Is Tadic's Regime Trying To Starve the Serbian Dioceses?

December 15, 2009
Call For Help From Diocese in Serbia

From: info@eparhija-prizren.com





15.12.2009.
Source: Diocese of Ras-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija




CALL FOR HELP
to the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Ras-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija


The Diocese of Ras-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija is forced to turn to the Serbian people in Serbia and Serbian diaspora to ask for help.
Years of living and working under existing conditions have left the Diocese drained of resources necessary for achieving its basic goals.
Assistance sent to the Diocese in the past was sufficient to meet the many needs of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija and to comfort and encourage the Diocese in the performance of its Mission in spite of the enslavement, persecution and having to face daily instances of eradication of all things Serbian.
Recently, however, the situation has seriously deteriorated, while the diocesan economic strength and its ability to respond to the constantly growing needs under increasingly complex conditions is becoming weaker day by day.
The problems with which the Diocese of Ras-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija has to deal with on a daily basis are in many ways unique. They require undertaking specific measures, assistance of experts in various areas and formation of organizations which must be able to react appropriately to ever multiplying and unexpected challenges in increasingly difficult conditions.
We have not forgotten the assistance rendered by the Serbian Government in past years.
Today, however, all that has become totally inadequate and quite insufficient to cover effectively the needs of the Diocese in the performance of its basic activities.
For this reason, the Diocese of Ras-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija finds itself obliged to turn to the Serbian people in Serbia and in the Diaspora and ask them for help hoping that, within the limits of their ability, which is greatly curtailed by the present financial crisis, they will make an extra effort and help the Diocese to discharge its obligations more fully and more extensively.
Assistance can be sent to the account at the Komercijalna banka and further information obtained by using the following internet address:


INSTRUCTION FOR PAYMENT ORDERS IN FAVOR OF LEGAL ENTITIES IN USD

INSTRUCTION FOR PAYMENT ORDERS IN FAVOR OF LEGAL ETITIES IN OTHER CURRENCIES


The Bishop of Ras-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija Artemije

Power Outages Effect Monasteries--Kosovo Government Shows True Colors

From: info@eparhija-prizren.com






30.11.2009.
Source: Beta




Bishop Artemije: Kosovo-Metohija's churches and monasteries
suffer two months' power disconnection


In the beginning of November, the bishop of Ras-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija, Artemije stated that he had addressed an appeal to the authorities in Belgrade and to the Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija for three times up to now to find a solution for the problem of more than twenty churches and monasteries in Kosovo that had been suffering power disconnection for two months. However, he has not received an answer yet.
The bishop gave an interview to Beta news agency saying he has still been waiting for the answer since the churches and monasteries could not solve the problem all by themselves by signing a contract with Kosovo Energy Corporation (KEC) because that would mean their acknowledgment of the independent state of Kosovo and Kosovo institutions.
«Periodical statements regarding this matter that are issued in media, we cannot accept as an answer to our appeals,» the bishop said.
«A statement of a daily newspaper has said we must solve the problem all by ourselves. The same statement was lodged with our people when certain villages were disconnected from power supply. The people, left without any help of Belgrade authorities, were compelled to sign a contract with KEC. We are still not ready for such a solution,» the bishop set out.
His Grace also pointed out to the poor condition of Serbian sacred sites. For instance, the church in Samodreza in which the Serbian army received the Holy Communion on the eve of the Battle of Kosovo (1389) but which is today being used as a public toilet.
«Our oldest and most significant church, celebrated in folk songs fom the past, in which saint King Lazar with his army received the Holy Communion on the eve of the Battle of Kosovo (1389), is in a terrible condition beyond any words,» the bishop Artemije said and added «the church is now turned into a disposal of garbage and waste of all kinds.»
He noted that not only was the church in Samodreza desecrated but also many others he was not able to visit.
Electricity disconnection to Serbian sacred sites started on September 2. Today over twenty locations belonging to the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) are without any supply of electricity. Some of the mentioned locations are the monasteries of Gracanica, Holy Archangels near Prizren, St Kosmas and Damian in Zociste, Gorioc near Istok, and Devic near Srbica.

Death of Russian Priest who Preached amongst Moslems

Date: Sun, 29 Nov 2009 20:57:08 +0000
From: vpotapov@comcast.net
To: vpotapov@comcast.net
Subject: Can One Consider the Death of Father Daniel Sysoev to be a Martyrdom?




Can One Consider the Death of Father Daniel Sysoev to be a Martyrdom?

Fr. Daniel Sysoev
Death is the last event in a person’s earthly life. For a missionary, death is the last homily, the last message preached, the last witness for Christ, Whom the missionary loved with complete readiness to sacrifice his or her life for the sake of the triumph of the Faith. Father Daniel Sysoev[1] had prepared himself for this sacrifice long before. Even in his younger years when studying at the Moscow Theological Seminary where this writer taught Fundamental Theology, Father Daniel was pierced through with the fiery conviction that only Orthodoxy contained the fullness of saving truth. Possessed of great talents, as a seminarian he already knew the church canons, and passionately contested with students and instructors when they allowed themselves the slightest compromise. To people who were indifferent to the spreading and deepening of the faith, his aversion to compromise seemed strange; and some of them fell into judgment and condemnation—but his death as a priest in the church which he himself had built, gave proof of his earnestness, his zeal, his single-minded commitment to Jesus Christ and His Church.

From the very beginning of his priesthood, Father Daniel chose the most difficult form of ministry—missionary outreach, which was initiated by the Apostles. In the early Church, missionary work was identical with martyrdom. “The martyrs were preachers of Christianity, continuers of the Apostolic ministry; and this mission they fulfilled precisely as martyrs*, that is, presenting themselves as witnesses.” (Bolotov V.V., Lectures on the History of the Early Church. 1. The Post-Apostolic Church and the Roman Empire. in Russian). After the Bolsheviks seized power in 1918, their first blow was directed specifically against missionaries. Murdered were the missionary Bishop Ephrem Kuznetsov, Protopriests John Kochurov, John Vostorgov, Konstantin Golubev, diocesan missionary Nicholas Varzhansky and other such missionaries. [*martyrs: the Greek root μάρτυς (martys) means “witnesss”.]

Father Daniel Sysoev carried out his missionary activity among Moslems. His Evangelical preaching was very successful: He converted and baptized many people; he received death-threats in response. His answer to such threats was to preach Christ with still greater zeal. Therefore his death is a Christian sacrifice for the sake of the great cause to which he felt called by Jesus Christ. Such a death is an open and manifest victory, because “warriors for Christ are not killed, but crowned” (St Cyprian of Carthage, hieromartyr. Epistle 66).

The early Christians referred to the day of death of their brothers and sisters in the faith as their birthday—birth into a new life. With the coming to earth of the Saviour, mankind’s relationship with death was changed forever. “If we believe in Christ, and if through faith in His word and promises we shall never die, then we ought with joyful daring to go to Christ, by Whom and with Whom we shall live and reign forever. It is through temporal death that we cross over to immortality; and eternal life can begin for us only after our departure from here. And this is not really a departure but only a crossing over or resettlement into eternity after our temporal sojourn on earth. Who would not hasten to cross over to that which is better? Who would not desire to be changed and transfigured according to the image of Christ and the sooner to partake of heavenly glory?” (St Cyprian of Carthage, hieromartyr. Book on Mortality).

To him (or her) who dedicates himself to the service of Christ are given various means to bring people to the Truth: preaching by word, and preaching by one’s life as a living example of self-sacrificing service. These earthly labors for Father Daniel have ended. There remains the brightest and most powerful preaching: the preaching of death. “From henceforth, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord: Yea, saith the Spirit, they shall rest from their labours; for their works do follow them” (Revelation 14:13).



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] Fr. Daniel Sysoev was shot dead in his church in Moscow on November 19th, 2009.

Hieromonk Job Gumerov

Western Revision for Serbia Should Be Opposed

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A SLAP ACROSS THE FACE TO CANADIAN SERBS:
COMPLIMENTS OF BRIAN MASSEY, WINDSOR NDP MP
From Canada’s Southernmost Tip to the Arctic Waters

Windsor, ON, November 11, 2009. ------ Truth-loving Canadians, especially, Windsor Serbs were shocked to learn that Windsor West’s MP Brian Masse (NDP) launched a campaign-of-deceit for a “Srebrenica Remembrance Day” in Canada, commemorating a bogus massacre that did not exist, save in the propaganda of back stage American powers whose alterior motives were only to justify themselves for their heinous bombing of the Orthodox Serbs in order to build their largest military bases in Europe on formerly Serb territory in the former Yugoslavia. Public presentation of this insidious motion of a skewed Balkan history, which mimics the lies of an American shadow agenda is to be introduced in the House of Commons of our True North Strong and Free this upcoming Fall Session. At this scathing and mind-boggling rally, Masse organized this summer in Windsor, NDP’s MP tried feverishly to impress his new “Bosniak” friends with all the buzz words they yearned to hear (i.e. “genocide”, “war crimes”, “atrocities”, etc) to conjure up as many votes as the “Bosniaks” conjured up massacred bodies in a genocide which did not take place, and which Masse cannot, and will not be able to substantiate when he is taken to task for his outlandish and hurtful propaganda.

The only atrocity committed here is an atrocity against the truth as against devout Serbian Orthodox Christians; against justice and equity; against our dignity and human rights, committed by an ironically entitled ‘honorable’ MP. Sadly enough, this ‘genocide expert’-from-nowhere evolves from the Multicultural Council of Windsor where the Serbian community is consistently recognized for its outstanding contribution and distinctive service in our proud and esteemed multi-cultural, ethnic community.


What influenced Brian Masse, NDP’s MP to choose sides in a foreign-orchestrated Balkan bloodbath the G-8 is still undecided on? And what gives him more insight, knowledge and know-how that the members of the U.N, themselves do not possess? Finally, why were Serbs referred to as only “war criminals” in this "genocide remembrance" NDP-PR stunt? The answer is as simple as it is transparent: Brian Masse, NDP MP, a local politician on the market, auctioning himself off to the highest bidder, notwithstanding any existent group of back-stage Balkan propagandists who might pay the highest price, as he is ‘up for grabs’ and the bidding has begun. Masse, NDP’s very own MP is a shrewd mathematician, who cleverly calculated that the Serb victims of that same Balkan War might not generate enough cash or votes to be figured into his equation, so they quickly became null and void - and if they existed at all, in his mind, it would not be as Christian Orthodox Serb, but they would be branded, only, as “war criminals”.

