Чего ожидал я, не часто бывает,
чего не предвидел, то точно и будет,
от Господа Бога всё это зависит.
-5/30/07
What I thought I expected does not often happen;
what I have not foreseen, it is that which will be;
and all this is the will of the Lord God, my Savior!
-6/11/07
Friday, October 19, 2007
Brief poem in Russian and English
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Vatican deals with homosexuality in its ranks
Newsweek has a story today about allegations of homosexuality among top Roman Catholic officials working in the Vatican. Some conservative leaders who are working to purge the Catholic Church of hypocrisy and hidden sin, particularly in relation to pedophilia and homosexuality, are convinced that these revelations will actually be good for the church. They feel that openness and confrontation in regard to these issues may be just what the church needs, in order to be restored to greater spiritual health.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Russian Orthodox Church walks out of Catholic-Orthodox talks
Representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church walked out of a joint meeting of Catholic and Orthodox theologians being held in Ravenna, Italy, this week. Their protest was not against anything that had been done or said by the Catholics present; instead, it was against some of their fellow Orthodox.
The Russian Orthodox representatives, Bishop Ilarion of Vienna and Austria and Father Igor Vyzhanin, were protesting the inclusion of a representative of the Estonian Apostolic Church at the talks. Although the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople (who claims a "first among equals" relationship with other Orthodox Patriarchs) has given canonical recognition to the Estonian church, the Russian Orthodox Church continues to deny that status and to assert its own authority over the Orthodox Christians of Estonia. Alexy II, the Patriarch of Moscow and spiritual leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, is himself Estonian by birth.
Time will tell how well the various Orthodox churches can adjust to the changed realities of post-Soviet Europe. Unity and consensus among themselves would be a good first step.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Standing for righteousness in the Anglican Communion
Archbishop of Uganda Henry Luke Orombi has added his voice to those of Anglicans around the world who are unwilling to going along with the continued antics of The Episcopal Church (TEC). In a meeting last month, bishops of TEC--the U.S. branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion--expressed their "passionate desire" to remain full members of the Communion, yet refused to stop outright from consecrating active homosexuals as bishops.
While speaking at Church of the Apostles in Daphne, Alabama, Archbishop Orombi declared that the U.S. bishops had "tossed the faith overboard." In addition, his office issued a statement proclaiming that the Americans "have decided to walk apart" and running through a list of betrayals of the international Anglican body by the U.S. branch.
Michael Nazir-Ali, bishop of Rochester and a leading member of the Church of England, seems to agree. He suggested that he might boycott next year's Lambeth Conference, the once-a-decade worldwide gathering of Anglican bishops, rather than participate in full fellowship with the American bishops who helped ordain practicing homosexual V. Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire in 2003.
Meanwhile, conservative Episcopal bishops representing more than 600 churches met in Pittsburgh at the end of September to plan for a separate Anglican church structure in North America, one that would remain faithful to Scripture and in line with conservative Anglican churches in other parts of the world.
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