Poor betrayed Christians of the West...

“May 23-26, pope John Paul II intends to visit Muslim Azerbaijan and Orthodox Bulgaria. Russia still remains among countries not interested in a visit like that. In the early 2002, the old pontiff found Russia a normal state and called apostle administrations “dioceses.” This was why, he was many times offended in the meetings organized by Orthodox communities. Since February, there is a ceaseless tide of protests in the Patriarchy, absurd discussions in the Duma about bun of entry for Catholic clergy and a similar behaviour of frontier guards who send back the leading persons. All the 300 foreign priests living in Russia think now about one thing: who of us is now also in the list? Foreign priests secretly leave Russia. Though, do not hurry us. Do not smash up our congregations and dioceses… Many things of which Catholics are convict belong now to the history, so there is no reason to scan old legends, while having living Catholics close by…”

Father Jaroslaw Wiszniewski, Sakhalin

Mr priest, It was a great deal of work for me to persuade the numerous audience of our monastery’s lecture-hall that Roman Catholics (or “Vaticanists,” as you are more precisely called in Greece) are not our enemies. “Listen, - I said, - in our country, there are and have been believers of different religions, and nobody would have regarded them totally as enemies. And as for the pope, that he decided to increase export of “Vaticanism” to Russia, alas! In his church, he could do anything he wants, while avoiding, of course, violating our laws. Our opinion does not concern him, and even worse: if we start to complain about “enemies,” he would be only glad – there is no better advertising for his decayed commodity. But, if we consider the situation sensibly and think why Good permitted one more expansion of Vaticanism to our long-suffering land and with a ten-time power start the cause of Orthodox mission, revival of faith at home, the whole cause will be for our good..." Though, today, when I read your letter “We ask for only one thing – do not smash up our congregations and dioceses!” I thought that probably eager anti-papists were right. Your letter, Mr priest, is, in my view, the most serious argument for them. You ask for not smashing up your congregations and dioceses. You should know, Mr priest, that smashing up a congregation or a diocese, as well as looting of a warehouse, a night club or anything else is a crime which is punished according to laws of the Russian Federation: the mentioned-above smashing up is no way connected with the Orthodox Church, as well as drugs, robbery, and perversion which take place in our country, in other countries, however, too. Moreover, as I know, nobody has looted your congregations and dioceses. So, why do you stress so much your request to refrain from the smashing up, as if this is a corner-stone of relations between Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy? So, I could answer, why. Because your letter is based on “blend” which is a propagandistic method of mixing incompatible and unrelated subjects. For, you write only about pogroms. A quotation: “Since February, a tide of protests does not stop of more or less official persons in the Patriarchy, of absurd discussion in the Duma… Foreign priests secretly leave Russia. We ask only for one thing. Do not hurry us. Do not smash up our congregations and dioceses…” And why should we not hurry you, Mr priest? And why the Patriarchy to which you have no more connection than to Dalai Lama should not protest against what it is concerned about? And what right do you have to call discussion in our Duma “absurd”? You, certainly, do not give any answers, but instead you stir in everything the fragrant word “smash up”, so the reader associates opposing papistry and bandit violence. Is it bad, or odd, or false, if Russian people piquet our institutions with slogans (for example, “Elder Woityla, Confess and Adopt Holy Christening!”)? And what do we explain in the press, in schools, in the radio and television about why we should use the word “Catholic” towards ourselves, but not towards you, and how that great watershed appeared between the Holy Church and the “fenceless space” of modern western culture, to ruin which is the main purpose of united forces of the New World Order? And that we strenuously pray to our beloved saints, like St Isidore of Yuryevo, St Germogen (Hemogenes) of Moscow, and St Afanasy (Athanaseus) of Brest killed by lawless Vatican satraps? And when you answer to this that “there is no reason to scan old legends,” we have only to be sorry for Christians of the West deceived by you… Yes, foreign religious figures - however they would call themselves: priests, preachers, apostles, Messiahs – now leave Russia, and the most natural reaction of Russians to this could be expressed with two words: “Happy Journey!” It is obvious that abroad nobody says to them “welcome,” though this is not our problem. We only could notice that the recent clamour around new Vatican dioceses in Russia was obviously designed for provoking anti-papist “pogroms,” at least any pogroms, at least somewhere, to strengthen shaky state of Vaticanism in Russia on the tide of reaction. Though, this attempt was not successful: you fall into the hole you have dug. Russians are a free nation, Mr priest, so it chooses for its land that measures of supporting or restricting a religious activity (or any other activity), which it finds necessary at the moment. So, don’t take it amiss, if you and your motley colleagues are harried for departing, which is 100 percent lawful and traditional for many civilized countries. It is said that an Englishman goes without saying goodbye, while a Jew says goodbye without going. So, you should better follow the Englishman’s example. Best regards,

Hierodeacon Makary The city of Ivanovo

Translated by Vera Solovieva

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2002/05/17/41292.html

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2002/05/27/41758.html