High Treason:
The Luring of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad to the Moscow
Patriarchate
In recent years, and especially since the onset of perestroika, changes
have begun to take place in the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCA or
ROCOR). At first, they were perceptible only to those who followed
events closely, but then with the appearance of the October 2000
Epistle of the Council of Bishops, it became evident to anyone willing
to read, that a new direction has been designed to create a path for
communication and dialogue with the official Russian Orthodox Church
(ROC) otherwise known as the Moscow Patriarchate (MP). The Epistle,
although heavily cloaked in admonishing its flock to remain busy with
their own salvation and personal piety rather than meddle in church
affairs, also recognized the Moscow Patriarchate as a legitimate church
and canceled the infamous Declaration of 1927 by Metropolitan Sergii
(Stragorodsky), later to become known as the first “patriarch” of the
official Soviet Orthodox Church (ROC) - a church that worked
hand-in-hand with the communist regime in the destruction of thousands
of churches and monasteries as well as the brutal torture and murder of
millions of faithful, in other words - the annihilation of Orthodoxy.
It is only natural that the October 2000 Epistle was followed by a
multitude of protests, only for them to be silenced and the clergy
forbidden to serve- simply because they came to the defense of the
Church Abroad and gave very plausible reasons why a rapprochement with
the MP was not possible. Such treatment of dedicated clergy is an ugly
and unprecedented event in the history of ROCOR and it resembles the
tactics and behavior of the KGB-controlled MP, rather than ROCOR.
The MP, which calls itself the Mother Church, despite the fact that it
was established by Stalin and is younger than the pre-revolutionary
Church Abroad - the MP is not a church but an organization that has
been used as a tool to combat religion by the atheist communist regime.
*In the USSR, and in Russia today, the ROC has always been a tool of
the State. Though technically, there was a separation between Church
and State after the Bolshevik Revolution, the Church as a potential
enemy with its own philosophy, was alien to the Soviet State and for
that reason, in the initial stage of the Bolshevik Revolution, all the
church people who honestly believed that they had their own Supreme
Being to serve, not the State, were mostly exterminated.
Therefore, to suddenly speak of the MP as a legitimate church, as was
done by the hierarchs in the October Epistle, created dissension and
profound consternation, which was voiced by people, from around the
world including Russia, through letters, protests and Orthodox Lists on
the Internet. Finally, in July of 2001, the President of the Synod of
Bishops of the Church Abroad, his Eminence Metropolitan Vitaly, was
forcibly and illegally removed in what can be considered one of the
most odious Coup d’Etats in history. Those unfamiliar with the Coup
might want to acquaint themselves with at least the most recent events,
for instance, the fact that Metropolitan Vitalii’s June 22 Epistle,
which he ordered to be read from the amvon
in all churches, was forbidden from being read- more specifically,
suppressed on the orders of Bishop Gabriel. With unprecedented
insolence on the part of a young bishop towards his First-Hierarch,
Bishop Gabriel discredited Metropolitan Vitalii’s Epistle, with the
help of Archbishop Mark, as not having been written by the
Metropolitan. This accusation later was proved to be wrong and the
document authentic. One should also become acquainted with the accounts
of the infamous July 10th-13th events, when the First-Hierarch
was yelled at (literally) and lied to by the bishops under him. On July
10th, the Metropolitan walked out of the meeting in which he was rudely
mistreated, thus canceling it and making all subsequent meetings of the
new Synod illegal. Much has been written about the events that week,
but suffice it to say, people who voiced their concern, and spoke in
defense of the Metropolitan and the Church Abroad, as well as against
union with the MP, were invariably silenced, labeled as mentally
imbalanced or otherwise incompetent, and considered as schismatics who
“refuse to obey their bishops.” Words such as sectarians, fanatics,
extremists have been applied to them, words that stem directly from the
KGB-controlled Moscow Patriarchate, and one must add, have always been
used by the KGB to degrade, weaken and discredit.
It is with great sorrow and shame that one reads the reactions to the
Coup in the Russian Press: «Ïåðåâîðîò â ÐÏÖÇ: Ìèòðîïîëèòà
Âèòàëèÿ, îêàçûâàåòñÿ, îòñòðàíèëè îò óïðàâëåíèÿ Öåðêîâüþ» (Coup d'Etat
in ROCOR: Apparently Metropolitan Vitaly Has Been Expelled from Ruling
the Church):
«Ôàêòè÷åñêîå îòñòðàíåíèå ìèòðîïîëèòà Âèòàëèÿ îò äîëæíîñòè ïåðâîèåðàðõà
ÐÏÖÇ è åãî èçãíàíèå èç Ñèíîäà (àðõèåïèñêîï Ëàâð è åïèñêîï Ìèõàèë
áóêâàëüíî ïîòðåáîâàëè, ÷òîáû ìèòðîïîëèò «îñâîáîäèë» ñâîþ êîìíàòó â
çäàíèè Ñèíîäà), ñîâïàëè ñ «ïðàçäíîâàíèåì» 50-ëåòèÿ åãî àðõèåðåéñêîãî
ñëóæåíèÿ... ×ëåíû Çàðóáåæíîãî Ñèíîäà íå òîëüêî íå îòêëèêíóëèñü íà
ìíîãî÷èñëåííûå ïðåäëîæåíèÿ íàãðàäèòü åãî ïðàâîì íîøåíèÿ âòîðîé ïàíàãèè
è òèòóëîì «Áëàæåííåéøèé» íî è ïîäâåðãëè îáñòðóêöèè. Îòêàç ÷ëåíîâ
Çàðóáåæíîãî Ñèíîäà îò ýëåìåíòàðíûõ ïðèëè÷èé è óâàæåíèÿ ê ñâîåìó
ñòàðöó-ïåðâîèåðàðõó äàæå â äåíü ïðàçäíîâàíèÿ åãî «çîëîòîãî» þáèëåÿ
ÿâëÿåòñÿ âàæíûì èíäèêàòîðîì äóõîâíîé àäìîñôåðû, öàðÿùåé â íûíåøíåì
ïðîïàòðèàðõèéíîì ðóêîâîäñòâå ÐÏÖÇ» (The virtual release of Metropolitan
Vitaly from his duties as the First-Hierarch of ROCOR and his expulsion
from the Synod (archbishop Lavr and bishop Michael literally demanded
that he vacate his room in the Synod building), coincided with the 50th
celebration of his services as a hierarch… The members of the Synod
abroad not only did not respond to many offers to reward him with the
right to wear a second panagia
together with the title of the “Most Holy” but subjected him to
obstruction. The refusal of the Synod Abroad members to use most
elementary rules of respect for their elderly First Hierarch even on
the day of celebration of his 50th “golden” anniversary, stands as an
important indicator of the spiritual atmosphere which reigns in today’s
pro-Moscow Patriarchate leadership of the Church Abroad.)
For those who do not have access to the Internet and are patiently
“obeying their bishops,” it is crucial, for the sake of ROCOR’s
existence, to become acquainted with that which has been withheld from
them. After the Coup d’Etat, an Epistle was issued by the Bishops
stating that they “cannot fail to note how, through the wide
dissemination of all manner of distortions and false interpretations-
especially on websites formed for this purpose on the Internet… full of
slander against the hierarchy.” The Epistle admonishes: “Pay no
attention to the various Open Letters, Statements… [by that they mean
the protests to the October 2000 Epistle voiced by those concerned]…
which are being disseminated on the Internet and by electronic mail by
various provocateurs.” What these bishops fail to mention is that for
many years now, a very vocal, persistent and highly determined and
organized group of real provocateurs have been unrelentingly
brainwashing the flock on the Internet promoting what they thought
would be a smooth rapprochement and convergence with the MP, cheering
each other as they went along. These have become so obvious to the
readers’ dismay, that they have been labeled as the “pro-MP”
faction, gradually leading the Church Abroad into union with the
MP and ecumenical World Orthodoxy. As stated in their Epistle, “not one
of the hierarchs is striving for a speedy unification with the MP-”
maybe not speedy but a definite gradual, highly calculated, behind the
scenes process has been under way for years. Behind the names of those
who have become obvious advocates of the Union, stand others, who are
steering the entire process. Their names will become known later, as
more is unveiled- but for now it is important to make that unveiling
process available to the public rather than being fearful of
repercussions and personal attacks. It is to those who intend on
working in whatever capacity God has endowed them with, to help the
Church Abroad continue its existence, to those who will not be afraid
of spreading the truth - and to disseminate literature banned by the
official so-called pro-MP faction - and to those who do not have access
to the Internet (apparently a large number of parishioners who have
remained in the dark during the entire process), that this work is
humbly dedicated.
Reactions from Moscow
Shortly after the forced removal of Metropolitan Vitaly, in July of
2001, the MP began to voice its endorsement:
Ìû ïðèâåòñòâóåì òîò ôàêò, ÷òî íàèáîëåå çäîðîâûå ñèëû â ëîíå Ðóññêîé
Çàðóáåæíîé Öåðêâè ñåãîäíÿ ïðàêòè÷åñêè ó ðóêîâîäñòâà. (We welcome the
fact that the more healthy forces in the Church Abroad have
predominated and are now for all practical purposes in charge of it.)
“A Rapprochement with the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad?” sneers the Nezavisimaya gazeta on July 20, as
it proceeds to state that a “new split within the émigré Russian
Orthodox Church Abroad may lead to the reunification of many of that
church’s leaders with the Moscow Patriarchate. The recent departure
from the émigré church of its leader Metropolitan Vitalii opens the way
to such a rapprochement.” And from the official website of Tass, in an
article entitled “Metropolitan Vitaly is No Longer the Head of the
Church Abroad,” we read:
“Bishop Michael, who was Metropolitan Vitaly’s immediate vicar,
supported the suggestion of the other hierarchs to put an end to
Metropolitan Vitaly’s powers. Archbishop Lavr (Shkurla) of Syracuse and
[Holy] Trinity [Monastery] is the key figure in the Russian Orthodox
Church Abroad, those taking a stand for union with the Russian
Church…The attainment of positions of leadership within the Church
Abroad by supporters of union with the Mother Church permits us to hope
that the surmounting of the [existing] divisions in the Russian
Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad is not too far
distant.”
Having realized that their actions were becoming too obvious, and
people were beginning to read and pay attention, shortly after the Coup
d’Etat, the pro-MP faction of the bishops decided to switch gears and
appear as if they were slowing down the process of unification. One
guesses that it is only done temporarily, so as to pacify people, let
them “fall asleep” and let them think all is well- after all, our
bishops said that there is no unification process taking place. We
learn that Abbott Ioakim, for instance, who was sent to hold talks with
the MP, is excommunicated. The question arises, why hold “talks” and
appoint someone who suddenly will not be “allowed” to talk? In “Blow to
Possible Reunion in Russian Orthodoxy: The Thorny Path to Moscow,”
Dmitry Starostin observes:
The repressed archimandrite declared his own adherence to the MP and
was received into its bosom ‘at existing rank.’ The chief significance
of Archimandrite Ioakim’s transfer into the jurisdiction of the MP is
that now the “Commission of Relations” that he headed has ceased its
existence…Even if Archbishop Laurus and his fraction retain control
over RPTsZ (Church Abroad) they will not tackle any new contacts with
Moscow very soon.”’
Then we learn that Fr. Joachim left the Church Abroad and joined the
MP. Sergei Chapnin, in his article “Ê ×åìó Ñìóòà?” (Why the Discord?)
unravels the ploy:
ÐÏÖÇ - îäíà èç ïîðîæäåííûõ òîé ðåâîëþöèåé öåðêîâíûõ ãðóïï- ñåãîäíÿ
òðàòèò âñå ñâîè ñèëû íà áîðüáó çà âûæèâàíèå. Ñ ýòîé òî÷êè çðåíèÿ òîëüêî
îäèí âîïðîñ èìååò ïðèíöèïèàëüíîå çíà÷åíèå: êîãäà è íà êàêèõ óñëîâèÿõ
ñîñòîèòñÿ âîññîåäèíåíèå ÐÏÖÇ ñ Ìîñêîâñêèì ïàòðèàðõàòîì (ÌÏ). Åñëè
ãîâîðèòü êðàòêî, ìèòðîïîëèò Âèòàëèé áûë ëèäåðîì «ñåêòàíòñêîãî» êðûëà
ÐÏÖÇ (Òhe Church Abroad - one of those groups born of the
revolution- today is wasting all its strength on the struggle for
existence. Yet only one question remains meaningful: when and on what
terms will the union of the Church Abroad with the Moscow Patriarchate
take place? In short, Metropolitan Vitaly was the leader of the
“sectarian” wing of the Church Abroad.)
Note that the word sectarian reappears time and again, belittling
the Church Abroad. When did the term sect become so popular that the
Church Abroad, the original Russian Orthodox Church, which was forced
into exile during the Bolshevik Revolution, is now suddenly labeled a
sect? As to the recent statement made by the bishops in their July
Epistle, denying the fact that there is a pro-MP faction amongst them,
the Russian Press comments:
Ýòî çàÿâëåíèå ìîæåò áûòü äèïëîìàòè÷åñêèì õîäîì è íå ñîîòâåòñòâîâàòü
äåéñòâèòåëüíîñòè â ïîëíîé ìåðå. Âåðóþùèõ íåîáõîäèìî óñïîêîèòü è ñäåëàòü
ýòî ìîæíî òîëüêî îäíèì åäèíñòâåííûì ñïîñîáîì- ïîäòâåðòèòü ñóùåñòâóþùèé
status quo è çàÿâèòü îá îòêàçå îò êàêèõ áû òî íè áûëî ïåðåìåí â
ïîëèòèêå ïî îòíîøåíèþ ê ÌÏ. Ëîãèêà ñîõðàíåíèÿ ÐÏÖÇ êàê åäèíîãî
îðãàíèçìà òðåáóåò òàêòèêè óìèðîòâîðåíèÿ. (This could have been a
diplomatic step and did not correspond to reality. It is important to
pacify the flock in the most efficient way possible, by reaffirming the
status quo and deny any political changes with regards to the MP. The
logic of preserving the Church Abroad is an organism that requires the
tactic of conciliation.)
How were such devious tactics of conciliation acquired by ROCOR
hierarchs?
Conciliation, convergence and high
treason
As things unravel, one becomes aware of the fact that, contrary to the
bishops’ denial, there has indeed been a unification process taking
place and the pro-MP faction has been fast at work for years.
Newspapers mention it without any reservation, yet the bishops dare
keep it from their flock. One might begin with 1997, when in an
Interview with the MP entitled «Íàäî ñòðåìèòüñÿ ê åäèíñòâó Ðóññêîé
Ïðàâîñëàâíîé Öåðêâè, è â ýòîì íàïðàâëåíèè ÿ ñòàë ïðåäïðèíèìàòü
îñòîðîæíûå øàãè» (We Must Strive Towards the Unification of the Russian
Orthodox Church, and in that Direction I Began to Take Careful Steps),
Archbishop Mark of Germany clearly stated:
Interviewer: «Íà Ïðàâîñëàâèå Âû
ñìîòðèòå øèðîêî, âêëþ÷àÿ â íåãî è Âñåëåíñêóþ Ïàòðèàðõèþ, è Ìîñêîâñêóþ?»
(You see Orthodoxy in general as including World Orthodoxy and the
Moscow Patriarchate?)
Archbishop Mark: “Êîíå÷íî,
áåçóñëîâíî! Íàäî äîâåñòè öåðêîâíûé íàðîä äî òàêîãî ñîçíàíèÿ, ÷òî ýòî-
ïðàâèëüíûé ïóòü» (Of course, indisputably! We must lead the
people to such a state of mind, that this is - the right path.)
To this insolent statement vis-à-vis the people of ROCOR, which
attempts to brainwash and lead people to a state of mind and which
contradicts everything that ROCOR stands for, Metropolitan Vitalii
replied:
Vladyko, no one ever, neither Sobor, nor Synod, nor I gave you
permission to conduct these ongoing conferences, persistently leading
towards a final resolution, as is written in your statement”
To Archbishop Anthony of San Francisco, Archbishop Mark of Germany is
known to have written:
Åñëè ìû îòêàæåìñÿ- ïî óêàçêå ôàíàòèêîâ- îò îáùåíèÿ ñ Ñåðáñêîé Öåðêîâüþ,
òîãäà ìû ïðîñòî ñêàòèìñÿ â ñåêòàíòñòâî… ìû äîëæíû âîññòàíîâèòü îáùåíèå
ñ Ðóññêîé Öåðêîâüþ â åå ïîëíîòå, ìû òåïåðü íàõîäèìñÿ â îïàñíîñòè âîîáùå
ïîòåðÿòü ñâÿçü ñî âñåëåíñêèì ïðàâîñëàâèåì. (If we refuse- as
suggested by fanatics [sic] - to commune with the Serbian Church, then
we simply will slide down into sectarianism... we must restore
communication with the Russian Orthodox Church [MP] in full, as we are
now in danger of losing contact with World Orthodoxy.)
Thus, for those who find it hard to believe, the issue is quite simple
and Bishop Mark made his position quite clear, ROCOR must unite with
World Orthodoxy and Ecumenism, the “heresy of heresies”! One might
mention that the May 2001 (SCOBA) Meeting of Orthodox Canonical [sic]
Bishops, [as purposely entitled by the Press-Secretary Representative
of the MP in the USA], has established a committee and an
administrative board that will look into interjurisdictional Orthodox
problems in America, with the purpose of «attracting and inviting
bishops and representatives of various Orthodox jurisdictions». Slowly
but surely, the Church Abroad, if left out of these ecumenical
meetings, will begin to be viewed as uncanonical. The path is indeed,
highly organized and planned down to even a very specific use of such
denigrating vocabulary as uncanonical, sect, fanatic, mentally
imbalanced, etc. The sinister Beria, Stalin’s right hand was one of the
masterminds behind some of the tactics used to bring people to a state
of mind:
It is not always necessary to remove the individual. It is possible to
remove his self-willed tendencies to the improvement of the gaols and
gains of the whole. The technologies of Psychopolitics are graduated
upon the scale which starts somewhat above the removal of the
individual himself, upward toward the removal only of those tendencies
which bring about his lack of co-operation.
Any man who cannot be persuaded into Communist rationale is to be
regarded as somewhat less than sane, and it is therefore completely
justified to use the techniques of insanity upon the
non-Communist. Entirely by bringing about public conviction that
the sanity of a person is in question, it is possible to discount and
eradicate all of the goals and activities of that person. By
demonstrating the insanity of a group, or even a government, it is
possible, then to cause its people to disavow it. By causing a
revulsion on the part of the populace against its leader it is possible
to stop any government or movement. “A paranoid believes he is being
attacked by Communist.” Thus, at once the support of the individual so
attacking Communism will fall away and wither. An entire revolution can
be effected without the suspicion of a populace until it is an
accomplished fact. Just as in Russia we had to destroy, after many,
many years of the most arduous work, the Church, so we must destroy all
faiths in nations marked for conquest.
