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Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Michael's List - Women in Workforce, Russian Asteroids 2036, Spain's EU Presidency, Kosovo not forgotten, "Enemies of God", GITMO Worries, Christmas



The economic empowerment of women across the rich world is one of the most remarkable revolutions of the past 50 years. It is remarkable because of the extent of the change: millions of people who were once dependent on men have taken control of their own economic fates. It is remarkable also because it has produced so little friction: a change that affects the most intimate aspects of people’s identities has been widely welcomed by men as well as women. Dramatic social change seldom takes such a benign form. Yet even benign change can come with a sting in its tail. Social arrangements have not caught up with economic changes. Many children have paid a price for the rise of the two-income household. Many women—and indeed many men—feel that they are caught in an ever-tightening tangle of commitments. If the empowerment of women was one of the great changes of the past 50 years, dealing with its social consequences will be one of the great challenges of the next 50. At the end of her campaign to become America’s first female president in 2008, Hillary Clinton remarked that her 18m votes in the Democratic Party’s primaries represented 18m cracks in the glass ceiling. In the market for jobs rather than votes the ceiling is being cracked every day. Women now make up almost half of American workers (49.9% in October). They run some of the world’s best companies, such as PepsiCo, Archer Daniels Midland and W.L. Gore. They earn almost 60% of university degrees in America and Europe. Progress has not been uniform, of course. In Italy and Japan employment rates for men are more than 20 percentage points higher than those for women. Although Italy’s female employment rate has risen markedly in the past decade, it is still below 50%, and more than 20 percentage points below those of Denmark and Sweden. Women earn substantially less than men on average and are severely under-represented at the top of organisations. The change is dramatic nevertheless. A generation ago working women performed menial jobs and were routinely subjected to casual sexism—as “Mad Men”, a television drama about advertising executives in the early 1960s, demonstrates brilliantly. Today women make up the majority of professional workers in many countries (51% in the United States, for example) and casual sexism is for losers. Even holdouts such as the Mediterranean countries are changing rapidly. In Spain the proportion of young women in the labour force has now reached American levels. The glass is much nearer to being half full than half empty.


Russian scientists will soon meet in secret to work on a plan for saving Earth from a possible catastrophic collision with a giant asteroid in 26 years, the head of Russia's space agency said Wednesday. "We will soon hold a closed meeting of our collegium, the science-technical council to look at what can be done" to prevent the asteroid Apophis from slamming into the planet in 2036, Anatoly Perminov told Voice of Russia radio. "We are talking about people's lives," Perminov was quoted by news agencies as telling the radio station. "Better to spend a few hundred million dollars to create a system for preventing a collision than to wait until it happens and hundreds of thousands of people are killed," he said. The Apophis asteroid measures approximately 350 metres (1,150 feet) in diameter and RIA Novosti news agency said that if it were to hit Earth when it passes nearby in 2036 it would create a new desert the size of France. Perminov said a serious plan to prevent such a catastrophe would probably be an international project involving Russian, European, US and Chinese space experts. Interfax quoted him as saying that one option would be to build a new "space apparatus" designed solely for the purpose of diverting Apophis from a collision course with Earth safely. "There won't be any nuclear explosions," Perminov said. "Everything will be done according to the laws of physics. We will examine all of this." In a statement dated from October and posted on its website, the US space agency NASA said new calculations on the path of Apophis indicated "a significantly reduced likelihood of a hazardous encounter with Earth in 2036." "Updated computational techniques and newly available data indicate the probability of an Earth encounter on April 13, 2036, for Apophis has dropped from one-in-45,000 to about four-in-a-million," NASA said. RIA Novosti said the asteroid was expected to pass within 30,000 kilometres (18,600 miles) of Earth in 2029 -- closer than some geo-stationary satellites -- and could shift course to hit Earth seven years years after that.


Spain is due to take up the EU Presidency on January 1 and the Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has set four important goals for his country as the day draws nearer. The Spanish PM had reached Cyprus on December 25th as part of a holiday trip. He met Cyprus President Demetris Christofias in Nicosia and was able to draw an outline for the goals during the talks with Christofias. Addressing the reporters after the talks, Zapatero said, “These goals are the financial development and the EU financial future, external relations with the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Latin America, Russia and the inter-Atlantic relations, the broadening of EU citizens’ rights, focusing on equality between the two sexes and the quick implementation of the Lisbon Treaty”. Zapatero also said that he talked about the relations between the two countries and promised full support in the peace talks directed towards the unification of Cyprus. Cyprus had been divided into Greek and Turkish Cypriot areas in 1974 when the Turkish military had intervened as an answer to a coup by Greek army officers. Christofias has assured the Spanish PM that Cyprus is in favor of Turkey’s complete accession to the European Union, but for that to happen, Turkey should not shy away from fulfilling the obligations it has towards Cyprus and the European Union.


Serbia will never recognize the independence of Kosovo, and one of the biggest successes of the Serbian state policy in 2009, is that we have received clear assurances from all the major European factors that no one will force Serbia to earn membership in the EU through recognition of the independence of the southern province - Serbian President Boris Tadic stated last night. Stating that some EU states such as Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Romania and Slovakia are very adamant in their position that they will not recognize the independence of Kosovo at any cost, Tadic said that these days some countries announced that they will review their decision to recognize the secession of the Province after the ICJ in the Hague communicates its stance. Responding to citizens' questions in RTS program, the President stressed that the issue of Kosovo should not be an obstacle in the process of European integration of Serbia considering that those are two separate issues. Tadic also said that in the coming days, he will visit Kosovo in order to show that Serbia will not give up fighting for its southern province and its citizens who live there.


An Iranian cleric close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei says the country's opposition leaders are "enemies of God" who could be executed according to Islamic law. The statement by Ayatollah Abbas Vaez Tabasi came Tuesday as opposition groups reported the arrests of more activists following Sunday's anti-government protests that left eight people dead. At least 20 high-profile opposition figures or their associates have been detained since Sunday. Among them are the brother-in-law of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi and the sister of Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi. Dubai TV also says its reporter in Tehran has been missing since Sunday. Opposition Web sites reported new protests and clashes between students and security forces at a university in Tehran Tuesday, as state-run television announced a crackdown on students it accused of being "responsible for seditious acts." State TV broadcast images of pro-government rallies, two days after tens of thousands of people turned the Shi'ite Muslim religious ritual of Ashura into massive anti-government protests. Sunday's violence was the most serious in Iran since protests erupted after the disputed June election that gave President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a second term in office.


The alleged Christmas Day plot to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner further complicates President Obama’s decision to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center and send some of the 198 terrorism suspects held there back to their own countries. National security experts and members of Congress are calling on the White House to halt plans to repatriate more detainees after a branch of al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the alleged attack attempt. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said in an Internet post Monday that the effort to bring down Northwest Flight 253 was in retaliation for U.S. airstrikes against the group in Yemen. Roughly 90 of the detainees at Guantanamo are from Yemen, where al-Qaeda cells have launched attacks and destabilized the government. The incident Friday means “we have the clearest indication yet that the president’s continual release of Guantanamo Bay detainees presents an unacceptable risk to American lives,” said Kirk Lippold, commander of the USS Cole when it was attacked by al-Qaeda in Yemen in 2000. Yemen “is incapable of containing a growing terrorist insurgency.” The nearly 200 detainees held at Guantanamo Bay are “the most dangerous of the terrorists we brought there,” Lippold said. “They are high-level al-Qaeda or Taliban.” When Obama took office in January, he ordered that the prison be closed and that each detainee’s case be reviewed. On Dec. 15, the White House announced plans for the federal government to buy a prison in Thomson, Ill., to house detainees to be tried before military tribunals and those who officials determine cannot be prosecuted or released. The White House has not said whether more detainees are slated to be returned to Yemen. Others say closing Guantanamo could be in jeopardy.


Our friends and peers (others our age) can have a huge influence on our decisions. So often, many of our choices are based on what our friends or peers will think about us because we want to be accepted by them. We avoid doing things that might make us seem unusual or weird to them. Are we wearing the right clothes, listening to the right music, hanging out with the right people? The answers to these questions are heavily influenced by what our friends and peers will say and think of us. However, sometimes the cost of pleasing our friends comes at a very high price. You may have found yourself doing the following things to be accepted and not seem unusual: you may have stopped yourself from befriending someone who’s not cool, because your friends would think you’re weird. You may have starved yourself or are bulimic in order to have the right body image and to be accepted. You may have stopped hanging out with a life-long friend because your new group of friends doesn’t embrace them. You may do drugs or get drunk because it’s the only way to be part of you crew and get attention. You may have changed your personality and your interests and hobbies to fit in with the “in” crowd. You may have been silent about your faith in God because of being ridiculed. You may have laughed at someone because they have no fashion sense. These are just a few examples of the things you may have done so you could be accepted by your friends and not seem unusual or weird to them. The above actions may make our friends happy, but they hurt God. Why? Because God knows that when we do these things, we will not like the person we’ve become. God knows that we won’t feel good about what we’ve done, and we’ll begin to feel empty inside. God doesn’t want you to feel like this. To have the feelings God wants you to have, you need to do those things that you were created by God to do—love God and others. Only then will you truly feel good about yourself and your actions. You also have to be okay with potentially being considered weird or unusual by your “friends” and peers. Believe it or not, the message of Christmas can give us comfort and encouragement to deal with our friends and peers. Christmas is all about God doing something that was considered highly unusual, weird and offensive to many people—He became a human being. This was unusual because God, who created EVERYTHING, who is all powerful, and immortal, freely chose to become mortal, and to experience pain, suffering, love, and everything else humans experience. Jesus’ opponents could not and would not believe that God would do something so unusual and weird. It was not just God becoming a human that was unusual to people, but the things Jesus did while He was on earth, like hanging out with people who weren’t part of the “in” crowd, that caused his opponents to get upset with Him. Our God didn’t let what others thought of Him stop Him from doing what He needed to do, even though it meant that some of His own people would consider Jesus unusual and weird. We too, should not be influenced by our friends just because they might consider us unusual or weird. Don’t be afraid to befriend the person who is not popular; don’t hurt yourself to have a certain body image; return to the personality and interests you had before you changed it to fit in (as long as your personality and interests are pleasing to God☺). Apologize to the person you ridiculed. If someone asks you why you don’t sleep with your boyfriend or girlfriend, tell them that your Church wants you to have that special moment with the one who is willing to spend the rest of their life with you. You may be considered weird or unusual for doing these things, but you’ll feel good about yourself because you’re doing those things that God designed you to do. Keep in mind that when you do those things that are pleasing to God but unusual to your friends, either your friends will learn to accept your decisions or they will not. There’s a possibility that they may not want to be your friends anymore. If that’s the case, then that would be really sad, but, I assure you, there are people your age who will embrace your God-pleasing decisions. May the message of Christmas give you the strength and comfort to do those things that might seem unusual to your friends and peers but perfectly normal to God!