The actual truth about the Balkan War is, for such a politico, a petty nuisance that could drive a serious wedge into his voter base at large - a miscalculated phenonemon he may be wise to tend to. For, on the contrary, the truth about the Serb victims and immense Serb sufferings could only hurt and destroy a dubiously honorable NDP candidate as he finds himself in a precarious position of spreading his deceitful propaganda far and wide to collect enough votes, just not far and wide enough as his west side slums of rampant petty crime, which, on second thought, he might be able to hide behind with a wind break of muslim supporters running rampant, and quick to appease.

Brian Masse, NDP’s infamous MP, when instructed and programmed to do so, is quick and agile to remember a non-existent, unproven and yet unsubstantiated Srebrenica ‘massacre’ of an imagined 8,000 “Bosniaks” by Serbs in 1995, although it is curious to note that his amnesia walls do not allow him to remember a real and tragic genocide this 20th Century, ie. the slaughter of a mere 1.5 million Armenians by the Turks during WWI; or, perhaps his memory would better be jogged if we mentioned the slaughter, during WWII, of another 1.5 million Serbs by Croats and Muslims (or shall we say, “Bosniaks” as Spin-meister Masse thought to, conveniently, refer to them as…)?

We may not be able to change Masse's mind; that is something his handlers are more deft at, as the Serbian community can only offer him the living truth, not petty cash – which may be worth very little to any full blown (albeit, two-bit) propaganda machine. Herein, we release a record of the truth, in defence of the much-victimized Serbs, martyred in a myriad of numbers over three consecutive wars this very same

Century, whose truth, history has yet to write, much less to extend to a far off West. Herein, we appeal to all truth-seekers Canada-wide, cautioning about Masse’s outrageous initiative on behalf of the NDP in its one-sided, short-sighted, propaganda-inflicted PR stunt, target marketing his newly mapped out potential voter base before the vote is cast (as early as this Fall). In short: Don’t “Get out the vote” until you “Spread the word”!

STOP THIS BOGUS RESOLUTION BASED UPON DECEIT AND UNSUBSTANTIATED BY G-8 WORLD POWERS. HISTORY MUST NEEDS BE BASED ON TRUTH - NOT LIES AND PROPAGANDA. VOTES MUST BE CAST BASED ON TRUTH AND JUSTICE TOWARDS ALL, NOT BY ANY WHICH POLITICO PROSTITUTING HIMSELF BY SKEWING HISTORY. CANADA HAS ALWAYS BEEN KNOWN FOR ITS FRIENDLINESS, PEACE-LOVINGNESS AND NEUTRALITY WORLDWIDE – LET’S KEEP IT THAT WAY! DO NOT ALLOW THIS TO BECOME LAW – AS WHEN A LIE BECOMES LAW, ITS COUNTRY CEASES TO BECOME A CHRISTIAN NATION, AND BODES OMINOUS FOR ALL.

# # #


For more information on this topic, contact
Defender of Human Rights,
Angelina Lazar
Director of Public Relations
Worldwide Chetnik Movement “RAVNE GORE”
Windsor Chapter:
angelinalazar@gmail.com
.

Note: The Worldwide Chetnik Movement of General Draza Mihailovich “RAVNE GORE”, to which the Windsor Chapter is a member, was an Ally of Western Countries, including Canada and America, and saved over 500 U.S. Airmen during WWII - the largest operation behind enemy lines in all history. The heroic Serbian Chetnik Movement fought against Nazi-Fascism, Communism (and other evil powers), and is “founded on the principles of Christian justice and morality, on the true principles of freedom and democracy.” (Article II: Aims of the Movement’s Struggle. By-Laws, 1995).

Faithful Protest Intent of Dialogue Between Latins and the Orthodox

Commission for Theological Dialogue with Roman Catholics‏
From: Diocese of Ras-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija (info@eparhija-prizren.com)

10.11.2009.
Source: Diocese of Ras-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija


Commission for Theological Dialogue with Roman Catholics


The very first day of the meeting of the Joint Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox and the Roman Catholics has ended in protests.
Monastery Stavrovunio monastics, the priests of the Cyprus Church and the faithful urged the Archbishop of the Cyprus Church, Hrisostom the Second to stop the meeting that was taking place in the St George hotel in Paphos.
The faithful from Greece and Cyprus were protesting claiming the objective of the Dialogue between two Churches was the final submission of the Orthodox Church to the Pope.
Immediately undertaking all the necessary measures, Archbishop Hrisostom the Second gave the instructions for the clergymen, having been involved in the protests, to visit him in his office on Monday.





Details of the session of the Joint Commission


The Cyprus news agency ikypros has reported - «The objective of the Joint International Commission for Dialogue, having both Orthodox and Roman Catholics representatives, is to reestablish the full communion between two Churches.»
«The crowd of the faithful protesting in front of the hotel, prevented from happening a part of the program consisting of an official opening of the session by joint worship in the St George chapel», the news agency further reports.
According to the Metropolitan of Paphos «we all are aware of great differences among us, a millennium-year break has enhanced the differences among us... However, modern times we live in urges for reconciliation. Both churches have experienced mutual hatred and animosity, nevertheless, we, modern times people, are aware of the need to cooperate.»



Protesters in front of the hotel where the meeting is taking place.
One on the panels says: There are three main falls in the history of mankind:
the fall of Adam, of Judah and of the Pope. (the quotation from father Justin Popovic)


The meeting is scheduled for the period up to and including October 23, the members meet in closed sessions.


+ + +


This year's meeting of the Commission for Dialogue in Cyprus, even before its beginning, provoked a state of agitation in the public and in the pious Ecclesiastic body, it is especially the case in Greece and Cyprus. We have witnessed many letters, official addresses, appeals, analyses - issued by Hierarchs, clergymen, the faithful - to Hierarchs, Primates and the pious Ecclesiastic body in general. As the day of this new gathering of the Commission was approaching, so the concern over the Dialogue main topic was growing. Also over the documents that had been adopted at past sessions, and especially over the Document content adopted at the last session in Ravenna, 2007[1].
The self-consciousness of the Church, the infallible criterion often issued when peril threatening to endanger the purity and correctness of the Faith is looming on the horizon, has asked million of times in the history of the Church hitherto. It has always protected the Orthodox against heterodoxy menaces, the Orthodox firmly committed to the Faith of the Apostles and to the decision of the Holy Ecumenical Synods of the Church. The awareness that only the Orthodox Churches been fostering the unmarred and unchanged Faith thus presenting One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, is an unconquered bulwark against any kind of heresy.
The Patriarch of Alexandria, Meletius Pigas (lived at the end of XVI century) on the occasion of introducing the new calendar and the change of the Paschal cycle by the Pope, wrote to a hieromonk Theodosius: «you are asking me what the Orthodox Christians are to do on the occasion of the change of calendar and of the Paschal cycle, but looks to me you are scared about it. You, "the chosen one", got scared when there is no reason for that, because one should not think much about the actions of those who are outside the Church** (officially excommunicated for their own guilt)[2]. Therefore, do not hesitate to be in step with the Holy fathers...»[3]
During the last few days and weeks the conscience of the Orthodox did not remain silent on the occasion of the approaching Cyprus gathering, but also on the occasion of other similar gatherings like the recent one in Crete[4]. Therefore, We are now going to analyse the reactions of the Orthodox during the last few days before the beginning of the Cyprus meeting.
The reaction of the Metropolitan of Peiraeus, Seraphim at the session of the Holy Assembly of the Greek Orthodox Church (that is still in course) on the eve of the Joint Commission Dialogue, was quite significant. While a letter by His All Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew addressed to the Archbishop of Athens, Mr. Hieronimous was being read at the Holy Assembly session (the letter had been written on the occasion of an essay «The Creed against Ecumenism», the essay many people have got interested in), Metropolitan Seraphim got to his feet and started strongly criticizing Patriarch Bartholomew's views, not hesitating to utter «The Patriarch is telling lies about the essay "The Creed against Ecumenism"»[5]!



His Eminence the Metropolitan of Peiraeus, Seraphim


The Metropolitan of Kyrenia, Pavlos (the Cyprus Church), an extraordinary theologian firmly committed to Faith and the Holy Tradition of Orthodoxy, a participant in the official Theological Dialogue with anti-Chalcedonians (in view of what he wrote remarkable essays during the last few years), has written and published an official essay «The Christ is the One who is the Head of the Church, not the Pope». It is a precise and significant analysis of the results of the Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox and the Roman Catholics so far. Reading the essay and the facts expressed in it, we are fully clear about the justified and often severe reactions and apprehensions of the Orthodox in view of the meeting of the Joint Commission for Dialogue in Cyprus in October, 2009.
To begin with, His Eminence Metropolitan Pavlos conducts a review and evaluation of the Ravenna document in his essay: «The top failure of the Ravenna document is made by the Orthodox representatives of the Joint Commission in their considering their heterodox fellow representatives to be part of the same Church. That way they make an impression there is an ecclesiological unity between the Orthodox and the Catholics, though we do not find theological arguments for that. By trying to be silent about or neglect the doctrinal distinctions between the Orthodoxy and the heterodoxy, the Orthodox representatives are undermining the Orthodox awareness of being the only true Church, One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic, thus also making an impression that the Roman Catholic Church is one of the local Orthodox Churches. The schism happened because the Roman Catholics wanted to and did change the original common faith of the first millennium; nevertheless, the Ravenna document says that the faith of the Orthodox and the Catholics is the same. They work on themes like the Papal primacy, the managing and organisation of the Church, while theological doctrinal themes are left to wait.»
«It is necessary», His Eminence continues, «to work on doctrinal issues first of all. Only by being persistent about the correctness of the Orthodox dogma and Orthodox doctrinal tradition, we could be certain of our working on the return of the stray sheep to the fold of the Christ.»
The Coordinating Committee of the Preliminary Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church met in Elounda, Crete, 27 September - 4 October 2008. They officially started their work on 29 September discussing the theme «The role of the Bishop of Rome in the communion of the Churches in the first millennium». 10 Orthodox and 10 Catholic representatives attended the meeting. Two Co-Presidents of the meeting were Metropolitan John of Pergamon (Zizioulas) and Cardinal Walter Casper. The work of the Coordinating Committee had to bee seen in continuity with the previous agreed statements of the Joint Theological Commission. On the basis of two preparatory documents, the Coordinating Committee now prepared a document draft which would be submitted to the next plenary in Cyprus, 2009[6].



