February 2022 – Page 2

From the time that the Church crisis began in September 2018, voices have called for the convening of a Pan Orthodox council to resolve the Church crisis in Ukraine. Orthodox primates such as Patriarch John of Antioch and Archbishop Anastasios of Albania have called for the convening of a council. Patriarch Bartholomew has repeatedly ruled out a council.

Two years ago, Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem made an attempt to convene a council. In light of the denunciation of the actions of the Patriarch of Jerusalem by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the “council” was redefined as being a meeting or gathering. In total, six Orthodox Churches were gathered in Amman, Jordan under the auspices of the Patriarch of Jerusalem.

Plans have been announced for the convening of a council that would include no more than five local Churches to gather and this time the topic is not Constantinople’s intervention in Ukraine, but the establishment of a Russian exarchate in Africa on the territory of the Patriarchate of Alexandria.

The five local Churches invited are the four ancient Patriarchates (Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem) and the Church of Cyprus. There is respect and reverence that is due to the ancient Patriarchates which is why I do not believe the order of Churches in the dyptychs should ever be changed. The ancient Patriarchates were established by the fathers and the Ecumenical Councils and so are to an extent a part of tradition.

The ancient Patriarchates are entitled to maintain their places of honor at the top (or near the top) of the ranking of Churches. They are entitled to nothing more than that. The Church of Russia is the largest Orthodox Church. The Churches of Serbia, Bulgaria, Rumania, Georgia, and Greece are much bigger than the ancient Patriarchates and have much larger flocks.

Therefore, a council that excludes Churches that represent the overwhelming majority of Orthodox Christians is pointless. But then again Patriarch Bartholomew has no desire to convene a serious council that will seriously examine the Ukrainian crisis honestly. The plans to discuss the Russian exarchate in Africa is also an attempt to distract from Ukraine which is what started all the chaos.

No council can be convened that does not include the participation of all autocephalous Orthodox Churches. The Amman gathering in 2020 was flawed specifically because more than half of the Churches were not represented. Still, the Amman gathering was a noble first attempt to begin the process of getting plans for a council off the ground.

The plans for the upcoming gathering of the five Churches is not only flawed because it seeks to ignore the the universal Church. It is flawed because it is also being convened with less than honorable intentions. It is intent on attacking the Russian Church over Africa while ignoring the mess that Constantinople started in Ukraine.

A real council needs to be held that will represent the universal Church that lives in today’s reality. A council of the ancient Patriarchates and Cyprus is inadequate to address the Church crisis or any other contemporary issue. Patriarch Bartholomew would have the right to make his case in a council attended by ALL Churches as would the Russian Church.

Therefore, no Orthodox Christian can accept the forthcoming gathering and any decisions to be made with any seriousness.

The Biden administration seems intent on going to war with Russia over Ukraine. More than any other policy of the Biden administration, this rush for a confrontation with Russia demonstrates why Donald Trump was a great President. Donald Trump was able to temporarily overthrow the old order that was supported by Democrats and Republicans alike. An order based on interventionism and unending war.

Donald Trump understood it was better to have Russia as an ally against ISIS. The Democrats cared nothing about the genocide and slave trade under ISIS because the Russians were politically incorrect on social issues. Even today, the Biden administration and the European Union are hostile to Hungary and Poland because those countries are conservative and Christian and refuse to adopt western social values.

The Russians are demanding that Ukraine not be admitted into NATO. This gesture could defuse tensions. The Democrats (this is not just Biden) are anxious are for a confrontation with Russia. Over the past thirty years, NATO has expended as far as the Baltic Republics. The Russians naturally see themselves being surrounded.

It would be easy to point out that Biden is senile and has no business being President. It is true that Biden is senile and should not be President. However, in fairness to the man, Biden is doing the same things that Clinton, Bush, and Obama did. He is following the dictates of the pro war foreign policy establishment and media.

Clinton bombed Serbia. Bush invaded Iraq, and Obama supported war in Syria. Biden’s present course indicates that the Presidency is generally reserved for the ignorant and for the subservient. Donald Trump looks good compared to both his successor and his three predecessors.

In the post cold war era, Donald Trump was the only real smart President we have had. He was the only independent President we have had. If Trump were President today, there would be no talk of war over Ukraine.

We live in a world with Covid. We live in a country where an unelected maniac named Anthony Fauci holds unprecedented power and influence for a “scientist”. The scientific community has been supporting gain of function research in China which resulted in the leak from the Wuhan lab.

Contrast the anti-Russian hysteria with the indifference toward China. China lied and covered up about the leak at the Wuhan lab. China is engaged in genocide against the Muslim Ughyurs. Despite these horrors, the international Olympic Committee permitted the Olympic games to be held in China.

The Director-General of the World Health Organization was present. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has long been China’s man. He was unsurprisingly present at the genocide games in China, as was the United Nations Secretary General.

That China has jeopardized the way of life for everyone in the world seems not to distress western governments or media. Its the bad Russians that everyone is obsessed with. Russia should not invade Ukraine and NATO should not admit Ukraine as a member.

This should be the basis for peace between Russia and the west. Unfortunately, we are living in Biden’s world. Again, in fairness these tensions with Russia would still exist if Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Cheney, or Jeb Bush were President. If any Democrat or any Republican neo con were in the White House, the same policies would be in effect.