Free Republic

The violation of religious freedom is simultaneously a violation of democratic norms and procedures. The protection of all all communities regardless of religion or ethnicity is mandatory if a country is to be considered democratic. After the 9/11 attacks, the United States made sure that American Muslims would be protected following the mass slaughter of Americans. Democracies protect individuals and communities that have nothing to do with the actions of a small number of radicals and extremists. Governments that target entire communities are fascist or authoritarian at the very least. For example, Nazi Germany targeted the Jewish community for persecution...

Two separate bills aimed at the dissolution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church were submitted to and registered by the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian Parliament, over the past week. Similar bills have been submitted to the Rada for years now, though they have so far proved unsuccessful. Since the fratricidal war began last month, different reactions to the canonical Ukrainian Church, an autonomous body within the Moscow Patriarchate, have been seen. Some, including certain government officials and bodies, have called for all Ukrainians to unite, decrying the attacks and fake accusations against the Church, while others have only ramped up the...

In an unusual move, more than 150 Russian Orthodox clerics have called for an immediate stop to the ongoing war in Ukraine in an open letter issued on March 1. At least 176 Orthodox clerics said that they "respect the freedom of any person given to him or her by God," adding that the people of Ukraine "must make their own choices by themselves, not at the point of assault rifles and without pressure from either West or East." The letter says the clerics “bewail” the suffering that has been “undeservingly imposed on our brothers and sisters in Ukraine.” It...

http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/synod/eng2006/5eninterviewpa.html  MOSCOW: May 1, 2006   Responses of Patriarch ALEXY II of Moscow and All Russia on Questions From the Official Internet Site of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia   From the Editors: At the last joint meeting of the church Commissions held last February in New York, it was decided to address questions to the First Hierarchs of both parts of the Russian Church relating to the reconciliation process between the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and the Moscow Patriarchate. This proposal was approved by the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of...

02 May 2006, 18:00 Russian Church Abroad must assess its history - Alexy II Moscow, May 2, Interfax - Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia said the history of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad "must" be studied in detail and objectively, which is "of importance." "Its history should be viewed from the canonical angle. But one must be aware that it's difficult to come to absolute and final unanimity while assessing all occurrences and historical figures. The whole truth can only be judged by God," the Russian patriarch said in an interview granted to the official website of...

02 May 2006 State Duma deputy urges Russian Church Outside Russia not to doom itself to role of ‘ethnographic museum of gone civilization’ Moscow, May 2, Interfax – Natalia Narochnitskaya, a State Duma deputy and well-known historian, suggests that the Russian Church Outside Russia cast away doubts as to the advisability of restoring unity with the Moscow Patriarchate. ‘Today’s doubts are like temptations endured by a person who wants to adopt baptism but the enemy of humankind whispers into his ear: Wait, you are not ready; don’t do it today but tomorrow!’ Narochnitskaya writes in her article published in Rossiyskaya...

Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev: Will the Ecumenical Ship Sink? Excerpts from the interview to the official website of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia Doesn't membership in the World Council of Churches (WCC) obligate acceptance of its fundamental principles which contradict Orthodox ecclesiology? Membership in the WCC does not require from any Church the recognition of all the other member churches of the WCC as churches in the literal sense of the word. This is stated in the foundational documents of the Council. If we call one Protestant community or another a "church," which in...

17 April 2006, 14:58 Division in Russian Orthodox Church senseless - patriarch Moscow, April 17, Interfax - Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Alexy II said on Monday that he prays for the unity of the Russian Orthodox Church inside and outside Russia in every service he ministers. "Today there are no reasons for schism between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian people who found themselves abroad during the Revolution. It is our duty to resolve problems that remain in our relations," he said. Many Russian emigrants have died and the Russian Orthodox Church outside Russia "is losing its Russian...

High Treason: The Luring of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad to the Moscow Patriarchate