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Michael's List - GITMO, Genocide, 10 Best Cities, Cyprus, Pirates, Putin-Berlusconi, Orthodox Church in Europe



As hundreds of Al Qaeda militants in Yemen are said to be planning terror attacks against the West, a U.S. lawmaker has called on the Obama administration to halt immediately the release of Guantanamo detainees to the Middle Eastern country. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., wrote to President Obama Tuesday requesting that the administration not send any more Guantanamo detainees back to Yemen or any other unstable country. Wolf, who has penned four similar letters since Oct. 1, said he also would ask that threat assessments be made public for each detainee who is cleared for release. "I'm troubled by every [detainee] that I've read about," Wolf told FoxNews.com. "I personally would have sent none of them back to Yemen. These guys are some of the most dangerous; they've been involved in activities with direct threats to the United States.... "Don't send them back to Yemen, particularly based on what happened on Christmas," he said. "It's dangerous to the country." Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, Yemen's Foreign Minister, told the Times of London on Tuesday that Yemeni authorities are aware of Al Qaeda operatives in the country, including some leaders. "They may actually plan attacks like the one we have just had in Detroit," he told the paper. "There are maybe hundreds of them -- 200, 300." Just five days earlier, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the transfer of 12 Guantanamo detainees to Afghanistan, Yemen and the Somaliland region. The six detainees released to Yemen were identified as: Jamal Muhammad Alawi Mari, Farouq Ali Ahmed, Ayman Saeed Abdullah Batarfi, Muhammaed Yasir Ahmed Taher, Fayad Yahya Ahmed al Rami, and Riyad Atiq Ali Abdu al Haf. Kirk Lippold, former USS Cole commander and senior military fellow at Military Families United (MFU), said reports that the former detainees worked with Abdulmatallab is the "clearest indication" yet that continual release of Guantanamo Bay detainees is an unacceptable risk to Americans. "As a nation, we cannot rely on so-called 'reform camps' in places like Saudi Arabia to prevent terrorists from striking again," Lippold said in a statement. "The President promised the victims of terrorism and the American people a clear strategy for how he intended to fight terrorism and deal with detainees in [Guantanamo]. Almost a year into his term, neither objective is close to being achieved." Lippold called on administration officials not to release any additional detainees from Guantanamo. "The President’s strategy of increasing risk to American lives as part of some indescribable national security strategy to defeat Al Qaeda must be refocused," the statement continued. "The Administration’s position on [Guantanamo Bay] is the centerpiece of this perilous strategy."


Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić says that the genocide countersuit against Croatia has been prepared, but that he hopes the case would never proceed. Croatia sued Serbia for allegedly committing genocide in the 1990s to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague some ten years ago; now Belgrade says it is ready to countersuit with the same accusation related to the same period. “I can say that Serbia’s lawsuit is finished. The suit is written and it is very ample,” Jeremić said. He added that the countersuit is related to crimes committed in between 1991-1995, and that it contains a “large historical addition”, regarding the World War II. Jeremić noted, however, that “it would be better if the court process never happened.” “It is better to cooperation and look towards a united future than to face each other in court. I hope that there is still time for it not to come to this,” Jeremić said. The foreign minister added that it is "in Croatia’s best interest" to back down from its lawsuit against Serbia. If Croatia does not change its decision, Serbia “will have no choice” but to proceed with its suit as well, he explained. Jeremić also said that in 2010, the Serbian diplomacy would continue its fight for the preservation of Serbia's territorial integrity in Kosovo and Metohija.


1. Belgrade: “The long years of bad press that kept Serbia off the map have now passed,” says Lonely Planet. “Foreigners are now realizing what locals always knew – that Belgrade really rocks. With an exuberant population and its legacy as an intellectual hangout, Belgrade offers varied nightlife, ranging from eclectic watering holes for those in the know, to the busy restaurants and bars of the Skadarlija district and the summer clubs in barges on the Sava and Danube Rivers.” 2. Montreal: “Easygoing Montreal is increasingly popular with foreign travellers, who enjoy the joie de vivre of a place with bilingual ambience, good local beer and even skiing at nearby Mount Royal. Montreal’s irrepressible student population and atmosphere (Old Montreal) give the city a lighthearted, Bohemian air. There are Old World cafes, cool jazz clubs, packed discos and late bars to choose from, plus a popular comedy festival each July.” 3. Buenos Aires: “With its unique mix of European and South American cultures, and a native passion for dance, the Argentine capital provides fertile ground for lively nightlife. There’s an emphasis on fashion and a diverse range of entertainment offerings in Buenos Aires’ barrios. Relax at a swinging jazz club or dance all night by the waterfront; some clubs and cultural centres offer classes so you can learn to tango or salsa like a local. There’s everything from Irish pubs and local folk to house parties.” 4. Dubai: “For those who can afford it, the world capital of conspicuous consumption is unbeatable. Dubai’s extravagance is way over the top, with ultraluxury hotels on artificial islands, slick modern malls and tonnes of precious metals glittering in shops. Yet Dubai is also a cosmopolitan place, so if you’re not invited to party on board the private yacht of a celebrity, you can always mingle with people from around the world in the swank bars and clubs of the Middle East’s most decadent desert getaway.” 5. Thessaloniki: “Greece’s second city has style, with plenty of fashionable shops and salons. Thessaloniki boasts great nightlife during those long months when more famous Greek destinations are deep in hibernation, from arty cafes to Latin bars to discos pumping out house music to salacious bouzoukia (clubs featuring twangy, Eastern-flavoured Greek folk-pop). That’s plenty to keep you occupied after you’ve traversed the sublime Byzantine churches, museums and ruins. It’s not cheap, but no Greek city save Athens compares.” 6. La Paz: “Don’t forget that liquor goes to the head quickly in the Bolivian capital, well over 3,000 metres above sea level. Get hot and sweaty in one of many slick nightclubs, which cater to chic locals and the foreign contingent. The natives are friendly and, with a steady stream of travellers, it’s a town of many tongues. World-class bars, swank cafes and restaurants serenading with traditional music round out the offerings. Buy traditional Aymara herbs at the Witches’ Market (Mercado de Brujas) to ward off hangovers and bothersome spirits.” 7. Cape Town: “With the 2010 World Cup bringing a global audience to South Africa, the partying will only get harder as travellers converge on a city already well known for nightlife. Luxuriate on some of the world’s best beaches by day and kick back under the moonlight at suave cocktail bars by night. Two hours east, in the Indian Ocean, lies the elegant beach village of Mossel Bay, with more great beaches and chic flair. Visitors must try some of the wines crafted by South Africa’s world-renowned vintners, either at a Cape Town bar or at one of several wineries nearby.” 8. Baku: “Since the 1990s, when it started taking off as a hub for Caspian Sea oil and gas, (this city in Azerbaijan) has been transformed and this new- found economic stimulation hasn’t failed to influence urban nightlife. The cash injection from energy projects, enhanced by the presence of thousands of international oil workers and wealthy consultants, has turned Baku into an oasis of excess in an otherwise fairly traditional Muslim country.” 9. Auckland: “Myriad cafes, bars and dinner clubs cater to a hip young clientele in New Zealand’s biggest city. Try the glittering waterfront for smart bars, and hit the happening clubs (some stay open 24 hours). There are plenty of live shows on offer too, from folk in Devonport to louder sounds at Mount Eden. And you can always walk off the Sky Tower – the southern hemisphere’s tallest structure – a 328-metre cable-controlled drop in which jumpers reach a speed of 85 kilometres per hour.” 10. Tel Aviv: “Like elsewhere in the Mediterranean, Israel’s capital gets going late. The endless bars, pubs and cocktail venues start to fill up by midnight, from which point the nightclubs get revved up with dancing till dawn. Nowadays an international crowd joins Israelis for a mixed bag of funk, pop, house and techno at the city’s dozens of entertainment hot spots. Tel Aviv has a relaxed air, and prides itself on being gay-friendly and outgoing.”


Greek and Turkish leaders in Cyprus are to embark on a new round of "kitchen table diplomacy" in the New Year in an attempt to reach a breakthrough agreement before elections on the northern side of the island in April. But the opportunity to forge an agreement to heal the 35 year division of the island is in jeopardy if UN-sponsored talks fail to gain momentum within days, Mehmet Ali Talat, the [leader] of the Turkish enclave in the north, told the Daily Telegraph. Mr Talat and Cyprus President Dimitris Christofias, have met 55 times since September 2008 but have agreed to throw off the shackles of aides and note-takers in a last ditch effort to make peace. Both men are widely regarded as doves, who are determined to seal a deal. "The pace of the talks is too slow. We need a quicker round of talks in early 2010," Mr Talat said. "So we have agreed that we will hold three days of all day talks in our own homes in a relaxed atmosphere without the disturbance of minute takers and officials. That way we will have the opportunity to concentrate on the most difficult issues." Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when the Turkish army invaded. Cypriot voters will judge any agreement on the mechanism it proposes to enable displaced citizens to recover property lost in the invasion. Despite the slow progress, Greek Cypriots fear that reunification will become an impossible dream after the generation who lost their homes in 1974 dies out. "If we can't solve this problem, life will solve it."