The meeting of the Preliminary Joint Commission 27 September - 4 October 2008 (Elounda, Crete)


Metropolitan Pavlos, analysing the draft (saying he got and read it not until recently) specifies that explicit Roman Catholic stances be expressed in the draft document. The stance that «the motif of distinctions within the unity was explicitly accepted in the Council of Constantinople 879/80 (Crete, par. 32)... is a preparatory ground for the unity of churches.»
The Crete Document goes further on, Metropolitan Pavlos states: «The Pope, whose seat is considered to be "the principle of the Episcopal unity" (Crete, par. 10), appears to be all and everything, as the Pope Gelasy says "The first throne is judged by no one" (Ep. 4, PL 58, 28B, Ep. 13, PL 59, 64A), (v. Crete, par. 11). Beside the attempts to express the supreme power of the Pope, as the primacy of Celebration... (Crete, par. 14), serious dogmatic neglections and the wrong approach to the theme of the primacy of the Pope by Orthodox representatives, cannot be concealed.»
According to the Crete Document «the Pope is the successor of the unbreakable unity between the Christ and the apostle Peter» (Crete, par. 17). «How is that possible to accept the Pope as the unity of the Christ and Peter», His Eminence Metropolitan Pavlos wonders.
«It is clear and evident the striving of the Document composers to show the Pope as a supporter of conciliarity in order to dispel the fears of the Orthodox and so to prevent contradictions and protests», the Metropolitan of Kyrenia says.
«The Crete Document further says, "the unity of Episcopate and the Church is symbolised in Peter's personality" (Crete, par. 10) and "Peter speaks through the bishop of Rome" (Crete, par. 19). Why should the canon structure of the Church depend on its relations with the Pope? Why it is necessary for each local Church to be in accordance with the Church of Rome, instead of all of them being in accordance with each other within the same body?» the Metropolitan of Kyrenia firmly states.
However, it is not the end of surprises. «According to the Crete Document», the Metropolitan quotes «not a single Synod was ever recognised as Ecumenical without the permission of the Pope» (Crete, par. 12) The Metropolitan concludes: «The Old Church had the Ecumenical Synods, not the Pope, to be Its principle. The Ecumenical Synods were not called or presided by Popes. They were recognised by all local Churches. Nevertheless, when the pope's system was theoretically established for the first time, the Pope Gregory the Great (590-604) rejected it (v. Ἰ. Καρμίρη, Ὀρθοδοξία και Παλαιοκαθολικισμός, Β΄, Ἀθῆναι 1967, σ. 69).»
The Metropolitan of Kyrenia underlines in the end of his analysis: «Dealing with Ecclesiastical issues, especially those concerning the Orthodox faith, cannot be left to some professors, or even some Bishops, who only formally represent the local Orthodox Church, but acting self-willingly and expressing their personal views.
Evading calling a Holy Assembly meeting, or disabling the fellow Assembly members to express their opinions freely and openly, failure to timely and relevant informing the Holy Assembly members by those responsible for that - are the violations of the conciliar system of managing the Church. The trial of the theologians representing the Orthodox Church to proclaim Roman Catholicism the Church - irritates the Orthodox senses.»[7]
The reaction of the Pancyprian Union of Greek Theologians was also noted. They convened extraordinarily on the occasion of the General Assembly of the International Joint Commission yet to take place. On the eve of the Joint Commission meeting, they addressed their extraordinary session statement to the Chairman and the members of the Holy Assembly of Cyprus Church, the Orthodox Theologians and the pious Ecclesiastic body. «Having observed the historical framework of the activities of the said Commission, in which representatives of our Church (the Cyprus Church) are also participating, and bearing in mind the views and reactions that have been issued, we would like to express our valid and intense concern in the event that unfortunate stances appear during the resulting conclusions of this dialogue. We would also like to express our support to the Orthodox representatives who are called upon to correctly present the word of Truth» the Pancyprian Union of Greek Theologians said in the statement[8].
Metropolitan of Etolia, Kosmas addressed a letter to the Archbishop of Athens, Hieronymos on the occasion of the following Joint Commission Dialogue in Cyprus, expressing his fear that the Dialogue could bring us some unwanted surprise results. There are certain facts indicating that the Orthodox representatives in the Dialogue might acknowledge kind of a primacy to the Pope - for that reason Metropolitan Kosmas asks some questions in his letter: «Is that correct to consider a secular leader to be "the first" among the Bishops of the Church and in addition "infallible", as he openly and egoistically supports his heretical dogmatic teachings and his secular character? How so? No doubt about "the primacy of honour" becoming the primacy of power.»
Mentioning the Orthodox people's concern and uneasiness, Metropolitan of Etolia, Kosmas calls on the Archbishop to discuss in detail together with his fellow Hierarchs at the approaching Holy Assembly session the main theme of the Commission meeting in Cyprus, and to take a conciliar stance on the theme mentioned.
Some time before the Joint Commission for Dialogue took place in Cyprus, many people among clergymen, monastics, priests, Orthodox societies, the faithful delivered their official addresses, either individually or conciliarly, to the Primate of the Greek Church, the Primate of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, Holy Archieratical Assembly of the Greek Orthodox Church, with different purposes. Either they voiced their concern about the current developments of the Dialogue and fear for what the results of the Dialogue might be. Or appealed on the Orthodox representatives in the Dialogue to correctly present the word of Truth. Or they published essays in which they made a detailed and comprehensive analysis this complicated theme, working out each and every detail of it.
As a result, the Joint Commission meeting in Cyprus has provoked the air of tensity and suspense in the pious Ecclesiastic body, so for the time being all eyes are fixed on Paphos, awaiting the results of the Dialogue.
In that kind of an atmosphere full of tensity and disturbance dominating the Orthodox congregation, the Uniate bishop of Greece Dimitrios Salachas (a permanent member of the Joint Commission) gave an official address in view of the Catholic-Ortodox meeting in Cyprus, with a purpose to console the Orthodox congregation and assure them that «there is little intention to seek the signature of the union of Churches contract in Cyprus.»



The Uniate Bishop, Salachas dressed in Liturgical robes used in the Orthodox Church.
How to discern Filioque, recognition of the Papal primacy,
acknowledgement of created grace and all other evil teachings of Popery hiding behind this external piety?


Is there a greater reason for concern and worry the moment these voices start uttering and sending consoling messages? How the fold is to feel the moment not its shepherd comes but the one, in the robe of the shepherd, who wants to wreck it - and starts falsely assuring it that there is no need for concern, there are certain negotiations, just little patience is all you need, everything is going to be all right?
The website of the Uniate Exarchate of Greece has put an official consoling (narcotic?) address by Mr. Salachas and an interview he gave for the newspapers on the eve of the Joint Commission Dialogue in Cyprus[9].
Some of theses supported in Mr. Salachas' addresses are as following. Both the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church have their self-consciousness that is the Church of Christ, One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic, and the consciousness that there is separation, division, break of joint sacramental communication, schism, a millennium between their doctrinal differences. Condition of the union is the unity of faith. However, neither the Orthodox Church requires and seeks to return the Catholics to Orthodoxy and the recognition of doctrines, nor the Catholic Church requires and seeks to return the Orthodox to Catholicism and the recognition of doctrines.
How to achieve «the unity of faith»? Being in truth? Being in love? Telling the truth with love?
«I should say, as a member of the Joint Commission that the participants in the Theological Dialogue, Orthodox Archierarchs and theologians are firmly committed to Faith and the Holy Tradition of Orthodoxy. In this discussion, namely "the primacy of the Bishop of Rome".... the Orthodox members of the Joint Commission certainly remain immovably fixed in their positions on the conciliar structure of the Church...»
In common theological texts issued by the Joint Commission «is known per common knowledge they are not "decisions", but just text study, therefore, not binding the Churches represented in the Dialogue...»
There are serious concerns from various reputable Orthodox churches and theological circles for Dialogue, and Mr. Dimitrios thinks the concerns are reasonable and assures us there is little desire to sign the «union» of two Churches contract... These concerns are reasonable because the work of the Joint Commission held behind closed doors and the Minutes are not published, except for some official Press and common theological texts. «Those responsible for the Churches represented in the Dialogue (Primates and Archiepiscopal Assemblies) should disclose promptly and responsibly the christeponymo crew, clergy, monks, Orthodox Seminaries and people for what was said in the Dialogue.» Failure to timely, responsible and relevant information raises legitimate suspicions, fears about possible concessions by the Orthodox members of the Dialogue.
Asked about the problem of Unia and Uniate churches, Mr. Salachas answered the following: «These Churches owe their existence to the recognition of the existence of church by the Pope of Rome. Created after the failure of the Synod of Florence and the then the signed union (1434). Rome since developed in Eastern Europe and the countries of East unifying attachment activity of the Orthodox with the prospect of recovery in global society. With this method, it classified as proselytism, in XVI century and further on Orthodox individuals and communities came to Catholicism maintaining their Liturgical Sacred Tradition and regular canonical structures, recognising the primacy of the Pope in the Catholic Church.» Mr. Salachas mentions the Balamand Document, which official proceedings say «the Eastern Catholic Churches, which during the second millennium wanted to join the seat of Rome remained loyal to the society, have the rights and obligations arising from this Society of which they form part. They have the right to exist and the pastoral duty to act to meet the spiritual needs of the faithful.»
The existence of Eastern Catholic Churches is an ecclesiological anomaly between East and West relations, Mr. Salachas confirms, but the anomaly is more a result of another disorder i.e. of the schism of East and West. «If removal of the split, if and when achieved, the Churches will be included automatically in the East Church.»
The Uniate Churches will be embodied automatically in the Orthodox Church? How is that to be achieved? The Uniates will stop recognising the primacy of the Pope and the Pope will gladly accept that? Or rather the Orthodox Churches will recognise the primacy of the Pope since it is impossible for the Pope to accept the Uniates' rejection of the recognition of his primacy and conversion into the Orthodox faith?
Is that the method for achieving our association with the Catholics and the method for achieving joint Eucharistic Communion? Two goals are actually the main plans and goals of the Holy See. That fact has been noted for years by many pastors, theologians, and the faithful.[10]
That provokes concerns among the Orthodox while observing the flow of the Dialogue between the Orthodox and the Roman Catholics. The Orthodox self-consciousness itself is a major hindrance to the change and loss of the Orthodox faith.
However, there he is, Mr. Salachas himself, trying to console us, to tell us we should not be worried at all, and to assure us «that the participants in the Theological Dialogue, Orthodox Archierarchs and theologians are firmly committed to faith and the Holy Tradition of Orthodoxy.» Now we are left to wonder if their authorities of being firmly committed to faith and the Holy Tradition could be justified by words of a Uniate bishop.


