Archbishop Hilarion on social problems
November 14, 2009 by John Couretas · 8 Comments
From the Moscow Patriarchate, Nov. 12, 2009: During his meeting with foreign journalists on 11 November 2009, Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk answered questions concerning urgent problems of society today. Asked about the Church’s view of some problems of bioethics, especially the use of artificial life-support systems to prolong the life of a patient, he said, [...]
Stalin, Russianness and Orthodoxy
October 9, 2009 by John Couretas · 7 Comments
AsiaNews, the Roman Catholic news service, looks at how some elements in Russian society are working to rehabilitate Stalin’s reputation and sees the Russian Orthodox Church “co-opted” into this process. The makeover of Stalin’s image and the Soviet Era go together with an attempt by Russian rulers to restore the country’s cultural identity, an impossible [...]
‘Stalin’s Ghost Still Walks’
August 21, 2009 by John Couretas · 3 Comments
Writing in History Today, Catherine Merridale examines “competing versions of Russia’s troubled past in the light of present politics.” The excerpt below from “Haunted by Stalin” discusses the decline of interest in the Soviet past, and especially the work of Memorial, the research organization dedicated to keeping the memory of Communism’s victims alive. For some [...]
Archbishop Hilarion: Stalin a ‘Monster’
August 10, 2009 by John Couretas · 7 Comments
HT: ONet blog Russian archbishop’s censure of Stalin as “a monster” makes waves By Sophia Kishkovsky Tuesday, 04 August 2009 23:00 MOSCOW (ENI) -— Comments by a senior official of the Russian Orthodox Church condemning Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, accusing him of genocide, shortly before a European security forum equated the crimes of Stalin and [...]
Interview: A Mission in the World
July 6, 2009 by John Couretas · 2 Comments
The Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate distributed “A Mission in the World,” an interview of Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk by Expert Magazine (Issue No. 23 (661) June 15, 2009). Expert Magazine Your Eminence, one hundred days have passed since the enthronement of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. What has [...]
Ukrainian Church ‘rent by divisions’
June 5, 2009 by John Couretas · Leave a Comment
On the Get Relgion blog, Terry Mattingly describes a trip he made to Kiev to speak to Ukrainian journalists “about the challenges of covering religion news in mainstream press.” He looks at the divisions among Orthodox Churches in the Ukraine, which is set against the long running antagonisms that exist between that country and Russia. [...]
The Church and the Terror State
December 10, 2008 by John Couretas · Leave a Comment
The Moscow Times reports on the funeral of Russian Patriarch Alexy II: Candles flickered and white-robed elders chanted prayers as the country bade farewell Tuesday to Patriarch Alexy II, who guided the country’s dominant Russian Orthodox Church through its remarkable recovery after decades of Communist-era repression. Nuns, believers and government officials looked on as prayers [...]
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