A ship carrying phosphate fertilizer from the Port of Tampa has been hijacked by Somali pirates while on its way to India. Greece's Merchant Marine Ministry said the Navios Apollon was taken 240 nautical miles northeast of Seychelles on Monday. The crew was comprised of one Greek and 18 Filipinos. Tampa Port Authority spokesman Andy Fobes said the ship left the port on Nov. 20 and was loaded with phosphate fertilizer. The ship, which is managed in Greece and flagged in Panama, was taken just three hours after a British tanker was taken. International maritime experts say that with the latest hijackings, pirates now hold 12 vessels and 263 crew members.


Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has driven a limited model, metallic-gold Patriot with a Russian-Italian engine, made for Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, off the production line before delivery. Berlusconi wished to buy the model during a meeting in St. Petersburg in October. On Tuesday, Putin unveiled a plant in Russia's Far Eastern city of Vladivostok to assemble Korean cars. The Russian PM also took a tour of the plant's assembly room. "You promised Berlusconi a discount," Putin reminded Vadim Shvetsov, the auto holding's director. "Yes, we will honor a 10% discount," Shvetsov confirmed. Speaking to plant workers on Tuesday, Putin said Russia will continue reviving the domestic car industry, which was hard hit by the global financial and economic crisis. The project was launched a year after the federal government raised import duties on used cars, angering drivers and businesses in the Far East, who relied almost exclusively on imported Asian cars.


The Moscow Patriarchate hopes the Conference of the European Churches under its new head will pay more attention to Orthodox opinion. “I hope you will spare to effort to make Protestant majority take seriously Orthodox witness to the CEC, and make the Conference efficient instrument and platform for inter-Christian cooperation and dialogue,” head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk said in his message to Metropolitan Emmanuel of France recently promoted to the CEC President. The Moscow Patriarchate official considers “situation in modern inter-Christian movement, in particular in the CEC, critical” and believes “it is not so much a matter of financial crisis, which today has a global character, but the crisis of world outlook.” According to Archbishop Hilarion, the Russian Church is deeply concerned with “tendencies of liberalization of church practice and revision of moral teaching in some European Protestant communities.” “We can’t ignore the fact that liberal innovations are being treated as a norm while Orthodox believers are often blamed for their backwardness and intolerance,” the Archbishop further said in his message cited at the DECR official website.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Michael's List - Iran, Islamists, Bodysnatchers, Serbian Fox, Turkey, "Santa Claus", Miracle Icon in DC



Since hotly disputed presidential elections in June, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been the focus of the opposition’s contempt; Sunday was certainly no exception. Protesters chose Shiite Islam’s most significant religious holiday, Ashura, when Iranians traditionally take to the streets for festivities, to demonstrate against the government of Ahmadinejad. But Iran’s security forces, on full-alert since dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hoseyn Ali Montazeri died last week at the age of 87, were armed and ready for unrest. Iran's state-owned Press TV on Monday quoted a spokesperson of the supreme national security council as saying that eight people had been killed in Sunday's clashes between protesters and security forces in the capital of Tehran. It was also reported that the nephew of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi was among those killed in Sunday's clashes, which marked the worst violence since June's contested elections. According to witnesses and opposition websites, thousands of protesters ignored official warnings not to use the religious celebrations as a pretext for a political demonstration and began chanting “death to the dictator” in reference to President Ahmadinejad. One Israeli newspaper painted the protests as a political “earthquake” for the Iranian leadership. “To refer to what has been happening in Tehran over the last few days as ‘riots’ is to gravely underestimate… the unrest,” wrote Zvi Bar’el in Haaretz, the Israeli daily. “The latest events are best described as further symptoms of an ongoing earthquake.” “The country has seen major events since June,” Bar’el continued. “The death of Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the reformists' spiritual leader; the heckling of a speech by former president Mohammad Khatami; the violence of the Ashura holiday; the show trials; the revelations about torture and executions.” “These factors have been coming together to create the perfect backdrop for the street protests that have refused to abate for nearly half a year.” Dr. Evgeny Satanovskiy, President of Middle Eastern Studies, says the ongoing demonstrations may spell the end for the Iranian regime. “These increasingly violent protests,” Satanovskiy told RT, “indicate that the regime is not legitimate for a large number of people. “It might happen later, or it may happen sooner, but this regime will ultimately fall,” he concluded, while warning of a potential “Iranian-style Tiananmen Square”.


Islamist militants from the North Caucasus have claimed responsibility for the killing last month of a Russian Orthodox priest. A statement on a website linked to Chechen rebels, kavkazcenter.com, said Daniil Sysoyev had been killed by a man who had sworn loyalty to Doku Umarov. Umarov is the self-proclaimed leader of the "Caucasus Emirate" that has sought to unite militant Islamist groups in Russia's North Caucasus and establish Islamic Shari'a law in the region. There was no way to verify the claim of responsibility. Sysoyev, who had been an outspoken critic of Islam, was shot dead in his church in Moscow by an unknown assailant.


Cyprus police said on Monday that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation is assisting in the hunt for the body of former president Tassos Papadopoulos stolen by graverobbers.Police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos said an FBI agent attached to the US embassy in Athens visited the Mediterranean island last week on a fact-finding tour and went to the violated grave site. "We are waiting for the FBI to determine what kind of assistance we should be requesting," Katsounotos told reporters. He said the FBI official will file a report to his headquarters in Washington based on the evidence collected in Cyprus before deciding on the next step. Greece and Israel have also offered their assistance in the investigation into one of the most shocking crimes in Cypriot history after the island's authorities launched an appeal through international police organisation Interpol. Police have yet to establish a motive for the macabre December 11 tomb raid which they say was "deliberate and carefully planned" as it would have taken three or four people to remove the heavy 250-kilogramme (550-pound) stone grave slab. The grave-robbers used quicklime to cover their tracks but police have still managed to recover some traces of DNA from the crime scene. President Demetris Christofias has voiced concern over the lack of progress in the investigation and ordered police to intensify their efforts. Papadopoulos died of lung cancer in December last year at the age of 74.


Greek Antenna, better known as ANT1 TV, will become the new owner of Belgrade Fox television starting January, a Belgrade tabloid is reporting. ANT1 TV owner Minos Kyriakou bought Fox for one dollar and took on all potential debts of the company, Blic writes. The daily also states that the long negotiations ended several days ago for the sale of Fox, and that the deal will be announced in January. According to unofficial information, the station ownership changed hands as Fox boss Rupert Murdoch decided to sell all of his Southeast Europe outlets. With this move, Murdoch wants to pull all so-called land frequencies in the region and invest solely in cable-satellite systems such as Sky, which has 18 million subscribers in the UK, five million in Italy, and about eight million in Germany and Austria. Murdoch and Kyriakou are good friends and were able to reach an agreement quickly on the sale of Serbia’s Fox, say newspaper reports today.


Greek military authorities on Friday, Christmas Day, reported that up to eight Turkish warplanes violated Athens FIR regulations after entering the region south of the eastern Aegean island of Limnos. At least two instances of violations of Greek airspace were also cited in the northern and central Aegean. According to reports, Hellenic Air Force fighter planes were scrambled to identify and escort all of the intruding warplanes out of the Athens FIR. The latest instance of Turkish military violations in the eastern Aegean on Christmas Day, a religious and national holiday for predominately Eastern Orthodox Greece, contravenes the so-called Papoulias-Yilmaz memorandum, which calls for the avoidance of military exercises during the peak summer tourism season and on major national and religious holidays in either nation.


A Turkish archaeologist has called on his government to demand that Italy return the bones of St Nicholas to their original resting place. The 3rd Century saint - on whom Santa Claus was modelled - was buried in the modern-day town of Demre in Turkey. But in the Middle Ages his bones were taken by Italian sailors and re-interred in the port of Bari. The Turkish government said it was considering making a request to Rome for the return of the saint's remains. While Christmas is by and large not celebrated in Muslim Turkey, the Christmas figure of Santa Claus certainly is in the Mediterranean town of his birth. He was born in what was then the Greek city of Myra in the third century, and went on to become the local bishop, with a reputation for performing miracles and secretly giving gold to the needy - on one occasion being forced to climb down a chimney to leave his donation. After his death he was canonised as Saint Nicholas, and venerated in much of the Christian world. But when Myra was occupied by Arab forces in the 11th Century, Italian sailors came and took the saint's bones to the port of Bari, where they remain interred to this day. Prof Nevzat Cevik, head of archaeological research in Demre, says Saint Nicholas had made it clear during his life that he wanted to be buried in his home town. Even without the bones, the town of Demre has not been shy about cashing in on its most famous native son - today visitors to the Byzantine church there are greeted by a large, plastic Santa statue, complete with beard and red snow-suit. To read more about St. Nicholas, please click here.