The changes of loyalties, allegiances, and sources of command can be
occasioned easily by psychopolitical technologies. Defamation is
the best and foremost weapon of Psychopolitics. Continual and constant
degradation of national leaders, national institutions, national
practices and national heroes must be systematically carried out, this
is the chief function of Communist Party Members, in general, not only
the psychopolitician. Every individual who rebels in any way, shape, or
form against efforts and activities to enslave the whole, must be
considered to be a deranged person whose eccentricities are neurotic or
insane and who must have at once the treatment of a psychopolitician.
Used in psychological hospitals or “psikhushki”
to this day, what does that treatment consist of?
Brain surgery, as developed in Russia, should be practiced by the
psychopolitical operative in training to give him full confidence in 1)
the crudeness with which it can be done, 2) the certainty of erasure of
the stimulus response mechanism itself, 3) the production of
imbecility, idiocy, and dis-coordination on the part of the patient and
4) the small amount of comment which casualties in brain surgery
occasion. Using criminals and prisoners, the psychopolitical operative
in training should experiment with duress in the absence of privation,
administering electric shocks, beatings, and terror-inducing tactics,
employed in hypnotism, and watch the conduct of the person when no
longer under duress.
Dimitry Pospielovsky, a graduate of the London School of Economics and
“confident in the leadership of the Moscow Patriarchate,” predicts the
take-over of Rocor:
“To avoid confrontation and splits, the patriarch has chosen to avoid
direct exposure and chastisement of the extremists within the church,
concentrating instead on preaching morality, moderation and tolerance
[the word tolerance in perestroika terminology, is often used promote
conciliation and convergence] to the whole nation and its leaders… The
renewed supreme ecclesiastic bodies, mandated by the whole church,
commanding the respect and support of the flock, would then be able to
take a stand, condemn extremism and racism, and ban dissemination of
hatred by any groups within the church. Should this lead to some of the
perpetrators of hate propaganda [sic!] joining the ROCOR or some or
some other esoteric sect [sic!], it would not hurt the church as a
whole; on the contrary, it would purify it and assure it of the
position of spiritual leadership in the nation. Moreover, it is only
then that the more moderate majority of the ROCOR membership would
likely reunite with the mother church, and whatever might remain of the
ROCOR would become irrelevant [sic!] as a small extremist sect.”
Why such a meticulously planned take over of Rocor? The answer is the
same as “why perestroika?” Economics. Western hard currency for
military advancement is an old trick, even before perestroika, from the
likes of Armand Hammer who robbed Russia of its treasures, to
Lenin’s NEP which fooled the world, to the Rosenbergs who gave away
secrets to Soviets on jet engines. Soviets used them in the Korean war,
before the US even had a chance to build them! Monastery and church
lands forcibly being taken over by the MP are financially beneficial,
and of course, power, control and modernization of Orthodoxy have
something to do with it as well.
*We have to have all Russians united, wherever they live, whatever they
preach!
Author: Why? What is their
[the MP's] gain?
*Well, first, economic gain. The Russian community in some parts of the
world is quite well off.
Archbishop Mark’s role, as a major leader in the process of
unification, is quite clear from his writings and actions, as well from
his choice of words, with such terminology as sectarians, fanatics,
denigrating anyone dedicated to preserving the purity of Russian
Orthodoxy. The Office of External Ecclesiastical Relations of the MP
welcomed Archbishop Mark's efforts in joining the ecumenist World
Orthodoxy:
On September 9, the body calling itself the Commission of German
Orthodox Churches, which incorporates the German Diocese of the Russian
Orthodox Church Abroad headed by Archbishop of Berlin and Germany Mark,
published a statement calling for continued communication between the
Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, and
expressed its disappointment with the Appeal of the ROCA Archbishopric
Council of May 13, 1998 which defies such communication.
For further information on Archbishop Mark’s position, see
«Ýêóìíè÷åñêèå ïîõîæäåíèÿ íàøåãî? Àðõèåïèñêîïà Ìàðêà» (Ecumenical
activities of Our? Archbishop Mark).
On the occasion of Orthodox Sunday in 1992, chaired by ecumenical
Patriarch Bartholomew and attended by the Head of the Moscow
Patriarchate, the Heads of Holy Orthodox Churches and World Orthodoxy
strongly denounced what they labeled as «the schismatic activities of
the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad». It is important to keep in mind
that Rocor considers ecumenism as the «heresy of heresies» and leaders
associated with ecumenical organizations during the course of the 20th
century, including the World Council of Churches, are the same people,
and descendants of those, who laid the path for and brought into being
the Revolution. Although a discussion of ecumenism is outside the scope
of the present work, it is crucial for every Orthodox to become
acquainted with its perilous consequences. As to the WCC, here is a
small window into its relationship with the MP:
Author: Why did they [the MP]
join the WCC?
*Well, they joined to snoop around, to look for potential gains. Don’t
forget that the the ROC was very actively used to promote the cause of
Peace- to unite peace loving people against the US, as the no. 1
potential aggressor. So ROC tried to influence these church officials,
through the WCC, that Soviet Union foreign policies were very peaceful
[sic!], aimed at Universal Peace and nothing else. It was the US and
NATO allies who undermined the world stability. So in their own subtle
way, they tried to simply spread Soviet propaganda - it was a tool of
Soviet propaganda inside the WCC. That was their mission, and also, to
look for some weak spots among individual priests, Protestant and
Catholic - were not alien to communist ideology. In fact in Italy some
Catholics were voting Communist! Also ROC looked for potential friends
among other denominations, trying to take them over to their side.
“Let’s work together for World Peace” thus softening, of course, the
resistance towards communism.
An appeal, entitled “Orthodox Anti-Globalists Think RPTs (MP)
Accomplice of Antichrist” has been recently enacted to challenge
globalization, ecumenism’s closest associate. It states:
“The leadership of the MP actually supports dragging Russia into the
system of the new world order and traditional ecumenical contacts of MP
with the World Council of Churches and Congress of European Churches
are openly being transformed into participation in the work of global
inter-religious unification operating under the aegis of a world
government. The appeal expresses serious doubt that genuine national
and church regeneration is taking place in Russia. Russia’s
participation in the process of globalization will inevitably lead to a
loss of national sovereignty over the maintenance of its appearance and
can become the last stage in state degradation.”
The process of unification through deceitful convergence is indeed, and
very obviously so, well under way.
Author: What about the Church
Abroad?
*Well, the Church Abroad today is now being courted. [sic!] In the old
days, the Church Abroad, as I said, was to be neutralized. Today this
problem has been resolved. We don’t have to neutralize. It’s no longer
a hostile organization. We want to embrace all under the Moscow
jurisdiction [MP]!
In the old days, everyone who lived outside of the USSR, emigres,
writers, displaced persons, they were all considered as potential
enemies of the State. They were enemies because they lived outside- why
not go back to Russia? [because that is how they were annihilated]
Today the policies of the Russian Government have changed completely.
All emigres outside USSR are friends! [how come, then, is force
necessary during the seizures of the Holy Land Rocor property] who have
to help Russia and we will help [help?! By forcibly taking over?]
each other! And it was Putin, actually Yeltsyn but Putin made it more
forceful, [sic!] who proclaimed that we have to unite all Russians
abroad, we are one community, one nation, nothing separates us any
more! [sic!]This is why the Church Abroad is probably loosing its
position [the intention all along, ever since communism outlawed it]
among the parishes- because the Soviet monster is dead. There is no
evil empire! ROC is tainted by cooperation with the Soviet system but
sill Russia is moving forward [militaristically, through western
funding, yes, otherwise it is a dying nation, as will be observed
below] and why not, in the end, unite?
The terms schismatic and sect have been used by various ecumenical,
world Orthodoxy and MP writers and spokespeople to denigrate the Church
Abroad and to gradually instill in its flock that it has no right to
exist. This tactic, typical of communist and ecumenical brainwashing
techniques, has been adopted by some members of the Rocor clergy, those
in the pro-MP faction. Fr. Roman Lukianov (Boston), for instance, in
his letter to the Metropolitan of July 1997, states that the «Church
Abroad is in danger of becoming a sect», to which the Metropolitan’s
response entitled «Letter to a Priest Concerning the Origin and Status
of the Moscow Patriarchate» includes the famous statement once made by
Lenin:
“If you need a Church, we will give you one, we will even give you a
Patriarch, but it is WE who will give you your Patriarch. And it is We
who will give you your Church.”
The unification process, despite what the pro-MP bishops say, has been
on-going for a number of years, even among the clergy. In addition, the
term sect has also been used by the Putin regime to enact and enforce
its “law of no tolerance” with regards to sects, for the purpose of
especially targeting the Russian Church Abroad which it considers a
sect.
The intentions of the MP are quite clear. According to the Deputy
President of the Foreign Relations Department of the Moscow
Patriarchate, abbot Mark Golovkov, who chaired on March 9th a round
table conference entitled «Problems of Property of the Church Abroad»,
at the Moscow Lomonosov State University:
The matter of church property is a closed area for studies. In this
sensitive region it is necessary to have basic materials and to tightly
cooperate with the Foreign Relations Department of the MP...lawyers of
the MP at present are trying to secure the «return» of all the property
[he was speaking of Rocor churches in Germany] to the Moscow
Patriarchate . Similar real estate is located in Switzerland, France,
Denmark, the USA and Argentina. The most effective way to extricate it
from Rocor and transfer it to the MP would be to use the channels of
Foreign Affairs Ministry of Russia.
The seizure of property belonging to the Church Abroad, is indeed, very
financially advantageous for the MP. One only has to recall, for
instance, the multi-million dollar value of the Holy Land church and
monastery properties that have been lost to the MP. To those unfamiliar
with the tragic events of Hebron and Jericho, the seizure of property,
incidentally, was, indeed, carried out by force!
Author: What about the Holy
Land?
*Well, the ROC in Jerusalem was always the main harbor, a KGB outpost
in Israel.
Author: What happened to the
land seized by the MP in Hebron, Jericho?
*Well, there was a forceful eviction. Well, it is now fully under
the MP, that’s all. They took it over forcibly.
Author: Why would there be a
need to use force, aren’t we friends?
*Well, because they resisted. So they took it over by force. All
property now is under the MP.
Another act of misleading the uninformed, used to discredit the actual
existence of Rocor, is the notion that Rocor was established after the
revolution, when actually it represents the continuation of the
original pre-revolutionary Russian Orthodox Church. The blessing for
its continued existence was given by His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon,
prior to his being murdered by the Bolsheviks. The brainwashing
technique of considering Rocor as a “temporary church” is demonstrated
quite clearly in the following statement by Vsevolod Chaplin, a
spokesman for the MP, who after mentioning a list of monarchist
organizations that have been formed in the early 90s (many of which
were actually controlled from the inside by the KGB and were created to
discredit those in favor of the revival of monarchy, as will be seen
below in the case of Pamiat’), states:
Among the supporters of these organizations are significant numbers of
priests and active laypersons of the ROC of the MP and the Russian
Orthodox Church Abroad, a church structure created after the
post-revolutionary emigration [sic!] and today having no canonical ties
with the Moscow Patriarchate.
To the uninformed, this can easily sound as if the Church Abroad
appeared out of nowhere after the revolution and now is no longer
canonical because it has no ties to the MP.
The insolent article «Àëåêñèé II æäåò 'îò÷åòà' îò Èåðàðõîâ ÐÏÖÇ è
ïîäòâåðæäàåò ñâîþ âåðíîñòü ýêóìåíèçìó» (Aleksei II waits for an
‘Account’ [sic!]from the ROCA Hierarchs and Confirms his Allegiance to
Ecumenism) in the Russian Press confirms the fact that the MP is
actually suggesting that during the course of unification, Rocor be
“subservient and not delay”!
While on vacation in Switzerland, Aleksei II made an important
statement with regards to the relationship between the MP and the
Church Abroad… “The schism between the ROC and the ROCA will be
resolved in time. I believe that time heals all ailments and divisions.
It will heal this division as well because ROCA and the MP are flesh
and blood of their people’s flesh and blood. Reasons that have
previously justified the separation are no longer relevant and all
factions not only of world Orthodoxy, but all Christian denominations
must also unite. There must be compromise and subservience [sic!]. As
to the process of unification, the ROCA is advised not to delay it
[sic!]” (íå çàòÿãèâàòü).
*Whereas the ROC [MP] was always a subservient tool of the State, it
never existed on its own (as for instance, did the Polish Church), the
Church Abroad was part of the white guard movement, anti-Soviet,
hostile émigré organization - and as such, it was targeted for
penetration by the KGB, with the purpose of dissolving the organization
or turning them over to the Soviet side, or neutralizing them as
anti-Soviet elements.
Author: How was it done?
*Very simple. There were 3 ways. 1) To neutralize, to put an end to
anti-Soviet activities, 2) To turn them into your friends and 3) To
take advantage of the parish and to turn the parish, to manipulate the
parishes, to look for potential friends of the Soviet State.
Author: Things have been
developing quickly these days, a sort of a dictatorship has been
created, silencing people, banning clergy, making people believe they
are fanatics, mentally imbalanced-weakened, etc. Was that one of the
tactics of manipulation?
*In the old days yes. Nowadays, well, ROC has gained some status in
Russia. In the old days it was an obedient servant of the state. Today
it has become a Junior Partner of the State. Patriarch Alexei has been
a Soviet Agent since 1960s, I believe, and he had also been helpful in
cementing Russia’s new system, a semi-democratic, semi-totalitarian
system. Because Russian leadership has discarded Communism as a main
ideology, it had to accept some kind of ideology, it could not operate
in a void, so they accepted Russian Orthodoxy as a new substitute for
communist ideology. As a result, the church moved up in the Soviet - I
mean Russian- hierarchy, up from the servant to a Junior Partner. They
now occupy a certain niche inside the Russian political system and the
patriarch, Alexei II, has become a far more visible figure than in the
old days. They are still very loyal to the State but they try to
conduct their own policy. For instance, Mr. Putin would like to invite
the Pope, well he wants to raise his own prestige in the eyes of the
civilized world and he knows that it is difficult to ignore the
Vatican, but Alexei said “no, in my lifetime, not one single
hierarch of the Catholic Church will come to Russia.” [The author’s
question was never really answered.]
Every sentence of the above statement is highly important, pointing to
the reader, that the changes in the Soviet Union-Russia have been
highly planned to fool the world, to pacify and to deceive, for the
purpose of convergence. As will be observed later, nothing has changed,
only renamed, in the name of false friendship, typical in
communist-internationalist-ecumenist tactics which have remained the
same since the 19th century agitation days of the Social Democrats.
Junior partner of the State! Alexei has been instrumental in cementing
the new system! It had do accept some kind of ideology! Orthodoxy as a
substitute for Communist ideology! [sic!] Putin wants to raise his
prestige!
As it seems in foreign nations that the church is the most ennobling
influence, each and every branch and activity of each and every church,
must, one way or another, be discredited. Religion must become
unfashionable by demonstrating broadly, through psychopolitical
indoctrination, that the soul is non-existent ant that Man is an
animal. The lying mechanisms of Christianity lead men to foolishly
brave deeds. By teaching them that there is a life hereafter, the
liability of courageous acts, while living, is thus lessened. Religion
must be made synonymous with neurosis and psychosis. People who are
deeply religious would be less and less held responsible for their own
sanity, and should more and more be relegated to the ministrations of
psychopolitical operatives. While we today seem to be kind to the
Christian, remember we have yet to influence the “Christian world” to
our ends. When that is done we shall have an end of them everywhere.
You may see them here in Russia as trained apes.
It is necessary to work incessantly upon the official,using personal
defamations, wild lies, false evidences and constant propaganda to make
him fight for you against the church. We must be like the vine upon the
tree. We use the tree to climb and then, strangling it, grow into power
on the nourishment of its flesh. We must strike from our path any
opposition. We must use for our tools any authority that comes to hand.
And then the decades sped, we can dispense with all authority save our
own and triumph in the greater glory of the Party.
Now that Communism has not “fallen”
One of the most often heard statements in defense of the unification
process is the notion that communism has fallen, and therefore talks
and committees can be formed to discuss that which stands in the
way of unification. This kind of thinking presupposes that indeed a
change of guard has taken place in Russia, and that the MP is now a
legitimate church with which one can talk and even merge. In reality
the insidious ways of those who created the Revolution, the Internatsional and persecution of
the Orthodox, have unfortunately not ended with perestroika.
It is in the reform movement of the nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries, existing side by side with the liberal intelligentsia, the
Social Revolutionaries and those preparing the path to the revolution,
that one finds the roots to the on-going destruction of Orthodoxy.
«Ðåøèëè ðåôîðìèðîâàòü Öåðêîâü Áîæèþ.. Äëÿ ýòîé ïàãóáíîé öåëè ýòè âðàãè
èñòèííîé Öåðêâè ìíÿùèå ñåáÿ ïîñëåäîâàòåëÿìè ïåðâåíñòâóþùåé àïîñòîëüñêîé
Öåðêâè... îíè ïîñòàðàþòñÿ óâëå÷ü çà ñîáîé ìàëîâåðóþùèõ èç
èíòåëëèãåíöèè... Ñîáîð âîçáóæäàþùàãî â íåêîòîðîé ÷àñòè íàøåãî
äóõîâåíñòâà è òàê íàçûâàåìîé èíòåëëèãåíöèè äèêèÿ æåëàíèÿ âíåñòè
ïîñðåäñòâîì ðåôîðì â ïðàâîñëàâíóþ Öåðêîâü ÷èñòî ïðîòåñòàíòñêèé äóõ»
(They have decided to reform the Church... For this perilous goal,
these enemies of the True Church, having labeled themselves as the
followers of the early Apostolic Church... will try to lure those
members of intelligentsia who have little faith… the Sobor will
arouse in some of our clergy and in the so-called intelligentsia an
incredible desire to introduce into the Orthodox Church reforms of a
purely Protestant nature.)
The reform movement with its direct line to renovationism and
ecumenism, was active in infiltrating the church for years before the
revolution and it continues to do so today. The circle included the
future ëæå-ïàòðèàðõ (false patriarch) Sergei Stragorodsky, who even
before the Revolution worked to destroy Orthodoxy, and who, then after
the Revolution, viciously persecuted the Church and led its faithful to
their deaths.
