Free Republic

The soldiers were scattered across Europe with the loneliness of war. The world was caught up in a total struggle. Women had gone to the factories; children were collecting scrap metal. The “war effort” was universal. In many places, food was rationed. The madhouse of consumption belonged only to the war; everything else could wait. And there was Christmas. Hollywood and Tin Pan Alley were part of the effort as well, cranking out songs that have never gone away. The mood was one of deep sentimentality and hope. “I’ll be home for Christmas,” the radios played, and soldiers wept. Being...

Due to the risks bound up with the novelty of the technology of biometric data, the Church stands for the fundamental right of citizens to refuse biometric identification, according to the head of the Russian Church. In a letter to the Chairman of the Russian State Duma regarding a large on biometric personal data adopted in October, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill notes that while technological developments are welcome, “the Church has always called for people to remember the risks they inevitably bring with them,” reports patriarchia.ru. As the Patriarch notes, the Russian Council of Bishops adopted a document on personal...

More than two decades after the tragedy of 9/11, the new St. Nicholas Church and National Shrine at Ground Zero was officially opened on the feast of St. Nicholas on Tuesday. A much simpler St. Nicholas Church used to stand on the same spot, but it was destroyed by falling rubble on 9/11. In 2010, Church leaders reached an agreement to build a new church, and after more than a decade of starts and stops, the church held its first Liturgy, on its patronal feast, celebrated by Bishop Apostolos of Medeia, reports Ekathimerini. “Today is a joyous day for...

Moscow, December 2, Interfax - The Moscow Patriarchate considers the Ukrainian authorities' intention to ban Russia-linked religious organizations to be targeting the most vulnerable part of Ukraine's population. "The Ukrainian leadership are prepared to act against their own population, and the most defenseless and unobjecting kind at that, the believers and the clergy of the largest and the only canonical Orthodox Church in Ukraine," Russian Orthodox Church spokesperson Vladimir Legoyda said on Telegram on Friday. He was commenting on a decree by Ukraine's President Vladimir Zelensky, which would pave way for a total ban on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC)....

A petition calling for President Zelensky to support a new bill that would completely ban the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church will be taken under consideration by the head of state. Any petition registered on the official site of the President of Ukraine that receives at least 25,000 votes must then be officially considered by the President. As of 1:30 PM, November 29, the petition, authored by Deputy Oleksiy Goncharenko of the European Solidarity Party, has received 25,879 votes. The petition calls for the President to support draft law 8221, “which provides for a ban on the activities of institution subordinate...

Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church consecrated a church dedicated to Grand Duke Vladimir on the 6th November, 2022. The Church, located in Balashikha in the Moscow region is to serve as the main church of the troops of the Russian National Guard. An Honour Guard was assembled on the square in front of the temple. The Director of the Federal National Guard Troops of the Russian Federation, Army General V.V. Zolotov, together with the command staff of the Federal Guard Service and clergymen met His Holiness Patriarch Kirill at the western gate of the church. The Patriarch offered...

This article from our archives was first published on RI in October 2017Bishop Mark talks about Russia's unique fighting style 'Systema' and illustrates some pretty cool moves. Before anyone gets too scandalized that a spiritual leader is advocating violence, the bishop illustrates only defense moves. He also emphasizes, many times, that force can only be used for self-defense and protecting those who are weak and in trouble. Systema (Система, literally meaning The System) is a Russian martial art intended primarily for combat and self-defense. Training includes hand-to-hand combat, grappling, knife fighting, and firearms training. Systema dates back to the 10th...

His Eminence Metropolitan Seraphim of Kythira of the Orthodox Church of Greece was found not guilty yesterday of violating the COVID lockdown in March 2020. The hierarch was arrested on Friday, March 20, 2020, for opening the doors of Holy Cross Cathedral and inviting the faithful to pray at the Salutations to the Theotokos. The state had ordered at that time that all services be canceled. Met. Seraphim said several times throughout the pandemic that closing churches only exacerbates the situation. According to the Orthodoxia News Agency, the trial at the Criminal Court of Piraeus lasted all of 15 minutes...

Moscow, November 23, Interfax - A bill banning the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine has been registered in the Ukrainian Verkhovnaya Rada. The bill outlaws the activity of any religious organizations or institutions, which are part or in any way accountable to the Russian Orthodox Church "in canonical, organizational and other issues," the European Solidarity Party said on Telegram. The party said that the bill aimed at preventing threats to the national security of Ukraine and providing order, and described "the liberation of Ukraine from the Russian Orthodox Church as yet another step towards independent Ukraine." The Council of the...