+ + +


Lately, we have been witnessing many points of view, statements and reactions expressed concerning the Papal primacy theme. Among them We should mention the Patriarchate of Constantinople's views. Secretary General of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, archimandrite Elpidophoros Lambriniadis delivered a speech in the chapel of Holy Cross of the Greek Orthodox Seminary in America in March 2009. Amid many things, he spoke about the primacy topic. «The refusal to recognise primacy within the Orthodox Church, a primacy that necessarily cannot but be embodied by a primus - that is by a bishop who has a prerogative of being the first among his fellow bishops - constitutes nothing less than heresy. It cannot be accepted, as often it is said, that the unity among the Orthodox Churches is safeguarded by either a common norm of faith and worship or by the Ecumenical Council as an institution. Both of these factors are impersonal while in our Orthodox theology the principle of unity is always a person... So to in the Pan-Orthodox level, the principle of unity cannot be an idea nor an institution but it needs to be, if we are to be consistent with our theology, a person.[11]»
However, St Dositheus, a XVII century Patriarch of Jerusalem, well-known for his fight against Protestant missionaries' assaults, as well as against Catholic assaults who wanted to conquer Orthodox East, says about the primacy issue: «Since not a single mortal person can be the eternal head of the Catholic Orthodox Church, our Lord Jesus Christ is the head and He, holding the helm of guiding the Church, guides It through our Holy Fathers.[12]»



The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965)


St Meletius Pigas, the Patriarch of Alexandria teaches: «Yet, they say, one of and among bishops, should be the leader and he is to be called "the head of the Celebration". However, the Christ is the only principle and head over all the bishops.[13]»
The pious Ecclesiastic body is concerned about the meeting of the Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox and the Roman Catholics in Cyprus, and is awaiting the results of the Dialogue hoping that our Orthodox representatives will not exceed «the limits set by our Holy Fathers.»


Protosyncellus Simeon
The Abbot of Banjska Monastery




[1] Many Orthodox theologians asked an argumentative question: How is that possible for the Orthodox representatives of the Dialogue to have signed the Ravenna document?
** Highlighted by protosyncellus Simeon
[2] In regard to the Roman Catholics and the Protestants
[3] Μελετίου του Πηγά, Επιστολή προς Σίλβεστρον Πατριάρχην περι πασχαλίου, published by του εν Καρυαίς βιβλιοπωλείου Σάββα Ιερομονάχου, Аthens 1924, p. 7.
[4] His All Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew opened the 7-14 October meeting of the Faith and Order Plenary Commission in Crete, 2009. The Commission on behalf of the World Council of Churches meets every 7 years and has 120 regular members. In his address, His All Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew mentioned, among other things, the crucial need for the unity of churches saying that «being humble means to be ready to learn from others and to learn the things that have already been experienced over time.» His All Holiness added «it is understood that trying to impose our way (of life, of thinking) upon others - is intrusive and hypocritical! Opposite to that, true humility means we should be open enough to accept the past as well as the future. In other words, like the ancient god Janos in the old times, we are called upon showing our respect toward past experiences, at the same time giving our attention to the future, to the age to come, toward the heavenly kingdom.» This «turning» both toward the past and the future must be a sign of somebody's endeavor to change the religion.
(http://www.amen.gr/index.php?mod=news&op=article&aid=728 )
[5] See the website http://www.amen.gr/index.php?mod=news&op=article&aid=769
[6] See http://www.imis.gr/iera-mhtropolh/news/epitroph-dialogou.html
[7] The analysis by the Metropolitan of Kyrenia, Pavlos, published in the newspapers Ορθόδοξος Τύπος, Аthens, 16.10.2009.
[8] http://www.theologoi.com/dialogos.htm
[9] See http://www.elcathex.com
[10] The Roman Catholic news agency CWNEWS reported a suggestion by the Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople in 2008: «The Orthodox leader suggests "dual unity" for Eastern Catholics!» «The Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople has responded favorably to a suggestion by the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church for a system of "dual unity" in which Byzantine Catholic Churches would be in full communion with both Constantinople and Rome. Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople welcomed the proposal in an interview with the magazine Cyril and Methodius... Cardinal Lubomyr Husar of Kiev, the Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, the largest of the Eastern Catholic churches, has offered the possibility that Byzantine Catholics might seek communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate, without giving up their communion with the Holy See. Patriarch Bartholomew expressed distinct interest in the idea, saying "the mother Church in Constantinople holds the door open for the return of all her formal sons and daughters". Patriarch Bartholomew also said that a restoration of unity would require important differences to be overcome; yet "the major steps have already been taken to resolve the discrepancies..." While Catholic and Orthodox theologians continue their efforts to reach an agreement on doctrinal questions, Patriarch Bartholomew underlines "the ordinary people have to come together again". He pointed to the "dual unity" idea as a possible step toward practical unity.»
[11] See the magazine of the Patriarchate of Constantinople ΕΠΙΣΚΕΨΙΣ, No. 698, the date of publishing 31.3.2009.
[12] See Ι. Καρμίρη, Δογματικά και Συμβολικά μνημεία της Ορθοδόξου Καθολικής Εκκλησίας, Аthens 1953, p. 752.
[13] See Μελετίου Πηγά, Κατά της αρχής του Πάπα, у Τόμος Χαράς, Thessaloniki 1985, pp 493-497.

St. Nikolai Study Group-Expectations

October 29, 2009
Expectations St. Nikolai Velimirovic Study Group


The St. Nikolia Velimirovic Study Group Commences

With Blessing of Bishop Jerome Of Synodal Cathedral of the Sign in New York


The St. Nikolai Velimirovic Study Group will begin Next Thursday, the 5th of November 2009 at the Synodal Cathedral of the Icon of the Mother of God of the Sign in New York, City. The group will begin at 7:00 pm. nThe addresss is 75 E. 93rd Street between Park and Madison Avenue. There will be an akathist to the Mother of God, and the group will begin with a short introduction by Fr. Djokan of St. Sava Cathedral of New York.

The spirit in which this group will be conducted is as a simple bible study--it is not an academic endeavour simply to increase our knowledge of things divine; Hopefully one will apply what is learned here in order to understand political history as it pertains to our Church and to our lives--how past Orthodox souls lived amongst so much distortion and attacks on the Faith without compromising their Faith and were thus able to be martyred for their Faith. And for those who were blessed by God to stay upon the earth, they were additionally blessed to attend to the needs of those still living in the world as witnesses of God.

Why was the decision of Tsar Lazar to be martyred for the Faith so pleasing to God--Why was this necessary for Serbia at that time. How will this help us to understand the demise of nations in the Old Testament? What are the roles of nations currently and the leaders of these nations. How do the people of a nation, by their actions in Faith, participate in the spiritual health of their nation before God? Do secular groups proclaiming an allegience to God have a role to play in the Church of God? These are the questions that a reading of the Mystery and Meaning of the Battle of Kosovo will address.

Participants will take turns reading,for about 25 minutes, and then there will be a discussion of what has been read for about 15 minutes, and then there will be closing prayer to the Mother of God. The group will last for only an hour.

Please there is no need for video cameras, or tape recorders. This is simply a humble group to read the writings of St. Nikolai which he left to his flock by the Grace of God, so that we may acquire a correct understanding of world events as they relate to the Church and its Salvific Mission for the Human Race.

In Christ God, all who want this understanding are welcomed to attend.

For the Glorious Cross and Glorious Freedom

struggling to be a servant of God, xenia

Ioannis Fidanakis October 20 at 1:59am Reply
For Immediate Release: October 19, 2009

Contact: Ioannis Fidanakis, New Jersey, Tel. 1-973-464-0211

The University of Utah, with the help and support of the Skopjian lobby in
Washington DC and the support of the Turkish Lobby which has facilitated Turkish
government funding of the University of Utah, is launching a conference on Nov
5th 2009 on University of Utah grounds dedicated to advancing false historical
revisionism and irredentist propaganda. Speakers will promote neo- Communist
false historical revisionism attempting to downplay the immense loss of Hellenic
life to terrorism, downplay the suffering (through the use of Child Abduction of
Hellenic children and outright war) under Communist and Skopjian occupation, and
advance a general atmosphere of anti-Hellenic hate . The fact that this
Anti-Hellenic Hate Fest is taking place in Utah, a state where unrepentant
Nordic supremacists massacred Hellenes in bloody and gruesome lynchings is particularly troubling and offensive to the Hellenic-American community.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Telephone, email, fax and write to the Michael K. Young,
President of the University of Utah and urge him to STOP the Skopjian conference
and issue an apology to the victimized Hellenic people in his state and around
the world.

Read Full Press Release at

http://hellenicleagueofamericahla.org/action_alert_stop_the_anti-hellenic_hate_at_university_of_utah
particularly troubling and offensive

The Pope Is Actually In Heresy In Relation to Orthodox Church

Date: Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:09:45 +0100
Subject: Our Hierarchy should take a joint attitude
To: xenspirit7@msn.com
From: info@eparhija-prizren.com






21.10.2009.
Source: Diocese of Ras-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija




Our Hierarchy should take a joint attitude



On the occasion of the meeting of the Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, to be held on 16 October 2009, His Grace Dr Artemije addressed an appeal to the Holy Synod of Bishops and all the Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church late in September, saying that, because of the importance of the theme that is to be discussed in Cyprus gathering, our Hierarchy should take in advance a joint attitude toward the theme which ought to be defended and supported by our representatives at the forthcoming gathering.
Similar appeal was addressed in September to the Greek Orthodox Church by PhD Dimitrios Tselengidis, Professor of the Dogmatic Theology in the Faculty of Theology in Thessaloniki.