Ëèáåðàëüíî-ðåôîðìàöèîííîå äâèæåíèå ïîäãîòîâèëî ïî÷âó - èäåîëîãè÷åñêóþ,
ñîöèàëüíî-ïîëèòè÷åñêóþ, ôèëîñîôñêóþ, ïîäãîòîâèëî êàäðû äëÿ áóäóùåé
îáíîâëå÷åñêîé ðåôîðìàöèè… Óæå çàäîëãî äî ðåâîëþöèè çàðîæäàëàñü âíóòðè
Öåðêâè íîâàÿ íåâåðíàÿ öåðêîâü «áëóäíèöà». Âñå ýòî ñîáðàíèå ðàçðîçíåííûõ
ãðóïïèðîâîê è ëè÷íîñòåé ñòàðàëîñü ïîñðåäñòâîì ïðîïàãàíäû ñîçäàâàòü
ðåâîëþöèîííóþ ðåôîðìàöèîííóþ àòìîñôåðó â Öåðêâè. (The 20th
century, the century of the reign of the dark forces, started
from about 1904. The dark forces had by then prepared the war with
Japan that nobody needed, and that ended disastrously for
Russia. By means of propaganda and difficulties caused by the
war, they created a revolutionary atmosphere in the country. Already
then, in the Church, among the clergy, appeared a number of
characters with revolutionary views. The future patriarch of the ROC,
Sergei (Stragorodsky) appeared on various committees in St.
Petersburg in leadership position of chairman [he presided]. From
amongst all the clergy who participated on these committees,
Bishop Sergei (Stragorodsky) always held the most radical position and
he recognized the freedom of worship and the need for the separation of
Church and state [!!!] The liberal-reformationist movement paved the
way- ideologically, socio-politically, philosophically- for the future
renovationist reform movement… Already long before the
revolution, was conceived within the Church [through these
infiltrators] the new «whore [false] church». All these groups and
their diverse opinions, were trying by means of propaganda, to create a
revolutionary reform-minded atmosphere in the Church).
The offspring of the reform movement, the Living Church was to do away
with His Holiness Patriarch St. Tikhon and that which he represented,
true Orthodoxy. Here is a window into their insidious ways, for the
reader to compare with what is taking place today.
Òèõîíà âûçâàòü è çàòðåáîâàòü îò íåãî â 24 ÷àñà ïóáëèêàöèè, îòëó÷åíèÿ îò
öåðêâè ëèøåíèÿ ñàíà è îòðå÷åíèÿ îò äîëæíîñòè âûøåóêàçàííîãî
äóõîâåíñòâà, à òàêæå ïîòðåáîâàòü îò íåãî èçäàíèÿ ñïåöèàëüíîãî ïîñëàíèÿ
çàãðàíè÷íîìó ïðàâîñëàâíîìó äóõîâåíñòâó è âûäà÷å ïðåäñòàâèòåëÿì
Ñîââëàñòè öåííîñòåé íàõîäÿùèõñÿ â çàãðàíè÷íûõ öåðêâàõ.  ñëó÷àå åñëè
Òèõîí îòêàæåòñÿ îò èñïîëíåíèÿ âûøåóêàçàííûõ òðåáîâàíèé òàêîâîãî
íåìåäëåííî àðåñòîâàòü ïðåäúÿâèâ åìó âñå îáâèíåíèÿ ñîâåðøåííûõ èì ïðîòèâ
Ñîâåòñêîé Âëàñòè ïî ñîâîêóïíîñòè. Òîãäà ïåðåä íàìè âñòàëà çàäà÷à
îáðàáîòàòü Òèõîíà, òàê ÷òîáû îí íå òîëüêî èçâèíèëñÿ ïåðåä Ñîâåòñêîé
âëàñòüþ, íî è ïîêàÿëñÿ â ñâîèõ ïðåñòóïëåíèÿõ è òåì ñàìûì ïîñòàâèë áû â
ãëóïîå ïîëîæåíèå- ìîíàðõèñòîâ. Áëàãîäàðÿ ñîçäàííîé äëÿ Òèõîíà
îáñòàíîâêè è óñëîâèé, ãäå îí ñîäåðæàëñÿ ïîä ñòðàæåé, à òàêæå è
ïðàâèëüíî ñäåëàííîãî ê íåìó ïîäõîäà, Òèõîíà óäàëîñü óáåäèòü è îí
ñîáñòâåííîðó÷íî íàïèñàë ðàñêàÿíèå, êîòîðîå êîíå÷íî, íå ìîãëî íå
ïîðàçèòü åãî äðóçåé ñ÷èòàâøèõ åãî òðè äíÿ òîìó íàçàä ñòîéêèì è
íåóñòðàøèìûì ÷åëîâåêîì… (Call for Tikhon and demand from him within 24
hours, that he publish his excommunication from the church, with loss
of rank and renunciation of responsibility of the above-mentioned
clergy along with him, and also demand from him that he write a special
decree to the clergy of the church abroad and ask that all valuables in
churches abroad be relinquished to the representatives of the
Soviet Power. In case Tikhon refuses from performing these said
demands, arrest him immediately and present him with all the charges
committed by him against the Soviet Power...Then in front of us rose
the need to «work Tikhon over», in order that he will not only beg
forgiveness of the Soviet Power, but that he confesses his crimes
and thus would put in a bad position- the monarchists… Thanks to the
creation for Tikhon of a special environment and conditions, where he
was under arrest and guards, as well as the right kind of tactics, we
were successful in persuading him and he penned his confession, which
of course, could not but surprise his friends who 3 days ago thought of
him as a firm and fearless person [excellent brainwashing tactics at
work].)
Ïðîòèâîäåéñòâèå Òèõîíà èçúÿòèþ öåííîñòåé åñòü ïðåñòóïëåíèå (Tikhon's
opposition to the seizure of church valuables is a crime)
Íóæåí-ëè Ïàòðèàðõ? Âìåñòî ïàòðèàðõà íå îñòàâèòü-ëè âî ãëàâå öåðêâè
«êîëëåãèþ» íî áåç ïðèñóòñòâèÿ â íåé êîíòð-ðåâîëüöèîííûõ ýëåìåíòîâ
(äàæå â êàíöåëÿðèÿõ) (Do we need a Patriarch? Instead of a patriarch,
should we not put at the head of the church a "committee" but without
the presence in it of any counter-revolutionary elements (not even in
the secretariat)).
In the writings of the revolutionary Vladimir Bonch-Bruevich, we can
observe the task of the Bolshevik-led Living Church unfold:
Äóõîâåíñòâî äîëæíî áûëî ñâåðíóòü ñâîåãî â÷åðàøíåãî âëàñòåëèíà è ãëàâó,
Ïàòðèàðõà Òèõîíà. Îíè ëþäè ïîëåçíûå è íóæíûå äëÿ òâîð÷åñòâà íîâîé æèçíè
[êîìóíèçìà]...Îíè íàçíà÷èëè â Õðàì Õðèñòà Ñïàñèòåëÿ õèòðåéøàãî
ïîëèòèêàíà èç ñâîåé ñðåäû, äåëàþùåãî öåðêîâíóþ ïîëèòèêó, ïðîò.
Êðàñíèöêîãî [îäèí èç âîæäåé Æèâîé Öåðêâè]. Íå íàäî äóìàòü ÷òî öåðêîâü
ñëàáà, ÷òî îíà ðàçëîæèëàñü, óïàëà. Íåòü îíà åùå ñèëüíà è ìû íå
îñëàáåâàÿ íè íà ìèíóòó äîëæíû íàíîñèòü åé óäàð çà óäàðîì ñâîåé îòêðûòîé
ïðîïàãàíäîé íàøèõ èäåé, íàøåãî ìàòåðèàëèñòè÷åñêîãî ìèðîñîçåðöàíèÿ,
ïîìíÿ ðàç è íàâñåãäà, òî ñàìî ðåëèãèîçíîå ìèðîñîçåðöàíèå ãëóáîêî
âðàæäåáíî âñåìó íàøåìó ñòðîþ ìûñëåé... ñ ðåëèãèåé íóæíî áîðîòñÿ äî
êîíöà, ïîêà ÷åëîâåê ñîâåðøåííî î÷èñòèòñÿ îò ýòîé ïðîêàçíîé øåëóõè, îò
âñåõ ðåëèãèîçíûõ ïðåäðàññóäêîâ. Ðåëèãèîçíàÿ ìûñëü- îäíà èç ñàìûõ
êîíñåðâàòèâíûõ äèñöèïëèí è áîðîòñÿ ñ íåé íàäî âî ÷òî áû òî íå ñòàëî.
Îñîáåííî ñîþçó ìîëîäåæè. (The clergy had to overthrow its past landlord
and leader, Patr. Tikhon. Some people are useful and needed for
instituting the new life [communism]... they appointed at the Christ
the Savior Church a most cunning politician, one of their own, who
promulgates church politics, Fr. Krasnitsky [one of the leaders of the
Living Church]... Do not think that the church is weak, that it has
crumbled, fallen. No, it is still strong and, we, not weakening for a
minute, must inflict upon it blow after blow, with open propaganda of
our ideas, of our materialistic world view, remembering once and for
all, that the religious world view is deeply damaging to our order of
thinking... we must fight religion to its end, until man will totally
cleanse himself from this leprosy peel and from all religious
beliefs/prejudices. Religious thinking is one of the most conservative
disciplines and fight it, we must at all cost, especially with the help
of our youth).
The main leader and agitator of The Living Church, a “priest” of
non-Orthodox origin, first a reformer and member of the same circles as
Sergii Stragorodsky, then a Bolshevik collaborator, A. Vvedensky, wrote
words that are sadly familiar to us as we witness a similar enticement
to join the official false «church» - a Stalinist organization known
under the guise of the «Mother Church» - ever since its inception,
relentlessly trying to lure the naïve and uninformed to union. After
all, as they say, to unite in Brotherhood is the “Christian thing” to
do!
Î åñëè áû ìû âñå ñëèëèñü â åäèíîé ïîðûâå ëþáâè è áðàòñòâà! Òîãäà êàê
ñîí, ìèíîâàë áû ýòîò ïîñòûäíûé ïàðàëè÷ öåðêâè. Ñâîáîäíàÿ öåðêîâü â
ñâîáîäíîé Ðîññèè ñîãðåâàëà áû, êàê ÿñíîå, ÿðêîå ñîëíöå, âñåõ- äîáðûõ è
çëûõ êàê ãîâîðèë î òîì íàø Ãîñïîäü. (O if only we could all merge in an
upsurge of love and brotherhood! Then as in a dream, this paralysis of
the church would end. The free church in a free {sic!] Russia would
warm like the bright sun, all - the good and the bad, as spoke about
this our Lord.)
*Hewlett Johnson, Dean of Canterbury- he was a pro-Soviet in Great
Britain, he even wrote a book which I read a long time ago,
Christianity and Communism, and in it, he tried to prove that there was
no essential difference [Why then were millions of Christians
exterminated?] Christians have to be communists, this is part of God’s
bequest for us, part of His heritage. He said that the atheistic nature
of Soviet Communism does not necessarily contradict the Christian
values, in fact, there is a lot in common. And this is precisely what
the ROC preached across the world “We have to forget our differences!”
Let us recall the real intentions behind the "love and brotherhood":
Ïðîòîêîë #64-14 ôåâðàëÿ 1925 ãîäà. Ïîñòàíîâèëè: Îòêðûòûå ñ ðàçðåøåíèÿ
Ëåíèíãðàäñêîãî Ãóáèñïîëêîìà äâå Áîãîñëîâñêèõ àêàäåìèè (òèõîíîâñêàÿ è
îáíîâëåí÷åñêàÿ) ñîåäèíèòü â îäíó îáíîâëåí÷åñêóþ àêàäåìèþ, î ÷åì
ïîðó÷èòü ò. Òó÷êîâó [îòâåòñâåííûé çà óáèéñòâî òûñÿ÷åé Ïðàâîñëàâíûõ]
ñíåñòèñü ñ Ëåíèíãðàäîì. (Protocol No. 64. 14 February 1925. Resolution:
To open with the permission of the Leningrad Gubispolkom two Theological
Academies (one Tikhonite and the other renovationist), and then combine
them together into one renovationist academy, to be taken care of by
Tuchkov [responsible for the murder of thousands of Orthodox] in
conjunction with Leningrad [The State, which will take care of the
murders.)
World Revolution has always been the end goal of Marxism-Leninism and
creating dissension, division, conflicts and schisms have always served
as tools for the destruction of its most hated enemy, religion,
especially Russian Orthodoxy.
Êàêîâà ïîëèòèêà ñîâåòñêîé âëàñòè ïî îòíîøåíèþ ê öåðêîâíîìó ðàñêîëó?
Ðàñêîë â öåðêâè âûãîäåí [ðàáî÷å-êðåñòÿíñêîé] âëàñòè, èáî ýòî âåäåò ê
îñëàáëåíèþ åÿ âðàãîâ, ê ïîáåäå ðåâîëþöèè (What is the policy of the
Soviet regime towards the church schism? The schism in the church is
beneficial for the [worker-peasant] powerful, since it leads to the
weakening of its enemies, thus to the triumph of the revolution.)
But one might say, these are not the 1920s, how can there be any
mention of destruction of religion now that there is “freedom of
religion” in Russia, now that “communism is over,” now that the “Soviet
USSR has been abolished.” The mastermind of perestroika, Mikhail
Gorbachev made sure that before proceeding with one of the greatest
travesties in history, he first put firmly in place his «Long-Term
Program of Atheistic Education of the USSR», then finally in November
1987, he stated to his Politburo:
Perestroika is no retreat from Communism but rather a step toward the
final realization of Marxist-Leninist utopia: a continuation of Lenin's
ideas. Those who expect us to give up communism will be disappointed.
In October 1917, we parted with the Old World, rejecting it once and
for all. We are moving toward a new world, the world of Communism. We
shall never turn off that road. Perestroika is a continuation of the
October Revolution.
To which President George Bush, in his Address of November 22, 1989,
responded:
«There is no greater advocate of perestroika than the President of the
United States!» thus establishing a smooth “convergence” of communism
and democracy, which in Lenin’s agitation days, were used
interchangeably. There was little or no differentiation between
labels such as íàðîäíèêè (populists) who were also called äåìîêðàòû
(democrats), ðàäèêàëû (radicals), ëèáåðàëû (liberals), ñîöèàë
äåìîêðàòû (social democrats), ñîöèàë ðåâîëþöèîíåðû (social
revolutionaries), etc. as they were all part of the opposition or
îñâîáîäèòåëüíîå äâèæåíèå, which in the West eventually became known as
socialism, communism and internationalism. Much time is wasted
needlessly to differentiate them. Here is what the Bolsheviks and their
leaders had to say about such labels:
Ó íàñ åñòü êëàññ, ñïîñîáíûé ìãíîâåííî ðàçíåñòè ðåâîëþöèþ ïî âñåì êîíöàì
Ðîññèè!», they boasted. «Ýòîò êëàññ èçâåñòåí â ðàäèêàëüñêîì ìèðå ïîä
êëè÷êîé «ëèáåðàëîâ»…ìîæåò îí è ñòàíåò òàêîâûì ñî âðåìåíåì, êàê
ïðåäñêàçûâàåò íàø «Ñîöèàë-Äåìîêðàò». Íàøè ëèáåðàëû ñîîòâåòñòâóþò
ôðàíöóçñêèì ðàäèêàëàì. Íà ñàìîì äåëå îíè áîëåå ðàäèêàëüíû… Ëèáåðàë,
õîòÿ áû è áîëåå óìåðåííûõ âçãëÿäîâ, âñòóïèâøèé â êîíñïèðàöèþ è
áðîñèâøèé îñåäëîñòü, ñòàíåò òîò÷àñ æå «ðàäèêàëîì» (We have a class,
capable of promptly proliferating the revolution to all the corners of
Russia! This class is famous in the radical world under the name of
“liberals.” Maybe it shall become so with time, as predicted by
the “Social Democrat.” Our liberals correspond to the French
radicals. In reality, they are more radical… A liberal, although he
holds more moderate views, if he joins the conspiracy [sic!] and throws
off his normal way of life, will immediately become a «radical».
Ëèáåðàëàì- ïîëèòè÷åñêàÿ áîðüáà. Åãî ãëàâíîé òåîðåòè÷åñêîé îïîðîé áûë
«ëåãàëüíûé ìàðêñèçì» èëè «ñòðóâèçì» (Liberalism is a political
struggle. Its main theoretical pillar was “legal Marxism” or
“Struvism”.)
As noted by a Social Revolutionary, the ability to undergo
transformation and adapt to the times, was important in communist
ideology:
Ïîâåäåíèå ã. Ñòðóâå, ïðèñïîñîáëÿåìîñòè êîòîðûé ñóìåë ðàíüøå âîñïðèíÿòü
âñå âíåøíèÿ ôîðìû ñîöèàëäåìîêðàòè÷åñêàãî ó÷åíèÿ, à òåïåðü òàê æå
âîñïðèíÿë ëèáåðàëüíûé êàòåõèçè… Kàê âàì ïîíðàâèòñÿ ñëåäóþùåå ìåñòå÷êî
èç ñîâðåìåííûõ ïèñàíèé ã. Ñòðóâå: 'Åñëè ïðàâîñëàâèå âîîáùå ìîæåò
âîñêðåñíóòü â íîâîé æèçíè, òî äëÿ ýòîãî åìó íóæíî ïðåæäå âñåãî ïðèçíàòü
ïðàâî íà ñóùåñòâîâàíèå çà ñâîèì äóõîâíûì ïðîòèâíèêîì, çà íîâûì
ðåëèãèîçíûì ñîçíàíèåì'» (Struve's behavior - being able to adjust
- his ability in earlier years to absorbb all the external forms of
social democratic teachings, and now to be able to perceive the liberal
catechism… How do you like the following spot in the contemporary
writings of Struve: If Orthodoxy can be at all resurrected in the new
life [under communism], then for it will first of all, have to
fight for the right for existence with his sacred enemy, the new
religious consciousness”.)
Interesting, considering that as an émigré to the West, Struve became
known as a “religious” writer. Struve is also famous for his
“Manifesto” against the Tsar and for promoting renovationist
[i.e.ecumenist] “reforms” in Orthodoxy. Christians have been
blinded by one of his descendants, Nikita Struve, who wrote the
disgraceful Christians in Contemporary Russia, in which he
approved the activities of Patriarch Sergius, even going as far as
comparing him with St. Sergius of Radonezh, and this in the 1960s,
during some of the worst years of persecution of the faithful in the
Soviet Union.