On December 29 with the permission of His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion, Father Victor Potapov, Rector of St. John the Baptist, will bring the miraculous icon of the Sign of the Theotokos known as Kursk-Root and before which St. Seraphim was healed, to St. Nicholas. There willl be a Divine Liturgy concelebrated at 10:00 a.m. All are invited to the Liturgy and to venerate the ancient icon of the Mother of God. To read more about the Wonderworking Kursk Icon of Our Lady of the Sign, please click here.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Michael's List of Nativity Message's in English, Greek, Russian, French and Spanish*



†BARTHOLOMEW
By God’s Grace
Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch

To the Plenitude of the Church
Grace, peace and mercy from the Savior Christ Born in Bethlehem

Beloved concelebrants and blessed children in the Lord,

Heaven and earth have united Through the birth of Christ. Today, God has appeared on earth, And man has ascended to heaven. (Christmas Hymn) The distance and separation between God and humanity resulting from sin has been abolished with the assumption of the entire human nature by the Only-Begotten Son and Pre-eternal Word of God. It was God’s good will – that is to say, His initiative and will – that the incarnation of His Son should abolish all such distance uniting heaven and earth, as well as creation with its Creator. During the Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos, the Church chanted: “Today is the beginning of God’s good will and the proclamation of human salvation.” During that feast, through the dedication of the blessed Mary to the temple and her preparation there to become the bearer of the boundless God, the road was paved for the incarnate dispensation of God, which foretold our salvation. During the feast of the Annunciation, when the divine conception of the Inconceivable occurred through the Holy Spirit within the womb of the Theotokos and divine nature began to coexist with human nature in order that – as St. Athanasius the Great articulated it – “we might become deified,” the Church again chanted: “Today is the beginning of our salvation and the revelation of the pre-eternal mystery; the Son of God becomes the son of the Virgin.” Thus, the “divine good will” welcomed at the Entrance, as well as the salvation commenced and revealed at the Annunciation, are today rendered a tangible reality, as we celebrate the great and holy day of Christmas. Today, “the Word assumes flesh and dwells among us” (John 1.14), while the Angels celebrate the event, chanting: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among humankind.” (Luke 2.14) With the Incarnation of the Divine Word, the salvation of the human race has already potentially occurred. For those who believe in Jesus, live in accordance with this faith, fulfilling His commandments and practicing His teaching, are thereby elevated to become the friends and participants of God! They become “partakers of divine nature” (2 Peter 1.14), gods by grace! This takes place exclusively within the Church, where we are reborn in Christ and adopted by the Father through Holy Baptism and through the holy Sacraments, as well as by cultivation of virtue in order to be filled with divine grace and the Holy Spirit, growing “to maturity, to the measure o the full stature of Christ” (Eph. 4.13) until we reach the level of saying, like St. Paul: “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” (Gal. 2.20) Those who acquire such perfection are not regarded by Christ simply as His friends or brothers, but are recognized by Him as members of His Body. This is why, from the height of the Cross, he would say to His Most Holy Mother about the Evangelist John: “Woman, here is your son,” and to John: “Here is your mother.” (John 19.26-27) Christmas, therefore, opens wide the door of human “christification” and deification by grace; and for this reason, “the entire creation rejoices in celebration and the heavens delight with us” on this day of significance and salvation.” (Hymn of December 28) With these joyful and hopeful realities before us, from the sacred See of the Ecumenical Patriarchate at the Phanar, we extend to you our fervent festive congratulations and wholehearted Patriarch wishes on this central feast of the Christian calendar. We greet all of our beloved faithful throughout the world, the beloved children of the holy Mother Church – clergy of all levels, monastics and laity, pastors and parishioners, and especially those suffering, experiencing sorrow, need or trial. May the pre-eternal Son of God – who was born in a cave and lay in a manger – who for our sake became Son of Man, render all of us worthy of his self-emptying love and of His sacred, venerable incarnate dispensation.

At the Phanar, Christmas 2009

†Bartholomew of Constantinople
Fervent supplicant for all before God


+ Β Α Ρ Θ Ο Λ Ο Μ Α Ι Ο Σ

ΕΛΕΩ ΘΕΟΥ ΑΡΧΙΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΣ ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΥΠΟΛΕΩΣ, ΝΕΑΣ ΡΩΜΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΟΙΚΟΥΜΕΝΙΚΟΣ ΠΑΤΡΙΑΡΧΗΣ

ΠΑΝΤΙ ΤΩ ΠΛΗΡΩΜΑΤΙ ΤΗΣ ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑΣ

ΧΑΡΙΝ, ΕΛΕΟΣ ΚΑΙ ΕΙΡΗΝΗΝ ΠΑΡΑ ΤΟΥ ΕΝ ΒΗΘΛΕΕΜ ΓΕΝΝΗΘΕΝΤΟΣ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥ

Ἀδελφοί συλλειτουργοί καί τέκνα ἐν Κυρίῳ εὐλογημένα, «Ὁ οὐρανός καί ἡ γῆ σήμερον ἡνώθησαν, τεχθέντος τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Σήμερον Θεός ἐπί γῆς παραγέγονε, καί ἄνθρωπος εἰς οὐρανούς ἀναβέβηκε»! (Ἰδιόμελον Λιτῆς Χριστουγέννων). Ἡ ἀπόστασις καί πόλωσις ἀνάμεσα εἰς τόν Θεόν καί τόν ἄνθρωπον, τήν ὁποίαν εἶχεν ἐπιφέρει ἡ ἁμαρτία τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, κατηργήθη μέ τήν πρόσληψιν ἀκεραίας τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως ἀπό τόν Μονογενῆ Υἱόν καί Προαιώνιον Λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἡ κατά τήν «εὐδοκίαν» τοῦ Θεοῦ, κατά τό πρῶτον δηλαδή καί ὁλόθυμον θέλημά Του, Σάρκωσις τοῦ Υἱοῦ Του, καταργεῖ κάθε ἀπόστασιν, ἑνώνει τόν οὐρανόν μέ τήν γῆν καί συνάπτει τό δημιούργημα μέ τόν Δημιουργόν! «Σήμερον τῆς εὐδοκίας Θεοῦ τό προοίμιον καί τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων σωτηρίας ἡ προκήρυξις», ἔψαλεν ἡ Ἐκκλησία κατά τήν ἑορτήν τῶν Εἰσοδίων τῆς Θεοτόκου, ἡ ὁποία, διά τῆς ἀφιερώσεως τῆς μακαρίας Μαρίας εἰς τόν Ναόν καί τῆς ἐκεῖ προετοιμασίας της διά νά γίνῃ χωρίον τοῦ Ἀχωρήτου Θεοῦ, ἤνοιγε τόν δρόμον τῆς Ἐνσάρκου Οἰκονομίας τοῦ Θεοῦ καί προεκήρυττε τήν σωτηρίαν μας. «Σήμερον τῆς σωτηρίας ἡμῶν τό κεφάλαιον καί τοῦ ἀπ' αἰῶνος μυστηρίου ἡ φανέρωσις˙ ὁ Υἱός τοῦ Θεοῦ Υἱός τῆς Παρθένου γίνεται», ἔψαλε πάλιν ἡ Ἐκκλησία κατά τήν ἑορτήν τοῦ Εὐαγγελισμοῦ, τότε πού συνετελέσθη ἐκ Πνεύματος Ἁγίου ἡ ἄσπορος σύλληψις τοῦ Ἀσυλλήπτου εἰς τήν ἁγίαν κοιλίαν τῆς Θεοτόκου καί ἤρχισε νά «συνυφαίνεται», ἡ θεία μέ τή ἀνθρωπίνην φύσιν, καί ὁ Θεός ἄνθρωπος γέγονεν, «ἵνα ἡμεῖς θεοποιηθῶμεν», κατά τή ἔκφρασιν τοῦ Μ. Ἀθανασίου. Ἡ «εὐδοκία», λοιπόν, ἡ ὁποία ἐχαιρετίσθη κατά τά Εἰσόδια, καί ἡ σωτηρία, ἡ ὁποία «ἐκεφαλαιώθη» καί ἐφανερώθη κατά τόν Εὐαγγελισμόν, σήμερον, κατά τήν μεγάλην καί ἁγίαν ἡμέραν τῶν Χριστουγέννων, καθίσταται ἁπτή πραγματικότης! Σήμερον «ὁ Λόγος σάρξ ἐγένετο καί ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν» [1] καί οἱ Ἄγγελοι ἐπανηγύρισαν τό γεγονός ψάλλοντες: «Δόξα ἐν ὑψίστοις Θε ῷ καί ἐπί γῆς εἰρήνη, ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκία»! [2] Μέ τήν Σάρκωσιν, τήν Ἐνανθρώπησιν τοῦ Λόγου, ἤδη ἡ σωτηρία τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου γένους ἔχει δυνάμει συντελεσθῆ. Διότι, ἐκεῖνοι οἱ ὁποῖοι, ἀφοῦ πιστεύσουν εἰς τόν Ἰησοῦν, ζήσουν ζωήν σύμφωνον μέ τήν πίστιν αὐτήν, σύμφωνον μέ τάς ἐντολάς καί τήν ὅλην διδασκαλίαν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ὑψώνονται μέ τήν τοιαύτην θεάρεστον βιοτήν καί καθίστανται φίλοι καί κοινωνοί τοῦ Θεοῦ! Γίνονται «θείας κοινωνοί φύσεως», [3] θεοί κατά χάριν! Τοῦτο συντελεῖται ἀποκλειστικῶς μέσα εἰς τήν Ἐκκλησίαν, ὅπου ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἀναγεννᾶται ἐν Χριστῷ καί υἱοθετεῖται ὑπό τοῦ Πατρός διά τοῦ ἁγίου Βαπτίσματος, καί, ἐν συνεχείᾳ διά τῶν ἁγίων Μυστηρίων καί τῆς καλλιεργείας τῆς ἀρετῆς, πληροῦται θείας χάριτος καί Πνεύματος Ἁγίου καί αὐξάνει «εἰς ἄνδρα τέλειον, εἰς μέτρον ἡλικίας τοῦ πληρώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ», [4] μέχρις ὅτου φθάσει νά λέγῃ μετά τοῦ Ἀποστόλου Παύλου: «ζῶ δέ οὐκέτι ἐγώ, ζῇ δέ ἐν ἐμοί Χριστός». [5] Τούς οὕτω τελειομένους ὁ Χριστός δέν τούς θεωρεῖ ἁπλῶς φίλους Του ἤ ἀδελφούς Του, ἀλλά τούς ἀναγνωρίζει ὡς μέλη τοῦ Σώματός Του. Διά τοῦτο καί ἔλεγεν ἀπό τοῦ ὕψους τοῦ Σταυροῦ πρός τήν Παναγίαν Μητέρα Του περί τοῦ Εὐαγγελιστοῦ Ἰωάννου: «Γύναι, ἴδε ὁ υἱός σου» καί εἰς τόν Ἰωάννην «ἰδού ἡ Μήτηρ σου». [6] Τά Χριστούγεννα, λοιπόν, ἀνοίγουν διάπλατα τήν θύραν τῆς κατά χάριν χριστοποιήσεως καί θεοποιήσεως τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, καί ἕνεκα τούτου ἀκριβῶς «ἄγει ἑορτήν, ἐν χαρᾷ πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις, καί οἱ οὐρανοί σύν ἡμῖν ἀγαλλιῶνται» κατά τήν εὔσημον καί σωτήριον αὐτήν ἡμέραν! [7] Μέ αὐτά τά χαρμόσυνα καί ἐλπιδοφόρα δεδομένα εἰς χεῖρας, ἀπευθύνομεν, ἀπό τῆς ἐν Φαναρίῳ καθηγιασμένης καθέδρας τοῦ πανσέπτου Οἰκουμενικοῦ Πατριαρχείου, θερμά ἑόρτια συγχαρητήρια καί ἐγκαρδίους Πατριαρχικάς εὐχάς ἐπί τῇ «μητροπόλει τῶν ἑορτῶν» πρός ἅπαντα τά ἀνά τόν κόσμον προσφιλῆ καί ἐπιπόθητα τέκνα τῆς ἁγιωτάτης Μητρός Ἐκκλησίας, κληρικούς παντός βαθμοῦ, μονάζοντας καί λαϊκούς, ἄρχοντας καί ἀρχομένους, μικρούς καί μεγάλους, μάλιστα δέ πρός τούς ἐμπεριστάτους, τούς ἐν θλίψει, ἀνάγκῃ καί δοκιμασίᾳ εὑρισκομένους. Εἴθε, ὁ ἐν σπηλαίῳ γεννηθείς καί ἐν φάτνῃ ἀνακλιθείς προαιώνιος Υἱός τοῦ Θεοῦ καί χάριν ἡμῶν Υἱός τοῦ Ἀνθρώπου, να καταστήσῃ πάντας ἡμᾶς ἀξίους τῆς κενωτικῆς ἀγάπης καί τῆς ἁγίας καί προσκυνητικῆς ἐνσάρκου οἰκονομίας Του!

