"I am the door. By me if any man enter in he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture." - John 10:9 At every parish where I have had the pleasure of attending services, there is always a small group of people who find their way all the way up to the church building but don't actually attend services. At one parish it was a group of male gypsies who talked on cellphones or smoked cigarettes. At another it was a few Protestant husbands who, though they never attended services, opened the parish doors for people as they filed in. At yet another parish the men stood in the narthex and chatted until it was time to receive and then got in line. Latin or Greek Catholic, Eastern or Oriental Orthodox I see the same small throng of men standing next to the front door, but not standing, sitting, or kneeling amongst the people. If it were me (and I can only speak for myself here) this option would be an unsavory one. The boredom would be immediate. The anxiety of som...
Why should anyone outside a jurisdiction care about jurisdictional squabbles?
ReplyDeleteThe UOC-KP isn't a jurisdiction. It's not even canonical.
DeleteYes this is not a jurisdictional squabble, this is open persecution and intimidation against the canonical Orthodox Church in the Ukraine, perpetrated by a non-canonical, schismatic group lead by a deposed and excommunicated former Bishop who said that the people of Eastern Ukraine must pay for their "sins" in blood (referring to them resisting the fascist, failing ultra-nationalist current regime squatting in Kiev). Churches have been burned, stolen, priest have been harassed, its a horrible situation in the Ukraine which, unfortunately, our government supports. The Kiev regime increases it's shelling in Eastern Ukraine on sundays when they know people are heading to out of their homes for church. It's a sick situation. Lord have Mercy.
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