One of the main accomplishments of perestroika was to put people to
sleep and, especially, not to have to account for the tens of millions
killed (in Russia alone), something that was becoming too obvious due
to the documentation that was slowly beginning to leak out. Let the
world forget the atrocities of Communism, is the motto, somehow it must
be quickly erased or at leased minimized. Yet, let us not forget what
this appeasement policy led to- such massacres as the one on Tienanmen
Square in Communist China where thousands were killed as well as
massacres in Kuwait, Lithuania and Latvia. In his November 1987 speech
to the Politburo, Gorbachev continues:
“Comrades, do not be concerned about all you hear about glasnost’ and
democracy. These are primarily for outward consumption. There will be
no serious internal change in the USSR other than for cosmetic
purposes. Our purpose is to disarm America and let them fall asleep. We
want to accomplish three things - 1) the Americans to withdraw
conventional forces from Europe, 2) the Americans to withdraw nuclear
forces from Europe, and 3) the Americans to stop proceeding with the
SDI”
Appeasement, reconciliation without accounting for the truth, leads to
society lending a deaf ear to and denying the truth, a very dangerous
step in mankind’s history. But thus it has been since Lenin’s world
revolution, with the help of Trotsky, Zinoviev, Bukharin, Lunacharsky,
Pokrovsky, etc. - (see U nas dazhe istoriia Rossii unichtozhena (We
Have Even Done Away with the History of Russia), who fought viciously
against Russian national identity (Orthodoxy being part of it) in order
to attain world domination and camouflage their lies in the process.
Saturated by diversity slogans today, one cannot help but marvel at
Krasin’s and Lenin’s tactics in diplomacy:
“Complete unanimity can hardly be a precondition of joint action… What
is needed is not static, monolithic unity, but a dynamic system of
views and positions marked by differences [a term used often today] on
particular issues but developing on the basis of the fundamental
principles of Marxism-Leninism common to all.”
Lenin's creation of an independent Far Eastern Republic, whose policies
were closely but secretly coordinated with those of Soviet Russia, had
demonstrated the advantages of using a diversity of forms in the
pursuit of «activist diplomacy». Lenin had also said that «what we need
is a great orchestra» with the different parties, like different
instruments, playing different roles. The feigned disunity of the
communist world promotes real disunity in the non-communist world.
False alignments, formed with third parties by each side against the
other, make it easier to achieve specific communist goals, such as the
acquisition of advanced technology or the negotiation of arms control
agreements. In Western eyes the military, political, economic, and
ideological threat from world communism appears diminished. In
consequence, Western determination to resist the advance of communism
is undermined. At a later stage the communist strategists are left with
the option of terminating the split and adopting the strategy of «one
clenched fist».
Here, reference is made to Dimitrii Manuilsky's speech of 1931,
delivered at the Lenin School on Political Warfare in Moscow, in which,
echoing Lenin’s observation “when the enemy is put to a disorderly
retreat, the command to fire is normally given,” he stated:
The bourgeoisie will have to be put to sleep. So we shall begin by
launching the most spectacular peace movement on record. There will be
electrifying overtures and unheard of concessions. The capitalist
countries, stupid and decadent, will rejoice to cooperate in their own
destruction. They will jump at another chance to be friends. As soon as
their guard is down, we shall smash them with our clenched fist.
In his famous Harvard Address, Solzhenitsyn proclaimed:
Anguish about our divided world gave birth to the theory of convergence
between leading Western countries and the Soviet Union. It is a
soothing theory which overlooks the fact that these worlds are not at
all developing into similarity; neither one can be transformed into the
other without the use of violence. Besides, convergence inevitably
means acceptance of the other side’s defects, too, and this is hardly
desirable...Socialism of any type and shade leads to a total
destruction of the human spirit and to a leveling of mankind unto
death...Members of the US-anti war movement wound up being involved in
the betrayal of Far Eastern nations, in a genocide and in the suffering
today imposed on 30 million people. However a hundredfold Vietnam now
looms over you...when at a later date China with its billion people
would turn around armed with American weapons, America itself would
fall prey to a genocide similar to the one perpetrated in Cambodia in
our days.
Gorbachev never abandoned communism. In his book Perestroika: New
Thinking for Our Country and the World, he wrote:
“The essence of perestroika lies in the fact that it unites socialism
with democracy and revives the Leninist concept of socialist
construction both in theory and in practice. Such is the essence of
perestroika, which accounts for its genuine revolutionary spirit and
its all-embracing scope… In politics and ideology we are seeking to
revive the living spirit of Leninism”
I would like to point out once again that we are conducting all our
reforms in accordance with the socialist choice. We are looking within
socialism, rather than outside it, for the answers to all questions
that arise… I must tell our opponents a few disheartening things.
Today members of the Politburo and the Central Committee are unanimous
as they have never been before, and there is nothing that can make this
unanimity waver.
To arrest the decline of the Soviet economy, Gorbachev must attract
massive Western technology and economic assistance. Hence, most of his
glasnost’ is earmarked for export.
The Gorbachev who wrote Perestroika is a classical Leninist - flexible,
adaptable, skillful in the pursuit and use of power, absolutely
committed to “the revolution,” to socialism, to a one-party state, and
not unduly disturbed about the high human cost of past Soviet policy.
In his Foreword to Anatoliy Golitsyn’s The Perestroika Deception: The
World’s Slide Towards the Second October Revolution, Christopher Story
writes:
“Illuminating the cooperation-blackmail “convergence” strategy with his
first-hand experience of the origination of the strategy and his
knowledge of how Moscow applies the dialectical political method of
Marx, Hegel and Lenin in practice, Golitsyn challenges the fashionable,
and increasingly laughable, Western assumptions that the West “won the
Cold War,” that the enemy “disappeared,” that “Communism is dead,” that
the Soviet Union “collapsed” and that Russia has embarked upon
“progress towards democracy” (never actually reaching it) - patiently
showing that because the West fell for the “perestroika” deception, it
has failed to connect its present malaise to the impact of
Soviet-Chinese strategy, and is unable to see the threat arising from
the hostile Sino-Russian axis to which countries like North Korea, Iran
and Iraq adhere.”
Golitsyn’s warnings to the West, also published in his ground-breaking
New Lies for Old: The Communist Strategy of Deception and
Disinformation, present the full spectrum of what has transpired since
the onset of the sham, from the deliberately engineered “break with the
past,” a process of de-Stalinization and “improvement” of the
Soviet regime in the eyes of the world, to the Conferences of the
Communist Bloc including Chinese, held in Moscow in November 1957 and
1960, which discussed, formulated and adopted the long-range strategy,
to the December 1960 Manifesto of the “Eighty-One Party Congress” which
confirmed the adoption of the strategy, including an improved,
reorganized KGB, with its role in the preparation and implementation of
creating the illusion of relaxation in perestroika:
The KGB recruited a number of theatre and movie directors, writers and
journalists and unofficially encouraged them to experiment with
formerly taboo and controversial subjects like repression, prison life,
rehabilitation and questions of conscience and religion. The object of
these experiments was to prepare these chosen individuals for the role
of initiators and catalysts in the forthcoming controlled
“liberalization” of the regime. The KGB reoriented its old agents among
Soviet religious leaders and used their influence to help convergence
with the Western churches…Their primary task has been to prepare the
Soviet people to “behave” during the forthcoming “liberalization.”
Soviet psychiatry and the incarceration of active anti-Communists in
psychiatric hospitals have been used to “educate” and intimidate the
population into further submission to the regime by “demonstrating”
that only the mentally abnormal protest against it. [This is
particularly interesting in light of the fact that those who oppose the
pro-MP faction in the Church Abroad are labeled as mentally-imbalanced
or otherwise incompetent]
It is particularly revealing that Aleksandr Yakovlev, a leading
strategist of perestroika, Yevgeniy Primakov, another leading
strategist, Tatyana Zaslavskaya, an economist and public opinion
institute director and Nikolay Shmelev, a leading economist behind
perestroika all studied in the United States. Drawing on Lenin’s
advice, these strategists have borrowed the forms of Western democracy,
filled them with new Communist content and introduced them in the USSR
and Eastern Europe as means for laying down the basis for convergence.
In a July 1987 speech, Yakovlev stated: “all work must focus on the
social-spiritual and moral qualities of society and man. Soviet society
has all the necessary preconditions to insure life and work in full
accord with Socialist morality. This is the link between the material
and the spiritual and between man and society.
The author recalls how much credence the news media gave to yet another
agent (aside from Yakovlev) of perestroika, Vladimir Pozner, during the
August Coup. Not believing him for a minute, one was taken aback by the
naïvete of those who could fall for the fake Coup, as promulgated by
Pozner and the media. Now the truth is finally coming out:
The source of disinformation on the ‘coup’ was the dubious, long-term
agent of influence, Vladimir Pozner, a Moscow-based Russian [sic!]
‘freelance’ journalist (there having been no such thing under overt
Communism) brought up in the US, who spoke English with a perfect
‘American’ accent- and who seemed to have been ‘seconded’ to
‘interpret’ Soviet events in the US, for the benefit of American
television viewers, for the duration of the run-up to the ‘coup’ and
its aftermath. After Pozner had completed this ‘spin-doctor’ task’, he
melted into the Party background. Pozner, an expert a sand-throwing,
provided interpretations-on-demand on US television shows for many
months during 1991 so as to make sure that no doubts ever arose in the
minds of US observers and policymakers. What Mr. Pozner failed to
elucidate was why, suddenly, the all-powerful KGB was unable to arrest
key individuals or size Yeltsin from his office. For that matter,
Pozner also omitted to explain why the KGB, expert in organizing
putsches abroad, had ‘failed’ to deliver on this occasion.
Criticisms and reflections on the KGB in the Congress of People’s
Deputies and the Soviet press have given the impression that a genuine,
ongoing debate is taking place in the evolving Soviet system over the
past, present and future role of the KGB. Radio Liberty even held a
Round Table on the subject [see Report on the USSR for 22 December,
1989] to discuss Alexandr Rahr’s article ‘Gorbachev and the
Post-Chebrikov KGB’. The reaction of the participants in the Round
Table showed that they had been taken in by this controlled ‘debate.’
For the ‘debate’ is not spontaneous but rather organized and conducted
by the Soviet strategists and the KGB itself. The main purpose of the
‘debate’ is to misinform the West about the KGB’s role in the past by
concealing the crucial part it played in the preparation of controlled
‘political opposition’ for eventual deployment during perestroika. The
power of the KGB remains as great as ever. It is not affected by
calculated, inaccurate and irrelevant criticism of some of its old
practices. Talk of cosmetic changes in the KGB and its supervision is
deliberately publicized to support the myth of the ‘democratization’ of
the Soviet political system. [Emphasis is in the original
text.]
It also explains the emergence of groups of Russian nationalists,
inheritors of the Slavophile tradition, Stalinists and even
anti-Semites represented by Pamyat’ (Memory): all are controlled by the
Party and are being used in the interests of the strategy to play on
Western hopes and fears. KGB and Party provocateurs in Pamyat’ have
conveyed a misleading impression of the growth of nationalistic
anti-Semitism and chaos in the USSR.
Pamiat’ was indeed organized by the Party and the KGB in order to
discredit Russia and the people who associated with it. Believing in a
true revival of Orthodoxy and reverence for the New
Martyrs, innocently and with good intentions, people began to
approach it, which explains Bishop Varnava’s (of Cannes) brief
association with it. This was then used to the tilt to discredit and
ridicule Rocor by the pro-MP faction, including D. Pospielovsky who
went to great length to label it a scandal and Rocor as extremist, all
while defending the actions of the MP and especially extolling the
patriarch, ending with the infamous statement repeated by the pro-MP
faction over and over, that if Rocor does not unite with the MP,
“it will become irrelevant as a small extremist sect.”
Official tolerance of religion in the Soviet Union is accompanied by a
secret drive to increase Party and KGB penetration of the Catholic and
other churches and to use agents therein for political and strategic
purposes inside and outside the Soviet Union. As part of the programme
to destroy religion from within, the KGB, in the late 1950s, started
sending dedicated young Communists to ecclesiastical academies and
seminaries to train them as future church leaders. In the present
phase, secret agents in the Catholic and other churches are being used
to implement Communist strategy. Golitsyn notes that there must
be no let-up in the war against religion because as long as religion
exists Communism cannot prevail. ‘We must intensify the obliteration of
all religions wherever they are being practiced or taught’ (statement
by Gorbachev on 15 December 1987 to a group of Communist Party
officials).
Soviet writers and producers will be permitted to write books and
produce plays on controversial subjects… It is however, a false,
cosmetic liberalization. For example the alleged religious relaxation
is a spectacle produced and managed by the KGB and the high priests of
the church who are KGB agents assigned to fulfill the strategy. The
same applies to the so-called dissidents who are under KGB control,
along the lines of Dzerzhinskiy’s infamous ‘Trust’ provocation in the
1920s.
In 1921, as the NEP was being launched, the OGPU created inside Soviet
Russia a false anti-Soviet organization, the Monarchist Alliance of
Central Russia. Former members of this organization, among them Czarist
generals and members of the old aristocracy who had come over to the
Soviet side, nominally led the movement. Their new loyalty to the
Soviet regime was not in doubt, for they had betrayed their former
friends in the anticommunist underground. They were the Czarist
generals Brusilov and Zayanchkovskij; the Czarist military attache in
Yugoslavia, General Potapov; and the Czarist transport official
Yakushev. Agents of the Trust traveled abroad and established
confidential contact with genuine anticommunist émigré leaders in order
(ostensibly) to coordinate activity against the Soviet regime. Among
important emigres they met were Boris Savinkov and Generals Wrangel and
Kutepov. They convinced the émigré leaders that the regime had
undergone a radical change. The émigré leaders should return to Russia
to make their contribution…
The Trust is also known to have “lured” a certain V. Shul’gin and
brought him to Kiev, Moscow and Leningrad to meet with the “ministers”
of the Trust. He was later “imprisoned” and used by the KGB, this time
wittingly, to publish a brochure in which he stated that the Soviet
regime was evolving toward a more tolerant and democratic system. In
his Introduction to Shul’gin’s Memoirs, Jonathan Sanders of the W.
Averell Harriman Institute for Advanced Study of the Soviet Union,
Columbia University, writes:
Shul’gin wrote a pamphlet, Letters to Russian Emigres, urging them to
abandon their antipathy toward the Soviet Union. He declared that
communism was the salvation of all mankind.
Actually, V. Shul’gin was one of the Tsar’s Ministers of Foreign
Affairs as well as member of the Duma, who, with such comrades as
Rodzianko, Miliukov, Prince Lvov, Kerensky, Nekrasov, Nabokov, Nolde
and others, had forced the Tsar to abdicate and wrote an account of the
“last days” in Dni (1925) or The Days of the Russian Revolution (1990).
On March 31, 2001, the Fund «Ñâÿòûíè Ðîññèè» (The Holy Treasures of
Russia) held a meeting, presided by patriarch Alexei II, at the Danilov
Monastery, to promote the MP to more active participation in commercial
projects with the Russian Federation as well as foreign foundations-
this in order to include the MP in the creation of its own stocks and
be more active in the financial life of contemporary Russia. The Fund
is headed by a person in attendance to the patriarch, a certain Elena
Shul'gina.
Recently, the Church [MP] demanded from the gov’t that they be given 20
or 30 large buildings in central Moscow which they could rent to
commercial concerns. When asked what to do with the present occupants,
they suggested that they be evicted! Religious policy is money,
property, provincial conflicts between secular and religious bodies,
religious extremism [i.e. Rocor]
Important to note here, is that the dissident movement as a whole is
also «a KGB controlled false opposition movement analogous to the Trust
and many of its leading members are active and willing collaborators
with the Central Committee and the KGB». Although some are genuine
dissidents, others are agents. A dissident who was well-known to
members of the Church Abroad, including to the author who thought of
him as a hero, Vladimir Rusak, was sent to the Gulag for a couple of
years for having spoken against the MP and the communist regime. He was
then “pardoned,” spent some few years at the Jordanville Monastery and
wrote a number of books on the history of the Russian Orthodox Church.
In recent years, he returned to Russia and the MP, although among his
travels, he was also present at the banquet in honour of Metropolitan
Vitaly's 50th Jubilee this past July. In an article, entitled «Gleb
Yakunin's Hostility Towards the Administration of the Moscow
Patriarchate Leads him Towards Strange Alliances», Rusak favors the MP
(to the author’s surprise) and appears to ridicule Orthodox
jurisdictions other than the MP, especially ROCOR:
A follower of the Church Abroad, finding himself on a desert island,
builds two churches. When he was rescued and was asked why the
two churches, his answer was, «I go to the one and I don't go to the
other». The calamity is that, in the face of such a multitude of
Orthodox churches (more accurately, of Orthodox «jurisdictions») which
we have, confused people might simply stop attending an Orthodox church
and will go to the nearest Protestant sectarian group where they will
not be subject to outrageous assessments for a funeral or a baptism or
be subject to the shaving of their heads by the Hare Krishnas.
(Translated by A.N.S., Stetson University)
In the final phase of perestroika, warns Golitsyn, «the Soviet
dissidents who are now extolled as heroes of the resistance to Soviet
communism would play an active part in arguing for convergence». The
above example of rallying people to their side by ridiculing the
genuine Church Abroad, is a case in point. The writer Michael
Nazarov’s is yet another example, given his sudden position in favor of
Rocor’s unification with the MP, and thus, the State, which in the
past, he seemingly criticized in his books.
*Some dissidents played the role of dissidents but they were KGB
informers, sure. One said to me “why don’t you put me in jail for a
couple of years, then I will make international status and I’ll serve
you better.” So he put himself in jail!
The communist psychology of convergence, pacification, gradual erosion
of truth, are old tactics that are very much in use today. In
Patriarchate Spokesman Views Current Church Situation: A Community of
Repentant Sinners,subtitled “The Church is not Required to Heed
Political Correctness and Humanism: Frank answers by Archpriest
Vsevolod Chaplin, the Secretary for Relations Between the MP and
Society and Spokesman for the MP to Direct Questions of our
Reporter), the questions might have been direct, but the answers
were sure far from frank. One might rather suggest that the answers are
typical of a mind that has been trained in the sinister art of
deception and evasion of truth akin to the KGB officers operating in
the MP.
Question:
Why is there such a grand scale of commercial activity in the church?
And it is growing and not declining. And all of the commerce is secret.
