I like Mr. Putin, mainly because he is Russian Orthodox! He converted from athiestism after he survived a fire in his ducha, I believe he actually had a religous expirience during the fire.
I like his no B.S. politics too, every country needs a strong man as leader every now and then. Plus Russia, under him, is in a lot better shape than it was in the mid 90s. Plus Aristotle (or was Plato?) said the best form of government is a beign dictatorship, I agree - but the only thing is you would get a good dictator, St. Constantine or St. King Louis IX for example, only to be succeeded by a bunch of nut jobs.
Maybe he could benevolently give back all of our Catholic properties in Russia, and direct governments in Russia at all levels to quit impeding the restitution and (new) building of Catholic Churches through-out the nation.
I don't like him. I don't trust him. I don't believe his intentions with the ROC are without agenda. Of course, it isn't chic - especially in more "enlightened" Byzantine and Latin circles to say, but I am no fan of the Patriarch, either.
I get called "reactionary" "Uber-ultramontaine", "High Greek Catholic" "Fatimatista" and the like when I express the fullness of my opinions. The Islamization of the military (by some estimates more than half of the enlisted men) the return to USSR flag for the army, the intertwining of the state and the ROC in a new fashion, the suppression of certain democratic practices... I feel that it is simply a new totalitarianism rearing its ugly head, and I worry they need a lot of prayers because the future looks a little dark.
You know if JP2 of blessed memory, had designs on a "uniate invasion" of Russia, it certainly could have been started.
From around the world it is easy to imagine 1000s of priests and religous mobilized and sent forth - a few dozen Jesuits here, a few dozen Franciscan there, toss in some Dominicans, some Divine Word missionaries, a cadre of Oratorians, a couple of Missionaries of the Poor, toss in some Opus Dei, add a few Miles Jesu members, grab a handful of Legionairies, relieve the over-flowing Benedictines of France of a few members, and relocate some Norbetines, a few extras from the FSSP, some diocesan priests, and a few busloads of newly ordained, rosy-cheeked 20somethings fresh out of the Ukrainian underground and before you know it, you have the makings of a unia and you could be doing land-office business. 4 Million baptists in Russia, you know... Heck, open up a university, and start opening Catholic schools, and they would have filled.
Hey, we all know that there are convents full of little old Fillipino and Italian nuns that can make rosaries faster than you can tie a shoe! Statues of OL of Fatima and scapulars enough for every man woman and child could have flooded the land. Priories, novitiates, seminaries, and other houses of formation could have been filled up. I truly believe more than a few Orthodox priests could have been entreated to enter a unia.
But we didn't. The Pope didn't direct that. Some of us might even be tempted to say placation was the order of the day. How many Ukrainian Catholics were exiled? How many parishes do they have in Russia?
Still, Pat. Alexy never seemed to miss an opportunity to excoriate the Catholic Church, complain wildly of proselitizing (never mind that his old bosses are the ones that sent the Catholics to Siberia, and they now lived there! Or that some Russians, with access to the internet, HAVE weighed Roman claims and opted to "go Roman"...). Pope John Paul was snubbed and rebuffed time and time again in his effort to build better relations and visit Russia. But the Latins and their "uniates"
always make good targets, and always make for good press. It also seems to fit very nicely with the wave of "strong Russia(nationalist)/anti-western sentiment" that is building over there.
Is Orthodoxy informing Putin & his nationalists, or vice versa?
I am not meaning to write a manifesto, sabre-rattle, or come of as anti-EO here. I want to live to see the day the schisms between east and west are healed. In the mean time, I want peace and freedom for the people of Russia, and for Catholics to be free to be Catholic.
I hope they are entering a new spring time, but I worry the totalitarians are just regrouping.