Φανάριον, Χριστούγεννα βθ΄

+ Ὁ Κωνσταντινουπόλεως
διάπυρος πρός Θεόν εὐχέτης πάντων ὑμῶν


To the Very Reverend and Reverend Clergy, Monastics, and Faithful of The Orthodox Church in America

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

We rejoice in the coming of the Savior, the Advent of the Son of God into this broken world. His Nativity anticipates and prefigures His Second and Glorious Coming again in the flesh, not clothed in the swaddling bands of humility, for but a few years; but in the radiant vesture of the Kingdom to reign forever. For us Orthodox Christians, the Nativity of Christ is the Winter Pascha, and our celebration is rooted in the liturgical life of the Church; the world's "Xmas" hymns go on and on, oblivious, rather intentionally, to the point of the celebration. While we enjoy the worldly celebration, the family time, the gifts and giving, these are empty if we miss the central celebration itself: the services of the Nativity, culminating in receiving the Holy Mysteries. We can have Christmas without the Nativity, as does the world; but for Christians the Feast of the Nativity is Christmas! We pray and fast to prepare ourselves for forty days before Christmas not only to be obedient to the Church, but to prepare ourselves to receive the Mystery of Communion. Will this Christmas be unto salvation, discerning and receiving His Body--that same Body born of Mary and laid in the Manger, the Son of God who has taken flesh and likened himself to us, so that He might liken us to Himself? Or do we judge ourselves, unaware or oblivious to the Mystery of Christ's assumption of our nature. We pray and fast to open our spiritual eyes, so that we can see Christ, discern Christ, know Christ--not just as a historical figure who taught nice things, but as God who has come and will come again. The traditional Christmas carols talk about Baby Jesus lying in the manger. Let us contemplate this mystery during this season, a mystery that at that time only His Mother really understood: that this little infant, no different than any other, would become the Savior of the world, and redeem mankind, indeed all of creation, from death. What infinite potential, the potential of a man fulfilling the Divine Likeness, and manifesting God in His flesh, was invested in that little child. Who would have thought that a child born in the most destitute poverty and anonymity would become the criterion of judgment for the whole world? We can also contemplate this same mystery in the life of every child. Who knows what the destiny of that child will be? Who can tell if he or she will become a point of hope for the whole world? That same infinite potential, the potential for deification, the potential for a life transfigured by God, the potential for a life that will bring joy and peace, or beget such a child? The Feast of the Nativity is not only the contemplation of God taking human flesh. It is also the great celebration of humanity, that God so loved as to become one of us, that through that One, joy and peace and salvation may be given to the whole world. Let us treasure the life of every child, who is the image of Christ born of the Virgin, and remember the great calling which he or she, and each of us, has in God. Let us also remember that the ultimate fulfillment of that calling is found in the transformation of our very flesh, in which God became incarnate, that having become man for our sake, He enables us to partake of His Divinity on that glorious day of His coming again in the flesh.

With love in the Newborn Lord,

+JONAH
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada


Архипастырям, пастырям, монашествующим и всем верным чадам Православной Церкви в Америке.

Дорогие братия и сестры во Христе,

Христос рождается! Славите Его!

Мы радуемся явлению Спасителя, пришествию в этот поврежденный мир Сына Божия. Его Рождество является предчувствием и предвосхищением Его Второго и славного Пришествия во плоти, когда Он придет не повитый в пелены смирения, но облаченный в сияющие царские одеяния, дабы господствовать вечно. Для нас православных христиан Рождество Христово - это Зимняя Пасха. Наше празднование коренится в литургической жизни Церкви. Люди поют светские Рождественские песни, не замечая, может быть и умышленно, самого праздника. Несмотря на то, что мы радостно справляем светскую часть праздника, проводим время с семьей, дарим и получаем подарки, это все может оказаться впустую, если мы упустим из внимания центральный момент праздника - рождественские службы, кульминацией который является приобщение Святым Христовым Тайнам. Может быть Рождество без Рождества Христова, как мы видим сегодня в мире, и только для христиан праздник Рождества Христова - это всегда полнота. Мы молимся и постимся в течении сорока дней перед Рождеством, не только из-за послушания Церкви, но и готовя себя к принятию Тела и Крови Господней. Будет ли Рождество ко спасению для нас, взыскующих и принимающих его Тело - то же Тело, которое было рождено Марией и положено в яслях, Тело Сына Божия, принявшего плоть и уподобившегося нам? Уподобит ли Он нас Себе? Или мы осудили сами себя, не зная или забывая Тайну Христа, принявшего нашу природу. Мы молимся и постимся, чтобы открылись наши духовные очи, так чтобы мы смогли увидеть Христа, познать Христа, не только как историческую личность, учившую благому, но, как Бога, Который пришел и явится еще раз в конце мира.Традиционные рождественские песнопения говорят нам о Младенце Иисусе, лежащем в яслях. Давайте созерцать эту тайну, которую в то время действительно понимала только Его Мать: что этот маленький ребенок, ничем не отличающийся от любого другого, станет Спасителем мира, и спасет человечество, по сути все создание, от смерти. Какая безграничная возможность, возможность человека осуществить Богоподобие, и являть Бога в Его плоти, была вложена в этого маленького ребенка. Кто бы мог подумать, что ребенок, родившийся в крайней бедности и безвестности станет мерилом суда надо всем миром? Мы также можем созерцать эту же тайну в жизнь каждого ребенка. Кто знает, какая судьба ожидает того или иного ребенка? Кто может сказать, станет ли он или она надеждой для всего мира? Та же бесконечная возможность, возможность обожения, возможность преображения жизни Богом, возможность для жизни, приносящей радость и мир, есть в рождении каждого ребенка? Праздник Рождества Христова это не только созерцание Бога принимающего человеческую плоть. Это великое торжество человечества: Бог так возлюбил нас, что стал одним из нас, тем самым дав радость, мир и спасение всему миру. Давайте хранить как сокровище жизнь каждого ребенка, который есть образ Христа, родившегося от Девы, и помнить о призвании Божием, которое мы все имеем. Давайте также помнить, что исполнением этого призыва должно стать преображение нашей плоти, в которой Бог воплотился, став человеком ради нас, которое Он даст нам вкусить в славный день Его Второго Пришествия в плоти.

С любовью в Новорожденном Господе,

+ИОНА
Архиепископ Вашингтонский
митрополит всея Америки и Канады.


Aux très révérends et, révérends clercs, moines et fidèles de l’Église Orthodoxe en Amérique

Chers frères et soeurs en Christ,

Le Christ est né! Rendez-Lui gloire!

