www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Persecutions against the ROAC in Russia increase!

Persecutions against the ROAC in Russia increase!

In Russia, at the MP's request, the Russian government has increased its attacks on the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church (ROAC). Even though the current ROAC temples have all passed inspections, the government is now reinspecting all of the ROAC churches and declaring them either not improved enough, or improved in unapproved ways! In addition, Metropolitan Valentine has been getting repeated calls telling him to leave Russia for good while he still has time. Please pray for the faithful in Russia that are under these attacks purely for standing firm in the faith and not capitulating to the demands of the MP (The"Official" State-Run Church, the Moscow Patriarchate).

Glory to Jesus Christ!

James Madison warned about the mutual corruption that follows a "coalition" between government and a particular confession. A confession may see the short term benefits of state support. However, the long term yields only public alienation and poor witness.

Why do churches feel government reliance is more valuable than reliance on the Holy Spirit?

God bless,
Christopher

Please excuse my ignorance, but I am not familiar with this group. Is this the jurisdiction mentioned in the article posted below? If so why would they establish another jurisdiction in Ukraine and why are they calling Ukraine, an independent country "Little Russia". Is this jurisdiction connected in any way with the ROCOR? Any clarification will be greatly appreciated.

Russian Orthodox Abroad (V-A) Ordain Bishop for Zaporizhzhia
28.11.2006, [17:01] // Orthodox //

Shcherbinka, Russia � Archimandrite Ioan (Zynoviev) was ordained bishop of Zaporizhzhia and �Little Russia� at the cathedral of the Central Russian Eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad under metropolitans Valentyn and Antonii (ROCA V-A) at Shcherbinka (a suburb of Moscow) on 24 November 2006.

The decision to perform the ordination was made at a session of the Hierarchical Synod of the ROCA V-A, headed by Metropolitan Antonii (Orlov), head of the ROCA V-A, which took place the day before.

The synod ratified a decision to accept the Zaporizhzhia Eparchy of the ROCA into the bosom of the ROCA V-A and to establish a �Little Russian� eparchy, which would include the territories of Ukraine and Moldova. Bishop Ioan (Zynoviev) was appointed the eparchy�s administrator.

According to portal-credo.ru, Bishop Ioan, ordained on 24 November, had been a hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate (UOC-KP). However, that ordination was not recognized when he joined the ROCA in March 2003, where he was accepted at the rank of archimandrite, which he had received while in the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). The decision about his ordination at the ROCA formally contradicts the decision of the ROCA�s hierarchal sobor from 3 November 2006, which says that all clergy who received their rank at the ROC should be baptized and ordained again after joining the ROCA. At the same time, portal-credo.ru reports that the issue of the creation of a �Little Russian� eparchy of the ROCA (V-A) by the affiliation of the Zaporizhzhia Eparchy of the ROCA is �strategic� in resolving the issue about the �heritage� of the ROCA in Ukraine. So, the correspondent of credo.ru concludes that the hierarchal synod of the ROCA could somehow be more �economical� (less strict in applying canonical rules) in this situation.

Source:


� http://www.portal-credo.ru/site/?act=news&id=49501&cf=

No, it is a different group.

Alexandr