You are the anointing oil I bring, Causing my children's hearts to sing, Bringing my Latter Rain, NOTHING will be left the same, Setting wellsprings completely free, So their eyes can clearly see, The two olive trees inside you of my will, My Virtue is what you use to impart and fill, The Power of my love, My messenger supple as a dove, My Glory radiates from you, The oil of gladness dripping down as Herman's dew, You bring my gladness,sword and shield, Causing my enemies to fall at my feet and yield, You are a Perpetual fire 🔥 of...

To a large extent, in the West it is considered possible to rescind the Christian faith, marginalize it or move into a strictly private area. The Russians, however, having suffered heavily from forgetting Christ, feel it a must to firmly hold on to Him, lest they perish.Over the years, both Western and Russian scholars in the field of history noted that Russia has always seemed to be a more Christian nation than her European neighbors. There are in fact objective historical reasons why this is the case. The recent meeting of the Russian President V. Putin with historians and religious...

Moscow, November 21, Interfax - Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia believes that the prospects of world civilization depend on Russia. "The future of the world depends in the full sense of the word on the future of our Fatherland, our people, our Church, because today our Motherland defends those values that put a barrier to apostasy, that is, the movement towards the end of time under the rule of the antichrist," the patriarch told the audience at a reception in the Christ the Savior Cathedral on the occasion of the primate's birthday. "Remembering what the word of God...

Perhaps the most intriguing passage in all of St. Paul’s writings is his description of an inner struggle in Romans 7. “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.” (Romans 7:18-20)...

One of the most distinctive doctrines in Orthodox theology is that of theosis – divinization – becoming “like God.” Those who inquire into the faith likely stumble across this teaching fairly early, and, no doubt, some are drawn to it. Of course, there are those who run away from it and fear that it is saying something that it isn’t. Perhaps the most attractive aspect of theosis is the unabashedly positive note that it places in the midst of salvation. Whereas many Western treatments of salvation major in “not going to hell,” theosis gives tangible content and a goal that...

Public coming-outs, that is, statements publicly celebrating one's homosexuality or transgenderism, are now being recognized as propaganda actions, and the bill to ban homosexual propaganda will partly return the idea of ​​private life in society, which includes sexual behavior, said Vladimir Legoyda, Chairman of the Synodal Department of the Moscow Patriarchate for the Relations of the Church with Society. In October, the State Duma adopted in the first reading bills banning LGBT propaganda, as well as fines for it. The Russian Orthodox Church supported this legislative initiative. Later, the speaker of the State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin , allowed the appearance...

“The profane conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque is not only an insult to historical truth, it constitutes a direct threat to the monument,” believes the General Secretary of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy. “Hagia Sophia must be declared a monument in danger,” Dr. Maximos Charakopoulos, Member of the Hellenic Parliament, said after a meeting with a representative of the UNESCO Cultural Heritage Center in Paris, reports News Bulletin 24/7. During the meeting, Charakopoulos informed the UNESCO rep about the damages the former cathedral has suffered since being reconverted into mosque. Unfortunately, there have been numerous reports of damage...

The Russian Orthodox Church supports the initiative to ban LGBT propaganda across the board, but not the idea of making homosexuality itself into a crime, says one of the Church’s top representatives. In 2013, Russia passed an amendment to the country's Child Protection Law against “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations to minors.” Fines range from $155 for an individual to up to $31,000 for a media outlet. But now Russia’s Parliament is moving towards a total ban on LGBT propaganda, for any audience. “We supported the bill in the current version during the public hearings in the State Duma, which...

Russian society and government are increasingly rejecting Western liberal ideology. Top Russian lawmaker Pyotr Tolstoy says next step is that Russia should leave the WHO.October 27, the Plenary session of the State Duma (the Russian Parliament lower chamber) adopted in unanimous vote amendments to the legislation banning the promotion of non-traditional sexual relations. The bill, passed in the first reading, has been authored by 388 deputies, including the Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin and all faction leaders, and provides for a ban on promoting non-traditional sexual relations, or preferences, among Russian citizens of all ages, both adults and...

“For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.” (Romans 6:19) In the 20th century, between the end of the 60s and beginning of the 70s movements of sexual liberation began and the idea of a “sexual revolution” started to spread. During the 60s broad changes started to occur in Western societies, particularly society’s attitude toward sex, which aimed to “liberate” sex from predominant religious, social and ethical constraints, leading to new legislation about the sexual behavior of an individual...

Calling for Patriarch Kirill's resignation, Patriarch Bartholomew has accused the Russian Church head of supporting the alleged "political crimes" of the Moscow government. According to a recent report, he said it would be better to resign than to support the war. He urged Patriarch Kirill to "separate himself" from Moscow authorities, "even if this means stepping down from the episcopal throne." Meanwhile, many clergy in Ukraine have openly condemned Patriarch Bartholomew's attack on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church over the past several years, noting that his divisive actions have contributed in part to the current hostilities between Russia and Ukraine. Metropolitan...