Anyone who knows me, or reads what I write, knows full well that I have never said that the entire Orthodox hierarchy are a bunch of criminals or similar miscreants, and I have certainly never said that the Catholic hierarchy are all angels!

I have not defended anyone for telling anyone else "to go to Hell" - and Father Taft did not say that. He is quoted as having said "to Hell with Moscow" - which is not the same thing. If you read my posting again, you will notice that I didn't defend him for that either; I suggested that this was disedifying (not a complimentary term, certainly) and regretted that he had used it. But the colloquialism is often used in a sense which does not literally mean that one wishes someone or something to be in eternal fire. To offer a simple example, if one is attempting unsuccessfully to accomplish some task, and time is running short, one might say "oh, the hell with it, I've got more important things to do".

In this particular instance, four substantial volumes of KGB files from Soviet Ukraine have been published, showing beyond all doubt what a mockery the 1946 suppression of the Greek-Catholic Church was. Yet the Moscow Patriarchate continues to insist that this was an utterly canonical event. After a while, one understandably becomes thoroughly weary of such persistent mendacity.

Meanwhile, I had never previously thought that the distance from earth to hell could be measured on the metric system. One should learn something every day, evidently.

Fr. Serge

Some of Fr. Taft's other comments were interesting.

Dear Andrew,

I really enjoyed Father Taft's article. Looking at it objectively, and from my own personal experiences, he stated everything exactly as it is. Of particular interest was:



I had to laugh at that. I recall reading the book 'Falling Angels', (can't remember the author's name). There were interviews with priests, monks, and nuns, in Greece and Eastern Europe, and the emotionalism and irrationality was unbelievable. Of course being Greek I'm use to it, but we have to realize that people in that part of the world were never products of the Enlightenment. Today things have been changing, as more and more young people go to school in the West.

Regardless, throughout history the West was always misunderstood, so culture clashes were bound to occur. By being alien to them, as it is today in the Middle East, Western actions could only be understood throught the context of what they themselves are and would do in similar circumstances.

This is something quite important for us to realize today, especially when dealing with an alien Islamic and Far Eastern mentality. Let us realize that when we are condemned, it is not so much for our actions, but rather what they perceive to be the reason for our actions. By knowing so, we would realize what their own intent would be in similar situations.

Zenovia

The Moscow Patriarchate suspended the person who headed this book burning for a substantial period of time.

Look, I myself may not agree with everything MP does, but I do have tremendous respect for the Russian Church.

No Church in the 20th Century suffered the kind of persecution that was suffered by both the Russian and the Ukrainian Orhtodox Churches.

They tried to destroy our mother Church. The Communists ripped crosses of our Churches, they burned icons, they desecrated the remains of Saints, they killed close to 300,000 Orthodox Christian Bishops, Priests, Monks and Laymen.

After this shameless, heartless horrible persecution the Russian Church has survived, it has ripped itself from the clutches of satan and now shines a beacon for all the people in the biggest country in the World.

How can you now respect that?

How can you not understand that this kind of suffering and this kind of persecution does not permit for the Church to be totally rebuilt in 20 years without any problems what so ever?

As a Ukrainian Orthodox Christian, I have my own problems and gripes with MP, but YES, I love my brothers in Russia, as much as I love my brothers in Belorus, Georgia and all other the world.

May God grant us all the ability to see and be saved by the light of our HOLY ORTHODOX CHURCH until the end of time!

"How can you now respect that?"

TYPO, I meant How can you not respect that?



Here is the quote from the Greek Catholic Ukrainian Publication <SLOVO BOZHE> that Father Serge was interested in.

http://img111.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hereitisxe1.jpg

Dear Friends,

Unlike Miller, I DO count some famous people among my relatives.

This discussion is truly unseemly during the Great Fast, and I call upon our Father Anthony to do what appears best for our spiritual benefit with this thread!

Bless, Father!

Alex

Agreed Alex,

This thread is now closed. Apparently this a very difficult fast for many.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+
Administrator