Nous nous réjouissons de la venue du Sauveur, de l’avent du Fils de Dieu dans ce monde blessé. Sa Nativité anticipe et préfigure Son second et glorieux retour en Sa chair, non pas enveloppé dans les langes de l’humilité, et cela que pour quelques années seulement, mais revêtu de la rayonnante gloire du Royaume afin de régner pour toujours. Pour nous, chrétiens orthodoxes, la Nativité du Christ est la Pâque d’hiver, et sa célébration est enracinée dans la vie liturgique de l’Église. Les cantiques de Noël de notre monde résonnent sans cesse, inconscients, et cela, plutôt intentionnellement, du sens véritable de la fête. Si nous profitons des fêtes séculaires, du temps en famille, des étrennes et des cadeaux, ces choses demeureront vaines si nous négligeons le centre de la célébration Lui-même : les offices de la Nativité, avec le point culminant de la participation aux Saints Mystères. On peut avoir Noël sans la Nativité, mais pour les chrétiens, la fête de la Nativité c’est Noël. Nous prions et jeûnons pendant quarante jours avant Noël pour nous préparer, non seulement pour être obéissants à l’Église, mais pour nous préparer à recevoir le Mystère de la communion. Ce Noël sera-t-il pour notre salut, en discernant et en recevant Son Corps – ce même Corps, né de Marie et qui a été déposé dans la crèche, le Fils de Dieu incarné et qui est devenu semblable à nous afin que nous aussi devenions comme Lui? Ou bien nous jugeons-nous nous-mêmes, ignorants ou inconscient du Mystère de l’appropriation de notre nature par le Christ? Nous prions et nous jeûnons afin d’ouvrir nos yeux spirituels, pour pouvoir voir le Christ, pour discerner le Christ, pour connaître le Christ – non pas comme un être historique qui a enseigné de bonnes choses, mais plutôt comme Dieu qui est venu et qui reviendra. Les cantiques traditionnels de Noël parlent d’un bébé Jésus étendu dans la crèche. Contemplons ce mystère en cette période de l’année, ce mystère qui à cette époque, n’avait été compris que par Sa Mère : que ce petit enfant, si différent de tous les autres, deviendrait le Sauveur du monde, le Rédempteur de l’humanité, véritablement de toute la création, le libérateur de la mort. Quelle possibilité infinie, la possibilité pour l’homme d’assumer la divine ressemblance, et de manifester Dieu en la chair, a été investie en cet enfant né dans la misère, la pauvreté et l’anonymat et qui deviendrait le critère pour le jugement du monde entier. Nous pouvons aussi contempler ce mystère dans la vie de chaque enfant. Qui peut dire ce que sera le destin de chacun d’eux? Qui peut dire s’il deviendra le point d’espoir du monde entier? Ce même potentiel infini, le potentiel de déification, le potentiel d’une vie transfigurée par Dieu, le potentiel d’une vie qui apportera la joie et la paix ou bien le potentiel d’engendrer un tel enfant? La fête de la Nativité ne se limite pas à la contemplation de Dieu prenant chair. C’est aussi la grande célébration de l’humanité que Dieu a tant aimé le monde qu’Il soit devenu un de nous, afin que soit donné par celui-ci, la joie, la paix et le salut au monde entier. Conservons précieusement la vie de chaque enfant, qui est à l’image du Christ, né de la Vierge, et souvenons-nous du grand appel que chacun d’eux et chacun d’entre nous a en Dieu. N’oublions pas aussi que l’accomplissement ultime de cet appel se trouve dans la transformation de notre propre chair, en laquelle Dieu s’est incarné. Devenu homme pour notre salut, Il nous accorde de partager Sa divinité en ce jour glorieux de Sa seconde venue dans Sa chair.

Dans l’amour du Seigneur nouveau-né,

+JONAH
Archevêque de Washington
Métropolite de toute l’Amérique et du Canada


Estimados Hermanos y Hermanas en Cristo,

¡Cristo ha nacido! ¡Glorifíquenlo!

Nosotros gozamos en la venida del Señor, el Advenimiento del Hijo de Dios en este mundo decaído. Su Natividad anticipa y prefigura Su segunda y gloriosa venida en el cuerpo otra vez, no vestido con bandas de humildad, por unos cortos años; pero en la vestidura luminosa del reino para gobernar eternamente. Para nosotros los Cristianos Ortodoxos, la Natividad de Cristo es la Pascua de invierno, y nuestra celebración tiene raíz en la vida litúrgica de la Iglesia; los himnos navideños del mundo continúan, sin darse cuenta, aun un poco intencional, del punto de la celebración. Mientras disfrutamos la fiesta mundana, el tiempo con familia, los regalos y dando más, estos son vacíos si se nos escapa la celebración principal: los servicios de Natividad, culminando en recibiendo los Santos Dones. ¡Podemos celebrar Navidad sin la Natividad, como lo hace el mundo; pero para Cristianos la fiesta de Natividad es Navidad! Oramos y Ayunamos para prepararnos por cuarenta días antes de Navidad no solo para ser obediente a la Iglesia, pero a la vez para recibir el Misterio de la Comunión. ¿Será esta Navidad para nuestra salvación, discerniendo y recibiendo Su Cuerpo-ese mismo cuerpo nacido de Maria y acostado en el pesebre, el Hijo de Dios tomando cuerpo para parecer a nosotros, para que nosotros parezcamos a El? O nos juzgamos a nosotros mismos, sin tener idea o estando olvidadizo del Misterio de Cristo tomando nuestra naturaleza. Oramos y ayunamos para abrir nuestros ojos espirituales, para poder ver a Cristo, discernir a Cristo, conocer a Cristo-no solo como una figura histórica que nos enseño algo bueno, pero como Dios quien vino y vendrá de nuevo. Los cantos navideños tradicionales hablan del niño Jesús en el pesebre. Vamos a contemplar este misterio durante esta temporada, que solo Su Madre entendió en ese tiempo: que este infantillo, no diferente que cualquier otro, se volverá el Salvador del mundo, para redimir a la humanidad, en verdad a toda la creación, de la muerte. Que infinidad de posibilidad tan enorme, la posibilidad de un hombre cumpliendo la Semejanza Divina, y manifestando a Dios en Su cuerpo, esto fue invertido en este niñito. ¿Quien hubiese pensado que un niño nacido en la pobreza más destituida y anónimo se convertirá en el criterio para juzgar el mundo entero? Podemos también contemplar este mismo misterio en la vida de cada niño. ¿Quien conoce el destino que será ese niño? ¿Quien sabe si ese niño o niña será un punto de esperanza para el mundo entero? ¿Esa misma posibilidad eterna, la posibilidad de ser deificado, la posibilidad de tener una vida transformada por Dios, la posibilidad de tener una vida que traiga paz y alegría, o de tener a tal niño? La Fiesta de la Natividad no solo es la contemplación de Dios tomando cuerpo humano. También es la gran celebración de la humanidad, cual Dios amo tanto como para volverse uno de nosotros, que por medio de ese Uno alegría y paz y salvación sean dado al mundo entero. Vamos a valorar la vida de cada niño, como imagen de Cristo nacido de la Virgen, y recordar el gran llamado que el o ella, y cada uno de nosotros, tenemos en Dios. Recordémonos también que el cumplimiento máximo de este llamado se encuentra en la transformación de nuestro cuerpo, en el cual Dios se encarno, que al volverse hombre por nosotros, El nos permite participar de Su Divinidad en ese día glorioso de Su venida otra vez en el cuerpo.

Con todo amor en el recién nacido Dios

+JONÁS
Arzobispo de Washington
Metropolitano de toda América y Canadá


December 25, 2009
The Nativity of Christ

We have beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten Son of the Father . John 1:14

To the Most Reverend Hierarchs, the Reverend Priests and Deacons, the Monks and Nuns, the Presidents and Members of the Parish Councils of the Greek Orthodox Communities, the Distinguished Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Day, Afternoon, and Church Schools, the Philoptochos Sisterhoods, the Youth, the Hellenic Organizations, and the entire Greek Orthodox Family in America

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

On this holy feast of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, we gather in joyous celebration of the One who gives us rebirth and new life. We offer praise to God for His abundant grace and for His divine plan for our redemption and salvation. We do this in a manner that is filled with beauty, honor and glory, as this is what is due to the commemoration of a uniquely miraculous and wonderful event by which God became man and dwelt among us. Through our celebration of the Nativity of Christ, our souls and minds are directed to contemplate the glory of His Incarnation. We hear and sing of this in the hymns of the feast. We read the passages from the Holy Scriptures that tell of the angels giving glory to God in the highest and of the shepherds returning to their flocks glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen (Luke 2:14, 20). This glory of the Incarnation revealed in the Nativity of Christ continued throughout His life and ministry as He took upon himself the challenges of our human condition. His life in communion with God and humanity was an exaltation of what human life was intended to be. Christ by word and deed showed that the chains of sin could be broken and the permanency of death overcome. Through faith in Him and the salvation offered, we could know and experience a blessed life of peace and joy forever. Further, the glory of the Incarnation was revealed through our Lord's message of grace and truth. This was not a message that was dependent on the glory and might of military victory. It was not associated with the earthly glory of political power. The glory of the Incarnation was revealed through His love for us and through the Gospel of truth. He proclaimed, " I have come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly " (John 10:10). In grace and truth He offered to us the love of God. Into a world that was marred by animosity, greed, and pride, He brought a beautiful and enduring witness of divine love; and into a world burdened by deceit and vain pursuits, He proclaimed the truth and nature of our creation, our being, and our relationship with God. Finally, the glory of the Incarnation is revealed in the transforming power of Jesus' presence. What was lost in the Fall of Adam and Eve is found in His Incarnation and its amazing consequences. Through His appearance among us, our Lord leads us out of the darkness of evil and into the uncreated light of eternal truth. As He dwells with us, He effects our transformation from sin to holiness . As the Good Shepherd, He guides us from despair to hope . As the Incarnate Word of God, He shows us the way to overcome our alienation so that we might live in full and eternal communion with Him. As our Master, He leads us out of the wilderness and into paradise.