+ + +




Address by His Grace Dr Artemije to Hierarchs of Serbian Orthodox Church


The Serbian Orthodox Bishop
of the Diocese of Ras-Prizren
and Kosovo-Metohija
No. 815
28 September 2009
Prizren - Gracanica


TO HOLY SYNOD OF BISHOPS OF SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
B E L G R A D E


Fathers and brethren,
In ten days there will be the second anniversary of the Ravenna gathering that has been athe cause of many offences and confusions for a long time among the Orthodox people worldwide, and therefore among Serbian people as well. It has been much spoken, written, or discussed about Ravena (i.e. RAVENNA DOCUMENT) so far, yet many questions have remained unanswered. For instance, the question of participation and role of the Serbian Orthodox Church representatives in the work of the Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.
In order to have some of these questions answered and cleared, Our humbleness put forward a PROPOSITION to the Holy Synod of Bishops on May 19, 2008 (D. No. 363) consisting of nine clear questions regarding the Ravenna document, but for the lack of due attention, the questions remained open.
The key question in the Proposition was: «How is that possible to discuss "the status of the bishop of Rome in the Church" while the Roman "bishop - pope" is not in the Church but rather outside of it, inside heresy. Don't you think that it is necessary to discuss not his status in the Church but rather his return to the Church? Wasn't the union of the Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Church prejudiced "by this Ravenna document"»?
Today, after two years, further incidents and shakes are looming on the horizon of the Orthodox world. Namely, during 16 - 23 October 2009, a new meeting of Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue is to be held in Cyprus, where they will continue to work on the theme they already laid the foundation for in Ravenna, the theme of «the status of the bishop of Rome in the Church». In other words, the theme of the Pope's primacy, his authority and power over the whole Church of Christ.
The theme is highly serious and decisive. It should not and must not be overlooked and let to be considered by only a couple of our representatives. It should be considered by all the Hierarchs of our Holy Church. Thus, We regard it vital to request the Holy Synod of Bishops to call a special session of the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church as soon as possible, before the Cyprus meeting takes place, so as the crucial issue of our representatives' participation in Cypus meeting could be discussed and the attitude of our Church toward the issue be settled. Then, that attitude ought to be defended and supported by our representatives at the Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue in Cyprus.
The best example of how important is the forthcoming Cyprus gathering for other Orthodox Churches as well, is a written address by professor Dimitrios Tselengidis from Thessaloniki to the Hierarchs of the Greek Orthodoh Church. Please find enclosed the professor's text.
Having trust that our Holy Synod of Bishops will realise the gravity of the situation and accept Our humble proposition, We remain

Faithful in Christ our Lord to the Holy Synod of Bishops.


The Bishop of Ras-Prizren
and Kosovo-Metohija
+ARTEMIJE

Sent to:
All Diocesan Bishops
of the Serbian Orthodox Church



+ + +




Address by PhD Dimitrios Tselengidis to Hierarchs of Greek Orthodox Church


ARISTOTLE UNIVERSITY OF THESSALONIKI
FACULTY OF THEOLOGY
SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF DOGMATIC THEOLOGY
PROFESSOR DIMITRIOS TSELENGIDIS



TO: Holy Synod of Bishops of the Greek Orthodox Church
Sent to: All Hierarchs of the Greek Orthodox Church


Your Beatitude esteemed Chairperson,
Your Graces,

Having observed with a deep sense of responsibility the current situation of the Church of our time, I would like, both as a mere believer and as a University Professor of Dogmatic Theology, to humbly address You since You are the highest Governing body of our Greek local Church.
The purpose of my sending this letter to You has come as a result of my recent discussions with some of the Metropolitans[1].
I asked them a clear question, whether the Greek Orthodox Church at the session of the Holy Assembly had considered and taken a clear attitude toward the primacy of the Pope theme that was going to be worked on at the forthcoming two-sided theology dialogue. They answered they knew nothing about it. Thus, I judge it appropriate to write to You the following.
A meeting of the Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church is to be held in Cyprus in October this year, a meeting possibly the most fateful so far. The resulting document of the meeting will have decisive significance for further relationship between both sides in the dialogue, therefore I consider it to be my duty to request You politely to call as soon as possible a special session of the Holy Assembly of the Bishops in order to carefully discuss the theme of the forthcoming Theological Dialogue.
The Joint International Commission will primarily be working on «the role of the Bishop of Rome in the communion of the Church» ( viz. the Ravenna document, paragraph 45). I humbly believe that if our respected Hierarchy discusses the theme on theological basis and takes a clear attitude toward it, our representatives of the Joint Commission will greatly affect the final forming of the common document that will be released at the end of the Joint International Commission gathering. That is the very way for our Hierarchy to act promptly and preventatively. If it happens to come to possible theological and ecclesiastical failures in the document, a matter that could possibly compromise our representative at the Joint Commission, our Hierarchy is dutyfull to act healingly, condemning them (the failures) afterwards.
In addition, let me express in short terms my personal theological attitude toward the issue. The planned «as more studious as possible» the theological debate over the Pope's primacy, is methodologically premature and contradictory in its very sense. Why? Because according to theological and patristic teachings, a theological dialogue about the essential dogmatic distinctions between the Orthodox and the Roman Catholics should precede. Filioque, the infallibility of the Pope, and created Grace - all wrong they continue to support. These dogmatic fallacies display the real identity of the Roman Catholicism baring it its ecclesiology and mysteriology, and depriving the Church of its primar character of «theosis» of a human.
Not until the Orthodox and Catholic dogmatic teachings become identical, can a dialogue about governing the Church follow. According to the spirit and decisions of Ecumenical Synods, the main doctrinal distinction between the Orthodox and the Catholics replaces the Catholics outside the Church, a matter that has been empirically confirmed by a millenium year time interruption of their communal sacramental communication.
The resulting question comes: how we could rationally discuss with the Roman Catholics the institutional status of somebody (the Pope) in the Church, while he is, both essentially and officially, outside the Church?
Let me remind You of the doubtless historical truth: the Church during its first millenium never acknowledged the primacy of authority and power over the whole world to the bishop of Rome. The primacy of authority and power has always belonged not to a single person but to Ecumenical Synods.
After all, the Orthodox Church has never recognised the Pope's primacy the way it was explained and recognised at the First Vatican Council whose attendants proclaimed the Pope to be the infalliable interpreter of the Church's conscience, so far as being contradictory to the decisions made at Ecumenical Synods. In other words, the Pope with his «infalliability» and demanding primacy of power over the whole Church - has self-willingly replaced the Spirit of Truth.
As a result, the Pope's primacy of power then erases not only the joint system of governing the Church but also the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church.
Respected our Bishops, by what I has written above I wanted to tell how worried I was about the forthcoming Joint International Theological Dialogue and to express my theological judgement of the issue in short terms.
Let us hope that the Holy Spirit that guides the ship of the Church into all truth should express Itself through You because it pleased the Holy Trinity God that His Church should function both institutionally and communally.

I most respectfully
kiss Your hand
Dimitrios Tselengidis
the Professor of the Faculty of Theology
at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki


(Translated from Greek by bishop ARTEMIJE)


[1] It is important to know that in the Greek Orthodox Church all Diocesan Bishops are titled as Metropolitans, and only Vicars are titled as Bishops.

Holbrooke and the De-Christianization of Kosovo

By Vojin Joksimovich | Holbrooke supported Balkan Muslim sepratists in Bosnia and Kosovo and delivered victory to al-Qaeda in Europe. Then from Bosnia they turned on the US on 9/11. Holbrooke now heads Afghan policy for Obama.

Obama’s War

Eight-year old Bush’s Afghanistan war has become Obama’s war. Obama has declared that war was both necessary and winnable. He committed 21,000 additional troops this year, bringing the U.S. force to 68,000 and more are likely to be sent. The current expenditures amount to $2.6 billion a month. Percentage of Americans who believe that it was a mistake to send troops rose from 25% in 2007 to 42% this year. There were 51 military deaths in August and at least 732 overall compared to over 4,300 in Iraq. In addition, there are 38,000 NATO troops. Obama has been pushing NATO countries to send more troops and trying to stave off departures of Canadian, Dutch, German, British and other troops. Overall the war is going badly. The military is overhauling its operations including adding combat troops and talking about to avoiding civilian casualties, which most certainly have helped Taliban in recruitments. Despite orders to avert civilian deaths, most of the 70 killed the other day in a NATO airstrike were Afghan villagers. The State Department is similarly attempting to stem government corruption, improve security forces especially the police and reduce violence. However, there is yet another initiative-turning to Islamism or radical Islam, a traditional U.S. foreign policy ingredient and a Richard Holbrooke’s specialty.

Turning to Jihadists

President Obama’s special envoy to AfPac (Afghanistan-Pakistan), some call him the Afghanistan Czar, and former President Clinton’s Balkans fixer, Richard Holbrooke, a fixture of the Democrats’ foreign policy establishment, met recently with Liaqat Baloch, a leader of Pakistan’s Jamaat-i-Islami party or abbreviated to JI. Shortly thereafter, Baloch attended an anti-American rally across the town in Islamabad. Anti-American views of the Pakistani Islamist parties are notorious. Prior to meeting Baloch, Holbrooke met with Maulana Fazlur Rehman, a leader of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party. Rehman was instrumental in Taliban’s early days and denied that Osama bin Laden was responsible for 9/11. Dealing with the Islamists is a dangerous foreign policy game, which however the U.S. has played since the 1945 Quincy Pact, between President Roosevelt and Ibn Saud, which made left both countries as the godfathers of Islamism. Dependence on Pakistan, its Islamists and Saudi Arabia, in order to defeat the Soviet Union in Central Asia, has had a troubled history for the U.S. foreign policies not only in the region but led to upheavals worldwide including creation of Al Qaeda and Taliban. A snapshot examination of this history which led to 9/11 plus Holbrooke’s track record in the Balkans implementing foreign policies of the Clintonites, now dominating the Obama administration, seems to be appropriate in particular since the compliant media is unlikely to do their job.

JI

JI ranks among the leading and most influential Islamist movements and the first of its kind to develop an ideology based on the revolutionary concept of Islam in the contemporary world. The party was founded by Moulana Abu Ala Maududi in Lahore on August 26, 1941, inspired by the Pakistani Muslim Brotherhood branch. Maududi advocated a Leninist revolutionary approach to Islamist politics in his book Jihad in Islam. With founding of Pakistan in 1947, JI was reorganized into: JI Pakistan and JI Hind. In mid-70s, JI Bangladesh was established. JI has also presence in the Indian held Kashmir. All JI organizations work for similar objectives and have identical ideological approach with no organizational link between them. JI has developed and maintained close brotherly relations with Islamist parties in the Arab world, northern Africa, Turkey, Tajikistan, Indonesia, Lebanon and Hammas in Palestine. JI is a natural ally of Saudi Wahhabists. General Muhammad Zia ul-Haqq was supported by JI.