Answer:
I think that the scale is not so great [only in the multi-million
dollars] At the same time, there cannot be anything wrong with the
church being engaged in manufacturing or sales activity [illegal sales!
there is a lot wrong with that] This is a natural and normal thing; it
existed even before the revolution [to mention the Tsarist days is one
of the greatest tools of deception. In reality, they are not even
comparable to the present but people might just believe that things
were just as bad in Tsarist days as they are now] After all, the
church’s business is not simply praying [sic!]. It always was and will
be a center for the organizing of rural economy, production of food,
cheese, wine, and jewelry [those are from being the case today, illegal
drugs, alcohol, etc. are more like it]. Some people think this is
strange and alien to the church, but such a view is simply a return to
the soviet way of thought [Soviet ways of thought are more than ever
present in the MP but hidden from naïve well-wishers]
Question:
The church has not protested against the Chechen war and the illegal
actions that have been committed there by federal troops. How should
this be understood? Complete solidarity with the government?
Answer: In
history many times it has called believers to sacrifice their lives for
the sake of the preservation of the Fatherland.
To invoke “history” or the past is an ideal tactic for evading the
truth of the present - after all, it is a known fact that Chechnya was
a manufactured war by the Politburo, as to the “call for the
Fatherland,” that can hardly be the case today. Before the outbreak of
WWI, taxes in Imperial Russia were the lowest in the world, the
Imperial Social Legislation was the most progressive in the world.
President William H. Taft is known to have stated to a Russian: “Your
Emperor has created such a perfect labor legislation, which no
democratic state can match.” Primary education was free of charge and
public education attained an extraordinary high level.The wise and
thrifty financial policies of the Tsarist Government enabled it to
accumulate a one and a half billion gold fund, which stabilized the
rate of exchange of the ruble not only within Russia proper, but also
on the international monetary market. The peasants owned on the basis
of private property and tenancy 100% of arable land in Asiatic Russia
and close to 90% in European Russia. Prior to WWI the population in
Russia was growing at such a healthy rate that it was predicted to be
600 million by the end of the 20th century. Today, Russia is on the
brink of extinction, its population is dying out (malnutrition,
disease, genocide of entire segments of the population, as for
instance, the sudden enormous population drop in Georgia) and its
mortality rate is the highest in Europe! In fact, the population of
whatever is left of “Russia,” today, is about 147 million and is
predicted to be about 116 million by 2050! The “Fatherland,” Mr.
Chaplin, is dying! This is a fact hushed by the CHIS and its MP due to
their involvement in drug traffic and other annihilation techniques
responsible for genocides.
Question: The
question of KGB agents in cassocks has existed for a long time. The
church has produced neither a denial nor admission of this fact.
Answer: If
one is speaking about people who had contacts with the former regime,
then this is absolutely everybody who served during the soviet period,
because priests were required to get a certificate and permission
from the agents of the Council on Religious Affairs, and these persons
were either agents of the intelligence services (KGB) or people
subordinated to them. As regards the story of priests who
were dispatched by the intelligence services, this is a myth [not so,
priests were even sent on brainwashing missions abroad]
After all, even under the tsarist regime [Again, about the past!
Unfortunately comparing present-day atrocities, compliments of
communism, with tsarist safety regulations and confinements (in Siberia
prisoners lived on parcels of land with housing), have become
fashionable, even in the West- but these can hardly compare to Soviet
gulags and extermination techniques- yes, indeed, brainwashing does
wonders] and in the 1990s contacts with the authorities sometimes were
used for unworthy actions- for slander, for gain, for profit, for
personal benefits. Incidentally, I cannot understand how cooperation
with the soviet regime was worse than cooperation with the western
intelligence agencies by the dissident wing of the church, which
received money from Russia’s enemies [Tremendous difference! Never has
there been, in the history of mankind, an extermination of religion
enacted on such a large scale as that which was conducted by the MP
cooperating with the communist regime]
This interview is clear evidence that the art of insidious brainwashing
and deceitful propaganda are more than ever in place today.
Perestroika and Putin the “Orthodox”
In view of the above, momentous are the actions that have recently been
taken by Putin (put’=way, by means of Lenin’s path to internationalism-
the end goal of communism) in the Political Deadlines for July 17,
2001. Let us compare them to the predictions of Perestroika Deception:
Perestroika Plan: Objectives
of Eurocommunism: Conceal the coordination between the Eurocommunist
parties and the bloc in the pursuit of a common strategy for Europe.
Prepare the ground, in coordination with bloc policy in general, for a
major drive to promote the dissolution of NATO and the Warsaw Pact and
the withdrawal of the American military presence from a neutral,
socialist Europe.
Today: Putin calls for
disbanding of NATO and close relations with the EU: In an interview
with Italian daily Corriere della
Sera published yesterday, Putin called for the end of NATO ad
the creation of a pan-European security structure. With Italian TV RAI,
he defined EU enlargement as a natural process and welcomed the idea of
a common European Economic space. (Pravda, Reuters, ORT)
Perestroika Plan: Hide
continuing Sino-Soviet collaboration in sensitive key areas- the
development of Chinese ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons. When the
right moment comes the mask will be dropped and the Russians with
Chinese help will seek to impose their system on the West on their own
terms as the culmination of a 'Second October Socialist Revolution.'
Today: Russia, China signs
Friendship Treaty: Yesterday, Putin and Chinese leader Zemin signed a
20-year Treaty of Good-Neighbourly Friendship and Cooperation, and a
joint statement. Both leaders said that the treaty was «not directed
against third countries», called for a «just and rational new
international order» [what new international order?] and stated the ABM
Treaty as «the cornerstone of strategic stability». Russia reasserted
its support of China's claim over Taiwan. (Interfax)
Unfortunately, we have come a long way in our rapprochement with
communism. On October 25, 1971, Communist China was finally seated in
the United Nations. Duped by perestroika, the US recently gave
China the a most favorite nation status and presented them with some
vital technological secrets. The July 2001, the Russia-China Friendship
Treaty will:
Effectively freeze out the influence of Japan, Turkey, South Korea and
- most of all-the United States in Centrral Asia… Russia is already
selling China its state of the art military equipment as Sovremenny
class destroyers expressly designed to hunt and kill American nuclear
aircraft carriers and hundreds of Siuukhoi-30 fighter-bombers, and the
co-production rights and technologies for the Chinese to build them
themselves. And top Russian officials have openly warned that if the US
pushes ahead with developing its own Anti-Ballistic Missile defense
system without reaching agreement with Moscow first, it might release
to other parties- such as China- the technology to allow them to put
Multiple Independently-Targeted Reentry Vehicle warheads on their own
missiles to swamp the new US ABM defenses.
For those who claim that the “CIS is different from the USSR and Putin
is a ”practicing” Orthodox Christian,” here are some sobering facts.
The first days and months of Putin’s presidency were highlighted by the
reestablishment of a memorial plaque on Kutuzovsky Prospect where
Andropov used to live. The plaque, a symbol of communist despotism
missing since the 1991 putsch, bears Andropov’s name- a former head of
the KGB, especially known for his viciousness in the use of force and
psychiatric clinics for dissidents. On May 9, 2000, Putin proposed a
toast to the “genius commander” Iosif Stalin and promoted many of the
former KGB officers, to the highest state positions.
Putin’s former boss, ex-KGB General Oleg Kalugin, called him a
“mediocrity” and “totally Soviet” in his approach to governance.
As Deputy Mayor of St. Petersburg, Putin oversaw the complete and total
criminalization (including the takeover of potentially lucrative ports
by the Tambov Mafia) of a vibrant city that was poised to become
Tallinn times ten. In 1992, he oversaw approval of lucrative export
licenses, the proceeds from which were supposed to fund food aid to
needy Petersburg residents; instead, several million dollars in profits
disappeared. Putin was accused of personally enriching himself, and the
local city council requested his dismissal. Putin arranged contracts
and soft credits for the shady Twenty Trust…and did manage to built
himself a $600,000 dacha.
If we analyze the management of the Foreign Relations Department in St.
Petersburg by then-vice mayor Putin, the following picture can be seen.
His directions promoted the privatization of the city’s most valuable
structures, such as casinos, ports, gas stations, and many others into
the hands of the most influential organized crime groups. There have
been no materials in the mass media until lately about Putin’s
relationships with organized crime. Vedomosti
did not publish my article about Putin’s machinations with issuing
licenses and quotas to export natural resources in early 1992…Inside
the country many KGB officers got positions in state managing
structures, in mass media structures, etc. The example of the current
Russian President is very interesting. He started working as Anatoly
Sobchak’s deputy right after Kruchkov’s order. Although he had a job,
Putin was still a KGB officer. After Sobchak became St. Petersburg’s
mayor, Putin became the head of the powerful Foreign Relations
Committee of the city. That was the beginning of the Russian
criminal economy. [Putin- a Christian?]
One recalls, even among the populace in Russia, discussions about the
“criminal economy” of Putin. Therefore, it was quite disconcerting and
astounding for the author to hear in such places as the Jordanville
Monastery, talk about a possible union with the MP. It was even more
disturbing to hear, from those in leadership positions in Rocor, of an
approval of the MP takeover of Hebron in the Holy Land in 1997. But let
us continue with the fall of communism:
Concern is growing among intellectuals and advocates of a democratic
Russia that the relative freedom citizens have relished in the past
decade may be ending…. Ranges from string of arrests of Russian
scholars, to the revival of old curbs on international scientific
cooperation, to the seeming harassment of some political critics and
dissidents, to a growing conviction among some intellectuals that their
telephones are again being tapped and their e-mail read…The Kremlin
proposed judicial reforms this month that should underpin those
liberties if carried out…Civil rights advocates disclosed last week
that the Russian Academy of Sciences had ordered scientists and their
supervisors to restrict contacts with outsiders, report on trips abroad
and submit potentially sensitive scientific papers for prepublication
review, among other curbs…Since 1995, Russian law has required all
telephone and Internet services to maintain devices that allow the
Federal Security Service, the post-Soviet evolution of the KGB, to
monitor any and all transmissions.
To those promoting talks with the MP and admonishing the flock to “obey
their bishops” and remain silent, to those blindly obeying without
reading and informing themselves, this is what is awaiting the Church
Abroad:
Scientists at the Institute [of the Russian Academy of Sciences] must
now report their intent to apply for foreign grants, and provide copies
of all relevant paperwork; inform the administration of all visits by
individuals or groups from abroad; provide copies of articles or papers
before publishing them outside of Russia; and give accounts of their
trips abroad in such detail that some scientists say it is tantamount
to spying. The orders are being handed down at a time when the domestic
Federal Security Service, the main successor to the KGB is
investigating and arresting scientists on charges of treason involving
their cooperation with foreign individuals and businesses.
In the West, opposition to communism, in principle, is unfashionable.
The basic difference between democracy and communism was lost from
sight. It was considered more rewarding to seek out common interests
through increasing East-West scientific, cultural and sporting
exchanges that, it was thought, would contribute to the liberalization
of communist regimes. The well-known independent journalist, Serguei
Grigoriants states:
….when I was forced into a car near our editorial office and was
brought to a police station where two “historians” (as they were
introduced) tried to persuade me for several hours: “Why don’t you want
to talk to us? We are doing the same thing as you- the Party has
assigned us to make our country democratic.” But I knew precisely that
we were pursuing different goals from that most active sector of the
authorities, for which the slogan “Europe from the Atlantic to the
Urals” meant the Urals which had reached the Atlantic. They were
building a broad railway all these years through Finland to Sweden, and
under the guise of “new thinking” were constructing more atomic
submarines than the rest of the world put together, were transferring
billions of dollars abroad: the golden storehouse of the USSR and the
money of the Communist Party, the KGB, The Communist Union of Youth. At
the meeting of secret service heads of the Warsaw Treaty countries,
they planned what positions in the governments would be given to
“democrats” so they would discredit themselves and bring people’s
discontent. They really were doing things we were opposed to, and it
seems they have succeeded.
The seizure of power and of all property in Russia is the main goal of
the present leadership. But this process is proceeding simultaneously
with the fight against a very weak Russian civil society: the banning
of old non-governmental organizations (NGO) and the denial of
registration for new ones; a decree on illegal control over NGO budgets
established by Putin, intrusions into NGOs’ offices…the infiltration of
secret services agents into NGOs and creation of new ones with “their”
people.
But there is another aspect of this question: What are the consequences
for the rest of the world of the coming to power of the secret services
in Russia under the conditions of globalization and the information
revolution? An aggressive and fully militarized internal and foreign
policy, like the battle against civil society, has been the modus
operandi for Andropov’s successors. It is easy to identify in Putin’s
interest in Middle Asia, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Cuba, North Korea. This is
the creation of 2 polar worlds, according to Putin. And we are in the
pole with the dictators and terrorists. In fact, virtually everyone in
power nowadays is in the military.
Putin, an “Orthodox?” One should remember once and for all that
communism and Orthodoxy do not mix, they mutually exclude each other.
On September 8, 2000- 9:00 pm CNN aired a program in which the
president of Russia demonstrated that he is not an Orthodox Christian.
On October 3, being in India, RF-president Putin and his wife took part
in a pagan rite- the placing of a wreath on the spot where the
spiritual father of the Hindu nation, Mahatma Gandhi, was cremated. The
president of Russia declared in an interview conducted by CNN
Broadcasting that he believes not in God, but in Man, yet he
conscientiously imitates “the Orthodox Faith” in the churches of the
Moscow Patriarchate, and also actively participates in masonic and
pagan mysteries, for example, he was initiated into “knighthood” by the
Grand Master of a masonic order in Germany; and while in North Korea,
he ritually worshiped the deified leader Kim il Sen. In India, Putin
once again confirmed the fact of his total lack of any religious
sensibility, since rituals of this sort- participation in which he
could easily have declined- are incompatible with Orthodoxy, as was
convincingly proved by Aleksandr Nevskii and Mikhail of Chernigov, two
previous rulers of Russia.
Mr. Putin’s unexpected decision to align his Unity Party with the
Communists. This may be our first real glimpse of the true political
colors of this Russian on whom so many have pinned such varied hopes.
Mr. Putin is more red than he has recently let on. He is after all, an
ex-KGB agent who served alongside (and was decorated by) the leaders of
the notorious East German Stasi. Some even question whether he ever
left the agency at all…his sanctioning spying on Internet traffic and
the notion of curbs on Russian press freedom- suggest
less-than-democratic tendencies. He has distastefully restored a bronze
plaque at the infamous Lubyanka prison, that’s the site where
dissidents were tortured…
Yet, nine months after the above Editorial appeared, Rocor hierarchs
decided to take the first perilous step towards unification with the MP
and create a committee to “merely hold talks” as they presented it to
the naïve. This shows either ignorance of the realities taking place in
the CIS or some very successful brainwashing over the years, by those
in clergy and leadership positions in Rocor, whose interests lie in
prestige, money and power which will come to them when unification is
finally accomplished. But who are the masterminds, aside from those
invisibly ruling the world towards the Antichrist?
The ghost-writing, story-telling apparat
of the continuing Soviet disinformation structures have hardly
distinguished themselves with this despicable paperback. In a recent
‘bio’ of Putin, we learn that as a student during long summer
vacations, Putin ‘worked’ at Komi, a remote area in Siberia, known as
hell on earth and consisting of Gulags. Thus the future President spent
his summer holidays “working’ in the Gulag, for which he was “handed”
an enormous sum of money (for that time), 1000 rubles. As to his
earlier student career, his teacher Vera Gurevich said that “he never
forgives people who betray him or who are mean to him.” Such an
unforgiving creature cannot possibly be a Christian, as was falsely
alleged when the disinformation apparatus was engaged in launching
Putin into the international public consciousness, and in seeking ways
of translating him from his role as head of the FSB (renamed KGB -
Federal’naia sluzhba bezopasnosti), to which he was elevated in 1998,
to the premiership, in a holding pattern for his further translation by
the strategy collective, to the Presidency.
Gorbachev’s “spirituality” campaign should also be seen in the context
of generating public support for the changes he wants to make in Soviet
society. His is an attempt to reinforce some fundamental “Soviet”
values, like dedication and responsibility to the workplace, and a
recognition that people’s morale is important to their productivity.
This is a very different concept from freedom of worship…Gorbachev,
speaking in Tashkent in November 1986, called for a “determined and
pitiless combat against religious manifestations. He has made it clear
that reform does not mean a departure from Marxist-Leninist principles-
and religion is incompatible with that worldview.
In the new worldwide communist federation the present different brands
of communism would disappear, to be replaced by a uniform rigorous
brand of Leninism. The process would be painful. Concessions made in
the name of economic and political reform would be withdrawn. Religious
and intellectual dissent would be suppressed. Nationalism and all other
forms of genuine opposition would be crushed. Action would be taken
against nationalist and social democratic leaders, party activists,
former civil servants, officers, and priests. The last vestiges of
private enterprise and ownership would be obliterated. Nationalization
of industry, finance, and agriculture would be completed. Unchallenged
and unchallengeable, a true communist monolith would dominate the
world…To counter communist strategy and regain the initiative for the
West, a moratorium should be imposed on any form of rapprochement with
any member of the communist bloc.
If we could effectively kill the national pride and patriotism of just
one generation we will have won that country. It is not enough for the
State to have goals. These goals, once put forward, depend for their
completion upon the loyalty and obedience of the workers. These,
engaged for the most part in hard labors, have little time for idle
speculation, which is good. By the use of various drugs, it is, in this
modern age, entirely too easy to bring about a state of severe neurosis
or insanity and then pass them to a psychopolitical operator who in his
own laboratory, without restraint or fear of investigation or censor,
can with electric shock, surgery, sexual attack, drugs or other useful
means, degrade or entirely alter the personality of a family member,
and create in that person a psychopolitical slave subject who, on
command or signal, will perform outrageous actions. The
cleverness of our attack in Psychopolitics is adequate to avoid the
understanding of the layman, an entire revolution can be effected
without the suspicion of a populace, until it is an accomplished fact.
Putin and “agent Drozdov”- A
Partnership
Recent events are most ghastly, as one unravels one of the most odious
partnerships in history.
In March 1991, Aleksii invited representatives from churches and
religious organizations based in the Soviet Union to a conference held
at the Danilov Monastery in Moscow at which the participants spoke out
in favor of “preserving the community” of the Soviet Union, thereby
effectively endorsing the Gorbachev sponsored 17 March referendum on
the future of the USSR… on August 19, the patriarch issued a statement
in support of USSR President Gorbachev- but not of Yeltsin- that
objectively served to help the cause of the Russian government...“The
canonical territory of the Moscow Patriarchate,” Patriarch Aleksii
underlined in mid-1992, “includes not only Russia, but Ukraine,
Belarus, Moldova, the countries of the Baltic, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan,
and Central Asia.” … If the Russian church [MP] could maintain a grip
on the Orthodox churches in the other union republics, then that
success would objectively assist efforts by Russian empire savers to
reassemble the Soviet Union.