Beloved Brothers and Sisters,

On the day of our Lord's birth, the glory of His Incarnation was revealed to all of those who were blessed to witness this unique and transcendent act of God's love. In our commemoration of this holy day, may we all bear witness to the glory of the Incarnation through the witness of what our Lord has done for us and by His loving and saving presence in our midst. May our thoughts and words express the glory and honor that belongs to the One who became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). And may our experience of the glory of His Incarnation lead us to tell everyone of what we have seen and heard so that all will come and worship Him.

With paternal love in Christ,

† DEMETRIOS
Archbishop of America


25 Δεκεμβρίου 2009
Χριστούγεννα

Ἐθεασάμεθα τήν δόξαν Αὐτοῦ, δόξαν ὡς Μονογενοῦς παρά Πατρός Ἰωάν. 1:14

Πρός τούς Σεβασμιωτάτους καί Θεοφιλεστάτους Ἀρχιερεῖς, τούς Εὐλαβεστάτους Ἱερεῖς καί Διακόνους, τούς Μοναχούς καί Μοναχές, τούς Προέδρους καί Μέλη τῶν Κοινοτικῶν Συμβουλίων, τά Ἡμερήσια καί Ἀπογευματινά Σχολεῖα, τίς Φιλοπτώχους Ἀδελφότητες, τήν Νεολαία, τίς Ἑλληνορθόδοξες Ὀργανώσεις καί ὁλόκληρο τό Χριστεπώνυμον πλήρωμα τῆς Ἱερᾶς Ἀρχιεπισκοπῆς Ἀμερικῆς.

Προσφιλεῖς Ἀδελφοί καί Ἀδελφές ἐν Χριστῷ,

Σ' αὐτή τήν ἁγία Ἑορτή τῆς Γεννήσεως τοῦ Κυρίου μας Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, συγκεντρωνόμεθα γιά νά γιορτάσουμε χαρμόσυνα τήν Ἐνανθρώπηση Ἐκείνου, ὁ Ὁποῖος μᾶς ἀναγεννᾶ καί μᾶς δίδει νέα ζωή. Δοξάζουμε τόν Θεό γιά τήν ἄφθονη χάρη καί τό θεϊκό σχέδιό Του μέ σκοπό τήν λύτρωση καί τή σωτηρία μας. Γιορτάζουμε μέ ἕνα τρόπο πλήρη ὀμορφιᾶς, τιμῆς καί δόξης ὅπως ἁρμόζει στόν ἑορτασμό ἑνός μοναδικά θαυμαστοῦ καί ὑπερόχου γεγονότος μέσῳ τοῦ ὁποίου ὁ Θεός ἔλαβε σάρκα καί ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν (Ἰωάν. 1:14). Μέ τόν ἑορτασμό τῆς Γεννήσεως τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἡ ψυχή καί ἡ διάνοιά μας ὁδηγοῦνται σέ θεώρηση τῆς δόξης τῆς Σαρκώσεώς Του. Ἀκοῦμε καί ψάλλουμε γιά τό γεγονός τῆς Σαρκώσεως στούς ὕμνους τῆς Ἑορτῆς. Διαβάζουμε τά κείμενα ἀπό τήν Ἁγία Γραφή, τά ὁποῖα μᾶς ὁμιλοῦν γιά τούς ἀγγέλους πού τραγουδοῦν τό δόξᾳ ἐν ὑψίστοις Θεῷ καί τούς βοσκούς οἱ ὁποῖοι ἐπιστρέφουν στά κοπάδια τους δοξάζοντες καί αἰνοῦντες τόν Θεόν ἐπί πᾶσιν οἷς ἤκουσαν καί εἶδον (Λουκ. 2:14, 20). Ἡ δόξα τοῦ γεγονότος τῆς Σαρκώσεως ἡ ὁποία ἀποκαλύφθηκε στή Γέννηση τοῦ Χριστοῦ συνεχίσθηκε καθ' ὅλη τή διάρκεια τοῦ ἐπιγείου βίου καί τῆς διακονίας Του καθώς ἐπωμίσθηκε τίς προκλήσεις τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης καταστάσεώς μας. Ἡ ζωή Του σέ κοινωνία μέ τόν Θεό καί τήν ἀνθρωπότητα ἀπετέλεσε ὕμνο γιά τόν πραγματικό προορισμό τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ζωῆς. Ὁ Χριστός διά λόγων καί πράξεων ἀπέδειξε ὅτι οἱ ἁλυσίδες τῆς ἁμαρτίας μποροῦσαν νά συντριβοῦν καί ὁ θάνατος νά ὑπερνικηθῇ. Μέσῳ τῆς πίστεως στόν Χριστό καί τῆς σωτηρίας πού Ἐκεῖνος προσφέρει μποροῦμε νά γνωρίζουμε καί νά βιώνουμε γιά πάντα μία εὐτυχισμένη ζωή εἰρήνης καί χαρᾶς. Ἐπίσης, ἡ δόξα τῆς Σαρκώσεως ἀποκαλύφθηκε μέ τό μήνυμα τοῦ Κυρίου μας περί χάριτος καί ἀληθείας. Αὐτό τό μήνυμα δέν ἐξηρτᾶτο ἀπό τή δόξα καί τήν ἰσχύ στρατιωτικῆς νίκης. Δέν συσχετίζετο μέ τή γήινη δόξα πολιτικῆς δυνάμεως. Ἡ δόξα τῆς Σαρκώσεως ἀποκαλύφθηκε μέσῳ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Χριστοῦ γιά μᾶς καί μέσῳ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου τῆς ἀληθείας. Διεκήρυξε: ἐγώ ἦλθον ἵνα ζωήν ἔχωσιν καί περισσόν ἔχωσιν (Ἰωάν. 10:10). Διά τῆς χάριτος καί τῆς ἀληθείας μᾶς προσέφερε τήν ἀγάπη τοῦ Θεοῦ. Μέσα σ' ἕναν κόσμο ὁ ὁποῖος εἶχε φθαρεῖ ἀπό ἐχθρότητα, πλεονεξία καί ἀλαζονεία, ἔφερε μία ὡραία καί διαρκῆ μαρτυρία θεϊκῆς ἀγάπης. Καί μέσα σ' ἕναν κόσμο ὁ ὁποῖος ἐμαστίζετο ἀπό ἀπάτη καί κενές ἐπιδιώξεις, Ἐκεῖνος διεκήρυξε τήν ἀλήθεια καί τή φύση τῆς δημιουργίας μας, τῆς ὑποστάσεώς μας καί τῆς σχέσεώς μας μέ τόν Θεό.Τέλος, ἡ δόξα τῆς Σαρκώσεως ἀποκαλύπτεται στή μεταμορφωτική δύναμη τῆς παρουσίας τοῦ Ἰησοῦ. Αὐτό πού χάθηκε στήν Πτώση τοῦ Ἀδάμ καί τῆς Εὔας ἀνακαλύπτεται στή Σάρκωσή Του καί τίς θαυμάσιες συνέπειές της. Διά τῆς παρουσίας Του ἀνάμεσά μας, ὁ Κύριός μας μᾶς κατευθύνει ἔξω ἀπό τό σκότος τοῦ κακοῦ καί μᾶς εἰσάγει μέσα στό ἄκτιστο φῶς τῆς αἰωνίου ἀληθείας. Καθώς κατοικεῖ ἀνάμεσά μας, προκαλεῖ τήν μεταμόρφωσή μας ἀπό τήν κατάσταση ἁμαρτίας στήν κατάσταση ἁγιότητος. Ὡς Καλός Ποιμένας, μᾶς ὁδηγεῖ ἀπό τήν ἀπελπισία στήν ἐλπίδα. Ὡς Σαρκωθείς Λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ, μᾶς ὑποδεικνύει τήν ὁδό γιά νά ὑπερνικήσουμε τήν ἀλλοτρίωσή μας ἔτσι ὥστε νά μπορέσουμε νά ζήσουμε τή ζωή μας σέ πλήρη καί αἰώνια κοινωνία μαζί Του. Ὡς Κύριός μας, μᾶς ὁδηγεῖ ἀπό τήν ἔρημο στόν παράδεισο.

Προσφιλεῖς Ἀδελφοί καί Ἀδελφές,

Τήν ἡμέρα τῆς Γεννήσεως τοῦ Κυρίου μας, ἡ δόξα τῆς Σαρκώσεώς Του ἀποκαλύφθηκε σέ ὅλους ἐκείνους οἱ ὁποῖοι εἶχαν τήν εὐλογία νά γίνουν μάρτυρες τῆς μοναδικῆς καί ὑπερβατικῆς πράξεως τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Θεοῦ. Στόν ἑορτασμό αὐτῆς τῆς ἁγίας ἡμέρας, ἄς προσφέρουμε ὅλοι μαρτυρία τῆς δόξης τῆς Σαρκώσεως μέσῳ τῆς διακηρύξεως τῶν ὅσων ἔχει κάνει ὁ Κύριός μας γιά μᾶς μέσῳ τῆς εὐσπλαγχνικῆς καί λυτρωτικῆς παρουσίας Του ἀνάμεσά μας. Εἴθε οἱ σκέψεις καί οἱ λόγοι μας νά ἐκφράσουν τήν δόξα καί τήν τιμή ἡ ὁποία ἁρμόζει σ' Ἐκεῖνον ὁ Ὁποῖος σάρξ ἐγένετο καί ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν (Ἰωάν. 1:14). Καί εἴθε ἡ ἐμπειρία μας τῆς δόξης τῆς Σαρκώσεώς Του νά μᾶς ὁδηγήσῃ στό νά μοιρασθοῦμε μέ ὅλους αὐτό τό ὁποῖο εἴδαμε καί ἀκούσαμε ἔτσι ὥστε ὅλοι νά ἔλθουν εἰς προσκύνησίν Του καί λατρείαν Του.