General Zia played U.S. as Violin

In 1977 General Muhammad Zia ul-Haqq, after overthrowing and hanging Benazir Bhutto’s father, became a dictator and announced that he wanted to establish a “genuine Islamic order” in Pakistan. He imposed harsh Islamic rules and declared that “in Islam there is no provision for Western-type elections.” He played the U.S. as the violin and managed to convince the U.S. to de facto outsource its policy in Central Asia to Pakistan.

Zia’s goal was to use the U.S. power to carve out a new Mogul empire extending from Pakistan to the Soviet republics of Central Asia. Original Mogul Empire (1526-1857) covered most of the Indian subcontinent and parts of Afghanistan. Afghanistan was at the center of that policy, with Pakistan determined to install a compliant government in Kabul. It was Zia who encouraged Islamists in Afghanistan, both domestic such as Gulbuddin Hekmatyar or Abdurrab Rasul Sayyaf as well as imported Arabs like Osama bin Laden, to fight the Soviets while convincing Washington that the mujahideen were the best bet to defeat the Soviets in the 1980-89 U.S. Afghan proxy war against the USSR, which invaded Afghanistan to gain control over the threat of Islamism in it’s Asian republics (the “Stans”0). 70% of the U.S./Saudi multi billion dollar funding went to ultra-Islamist anti-American Afghan parties. He supported the madrassas along the Afghan-Pakistan border to serve as recruiting grounds. Saudi/Pakistani complex produced Al Qaeda, Afghan Arabs and Taliban. The Taliban took over. In the name of the War on Terror, the U.S. invaded Afghanistan to defeat the Taliban. The Islamists were pushed into Pakistan, destabilizing this nuclear weapons country.

Zia authorized a Pakistani program to develop the nuclear weapons capability. The program was overlooked by Washington in order to further jihad in Afghanistan. Zia’s policies amounted to: screw India, deceive the U.S., spread Islamism, develop Islamic bomb and spread nuclear weapons technology. Pakistan has now an arsenal of Islamic bombs in the range 60-100, which presents a headache to all of those concerned about nuclear proliferation. Existence of this nuclear arsenal presents much greater threat to the world than the threat Iran might pose if they ever succeed in developing a nuclear weapons capability.

Bosnian Jihad

Rise to power of Bosnian Islamist Alija Izetbegovic and his Party of Democratic Action (SDA) in Bosnia in 1990 provided a unique opportunity for the Iran-led Islamist coalition to move into the heart of Europe. Iran’s clerics had attempted since the 1979 Khomeini revolution to find a foothold outside the Middle East and Central Asia in order to win territories, infrastructure and structures of government as a base for terrorist and political operations in order to gain leverage against the West. The ultimate target was the Great Satan. Only 15 days lapsed upon 1992 conclusion of the war in Afghanistan when the civil war in Bosnia broke out between the Bosnian Islamists and the Bosnian Christian Serbs. Compatible with the Prophet’s saying “Indeed Jihad will continue till the day of Judgment,” bin Laden’s Afghan Arabs became available and subsequently moved into a number of world hotspots. The Bosnian jihad became the overseas conflict with the greatest importance to Al Qaeda. It was considered a favored laboratory and a springboard for strategic-level operations against Maghreb countries, Algeria in particular, Western Europe and the U.S. The Bosnian jihad appears to be the first time Shiite and Sunni jihadists cooperated closely together in what could be termed the Joint Islamist Terrorist Enterprise.

Holbrooke In The Balkans

Holbrooke secretly visited Bosnian towns of Travnik and Vitez in December 1992 and in a memorandum informed the U.S. Government about the illegal transportation of arms to the Bosnian Muslims and about volunteers and mercenaries arriving from Islamic countries.
Holbrooke wrote: “There is now clear evidence that few ‘freedom fighters’ or mujahideen, and there are more and more of them, join the Bosnian forces.” Later on, Holbrooke was lionized with brokering the Dayton Peace Accords, which terminated the 42 months civil/religious war caused predominantly by the U.S. via encouragement of Izetbegovic to pull out from the Lisbon agreement brokered by the EU (EC then) and signed by all three parties to the conflict– the Serbs, Croats and Bosnian Muslims. Once the war was in progress, the Clinton administration sabotaged four peace agreements, endorsed by Serbian President Milosevic, thus unnecessarily prolonging the war and sufferings. Nonetheless, incessant western propaganda blamed Milosevic for all Balkan ills. Holbrooke, aided by compliant media, became the champion of Serbophobia and demonization of the Serbs, in order to appease the radical Islam including bombing of Bosnian Serbs allegedly to get them to the negotiation table although their behinds were hurting from sitting at numerous negotiations. This partnership with radical Islam included Al Qaeda. During the insurrection of the Albanian terrorists from Albania into Kosovo, Holbrooke visited with the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) terrorists but called them the ‘freedom fighters.” This led to the U.S. embracing the Albanian Muslim narco-terrorists in order to insert NATO troops into Kosovo and thus amputate Serbia from the cradle of their Serbian Christian heritage.

Clinton Administration Provided Invaluable Service to Al Qaeda in Bosnia

President Clinton sided with the Bosnian and Iran-led Islamists against the Christian Serbs in the civil/religious war in Bosnia. The Clinton administration not only turned a blind eye to radical Islam but also actively supported the Islamists, including the Al Qaeda terrorists. This commitment to actively support an Islamist agenda in the Balkans offers a plausible explanation why bin Laden and Al Qaeda did not show up on the radar screen in Washington until late 1995. By then, Al Qaeda fully established its base for operations in Europe against Al Qaeda’s true enemy, the U.S. Bosnia, serving as the recruiting sergeant, provided a big surge in growth of several terrorist groups on Clinton’s watch.

In the conduct of this deeply flawed policy the Clinton administration opted for an Iran-Contra style operation in flagrant violation of the UN Security Council arms embargo against all combatants in the former Yugoslavia. Despite Iran’s responsibility for the deaths of over 1500 Americans (according to the State Department) and being the world’s most active state sponsor of terrorism, the Clinton administration chose Iran to be a partner in Bosnia. By virtue of making Iran-led Islamists and Al Qaeda allies of convenience in the Balkans, the Clinton administration had provided an invaluable service to terrorism. Iran and Al Qaeda established a beachhead in the center of Europe. Al Qaeda formed a terrorist brigade called Al Mujahid, whose members played the pivotal part in 9/11, the Madrid train bombings and other terrorist acts.

Brendan O’Neill wrote that the Bosnian war “taught Islamic terrorists to operate abroad. For all the millions of words written about Al Qaeda since the 9/11 attacks two years ago, one phenomenon is consistently overlooked—the role of the Bosnian war in transforming the mujahideen of the 1980s into the roving Islamist terrorists of today.” This was tragic for almost 3,000 victims of 9/11. O’Neill further wrote that the Bosnia venture led to the emergence of today’s cross-border Islamist terrorists who think nothing of moving from state to state in search of outlets for their jihadists missions. The Pentagon transported thousands of mujahideen from “the ghettos of Afghanistan and the Middle East into Europe; from an outdated battleground of the Cold War to the major world conflict of the day; from being yesterday’s men to fighting alongside the West’s favored side in the clash of the Balkans. If the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan created mujahideen, Western intervention in Bosnia appears to have globalized it. According to Tomazi, an Italian author, some 20,000 mujahideen had been transported by American planes.

Dismemberments of Yugoslavia and Serbia

It has become apparent that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had broader objectives than fighting terrorism against Al Qaeda and Taliban. So called “war on terror” was an excuse for the Pax Americana in the Middle East and Central Asia. In this context, dismemberment of Yugoslavia into a series of “banana” republics could be interpreted as a creation of Western vassals in the Balkans through wars, but with the blame falling, not on the NATO as the naked aggressor, but on Serbs and Milosevic, former communist, who opposed dismemberment of Yugoslavia and then Serbia. It is now seen by many that NATO’s intervention in Kosovo in 1999 was an important precursor for the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Similar to what had happened during WWII, the Great Powers, this time U.S.-led NATO, exploited and aggravated the Serb-Albanian ethnic conflict for their own purposes to strengthen their position in the Balkans at the expense of Serb Orthodox Christians. NATO, supported by the compliant media, sided with the interests of pan-Islamists, bin Laden and his Al Qaeda included, in echoing and even amplifying the chauvinist Albanian propaganda.

Serbs, characterized as junior Russians sharing the Orthodox religion and the Slavic background, have traditionally enjoyed the reputation of being rebellious people unwilling to accept foreign occupations and dictates, had to be demolished as the historical entity. Strobe Talbott, former U.S. deputy secretary of state, has written: “It was Yugoslavia’s resistance to the broader terms of political and economic reform—not the plight of Kosovar Albanians—that best explains NATO’s war.”

Holbrooke Played Key Role in Amputation of Kosovo from Serbia

The Clinton administration was determined to deliver the Serbian provinces of Kosovo and Metohija to Albanian Muslim narco-terrorists and thus to supplant a radical Muslim culture over an ancient Christian one. Madeleine Albright and Richard Holbrooke were assigned to implement this “noble” objective. As a first step, on June 24, 1998, Holbrooke met with a KLA commander Gani Shehu in Junik, near the Yugoslav-Albanian border, which served as a supply line for the KLA insurrection from Northern Albania into Kosovo. It didn’t matter that in February of the same year the KLA was characterized as a terrorist organization by then Clinton’s Balkans envoy Robert Gelbard. Despite this, Holbrooke recommended that the KLA, better name should be the “National Front for a Greater Albania,” participate in negotiations which indeed took place at Rambouillet, near Paris, in February 1999 amounting to legitimization of violence.

In August 1998 the Serbian forces defeated the KLA and pushed them back into Northern Albania. Milosevic offered Albanian separatists an interim agreement for a 3-5 year period that would grant the province self-government using South Tirol as a model. This, however, wasn’t good enough for the Clinton administration in their zeal to advance radical Islam in the Balkans. On September 23, 1998 the UN Security Council passed a resolution #1199 threatening Yugoslavia a military action. Holbrooke arrived in Belgrade on October 5 for a 50 hour negotiating session with Milosevic hoping to convince Milosevic to allow NATO presence in Kosovo. The Western diplomacy had one apparent goal: to force, one way or the other, troops into Kosovo in order to establish a NATO protectorate. After 50 hours of face-to-face negotiations, involving many whiskey drinking sessions, Holbrooke and Milosevic reached a cease-fire deal in compliance with the UN Resolution #1199 to be verified by an international team of 2,000 OSCE “compliance verifiers.” The KLA never honored the deal but that didn’t matter as the U.S./NATO interest was to force NATO troops into Kosovo as a part of Pax Americana. In order to accomplish this objective the KLA terrorist actions were right on the mark. The subsequent Rambouillet conference was nothing more than a setup for the war.