In circumstances of deep secrecy, Russian President Vladimir Putin and
Patriarch Alexis (Ridiger) of Moscow and all-Rus' met on the Solovki
islands…From the president’s visit to the former concentration camp [3
metropolitans, 20 archbishops, 47 bishops perished on Solovki, to say
nothing of millions of laity] one might have expected the repentance of
the Russian state machine and its penal agencies for the genocide
carried out against its own people. But nothing of the sort was heard
from Putin… Why did the president go to Solovki? Details of the trip
were hidden from reporters…Putin flew to Valaam, but the patriarch was
not there. This solitary visit there engendered on the Internet rumors
about a rift between Putin and the patriarch. Apparently the PR makers
decided immediately to fix this mistake and quickly arranged a visit to
nearby Solovki…Sunday was the patronal feast day, the Transfiguration.
If the visit had been planned earlier, undoubtedly it would have
coincided with this day. But neither the patriarch nor Putin was at the
holiday.
It seems that in the CIS, whatever the state cannot accomplish, the
official church will, and although church and state have been known to
work together before in history, in this case, we are not speaking
about any religious, canonical or national deeds, but about maintaining
a grip to reassemble the Soviet Union, or the pursuit of
internationalism rather than what is good for one particular nation.
Dunlop points to Fr. George Florovsky’s Eurasian movement, which in
essence is nothing more than a “Marxist-Leninist meta-ethnic schema for
continuing to yoke the various former Soviet republics together.”
Important to note is that the Eurasian movement, with ties to
occultism, ecumenism, etc. was recently revived by Putin, and a
Congress entitled The All-Russian Political Social Movement, held in
Moscow in April of 2001, was “created on the basis of the Eurasian
ideology and inter-confessional [sic!] harmony in support of the
reforms of President Vladimir Putin.” The movement is led by Alexander
Dugin, a sexual mystic, National Bolshevik Party member, son of a Cheka
cadre, personally familiar with the so-called “Black International,”
adviser to the State Duma, and participant in Putin’s “Unity”
movement. Also, a plan to focus on “diversity” while annihilating
a nation’s religion and individual identity, which in essence, is the
“blueprint” for ecumenism and internationalism.
“Let us prove that the CPSU, as it restructures itself, is capable of
living up to these expectations and then it will become a truly
vanguard party whose power lies not in giving orders but in influencing
people’s minds.” By influence is meant a perverse denial of natural
individuality, endorsed by ideology and programs that have been
put into place to exert group pressure on the individual in order to
force him to adopt “New Thinking,” to foster an acceptance of group
control over values, attitudes, and behavior, in other words, the
“collective” exists to exert group pressure on the population to
conform with the demands of the Revolution. “Diversity” is not the
innocent expansion of our human sympathies that it pretends to be, but
the “common mind” of the Stalinist policy of ‘positive
discrimination’ in an Age of Diversity, thus degrading the efficiency
of the workplace, upsetting its equilibrium, where the targeted country
must in the name of diversity, abandon its particularity, while the
very groups making the demand shall hold on to theirs. Together with
“outlook-based education,” many such slogans which have entered our
programs have actually been taken from the notorious Prison Notebooks
of the Italian Communist theoretician, Antonio Gramsci, the architect
of a new strategy for socialist transformation, and originator of the
‘war of position’ strategy that emphasizes ideological preparation as a
prelude to the conquest of power of a gradual build-up toward
proletarian-socialist hegemony within the political infrastructure of
the bourgeois society (rather than bloody revolution), and Lavrentii
Beria’s (Stalin’s sinister chief of police) introduction to Communist
Manual of Instruction on Psychopolitical Warfare,which was used at
Lenin University in Moscow to teach American students. These dealt with
all phases of warfare, both psychological and physical, for the
destruction of capitalistic society and Christian civilization. It
included the art of capturing the minds of a nation through
brainwashing- the subjecting of whole nations of people to the
(eventual) rule of the Kremlin by capturing their minds. By making
readily available drugs of various kinds, by giving the teenager
alcohol, by prising his wildness, by stimulating him with sex
literature [also various venues of entertainment, film, etc.], the
psychopolitical operator can create the necessary attitude of chaos,
idleness and worthlessness into which can then be cast the solution
which will give the teenager complete freedom everywhere- Communism. In
this blueprint, there must be continual propaganda abroad to undermine
the loyalty of the citizens in general and the teenager in particular.
As unbelievable as such a monstrous plan might seem, it is nothing new
in communist history. It is well-known by now Lenin’s famine, which
killed millions of Russian peasants, was man-made. There was plenty of
food stored from Tsarist Russia to last for years in case of a natural
disaster, but it was purposely not distributed so as to bend people to
Lenin’s will. By withholding bread, he gained complete control of
people’s lives and even admitted to have forced them into submission.
The question arises, now that there is “freedom of religion,” as the
promoters of the MP faction have stated repeatedly, who are the leaders
of the Russian Orthodox Church [MP] and in particular, its chancellor,
Patriarch Aleksii (Ridiger), otherwise known as Agent Drozdov. It is
disconcerting to witness KGB tactics appear on Orthodox Lists and
uttered by some Rocor priests. The author’s comments will continue to
appear in brackets.
Victor Timoshenko: It is my
understanding that EVERY MP bishop was required to have KGB approval.
Indeed, the KGB had a department specifically for this purpose.
Fr.Alexander Lebedeff: First of
all, one must wonder how Victor gets such information regarding the
detailed operations of the KGB [Such accusations, typical of KGB and MP
tactics, serve to intimidate and belittle laymen into thinking that
they are wrong and should mind their own business. As to getting
information, shall we forbid people to read? That is something to look
forward to as we progress towards the new world order of things, but a
bit premature for now]. Second, I believe he is wrong. The Soviet State
had a Committee on Church Affairs that reported to the Central
Committee of the Communist Party- not the KGB. [The Communist Party and
the KGB are one and the same. “It is, in essence, a filial of the KGB].
*The Moscow Patriarchate is the KGB.*
Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin (Spokesman
and Secretary for relations between the MP and society): “On KGB
agents in cassocks… it is absolutely everybody who served during the
soviet period, because priests were required to get a certificate and
permission from the agents of the Council on Religion, and these
persons were either agents of the intelligence services [KGB] or people
subordinated to them.”
Fr. Alexander Lebedeff:
Finally, one should be aware that the “majority” of bishops of the
current Moscow Patriarchate have been consecrated “after” the fall of
the Soviet Union [the Soviet Union has not “fallen” it has only been
renamed] and the disappearance of the Committee for Church Affairs
[nothing has disappeared, only hidden and renamed. In fact, the
MP, is now preparing to install its own KGB- The Intelligence
Department] None of them were “approved” by the KGB, or any state organ
[All of them were].
Fr. Alexander’s statements are false. According to Archpriest Vsevolod
Chaplin (mentioned above), as well as A. Shushpanov, a former KGB agent
in charge of spying on Gleb Yakunin- a majority! of the individuals
working in the Department of External Ecclesiastical Relations, were in
fact agents working for either Moscow or the all-union KGB. Obligatory
reports on contacts with foreign visitors had to be submitted in five
copies, writes Shushpanov - one copy for the department chairman, one
for the Council for Religious Affairs, and three “submitted directly to
the KGB.” Shushpanov’s chief task was to work against dissenting
Orthodox priest Gleb Iakunin. The KGB, he revealed, tried to lead Fr.
Iakunin into committing espionage. Every second priest cooperated with
the KGB. John Dunlop, the well-known scholar on religion in
Russia, writes:
“The degree of state meddling in church affairs has remained
significantly high. In assessing the extent of state involvement
in present-day Russian Orthodox Church affairs, one confronts the plain
fact that the overwhelming majority of the current 119 bishops of the
MP were ordained to the episcopacy prior to August 1991. This suggests
that each of these bishops was carefully screened and vetted by both
the ideological apparatus of the Communist Party and the KGB. It need
hardly be noted that a flourishing of religion in the USSR was not an
aim of those two bodies. Candidates for elevation to permanent
membership in the Moscow Holy Synod obviously received the closest
possible screening and evaluation…Given the route by which these men
became bishops, it seems more likely that they would be agents and
defenders of a strong state first and churchmen second, as seen in MP’s
“Render Unto Caesar the Things That Are Caesar’s: A Historic Apologia”
authored by Deacon Andrei Lorgus. This article linked past cooperation
between the ROC and the secret police - Lorgus even had good things to
say about the NKVD during the period of Stalin’s Great Terror- and
looked for future benefits from their close collaboration!
This statement fully agrees with the former KGB Chiefs of Directorates
interviewed for the present report and many writings by both Russian
and Western scholars and journalists. To take it a step further, the
political scientist Andrei Piontkovskii confirmed that today Russia’s
entire political and business elite is made up of the people who formed
the Soviet political class.
Victor: Father, as you are
apparently not aware, there are a myriad of books that have been
published since the fall of the Soviet Union, by former members and
officers of the KGB discussing the fact that NO DECISION was made by
the MP without prior KGB approval, and no bishop was elevated without
prior clearance with the KGB.
Author: Victor is right. The
list of books dealing with the MP and its ties to the KGB, is much too
long to mention here (The reader can become familiar with materials
through Inter-Library Loan in libraries by accessing the Database First
Search-World Cat).
John Qualls: The MP is
run by a KGB agent, Drozdov and the senior hierarchs, such as Metr.
Kirill were vetted and approved by the KGB.
Fr. John Whiteford: First off,
you do not know for a fact that he was a KGB agent [again- intimidation
tactic].
The fact that Drozdov is a KGB agent is no longer disputable but proven
in many sources. It is time to put a stop to brainwashing the naïve and
uninformed, who unfortunately rely only on these threads for
information.
*It is a well-known fact… every patriarch of the ROC, starting from
Sergei, in 1927, were appointed by the KGB and all represented in
one way or another, the KGB. The Holy Synod has been run by the KGB.
Hierarchs are also government servants, which is incompatible with
their status as religious hierarchs. The church has always been the
tool of the State and was fully subjugated. In 1927, patriarch Sergii
took over the Church as an informer of the KGB and ever since, the
whole chain of command since have been all KGB appointees.
The ROC (MP) is known to be thoroughly corrupt. The MP is corrupt
from top to bottom. Patriarch Alexei is a known to be a corrupt figure,
so gifts or bribery are not uncommon. And, they make millions of
dollars!
Letter, posted by a certain “Andrew” on the Synod List, August 25:
The Church in Russia today is in full Eucharistic communion with all of
the Orthodox Churches in the world…The Church within Russia has
responded to the events of history… How can the the Church Outside of
Russia maintain a living relationship with the Holy Trinity when it
excludes itself from a fuller participation in the ecumenic life of the
Church.. It is the Church Outside of Russia which is creating and
maintaining its isolation from the fullness of Orthodoxy, and which is
denying its faithful the fullest participation of the Eucharistic
Communion of the Orthodox Church. To what can only be to our profound
sorrow, the current and lamentable witness of the Church Outside of
Russia has become one of division and sectarianism, rather than one of
communion and unity.
When someone on the list suggested, rightfully so, that this was posted
by a KGB agent, “Andrew” replied in a manner typically used to
intimidate and belittle:
KGB? Forgive this poor humble convert, but the KGB does not exist any
more. It went out of existence when the country formally known as the
Soviet Union was disbanded, and the Republic now known as Russia came
into being. Surely someone besides myself remembers this event.
We have seen this quite often on Orthodox Lists. The idea that “the
KGB, the Communist Party or Communism went out of existence and
that, if one has not noticed, one is deluding oneself or is simply
ignorant” - is used to put the reader to sleep so as not allow
any probing into reality, when actually, the complete opposite is true:
At the end of the ‘coup‘ theater, Boris Yeltsin suddenly signed a
Decree “suspending” the activities of the Russian Communist Party (but
not the Party itself, or the CPSI, which continued functioning).
The Communist Party accordingly went to sleep for about six months, but
it was not long before it was ‘back in business’ holding Congresses,
coordinated by the CPSU. Sam Webb, a senior official of the CP USA,
reported in April 1995 issue of Political Affairs, the CPUSA’s
theoretical journal, that “also attending were other components of the
Communist Movement in Russia. The most prominent was the CPSU, which
acts as a coordinating structure of the parties of the former USSR.
This usually comes as a surprise to those in the West who naively
thought that Communism had been ‘abolished.’ …The KGB had mounted an
operation deliberately pre-planned to end in ‘failure’- providing the
long-intended pretext for the (temporary) ‘banning’ of Communist
activity, leading to the ‘collapse’ of the Soviet Union… This shows how
closely intertwined the senior leadership of the KGB has always been
with that of the Communist Party. Lt. General Aleksandr Lebed, on
August 19th, 1994 exposed and confirmed that the ‘August Coup’ was a
bold, Bolshevik KGB provocation in his single devastating sentence:
“There was only a brilliantly planned and executed, large-scale,
unprecedented provocation in which the roles were scripted for the
intelligent and the stupid, all of whom consciously or unconsciously
played their parts.”
Degradation and conquest are companions. Defamation is the best and
foremost weapon of Psychopolitics. Should any whisper, or pamphlet,
against psychopolitical activities be published, it should be laughed
into scorn, branded an immediate hoax, and its perpetrator or publisher
should be, at the first opportunity, branded as insane, and by the use
of drugs the insanity should be confirmed.
If Psychopolitics succeeds in its mission throughout the Capitalistic
nations of the world, there will never be an atomic war, for Russia
will have subjugated all of her enemies. The end of war is the control
of a conquered people. In order to be conquered, a nation must be
degraded, either by acts of war, by being overrun, by being forced into
humiliating treaties of peace, or by the treatment of her populace
under the armies of the conqueror. However, degradation can be
accomplished much more insidiously and much more effectively by
consistent and continual defamation.
The following segment of the Interview should be of vital interest to
all members of The Russian Orthodox Church Abroad:
*The ROC [MP] has been considering, and maybe it has already been
enacted, to have its own Intelligence Service. The former External
Relations Foreign Ministry Department was to maintain relations with
foreign churches. A good friend of mine, Philaret, was the head of it,
now he is the patriarch of the Bielorussian Orthodox Church. Before
that, he was the Chief of Foreign Ministry of the ROC. That Ministry
was highly infiltrated by the KGB, agents and officers, it was simply
part of the KGB. Well, today, the ROC wants to have its own small
Intelligence Service.
Author: What will be their main
gaol?
*Their main goal will be to work among the Russian Orthodox priests who
do not accept the jurisdiction and supremacy of the Russian Orthodox
Church of Moscow, who do not accept the MP as the only supremacy.
Author: You mean underground
churches?
*Well, including underground churches. But the main thrust will be
against the Catholic Church. The Church Abroad is last among main
enemies, the last chapter in the book of enemies. [Actually, as
evidenced later in this article, the Church Abroad is first on the list
of enemies] For some reason, the author has a hard time believing that]
Enemy no. 1 are the Catholics because they have been militant, they
tried to penetrate Russia and the ROC is compromised in the eyes of
millions of Russians.
*2nd enemy are the sects, all sorts of foreign sects… A year ago the
Russian Parliament limited their activities by legal regulations, 10
year registrations, etc. some formal ways to put limits on their
activities. Also some missionaries succeed in gathering thousands of
Russians who would never come to listen to the ROC priests, but they
listen to the evangelists, and the ROC is afraid that these people are
taking some of the moneys and attention from them. So in order of
targets: no. 1 target the Catholic Church, no. 2 the sects. And here
they use the old Soviet ways, foreign sects are potential foreign
spies, you can put a label on them and say that they are not preaching,
they are spying, that’s an easy way.
And no. 3, the Church Abroad. But because of Putin’s policies, that all
Russians are friends and they have to help each other, these are now at
the end of the list.
Author: How does the KGB make
contact with the Church Abroad priests in lower ranks?
*That’s simple. Through the agents of the Russian Orthodox Church (MP).
We have representatives of the MP in the US and the Church Abroad in
the Moscow Patriarchate. They are on speaking terms, they are not
enemies any more.
Author: Member of the Church
Abroad hierarchy can be possible informers?
*Oh, sure, well in the old days…
Author: No, but now…
*Well, nothing has changed since the old day! The Soviet KGB activities
were inherited by the Russian Intelligence Service and they are proud
to be working the same way as they did before. Nothing has changed! In
terms of Intelligence operations, nothing has changed.
Author: Ok, so there could be
hierarchs in the Church Abroad…
*Absolutely-, who represent the Russian Intelligence Service. Some
people remain loyal, like the patriarch himself, he is loyal to the
KGB. In the old days, the Church Abroad would not associate with the
Soviet regime. But today, ah! Things are different! Russia is no longer
a godless state, they denounced communism, its practices. Today we want
to unite them all, we are all friends, compatriots, we share the same
values. Why should we be hostile to each other? Let’s unite, let’s
merge! The Church Abroad should simply cease to exist. Why should it
exist? We should have one united church under the Russian Patriarchate,
that’s the slogan.
*Let me cite you a Russian Intelligence official, who said publicly,
some 6-8 month ago, when he was asked a simple question: “Now that
communist ideology is dead, how do you operate in the West? How do you
recruit people?” He said: “Anti-Americans, no. 1. It is a
substitute for ideology- we have to look for people who hate America,
in Europe, in Japan, in Africa, in Latin America and in the US.”
Timothy McVey, for instance, was the epitome of anti-Americanism, had
he stayed in the Armed Forces, he would have been a very good target
for Soviet- I mean Russian- recruitment. So Anti-Americanism, no. 1.
Then no. 2 is money, of course. No. 3, patriotism- it is a
substitute for ideology. If you are a Russian patriot but you live
abroad and you associate with the Russian Church Abroad, in the old
days, historically it was clear why you did not wish to cooperate with
Moscow, because Moscow was a godless atheistic State. Now it’s all
gone, so why not? Why not get together? So this is another way to
recruit people, that’s what the Intelligence official said- patriotism!
Looking for Russian Orthodox people who may be loyal to Russia, as
their MOTHERLAND- it’s an appeal to more “universal” values than
communist ideology, patriotism is apolitical- so that’s what they say.
Author: How is it that the
hierarchs of the Church Abroad become basically for unification?
*Well there are no obstacles today for unification.
Author: How was this done
psychologically?
