    https://spzh.live/en/news/81722-head-of-phanar-demands-dumenko-explain-forceful-seizures-of-uoc-churches

    https://spzh.live/en/news/81734-delegates-of-patriarch-bartholomew-arrive-in-ukraine

    It’s very hard to take these people seriously when the Ukrainian government just essentially banned the UOC.

    I’m sure Bartholomew is going to have one Hell (pun intended) of a time explaining to the other Orthodox Churches how he not only worsened a schism in Ukraine, but, is forcing the UOC to cut ties with Moscow and be FORCED by coercion to come under his Patriarchate.

    • “If Bartholomew really wanted to fix this…” Like the Psuedo-Council of Crete: he would not even allow a discussion of the Calendar issue to be on the agenda.
      “If Bartholomew really wanted to fix this…”
      Therein lies the problem!

  9. What goes around comes around. Like a massive boomerang, the evil-doers will have their comeuppance.

  11. “These would have been the words that a stalwart bishop would have said.”

    A stalwart but comparatively poor bishop. Being on the State Department’s payroll has its conditions attached, and being a good shepherd to Orthodox Christians isn’t one of them.