Shortly before March 24, 1999, when 78-day bombing of Serbia began, which I call 78 days of infamy, Holbrooke delivered the final ultimatum to Milosevic: if Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro then) doesn’t agree with the Rambouillet conference text, calling for a de facto occupation of Yugoslavia, NATO would strike. Subsequent to initiation of bombing Holbrooke claimed that it wasn’t the occupation which was threatened. Several weeks later, confronted by a journalist, Holbrooke said: “I never said that.” This was a lie and a tacit admission that the Rambouillet text called for occupation of Yugoslavia. Holbrooke is a liar. He promised to Dr. Karadzic, a former Bosnian Serb president, that he wouldn’t face indictment from the $2 billion International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) if he agreed to step down from presidency of the Bosnian Serb Republic. Karadzic indeed stepped down and recently told the Hague Tribunal judges about the Holbrooke’s promise. Holbrooke denied despite the fact that several eye-witnesses have confirmed that the promise was delivered in their presence.

A detailed account of what transpired in Kosovo during the UN/NATO protectorate phase (June 1999-todate) is offered in my book Kosovo is Serbia: The Amputation of a Sovereign Country by U.S,-Sponsored Muslim Terrorists. Essentially it boiled to mayhem for the Serbs, Roma and other minorities including massive ethnic cleansing of some 250,000 Serbs and mostly Roma. 151 Serbian churches and monasteries have been demolished but over 400 Wahhabi style mosques have been built or are under construction. One of them was initially named after Osama bin Laden, but subsequently renamed Medina. Upon arrival of NATO forces, a silent genocide took place in Kosovo. In March 2004, Kosovo Kristallnacht took place; a 60,000 strong Albanian mob drove 4,500 Serbs from their homes causing 19 deaths and some 900 injuries. The human rights organizations slammed UN/NATO but there were apologists for the Albanian thugs including Holbrooke, who wasn’t in the government then since the republican administration was in. On the sidelines Holbrooke continued to support the Albanian separatists and terrorists and continued to be a major force for the 2008 unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) in violation of all international laws on the books.

Kosovo Experiment: A Grand Failure

An Austrian historian, journalist and publicist, Hannes Hofbauer, published a book Kosovo Experiment: Return to Colonialism. He characterized the Kosovo UDI as the fatal blow to the post WWII world order and a return to colonialism. The beneficiaries are NATO, EU and others, who have practiced imperialism in the Balkans, but not the Albanians. The goal of imperial powers is to establish non-Slavic centers in the Slavic lands, to exert control over natural resources, and at the same to experiment with countries at the EU margins in addition to pleasing the radical Islam. Kosovo is an experiment intended to redefine the international law using economic and military might. The unemployment rate in Kosovo as well as in Bosnia runs at ~50%. Kosovo ranks at one of the world’s most corrupt places with 67% of the population reporting that they have to pay a bribe to get a service. In addition it is called by some the Black Hole of Europe and by others the Republic of Heroin.

Despite all of this, the Clintonites in the Obama administration, delusional and disingenuous, continue to maintain that Kosovo has been a great success instead of an ugly experiment and a fiasco. The U.S. has become an international law pariah. It has created a model Russia used to declare Abkhazia and South Ossetia independence: KosovOssetia. Needless to say, while Holbrooke was passed over for the Secretary of State position in the Obama administration he continued to advocate together with Hillary Clinton that there is unfinished business in the Balkans. The primary target would be abolition of the Republika Srpska in Bosnia and even greater pressure on Serbia to recognize the illegitimate Kosovo Republic. This despite the Obama administration’s effort to restore America’s reputation and leadership in the world.

Media Silence and Complicity Regarding Kosovo “Success”

Lee Jay Walker wrote recently the following in The Seoul Times: “The ongoing de-Christianization of Kosovo continues and unlike the past frenzy of the anti-Serbian mass media in the West, we mainly have a deadly silence about the reality of Kosovo and continuing Albanization of this land. However, how is it ‘just’ and ‘moral’ to persecute minorities and to alienate them from mainstream society, and then to illegally recognize the land without the consensus of the international community? How ironic it is that the sane Unites States of America and the United Kingdom, two nations who were in the forefront of covertly manipulating the mass media; remain mainly silent about the destruction of Orthodox Christian churches, Serbian architecture, and of course the past killings of Serbians and other minorities in Kosovo.” The U.S./NATO had portrayed the Serb-Albanian conflict about human rights, democracy and liberty. However, these “noble” goals applied to Muslims but not to the Christians. It should be noted that de-Christianization took place in Iraq as well, which was also all but ignored by the media.

It appears that in order to get informed the American public needs to read The Seoul Times and other similar sources of information based on facts rather than the propaganda. Not only that the American mainstream media has not been reporting ugly events in now decade old UN/NATO protectorate of Kosovo but they are hiding identity of Albanian and Bosnian Muslims criminals for the crimes committed in the U.S. As an example, there is the case of “Fort Dix Six,” sentenced for plotting to blow up U.S. Army base in New Jersey in order “to kill as many soldiers as possible.” Four of them are Albanians, but the media reported that they were Yugoslavs. Second example, Bosnian Muslim Sulejman Talovic went on a shooting spree at a Utah shopping mall, killing five and wounding four. He was identified as a “Bosnian.” On the other hand media has never failed to report that Dr. Karadzic or General Mladic are Bosnian Serbs. Third, one of seven recently arrested terrorists, charged with plotting to wage jihad, is a Bosnian Muslim (Anes Subasic) and another is Kosovo Albanian (Hysen Sherifi). The media reported that they were naturalized American citizens.

A Conclusion

Obama has committed the country to yet another unwinnable war despite the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression including the mushrooming deficit. The Brits and the Soviets were defeated in Afghanistan, so why would the U.S. do any better? Can Obama convince the nation that additional hundreds of billions of dollars should be spent and additional hundreds of young American lives sacrificed? As was the case with Lyndon Johnston in Vietnam and George Bush in Iraq, the Afghan war will likely hold his administration hostage.

To make already bad things worse, Obama has surrounded himself with Clintonites with their foreign policy disasters claimed to be successes. One of the worst is the partnership with radical Islam in the Balkans used by Islamists as a staging ground for jihad against the rest of Europe as well as the U.S. including 9/11.

Vojin Joksimovich, Ph.D is a nuclear physicist and an author of a new book called Kosovo is Serbia.

Tags: Vojin Joksimovich

Albania wants to consolidate Balkan conquests

Albania seeks consolidation of Balkan conquests
Oct 6, 2009
Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha said Monday that the time has come to consolidate territorial acquisitions that ethnic Albanian extremists made throughout the Balkans, although in a statement today Berisha is denying he said that and instead claims that Albania and the Kosovo Albanian separatists seek EU membership.

Berisha now says the “national ideal of the Albanians is the European ideal.”

Ethnic Albanian separatist extremists are in control of the Serbian Kosovo province and the western portion of the FYRO Macedonia whose renaming into Iliria is being delayed.

In both regions, ethnic Albanians are settlers that have since 1980s taken up to the struggle to acquire the territory for themselves. Many of them are illegal migrants.

Kosovo Albanian separatists have protested to the FYRO Macedonia for pointing to the history of their presence in those regions and told the Macedonia government that they should not “seek to make enemies”.

Fragile peace persists in FYRO Macedonia.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed great concern on Monday over the recent statement by Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha about a need for a unification of all Albanians.

At the press conference after his meeting with Serbia’s Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic, Lavrov pointed out Belgrade’s consistently constructive position and a non-constructive attitude of the authorities in Pristina concerning the situation in Kosovo reports Tanjug.

October 6, 2009
SERBIANNA

Tags: Albania

Decani Monastery Threatened!!!

Kosovo Albanians threaten Serb monastery
Sep 28, 2009
A veteran of the Kosovo Albanian terrorist group, the KLA, has warned that his group will not be held responsible for vandalism that they may inflict on the thousands year old Dechani Monastery because, says the veteran Abdia Muskoljay, the church has allegedly usurped the property that belongs to the Albanians.

“The monastery is functioning normally, but our position that threats should not be tolerated,” said Father Sava of the Dechani monastery.


Visoki Dechani

He notes that the Italian NATO troops in the Kosovo province have taken Muskoljay’s threats seriously and strengthened the security around the Monastery.

Father Sava urged the international community to pressure the ethnic Albanian separatist government in Kosovo to put an end to the threats and violence of Albanian extremists.

Muskoljay wants that the Monastery end the construction of a wall near the monastery and that that the remains be demolished otherwise “the veterans of the KLA will not be held responsible for the escalation of the situation.”

On the web site www.albaniapress.com Muskoljay has accused the Monastery for usurping the Monastery’s land and that, Muskoljay says, the monastery’s property allegedly belongs to an ethnic Albanian called Haka Kuchi.

Father Sava said that such statements incite the spirit of hate and ethnic and religious intolerance.

Kosovo ethnic Albanians are nearly all Muslim and Afghanistan was the first country to recognize the illegal declaration of independence.

Father Sava says that the construction of the wall will continue once the EU mission convinces the separatist government to stop the threats of violence against the Monastery.

EU is in Serbia’s Kosovo province to provide law and order and some ethnic Albanian separatist groups have violently attacked the EU mission because of that.

September 28, 2009
SERBIANNA

Tags: Islamic terror, Kosovo, Serbia

August 28, 2009
A Miracle in Washington D.C.






August 27, 2009
Washington D.C.: "Hawaiian" Myrrh-Streaming Icon of the Mother of God visits St. John the Baptist Cathedral

By the Grace of God on August 22 & 23, 2009 the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St. John the Baptist was blessed by the presence of a new great Sacred Image – the “Hawaiian” Myrrh-Streaming Icon of the Theotokos. This icon is a copy of the Montreal Iveron Myrrh-Streaming Icon of the Mother of God which for 15 years was safeguarded by Brother Jose (Joseph) Munos-Cortes. Brother Jose suffered a martyric death in 1997 in Athens, Greece and his remains were found to be incorrupt during his burial 15 days later in Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, New York.