*Well, you simply “envelop in a cloud of friendship!” If a person is
truly religious, if he is truly religious, he always has a soft spot in
his heart towards friendship and commonality of interests and mutual
understanding. This is part of human nature in general, but for a true
Christian or even a Muslim, friendship and sympathy and human values,
if you skillfully employ them to penetrate someone’s heart, you’ll get
a response from the other side, you see.
Author: I understand that some
ROCA clergy traveled to Moscow and met with the MP?
*Oh, yes. Look, something very important happened over the last several
years, there were 2 Congresses, one in Moscow, one in New York, I
believe. People from all over the world, emigres, including church
officials from the Church Abroad came to the Congresses and embraced
each other in this great gesture for unification!
*Any Russian who lives abroad and who does not do anything against
Russia’s current political interests, he is a friend! No longer an
enemy, and they are all welcome! Russia is now their guardian! Politics
and religion are very much part of this political doctrine of the
Russian leadership today- We have to have all Russians united! Wherever
they live, whatever they preach!
Author: What is their gain?
*Well, first, economic gain- the Russian community in some parts of the
world is quite well off. Second- for Intelligence Services, it is
simply a boom! It’s a great gain for them because if the State
proclaims that we are all friends and we are all sons or daughters of
one “mother church and one mother nation-” it’s so easy to operate
among these people, particularly those who work for the Federal
Government of the United States. And in Intelligence, we always
did an ethnic profile looking for people in the Federal Government who
have Russian names, or Ukrainian ones, then we tried to see if they are
interested, maybe they feel nostalgic, or maybe they feel that their
careers are not going well because of their Russian background, then we
could offer them something, we say, look, if you go back to Russia you
will be received with honors, but before you go back, you have to
do something for us, to strengthen our economic or military
potential- provide some information for the Intelligence Service.
Author: What about those who
do not wish to unite?
*Well, those who do not believe, and there are quite a few, that the
Russian Patriarchate is honest, that it did not separate from the
State, there are quite a few who do not trust the patriarch nor
Mr. Putin…well they will be… they will try to convince them that they
are wrong! The Russian government and the ROC will try to convince them
that they are wrong, that they are simply deluding themselves, that
they live in an old world, that things changed in Russia [the author
almost exclaimed, “you said earlier that nothing has changed,” but
refrained in time for Major Kalugin not to loose his train of thought]…
those who do not trust the changes that have been happening in Russia,
because they do not believe these changes are genuine, and there some
reasons to doubt some of the changes, yet the general trend is toward
democracy, though under Mr. Putin there have been some reversals-
people who remain suspicious of Russian intentions, and there are some
reasons for that… Well, thanks to the US government, Mr. Putin has been
characterized as a straightforward individual, and some people will
think “well, after all, we were wrong.” Inadvertently, Mr. Putin has
been courted by the US government, public pronouncements of this nature
tend to mellow the mood of the nation and hostility or distrust of
Russia…
That crucial unfinished sentence, to one’s dismay, divulges so much of
the perestroika “ploy” and mindset. Why was it divulged? The
answer might lie in the recent attack on America, an event that no
longer makes such thinking secret, since a new phase, a dramatic shift
of direction has occurred, something that the elites of the world have
carefully planned. The main point here is to realize that Rocor has
been a very definite target and that a variety of tactics- although
always somewhat different so as not to be recognized- will continue to
be used against all who will resist subjugation to the Moscow
Patriarchate and its partner, the communist, now labeled as the
semi-democratic, semi-totalitarian, State.
In order to be conquered, a nation must be degraded, either by acts of
war, by being overrun, by being forced into humiliating treaties of
peace, or by the treatment of her populace under the armies of the
conqueror. Defamation is the best and foremost weapon of
Psychopolitics.
The mere threat of war, the mere threat of aviation bombings, could
cause the population to sue instantly for peace. Nations which have
high ethical tone are difficult to conquer. Their loyalties are hard to
shake, their allegiance to their leaders is fanatical, and what they
usually call their spiritual integrity cannot be violated bu duress. It
is the basic purpose of Psychopolitics to reduce that state of mind to
a point where it can be ordered and enslaved. Thus Man must be degraded
from a spiritual being to an animalistic reaction pattern. He must no
longer think of himself as capable of «spiritual endurance» or
nobility. An enslavement of a population can fail only if these
rebellious individuals are left to exert their individual influences
upon their fellow citizens, sparking them into rebellion, calling into
account their nobilities and freedoms. Unless these restless
individuals are stamped out early in the conquest, there will be
nothing but trouble as the conquest continues.
The officials of the government, students, readers, partakers of
entertainment must all be indoctrinated, by whatever means, into the
complete belief that the restless, the ambitious, the natural leaders,
are suffering from environmental maladjustments, which can only be
healed by recourse to psychopolitical operatives in the guise of
“mental healers.”
By whatever means... the restless fanatic, the extremist, will be
denigrated and «healed» or annihilated in whatever way will be
«appropriate» at the time.
Let us ponder on Drozdov, his “hierarchs” or agents in cassocks, and
his clergy’s real role in politics:
Of all the KGB’s secret agents, perhaps the most cynical are those who
pretended to be simple clergymen. The parliamentary investigators
worked from a special room in Moscow’s Lyubanka building - the KGB
headquarters used to direct arrests of millions of Russians. Secret
reports on the Russian church’s participation in the 1983 assembly of
the WCC in Canada reveal 47 of the Russian delegates to be KGB agents
who blocked resolutions on Soviet religious persecution and on the
invasion of Afghanistan [they were there to persuade the WCC to condemn
Western imperialism while remaining silent about the repression of
believers in the Soviet Union]. The agents in cassocks collaborated
with the foreign and domestic policies of a regime set on destroying
religion as a social force.
A secret Soviet-era document uncovered in Estonia suggests that
Patriarch Alexy II, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and
spiritual leader of tens of millions of Christians, was a fully fledged
KGB agent….elected patriarch in 1990, he co-operated closely with the
KGB under the code name Drozdov (Thrush)… he impressed the KGB with his
eagerness, discretion and lively, forthcoming manner…from 1958 he was
an active agent, using the KGB as a career ladder… to speed up the
ladder he married to avoid the army, was ordained a deacon 4 days
later, became the bishop of Tallin at 32, and in the same year rose
rapidly within the WCC. He had a KGB officer whom he met with regularly
in clandestine locations and who interrogated him. Agents Drozdov and
Peresvyet traveled to England as part of the delegation to the
Conference of European Churches.
Ridiger’s marriage was withheld from his official biography, and only
made known recently - uncovering his very quick and sinister career
climb, as promoted by the KGB, something that was totally overlooked by
the pro-MP faction of the Rocor clergy in the discussion on Orthodox
Lists, who simply noted that a bishop can be married earlier in life
and thus pacified the readers on the Lists. As to Ridiger’s
meticulousness during the course of his career climb- we can only
marvel at his and the MP’s clairvoyance and diligence with respect to
long-range plans, as we sadly wonder, what is in store for the future?
Drozdov was the only one of the churchmen in the KGB’s service to be
officially honored with an award for outstanding intelligence services.
He was in the most cooperative category of bishops who “affirm both in
words and deeds not only loyalty but patriotism towards the socialist
society; strictly observe the laws on cults, and educate the parish
clergy and believers in the same spirit; realistically understand that
our state is not interested in proclaiming the role of religion and the
church in society; and, realizing this, do not display any particular
activeness in extending the influence of Orthodoxy among the
population.” The MP took a prominent part in the Rodina (“Motherland”)
society founded as a front organization of the KGB in 1975 to “promote
cultural relations with compatriots abroad, and thus provide new
opportunities for agents recruitment among émigré communities.
The preparation of a false opposition, during the introduction of
controlled democratization in the communist regimes, for the purpose of
creating a favorable condition for unity of action with the social
democrats was revealed by the reorganization and reorientation of the
KGB and the security services of the bloc countries. The rationale was
to coordinate their joint efforts and to introduce a false, controlled
opposition along the lines of the Soviet experience with the false
anticommunist Trust during the NEP under Lenin. Shelepin [KGB]
specifically ordered that agents of influence be used among prominent
writers, scientists, trade unionists, nationalists, and religious
leaders. He emphasized the need to use agents of influence among the
heads of the various religions, including the head of the Russian
Orthodox Church, for strategic political purposes…The real identity of
Metropolitan Nikodim…The KGB had succeeded in placing the deputy head
of the Émigré Department who was responsible for religious affairs
under cover as head of the International Department of the ROC. The KGB
officer concerned, who used the name Viryukin served as a priest in
Jerusalem in 1957-58. He had earlier made a significant contribution to
the KGB’s penetration of the church and the persecution of its priests.
He had been transferred abroad to specialize in other churches, using
his KGB connections and facilities for political purposes.
Nikodim replaced the KGB Nikolai Krutitsky as Head of the International
Department…attended various Peace Conferences and Congresses..The “East
and West Now and Tomorrow from the Christian point of view” underlined
the importance of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and the
negotiations in Vienna for troop reductions in Central Europe. The
Great Soviet Encyclopaedia recorded that by 1972 the WCC had been
converted from a “pro-Western” to a “progressive” orientation in its
policies on peace, disarmament and related matters. Assiduous advocacy
by the Christian Peace Conference and others of the view that
Christianity and communism were natural allies in support of the
national liberation movement induced the WCC to provide funds for
African guerrilla movements, including the Rhodesian Patriotic Front,
believed to be responsible for a massacre of British missionaries in
1978. Nikodim’s successor, Metr. Yuvenaliy, who had acted as chairman
of an All-World Conference held in Moscow in 1977, on “religious
leaders for peace, disarmament, and just relations between peoples,”
advocated signature of the SALT II treaty and the opening of
negotiations on Salt III, arguing that only détente could bring peace
to the whole world, including Asia.
What “détente and perestroika” produced, in the form of Peace
Movements, was the silent built-up of the communist military machine
sponsored by Western funds and technology. To this day, Alexis II still
employs as his top legal adviser a former official of the
anti-religious Soviet council for Religious Affairs, Viktor Kalinin.
It is amazing that, with all the existing evidence, most are still
uninformed. The issue about Ridiger-agent Drozdov, not being a
patriarch should have been put to rest a long time ago and any talk
about union with him outlawed instead of defended by the liberal pro-MP
faction of Rocor on Orthodox Lists. What should be remembered is that
Drozdov and the former “patriarchs” defended the genocide of their
regime and sent millions to psychiatric prisons and their death.
Beria's Address to American students [of the American Communist Party]
at the Lenin University: You must work until suicide arising from
mental imbalance is common and calls forth no general investigation.
With the institutions for the insane, prisons which can hold millions
and can hold them without civil rights or any hope of freedom, upon
these people can be practiced shock and surgery so that never again
will they draw a sane breath. You must dominate hospitals and
universities. With psychopolitics you can erase our enemies as insects.
You can cripple the efficiency of leaders by striking insanity into
their families through the use of drugs. By constant campaign about the
terrors of society, by pretense as to your effectiveness make your
Capitalist himself, by his own appropriations, finance a large portion
of the quiet Communist conquest of the nation. By psychopolitics create
chaos. Leave a nation leaderless. Kill our enemies.
By making readily available drugs of various kind, create the necessary
attitude of chaos, idleness and worthlessness into which can then be
cast the solution which will give the teen-ager complete freedom
everywhere - Communism. Creating a greed for drugs, sexual misbehavior
and uncontrolled freedom and presenting this to them as a benefit of
Communism will with ease bring about our alignment. Bring about a
psychiatric ward in every hospital in the land and psychiatrists in
every company and regiment of the nation's army. If a psychiatric ward
could be established in every hospital in every city in a nation, at
one time or another, every prominent citizen of that nation could come
under the ministrations of psychopolitical operatives and their dupes.
Puzzling is why more people are not aghast at the deceitful and
preposterous actions of the pro-MP faction, clergy and hierarchs of
Rocor. The ability to discern must be reactivated and transmission of
the truth disseminated. The Church cannot be completely cleansed of the
enemy, as satan and the dark forces always manage to infiltrate.
Strength of character, however, most feared by communism, is the
best deterrent to its annihilation.
Violent activity against persons attacking Communism might bring about
their martyrdom.
Passivity on the part of the flock is most damaging. By taking a stand
and not attending nor supporting the churches taken over by the pro-MP
faction, the flock can play an important role in preserving the Church
Abroad and ensuring its continued existence. As to the pro-MP faction,
they are welcome to leave and join their beloved MP.
*Nowadays, the Church Abroad priests do not necessarily work for the
KGB. In the old days, that was the purpose of the KGB, to penetrate the
Church Abroad and turn them into their agents and friends. But today,
it is not a problem. It’s a friendly communication, though many Church
Abroad priests still do not wish to be associated with the MP because
they know that the MP never publicly repented for what it did to the
Russian people. Patriarch Alexei, despite his new, better position in
the Russian society, never denounced his own association with the KGB.
The best way to forgiveness is repentance, but he never repented. Gleb
Yakunin was here and he and I talked about that. That is why the Church
Abroad has set some reservations, it does not want to get back under
control of the Russian State. They want to see the church free of any
commitments past or present, and this the MP has not yet provided
evidence or proof of- that they are free from government domination.
[surely they must be working on it- but let us hope the gullible will
not fall for that ploy!] They are no longer tools but Junior Partners
of the State, the State which is half democratic- half totalitarian.
And the patriarch plays the same games as Mr. Putin, when they
resurrected the Stalinist National Anthem, the patriarch first said no,
this would be wrong, but- then he succumbed and said, ok!
In view of all the above, the following statement made by the Russian
Press shortly after the October 2000 Council, should clearly categorize
any kind of rapprochement as treason:
Now a meeting of Church in Exile bishops in New York has decided that a
new social doctrine adopted by the Moscow church, which states that it
will be loyal to the state as long as state policy causes no problems
for Orthodox Christian consciences, settles the issue.
Persecution continues
The law discriminates against religious bodies that refused to make the
compromises needed for official registration under the pre-glasnost,
militantly atheist Soviet state. If officials strongly dislike a
specific group, the new law gives them ample discretionary powers to
withhold state registration altogether on the basis of a long list of
vague criteria that virtually beg to be abused. When a group files for
registration, it must include detailed accounts of its doctrines and
history, which are then subject to bureaucratic judgments about their
possible “inauthenticity.” A group denied registration will not even
have the legal status that would allow it to open a bank account, buy
or rent real estate or perform organized acts of charity.
Strange is the similarity of the actions of the MP who continues to
persecute those who disagree with it, with the Church Abroad’s
hierarchs, who recently banned the clergy who stand firm against the
union with the MP. That clergy was asked to vacate the premises of
their parish, putting them and their families virtually on the street.
It is a tragedy that such communist tactics have been applied to the
Church Abroad’s oldest, most dedicated clergy, who have built these
parishes over many years. Here is the degrading language of the Rocor
bishops:
You have been banned from serving on the orders of Bishop Amvrossii…we
remind you that you need to terminate immediately all services…return
the keys of the church and of the church housing within 8 days…if not
we will have no other recourse but to take legal action…
A similar language, used by the MP, as it continues to persecute those
who disagree with it:
For violation of their priestly vows… were dismissed from their
positions and banned from priestly ministry until they make repentance…
in the event that they do not submit to this decision and perform
priestly activities in defiance, the question of unfrocking them will
be decided.
And what was the reason behind such harsh measures on the part of the
MP? The answer is that two priests spoke out against ecumenical
concelebrations - something that should be praised instead of censured.
Indeed, persecution continues and it takes many forms, the banning of
clergy, seizure of monasteries and churches, ridiculing those who dare
speak up against the official MP, not to mention the use of harsh
measures such as force to take over property and even murder of the
more vocal anti-MP, anti-communist and anti-ecumenist activists.
About the infamous Law of 1997, curtailing the freedom on religion in
Russia, and especially banning such “sects” as the Russian Orthodox
Church Abroad, Fr. Georgii Edelshtein writes: “I am not in favour of
this law. It is aimed against the Russian Orthodox Church more than
against any foreign missionaries… On the label of the MP Saint Spring
Water one reads that the money is used to restore monasteries and
churches. You should know that not a dollar has been given to restore
monasteries and churches…I have never received a single penny from our
President Yeltsin, or from my patriarch, or from my bishop to restore
these churches. I have to rob my congregation, and you know they are
the poorest group of our society… You are corrupting our Church by
sending money or humanitarian aid to our top officials…The essential
message is “Tell the truth.” But if you do that, very likely, on your
way to church, someone with an axe will get you in the back of the
head. It’s very dangerous to be a Christian.” Lest we forget that
Article 14 of the 1997 Bill is titled “The Liquidation of Religious
Organizations and the Banning of Religious Associations’ Activities in
the Event of Breaking the Law.” “Liquidating,” “neutralizing” or
“annihilating” are especially meant for such “sects” as the Russian
Orthodox Church Abroad, the MP’s main target.
Although impossible to do justice to the entire scope of persecution
taking place since perestroika, one might cite a few examples for the
benefit of those unfamiliar with the facts. One must remember that The
True Orthodox Church is highly persecuted worldwide and especially in
the CIS. In fact it is the True Church that is harassed the most by
security police.
1 - Seizures of property that does not belong to the MP,
such as that of the True Orthodox Church, the Catacomb Church,
and Free (Autonomous) Church of Russia- by force with help of
militia. This often happens after a church has been renovated with
money contributed by the parishioners- only to be forcibly taken over
by the MP. Also conflicts are staged to create problems with
registration, etc. (1991-on going)
2 - Persecution of Monks from the Athonite Skete of the Prophet
Elias (1992)
3 - Persecution of Orthodox Christians in Russia: a report of
martyrdoms in Russia. Keston News Service (March 14, 1997)
4 - The martyr murder of Jose Munoz, caretaker of the
myrrh-streaming Icon of the Iversk Holy Mother of God
5 - MP forcibly takes over the Monastery of the Oak of Mamre
(July 5, 1997)
6 - Fr. Alexander Zharkov murdered in St. Petersburg (September
14, 1997)
7 - Luzhkov refuses to give the True Orthodox Church empty
church sites in Moscow, including 2 empty churches donated by Old
Believers. In recent years the MP has taken custody of Old Believer
icons and bells returned by the state and the state sometimes refuses
the return of Old Believer churches.
