Dear Hutsul,

(I had Hutsuls in my family and Blessed Metropolitan Andrew Sheptytsky wrote letters to be read from the pulpit that were translated into the Hutsul dialect - they are in his Collected Works).

Yes, a life-long acquaintance of mine who became an OCA priest told me precisely this - "Alex, pay attention to Lent and not the 'news.'"

I couldn't imagine a more . . . anti-Christian statement than this. I forwarded an email exchange I had with a relative whose place of work was bombed by the Russian air force that morning. I told him "This is my Lent and this is my 'news.'"

But my mention of Pope Francis is what caused a negative reaction from him and he, although he is younger, took it upon himself to chide me and tell me that if I could not say anything "positive" then I should just stay silent . . .

I don't care if he thinks he is a candidate for the Moscow patriarchy . . . he can go jump in the Volga. 28 Eparchies formerly UOC-MP have ceased commemorating their former patriarch and many have begun commemorating the EP. The Georgian Orthodox Church is now on the brink of recognizing the OCU - even though they have been warned by the MP to not even think about it. World Orthodoxy is in crisis mode now and who knows how the map of ecclesial geopolitics will be redrawn in future . . .