The “Hawaiian” Myrrh-Streaming Icon of the Theotokos is much smaller than the original Iveron icon. Made in Russia the Hawaiian icon is a 7” x 9” paper reproduction laminated on a board one inch thick. Fr. Anatole Levin, the rector of the ROCOR mission in Honolulu purchased this icon in a church bookstore in Toronto, Canada a few years ago and gave it as a gift to his parishioner Reader Nectarios Yangson.

In the fall of 2007 Nectarios’ Icon began to copiously stream myrrh. A more detailed account of this miracle can be found on the site of the ROCOR in Honolulu http://orthodoxhawaii.org/icons.html

On August 22, 2009 the parishioners of St. John the Baptist Cathedral, Washington DC, piously awaited the arrival of the Icon in time for the English Vigil service. However the flight from New York was delayed due to inclement weather, allowing time for the church to be filled up with the faithful from other parishes in Washington and the environs, all of whom were waiting patiently to see and pray before the icon.

Many faithful went to confession desiring to meet the Most Holy Image of the Mother of God with a cleaned conscience. The Holy Icon finally arrived during the reading of the Six Psalms during the Slavonic Vigil. Many of those who attended the English Vigil remained for the Slavonic service in order to get a chance to venerate the Icon and be anointed with its Holy Myrrh, which poured forth from many spots on the Icon throughout the service.

After the service Matushka and I spent hours conversing with Nectarios, inquiring about the Miracle, his life, about Orthodoxy in Hawaii and answered many of his questions about Brother Jose Munos-Cortes, with whom Nectarios was not acquainted personally, but whose memory he deeply honors. Nectarios is convinced that the new Iveron Icon is in some mysterious way associated with Brother Jose and his selfless service to the Mother of God and his guardianship of the Montreal Icon.

On Sunday, August 23rd the Icon was present at both liturgies in an overflowing church. At each liturgy we communed the faithful from two chalices, as is our usual practice, but on this day the number of communicants had swollen to fill the entire Church, it was reminiscent of Holy Pascha.

At the early English Liturgy, Fr. John Johnson in his homily outlined the foundations Orthodox veneration of the Theotokos. At the Slavonic liturgy Fr. Victor Potapov reminded the faithful the words of the martyred Br. Jose Munos-Cortes who always said that the “greatest miracle of the Myrrh-Streaming Icon is not so much the manifestation of the physical myrrh, so much as the grace that it gives people to change their lives for the better.”

After both Liturgies commemorative molebens were served and all those present were anointed with the Holy Myrrh and given a piece of cotton dipped in the heavenly oil.

Many of the faithful did not want to leave the church; others came to our cathedral after Divine services in their own parishes in order to glorify the Theotokos in their native languages, including a group of local Georgians who read the Akathist in the Georgian language. Despite the fact that we were behind schedule Fr. Alexander Resnikoff was able to take the Icon to visit a number of gravely ill parishioners in Maryland.

At 5:00 PM the faithful gathered at our Iveron Icon Chapel in Rock Creek Cemetery. Here we served a moleben and Akathist to the Mother of God in three languages: English, Slavonic and Greek. The prayer service ended with a solemn procession with the icon around the perimeter of the large Orthodox section of the cemetery.

After prayers at the cemetery Fr. John Johnson took the icon to Virginia to bring comfort to a number of seriously ill parishioners. On Monday, August 24 the new myrrh-streaming icon and its custodian Reader Nectarios Yangston departed for Hawaii via California.

A Miracle at a Distance

On Sunday, August 23rd, after the English liturgy, it occurred to me that there might not be enough myrrh-soaked cotton to distribute to the large number of people gathered in church. I called my Matushka and asked her to bring more cotton to put into the icon kiot to soak up the myrrh pouring from the icon. Matushka remembered that in our attic we had a large role of cotton which belonged to Brother Jose which he never had a chance to use. When she arrived in church, Matushka and Nectarios went into the ponomarka (the room at the side of the altar) to cut off a portion of the dry cotton with the intent of exchanging it with the soaked cotton. They put the new cotton on a silver tray and were about to approach the Icon in the center of the church. At this time the epistle was being read. They stopped on the right kliros to await the end of the Scriptural readings before continuing with their task. The tray with the dry cotton was placed on a small table on the right kliros. When the reading concluded they looked at the cotton which they were preparing to take to the icon and were awe stricken to see that the cotton was filled with Holy Myrrh!

Nectarios and Matushka looked at each other with pious amazement. They came back into the ponomarka and asked an acolyte to call me so that I too could witness to this wondrous sign which was wrought during the Divine Liturgy. In truth, the Mother of God reminded us in a very real and dramatic way that during the Eucharist She, the Heavenly Hosts and the entire Church Triumphant come together in prayer with us, members of the Church Militant to offer the Bloodless Sacrifice.

This large piece of cotton which filled with myrrh at a distance from the Miraculous Icon is now kept in our cathedral as sacred relic. In truth, Great art Thou o Lord, and marvelous art Thy works and there is no word which suffices to hymn Thy wonders!

Miraculous Healings

I was told of at least three healings in our parish which occurred after anointing with the Holy Myrrh from the “Hawaiian” Icon of the Theotokos. The names of all three persons who received these healings are known to me.

Acute eye pain that an elderly Serbian woman was experiencing for days went away after she was anointed with the myrrh. Another woman, a Georgian, was instantly relieved of a toothache.

A member of our Parish Council was experiencing acute pain as a result of kidney stones. The pain was so great that he had to miss the Sunday Divine Liturgy and was ready to call an ambulance. After church his wife brought him some myrrh-soaked cotton from the Icon and anointed him. The pain immediately subsided.

A New Riza for the Icon Parishioner Irina Pradhan-DelCastillo is presently working on the embellishment of our iconostasis with silver basma and produced in the same style a silver frame for the reliquary of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco (the founder of our community in Washington, DC). Irina was asked by Reader Nectarios and a group of believers to make a silver riza for the Hawaiian Icon. As a personal gift to the Mother of God, Irina obliged and made a beautiful silver riza from the silver material, supplied by our cathedral and covered it with pearls and a number of semi-precious stones. She made the riza in Mexico, where she spends part of the year with her Mexican husband. When she heard that the Hawaiian Icon was coming to Washington DC she sent the riza to our Cathedral via UPS hoping that it would arrive in time to put it on the Icon. Unfortunately the riza arrived after Nectarios had left for home. The new riza will be blessed in our Cathedral on the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God and will be sent to Hawaii next week. *** Parishioners of the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St. John the Baptist and other Orthodox Christians in Washington will remember the grace-filled days of August 22 and 23 for a long, long time. Glory and thanks be to God for all things! May the Holy Theotokos protect the servant of God Nectarios from all harm and grant him many years.

Unfinished Business In Kosovo

Unfinished Business in the Balkans
Aug 12, 2009
By D. HUNTER HAYNES | For the past several years, the unresolved issues in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo have, in large part, been delegated to Europe, while the US busied itself with more pressing matters in Afghanistan and Iraq. That is about to change and the American people should be very concerned.

During his recent trip to Bosnia and Serbia, Vice-President Biden made it clear that the Obama administration is about to reclaim the leading role in the implementation of the Balkan’s European assimilation. The new guard in Washington is not pleased with the failure of Balkan integration into the Western political scene, so—once again—the US is about to delve into the inter-ethnic complexities of the Powder Keg of Europe.


U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, left, hands with Serbia's President Boris Tadic, in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, May 20, 2009.

According to Mr. Biden, the greatest obstacle to a secure and prosperous future in Bosnia and Kosovo appears to be the nationalistic tendencies of certain people. For some strange reason, they will not “forget the past and embrace the future.” Joe Biden has no tolerance for independent-minded holdouts—who he derisively labels “nationalists.”

According to the plan of liberals and neocons alike, those who refuse to consign themselves to the relativistic, multiculturalism of the West must be identified, marginalized, and eventually removed from the political process altogether. Simply stated, there is no room for patriotism, ethnic identity, culture, and traditional Christianity in today’s US-EU fraternity. Unfortunately for Washington and Brussels, not everyone in Bosnia, Serbia, and Kosovo has resigned himself to abject humanism and the betrayal of God and country.

Mr. Biden believes that Kosovo independence is irreversible and critically important to the region’s stability and progress. He is wrong on all counts. Kosovo independence is fully reversible and until that happens there will be no lasting stability or progress anywhere in the Balkans. The familiar saying, “It all began in Kosovo and it will end in Kosovo,” still holds true. By no means is the new, pseudo-state of Kosovo an end—it is only a temporary and unfortunate distraction on the path towards a lasting and just solution.

Kosovo is a land where local myth negates the historical facts and strategic plans of Western scholars and policy makers, and forms a higher reality for the people—a reality that creates heroes and martyrs, and propels a seemingly peaceful land into violence overnight. Only the Serbs and the ethnic Albanians can shape a new myth, a new “believable” history that will allow them to exist in the same country yet retain their own identities. Imposed cultural amalgamation and other outside manipulations will only end in resentment—first for the Serbs and later for the Albanians.

If this resentment leads to violence—and the winds are shifting in that direction—the US will not have the diplomatic, military or economic means to deal with the crisis. The 16,000 NATO troops in Kosovo, including 1,600 US military personnel, will find themselves bogged down in yet another drawn-out conflict, fraught with the explosive ingredients of ethnicity and faith, which have been needlessly and recklessly polarized by the West.

Our nation, the European Union, and other NATO member countries have made—and continue to make—grievous errors in Balkan policy. We are not, however, past the point of no return. It is possible to halt this decent into perdition and repair the damage done, but we must do so without the “excessive partiality for one foreign nation, and excessive dislike of another”—which, unfortunately, has defined our policy to date.

It is in the American interest to reconsider the matter of Kosovo independence and our foreign policy in the region. There is a tremendous opportunity before us as a nation to restore our diplomatic standing in the international community, repair damaged relations with the Russian Federation, and at the same time prove to our own citizenry that we have not completely abandoned the traditional values of our country.

D. Hunter Haynes is the Founder & President of the Orthodox Christian Advocacy Institute (OCAI). He served as a Police Commander in southern Serbia, as part of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo in 2001.

Tags: D. Hunter Haynes