8 - Seizures of monastery and church property in the Holy Land-
Hebron (1997) and Jericho (2000)
9 - The take over of the St.Nicholas Church in Bari, Italy
10 - Two fires at the Rocor Montreal Cathedral
11 - Priests arrested in St. Petersburg for protesting against the
Communist Party (November 2000)
12 - ROCA Procession for the Royal Martyrs in Voronezh was banned by
the MP (July 1998)
13 - Attempted seizure of Zarzma Monastery - “Surrender the monastery
within 24 hours, otherwise we will take it by force” (compliments of
the MP)
14 - Violent seizure of Betani Monastery by the Georgian Patriarch
(August 1998)
15 - Violence in Georgia, “Our request for a site to build a church was
answered with police clubs” (April 1998)
16 - Rocor Orphanage burned twice in Chile
17 - Persecution against Old Calendarist Greeks in Athens
(July-September 2001)
18 - Persecution of the True Serbian Church. Labeled as “sektanty” the
parishioners are not allowed to build their church in Smederevo (July
2001)
*“But we are all friends now!”
The Georgian non-official True Church has been hard-hit, among
others.The population in Soviet Georgia has mysteriously declined from
over 5 million to less than 3.8 million since Eduard Shevardnadze
replaced the legitimately elected Present Zviad Gamsakhurdia in March
1992. Shevardnadze works secretly and dialectically with Moscow, where
he has an apartment. His job is to squeeze the last sign of resistance
out of the brave Georgian people, and he is presiding over this evil by
every means at his disposal: induced famine, invasions of city
residencies by country people, withholding fuel, hyperinflation, drug
operations, thuggery by the regime’s special repression forces and
military activities- after “allowing” Russia to establish numerous
military bases throughout the territory. As for the repression in
Tajikistan, no one knows the scale of the carnage that has taken place
there.
The Gulags and psychiatric hospitals - that sinister system is alive
and well: hundreds of known and dozens of unknown prison camps,
containing between one and two million prisoners remain. Torture and
the abuse of psychiatric treatment abound. Records of operative camps
in 1996 include:
1. A forced labor camp containing 1,000-1,500 prisoners in the town of
Pyatikhatka, Ukraine, located 10-15 km north of the railroad station,
adjacent to the Dnepropetrovsk metallurgical plant.
2. A large camp, containing an estimated 2,000 prisoners, at Bartas on
Lake Balkhash, Kazakhstan. This institution serves as a labor pool for
elements of the space dimension of the military-industrial complex
located there. A colossal explosion occurred at Bartas in 1989, but the
number of prisoners who lost their lives in that explosion remains
unknown.
3. In Alma-Ata, capital of Kazakhstan, MVD labor camp Number AK-160,
for teenagers, provides forced labor for timber plant workshops. The
camp complex is located on Tashkentskaya and Seifullina Street.
4. "Medieval City" is located within the compound of the Institute of
Biophysics, Moscow. It is accessed via tram number 6, trolleybuses
Numbers 12 and 14, and via buses numbers 23 and 30. This complex is a
special department supervised by the successors of the KGB in which
various physical experiments are undertaken on prisoners brought in
from camps elsewhere in the former USSR, who have been working in the
lethal uranium mines. About 500 prisoners are reported to be undergoing
such experiments and evaluations at any one time. The purpose, given
further confirmation in the most recent Russian military spending
estimates, that the elite continues the construction of a colossal
bunker complex at "Evil Mountain" in the Urals, is obvious: to assess
the prospects of human survival in high radiation conditions such as
will prevail following nuclear war.
5. Near the town of Kopiesk, in the Urals, is Camp Balandino, which has
2,000 prisoners. At this long-established camp, the forced labor pool
is employed at the Cheliabinsk tractor plant, which also produces tanks.
6. A large camp complex (Cheliabinsk-40, Cheliabinsk-60 and
Zlatoust-70) has been identified at the town of Zlatoust in the Ural
Mountains, some 190 km from Cheliabinsk. This camp sends prisoners for
unknown tasks in the "closed cities" of the region. The camp complex is
controlled by the General Camp Authority.
7. Concentration camp number 9, for children, is located in the town of
Ust-Abakan, also in Krasnoyarskiy Krai. Between 800 and 1,000 child
prisoners were held there when this intelligence was being gathered in
1996. They are employed making wooden forms for use in the
aluminium plant at Sayanogorsk...etc. 23 more gulags are mentioned on
this list.
The above evidence stands as a reminder of the persecution of millions,
and of the existence of True Orthodoxy, which the MP would rather
forget. ROCOR is is not large by comparison, but it is considered as
the MP’s main enemy and target, as portrayed in the following stunning
statement for all to take heed:
In this country [Russia] alone the communists have turned tens of
millions of otherwise normal individuals into psychological cripples.
As a result of all the brainwashing, it’s now ingrained in our people
that they don’t have to work in order to succeed. They simply receive
everything they need from those who are empowered to decide what those
needs are. And now the main thrust of our society is not directed
toward achievement; it’s toward preventing others from succeeding.
Beyond the tens of millions slaughtered - and the hundreds of millions
more enslaved - literally and figuratively - the greatest evil of all
perpetrated by the Communist leaders was the deliberate corruption of
the very souls of those who survived the Communist Terror.
The ultimate symbol of this spiritual poison was the way the communists
destroyed the Russian Orthodox Church. The unholy Synod we have in
Russia has nothing to do with the Church. It was created illegally by
the communists. The real Synod emigrated to escape liquidation. None of
the Patriarchs after Sergiy was legitimate.
They infiltrated every level of the Church hierarchy, especially the
top echelon. So by now the hierarchy of the Soviet Orthodox Church is
nothing more than an extension of the KGB.
And Rocor, which was organized by the émigré Holy Synod- the legitimate
Russian Orthodox Church is one of the KGB’s prime targets. The Rocor
really frightens the communists, small as it is. They know that the
parishioners of Rocor are truly dangerous to the regime; they are
passionately patriotic, and they are among the very few who understand
the true nature of Communism. They aren’t fooled by communist
propaganda stunts.
Author: “What do you mean by
Rocor being the KGB’s main target?”
Sheymov: “Complete
annihilation.”
Author: “Has there been a
process of infiltration into Rocor from the KGB?
Sheymov: Oh, yes, of course.
Author: How so?
Sheymov: Well, by various
means, MP priests get on friendly terms with Rocor priest… from the
inside.
Author: Where does this
happen, in Russia? Do some members of Rocor, for instance, travel to
Moscow to be trained?
Sheymov: Not necessarily,
îáðàáàòûâàëè çäåñü â Àìåðèêå (they were worked on here, in the US).
Author: In other words, a lot
of brainwashing taking place?
Sheymov: Of course.
A review of some of the relevant vicious literature reminds us how
demonically determined the Revolution is to destroy ‘religion’- by
which it means only true Christianity. Perverted Christianity is no
impediment to the achievement of Lenin’s objectives, because all that
is necessary is to encourage the deepening of its perversion: but the
war against true Christianity is relentless, since it encapsulates the
truth (which is indivisible). Confirming the well understood Communist
influence of the WCC, the Cuban tome Christian-Marxist Unity, points
out that the WCC’s meetings and publications contributed in good
measure to more serious analyses of the times by Christians, which
helped to clarify the roles they should play in the Revolution. Old
Bible study manuals were rejected…it helped people liberate themselves,
aided greatly by Vatican II, the Church and Society Conference of the
WCC and other WCC material. Christians who recognize the values of the
new society and the Communist Party are growing in number. The notion
is spreading that Communism is no menace, but a new guarantee for the
future of the faith…broader possibilities for living a Christian life
and breaking the shackles of capitalism.
There are those who are uninformed, for whom sources are not easily
accessible and for whom this article was written, and there are those
who are the leaders of the unification movement, who are fully aware of
their specific role in the destruction of Orthodoxy. They will
naturally accuse, denigrate and defame any sources of information such
as the present article, but the facts speak for themselves. We must
continue to defend and bring the truth to those who are willing to take
a stand for Orthodoxy. “By Silence is God Betrayed!” St. Gregory
the Theologian.
Let us firmly remember that the Truth Himself was crucified by a
majority of votes, and let those who now refer in their own
justification to the majority rather read in this a terrible reproach
and rebuke for themselves, that in their “majority” Christ the Truth is
again crucified.
The stand against the rapprochement with the MP does not mean
that one does not care about Russia, its people and its genuine
believers. The cold reality is that if a union does take place, it is
not to them that we shall answer, but to those who are leading them
into the abyss- it is the corrupt elite of the MP who shall give orders
to all Orthodox, both in Russia and abroad. Commemorating the patriarch
will be strictly enforced and those not willing to do so, will be
silenced or removed, in whatever mode will be fashionable at the time.
It is clear to anyone familiar with the tactics of the CIS and the MP,
that in its next step towards warming up to the Church Abroad, the MP
might even renounce Sergianism and/or its involvement in ecumenism. But
these will only be ploys to lure people - let us recall
internationalism’s motto, “the end justifies the means.” There should
exist on the part of Rocor parishioners, a firm commitment for the
continued existence of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, to whom
members of true Orthodoxy, no matter where they are, can turn for the
Apostolic Truth.
How prophetic were the words of Archpriest Lev Lebedev, who died of
sudden and mysterious death several hours after his arrival at the
Synod headquarters to address the Bishops’ Council in 1998.
Our duty is to hold on to what we have, that which is pure and not
damaged by any new teachings, according to the will of St. Philaret.
And how right was Archbishop Serafim of Brussels when he wrote with
regards to the MP in 1994: It is by our existence, independent from the
MP, that we will benefit Orthodoxy, as well as the MP. As long as we
exist, no matter how small a lot we are, the MP will always have to be
mindful of us. We serve as the saving deterrent for its blunders. If we
disappear and merge with them, the hands of the MP will be completely
untied.
On the Aeroflot plane, Fr. Lev Lebedev had been in the care of a flight
attendant and her husband. Aeroflot was “riddled by KGB agent and under
the KGB control.” His mysterious death took place after Fr. Lev
had written a scathing expose on bishop Mark Arndt of Germany. Fr. Lev
also wrote the following prophetic declaration:
At the beginning of “perestroika” and “democratization” and
“glasnost’,” we started to have the illusion, and the hope, that our
church councils would represent the actual thoughts and wishes of the
ROC, not the sacred directives of administrative bodies outside of the
church…The Russian Church Abroad, led by its holy Synod and its First
Hierarch Metropolitan Vitaly, has remained in the fundamentals of Holy
Orthodoxy, and is preserving in purity both Orthodox teaching and the
Church canons, not at all accepting ecumenism and modernism, to say
nothing of making compromises with atheists. The higher echelons
of the hierarchy of the MP are accusing the Russian Church Abroad, as
if by its actions it were creating a “schism” and rift within the
“canonical territory of the MP,” dramatically cautioning all of us with
the words of the apostle to avoid the bringers of divisions and
temptations, and citing also the “holy canons” of the church. God is
righteous! Shouldn’t the high hierarchs of the MP be ashamed to speak
of “schism” and “holy canons”! Will you, archpastors of the MP, speak
of schism, when it is precisely you who instigated this schism, when
you blessed the communist regime as the way to the “bright future” and
afterwards introduced the heretical ideology of ecumenism? It is not
for you, higher bishops of the MP, to talk about canons, when some of
you (with the consent of all) have bound yourselves up in government
service, and take the greatest delight in being allowed to sit in the
highest “organ” of Soviet government, underneath the canopy of red
cloth with its pentagrams and hammers and sickles, and the likeness of
the bald-headed leader - which is the ensign of the ideo-political
criminals in the 20th century…The Russian Church Abroad has been left
as the solitary stronghold of Holy Orthodoxy in the world; of the
traditions and legacies of Holy Russia! Honour be to her, and praise!
Because not to her, but to you, high pontiffs of the MP, do these words
pertain: “the sin of causing a division in the single Body of Christ is
not cleansed even by the blood of martyrdom.” June 21, 1990.
One cannot but admit that the apostate, heretical and criminal state of
the overwhelming majority of the MP hierarchy corresponds entirely to
this state of society as a whole; it is one of the “moles” or “worms”
greedily devouring whatever it can still find to devour in the rotting
corpse. Under these circumstances what can the Russian Orthodox Church
Abroad have in common with the Moscow “Patriarchate?” Nothing! Hence it
follows that any kind of “dialogue” or “conference” with the MP with
the aim of clarifying “what divides us and what unites us” is either an
abysmal failure to understand the essence of things or a betrayal of
God’s truth and the Church. What divides us is everything! And what
unites us is nothing, except perhaps the outward forms of church
buildings, clerical vestments and the order of services (but not in all
respects even here). Therefore it is necessary to realize clearly and
confirm officially that now the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia
is not a part of the Church of Russia, but the only lawful Russian
Church in all its fullness! “Recognition” of the MP by the ROCA would
provide the MP with the appearance of legitimacy in the eyes of the
entire world. But this cannot be allowed to happen… And if one’s soul
still suffers pain for the Russian speaking population of Russia, then
it is only through constant and firm reproof of the MP, and not through
making advances towards it, that it is possible to save those in Russia
who still seek salvation and are capable of accepting it. It is
therefore essential to return to the uncompromising attitude towards
the MP which was taken by the ROCOR from the beginning. And it is quite
wrong, under the pretext of “the good of the Church” and “operational
efficiency,” to undermine the authority of a Primate of the ROCA who is
capable of distinguishing truth from falsehood and of “discerning the
spirits.” Recently Rocor has been afflicted by a whole series of
disasters one after the other. The murder of the guardian of the
miraculous Myrrh-streaming Iveron icon was especially terrible.
[Disasters such as the murder of Archpriest Alexander Zharkov, the loss
of monasteries and churches in the Holy Land, Bari and others to the
MP, burning of the Cathedral in Montreal (twice), burning of the Chile
orphanage (twice), recently the St. Nicholas Church in Stratford,CT
struck by lightening, etc.] But it is after the very indecisive
resolutions of the Bishops’ Council of the ROCA in 1993 and 1994 and
the subsequent steps taken by some of our hierarchs towards
rapprochement with the MP that these disasters began, one after the
other- disasters which bear witness to the withdrawal of God’s
beneficence towards our Church, because of its deviation from the
truth. How many more disasters do the supporters of fraternization with
the criminal and heretical MP wish to bring down upon us? Report to the
Council of Bishops of the ROCOR, 1998.
*Gleb Yakunin told me that the Church Abroad here in DC has been more
favorably disposed towards the MP.
Author: What will happen to the
Church Abroad if they unite?
*Well, the Church Abroad is an artificial creation, perhaps that is the
wrong word, it was a natural phenomenon at the time when Soviet
atheistic State simply tried to destroy the Church in Russia… So it
survived. But now, with the historical changes and collapse of
the Soviet system, the likelihood of unification is very high,
particular if a new partriarch is elected, and he may be free from any
association. It’s possible.
Author: Will it then be
neutralized?
*Well yes, of course, sure. Basically it will be reunited, with the
passage of time, it will assume its original role as the carrier of
spiritual resurrection of the Russian people- divorced entirely from
the State, or at least not against the State, but serving God. I think
this is coming.
Author: Was the infiltration
of the Church Abroad decided by the 1960 Congress?
*Well the infiltration of ROCA has been going on since the very
beginning, it was one of the main preoccupations of the Party and the
State Security system.
Author: What about the Holy
Land?
*Well, the ROC in Jerusalem was always the main harbor, a KGB outpost
in Israel.
Author: What happened to the
land seized in Hebron, Jericho, by the MP? What happened there?
*Well, yes, there was forceful eviction. Well, it is now fully under
the MP, that’s all. They took it over forcibly.
Author: Why would there be a need to use force, aren’t we friends?
*Well, because they resisted. So they took it over by force. All
property now is under the MP.
Anyone who believes that the current government of Russia is a
militantly atheist one, devoted to the eradication of religion, as was
the Soviet regime, is an idiot. Fr. Alexander Lebedeff, Orthodox
Indiana List, July 25, 2001.
Author: What about the property
in the US?
*Well, not yet. Well…they will not use force but they will try to take
it over under the MP. Eventually… sure.
Author: So Perestroika worked?
*Yes…well, in terms of communication… tolerance… it has been a long
historic process. The Russian Church (MP) I hope will become eventually
what it should be, once the current leadership of the church goes,
there will be a new breed of churchmen… Yes… perestroika made major
in-roads, if you wish, a major overhaul of the system of values,
political and religious.
In the name of the leadership of the Association of Former Soviet
Political Prisoners, Alexandr Bolonkin and Yevgenii Lel’, July 28, 2001:
It is not for naught that the bloody communist regime has considered
the White Emigration to be its chief adversary. It was precisely due to
the priests, the officers, the doctors, the teachers, and the scholars,
who refused to be reconciled to the godless regime, that there
continued to exist that everlasting spirit of Russia, which alone could
withstand the moral corruption of the “proletarian state’ in an
organized fashion…It is exactly for this reason that the chekists
directed their principal blow against their “foremost enemy.” The
history of the Russian Emigration is replete with abductions and
murders… Throughout all these years, the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad
in Exile remained the chief stronghold of opposition to the Bolsheviks
- a moral standard and a living rebuke tto the remnants of those clergy
in the USSR who had bowed down before the authority of the enemy agents
appointed for them by Stalin…Those who took part in the party’s looting
of the “fixed capital” of Russia - the ecclesiastical majors Drozdov -
quickly amassed billions for themselves through trade in tobacco and
vodka…And all this took place in full view of the “white clergy”
vegetating in poverty…Making use of the frail state of health of
First-Hierarch Vitaly, the Bolshevik secret agents attempted to effect
a quiet putsch in the Synod
and to surrender the Church of the White Guards into the hands of Major
Drozdov…It turns out that we all had been too early in “burying”
Bolshevism! Parishioners should know, what god some of their pastors
are praying to! And, on that basis, decide whose road they will travel
on.
Epistle of Hieromartyr Metropolitan
Joseph of Petrograd (1928):
We will not give the Church as a sacrifice over to the mercy of the
betrayers and foul politicians and agents of atheism and destruction.
And by this protest we do not cut ourselves off from Her, but we cut
them off from us and boldly say: not only have we not gone away, do not
go away, and will never go away from the bosom of the true Orthodox
Church, but those who are not with us and for us, but against us, we
consider Her enemies, betrayers, and murderers. It is not we who go
into schism by not submitting to Metropolitan Sergius, but rather you
who are obedient to him go with him into the abyss of the Church’s
condemnation. We call upon you and fortify your powers for battle for
the independence of the Church, only not at all in the way you suppose
is required: not by agreement with the enslavers of this Church and the
murderers of Her holy independence, which is manifested now in Her holy
absence of rights, but rather by a loud and decisive protest against
every acquiescence, against hypocritical and lying compromises and
against the betrayal of Her interests to the interests of godless
satanism and a bitter warfare against Christ and His Church.