Μετά πατρικῆς ἐν Χριστῷ

Σαρκωθέντι ἀγάπης,

† ὁ Ἀρχιεπίσκοπος Ἀμερικῆς Δημήτριος

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Michael's List - 24 December



Each year, the crew gets to choose when to hold their official holiday feast, during which they gather to share special delicacies beyond the scope of their normal daily rations. Christmas comes twice to the astronauts aboard the International Space Station this year as the multi-nation crew celebrates the traditional Dec. 25 holiday as well as Russian Orthodox Christmas on Jan. 7. Current station commander Jeff Williams of NASA is leading a crew of five, including Russian cosmonauts Maxim Suraev and Oleg Kotov, Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi, and American spaceflyer Timothy "T.J." Creamer. Kotov, Noguchi and Creamer arrived just recently, docking at the station aboard the Russian Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft on Tuesday. "We're privileged this time of year to be in this unique place looking back at our planet," Williams said in a video beamed down from the orbiting outpost. "It's a time for us to be thinking about our family and friends... It's also a time to look forward to the future year, finishing the assembly of the International Space Station." Each year, the crew gets to choose when to hold their official holiday feast, during which they gather to share special delicacies beyond the scope of their normal daily rations. This year, the spaceflyers have all elected to take American Christmas and American New Year's as their official holidays, NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries said. Nonetheless, there will likely be some festivities on all the upcoming occasions, including the Russian Christmas. "They'll probably celebrate a little on both," NASA spokesman Josh Byerly said. Space feast: The special treats for Dec. 25 include smoked turkey, candied yams, green beans with mushrooms, and cornbread dressing. "There's the traditional food, and also I think that Soichi is bringing up some Japanese food, and of course they have the Russian food," Byerly said. That day will be a particularly light one, with minimal duties scheduled for the astronauts. They will have a chance to make phone calls and send e-mails back home, and of course, enjoy their meals. "They gather around the table and kind of break out all the food," Byerly told SPACE.com. "They probably barter with one another and trade different foods. It's a big feast." Since 2000, astronauts have lived continuously on the International Space Station and have celebrated the holidays each year.


Walking into the Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church the Sunday before Christmas, one might mistake the season for some other time of year. Poinsettias dot the entrance to the sanctuary but shrink against a backdrop of iconography, crosses and gilded holy books. Musical readings of the Divine Liturgy of St. John stand in place of holiday hymns. There's no Christmas tree — Father Dennis Vierling notes that's a German tradition. And his congregants haven't been stuffing themselves at holiday parties. At least they're not supposed to. Followers of the Greek Orthodox Church abstain from meat and dairy products for 40 days prior to Christmas, beginning on Nov. 15. It's part of the purification process, Vierling explains. It prepares the body and soul for the holy season, though they do make an exception for Thanksgiving. Thursday night, families lifted the fast and began celebrating not the gifts delivered to the Christ child, but his baptism. They will feast in their homes on foods traditional to their varied origins. For the Greek Orthodox, sundown on Dec. 24 marks the beginning of the 12 days of Christmas. They'll light candles and burn logs. The children will wander neighborhoods singing hymns — or in the case of the Winterville parish, western Christmas carols. “We have a hybrid of American and Greek customs,” Vierling said. “We're very practical people.” The giving of gifts is attributed more to St. Basil than St. Nicolas in Greek Orthodox teachings. Basil was known for his kind, philanthropic nature. In keeping with the saint's habits today, families will hide coins in a slice of Christmas bread. The first piece is given to a beggar or visitor, and the fortunate person to find the money is doubly blessed in the new year.


Israel on Thursday allowed several hundred Palestinian Christians to leave the isolated Hamas-run Gaza Strip to celebrate Christmas in the occupied West Bank town of Bethlehem. The military said it issued 300 24-hour permits to Gazan Christians over the age of 35 so they could travel to Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity for the midnight mass at the traditional site of Jesus's birth. Many this year decided to remain in the isolated territory because they could not get permits for younger family members, and some were not allowed out despite being over the required age. "I did not get a permit even though I am over 35," Hana Mikhael, 38, said. "And many of my friends decided not to travel because even though they got permits their wives did not, or vice-versa." Israel and Egypt have severely restricted travel to and from the Gaza Strip since the Islamist Hamas movement seized power there in June 2007. Around 2,500 Christians live in Gaza alongside 1.5 million Muslims. Most are Greek Orthodox, with smaller minorities of Catholics and Protestants.


It is Christmas 2009, and instead of peace on earth and good will towards all, Muslims are busily blowing up churches and Christians all over the Islamic world. This is an awful reality but it is neither recent nor unexpected. Perhaps what is even more awful is the world’s silence and seeming passivity. We in the West who believe in religious tolerance have not stopped the persecution of Christians in Muslim countries. In the name of political correctness, we have also “tolerated” the often aggressive demands for mosques, public prayer, minarets, and loudspeakers on our own soil even though there is absolutely no reciprocity towards Christianity (or any other non-Muslim religion) in most Arab and Muslim countries. For example, this year, in a church in Bellinzona (Ticino), in Switzerland, a Nativity scene displays Jesus surrounded by minarets! “The unusual scene is supposed to make people reflect about brotherhood and human rights, after 57% of the Swiss (and 68% in Ticino) recently voted against minarets on mosques. On the crib are verses from the Bible and the Koran on the topic of water.” First they came for the Jews … and indeed, most Jews, all 800,000, fled the Arab and Muslim world in the 1940s and 1950s. No one stopped this “silent exodus” or really cared that it had happened. Individual Muslims and the Muslim governments happily, greedily, confiscated Jewish homes, factories, and farms; those Jews who were not slaughtered were allowed to leave with ten dollars in their pocket. Unlike the Palestinian refugees, the Jews and Israel took care of their own. Two days ago, in Mosul, Iraq, the Syrian Orthodox Church of St. Thomas, founded in 770 AD, was bombed — killing two civilians and wounding five others. This was the “sixth attack on Christians there in less than a month.” The Syrian Orthodox Parish of the Immaculate Virgin was attacked a week ago. An infant girl was killed and forty people were wounded. Father Faez Wadiha, of this church, says, with irony: “This is certainly a Christmas present for Mosul, a message of congratulations why we are celebrating a feast of love and peace. But we will pray in the streets, in homes, in shops. God is everywhere, not just in churches.” The Syrian Catholic Church of the Annunciation , the (Chaldean) Church of St Ephrem, and the St. Theresa Church were all bombed in Mosul in the last month. Egypt: A substantial Christian population has always lived in Egypt. They have increasingly been bombed, tortured and murdered. For example, the Monastery of Abu Fana in Upper Egypt has existed since the 5th century — which clearly predates Islam by two centuries. Last year, Bedouin Muslims attacked the monastery, “destroying a small church and burning the monastery’s farm. Nine monks and monastery employees were wounded and four others were abducted.” Pakistan: For a long time now, Christians have been persecuted in Pakistan. Their female children have been kidnapped, forced to convert and forcibly married to Muslims; both priests and believers have been attacked, and often murdered. Earlier this month, in Sargodha, Pakistan (in or near the Punjab), a mob of Muslim villagers, armed with clubs, spades, and axes attacked a showing of a film on Jesus, injuring three part-time evangelists very seriously as well as four Christians in attendance. The mob destroyed their appliances and absconded with funds. The mob also turned on Christian villagers who tried to intervene. Turkey: Last month, Turkish authorities uncovered a detailed plot by Turkish naval officers to commit violence against their country’s non-Muslims in an effort to unseat Turkey’s Islamist government. “Entitled the ‘Operation Cage Action Plan,’ the plot outlines a plethora of planned threat campaigns, bomb attacks, kidnappings and assassinations targeting the nation’s tiny religious minority communities. The scheme ultimately called for bombings of homes and buildings owned by non-Muslims, setting fire to homes, vehicles and businesses of Christian and Jewish citizens, and murdering prominent leaders among the religious minorities.” Nine hundred and thirty nine Turkish non-Muslims were specifically marked as targets. And, on December 15, 2009, in Istanbul, in response to a Swiss vote banning the construction of new mosque minarets, a group of Muslims went into a church building in eastern Turkey and threatened to kill a priest unless he tore down its bell tower. Specifically, on December 4, 2009, three Muslims entered the Meryem Ana Church, a Syriac Orthodox church in Diyarbakir, and confronted the Rev. Yusuf Akbulut. They told him that unless the bell tower was destroyed in one week, they would kill him. … Akbulut has been the target of threats, harassment before.” Indonesia: In the rapidly Islamifying Indonesia, in Jakarta, “hundreds of Muslims celebrated the eve of the Islamic New Year last Thursday (Dec. 17) by attacking a Catholic church building under construction in Bekasi, West Java. A crowd of approximately 1,000 men, women and children from the Bebalan and Taruma Jaha areas of Bekasi walking in a New Year’s Eve procession stopped at the 60 percent-completed Santo Albertus Catholic Church building, where many ransacked and set fires to it, church leaders said. Damage was said to be extensive, but no one was injured.” Somalia: “Islamic extremists controlling part of the Somali capital of Mogadishu this month executed a young Christian whom they accused of trying to convert a 15-year-old Muslim to Christianity. Members of the Islamic extremist group al Shabaab had taken 23-year-old Mumin Abdikarim Yusuf into custody on Oct. 28 after the 15-year-old boy reported him to the militants. Yusuf’s body was found on Nov. 14 on an empty residential street in Mogadishu, with sources saying the convert from Islam was shot to death, probably some hours before dawn.” Holy Land: What about the Holy Land? What kind of Christmas may we expect there? The Jewish King David was born in Bethlehem, as was Jesus. Nevertheless, fewer and fewer Christians (and no Jews) live there year-round; pilgrims come to visit at this time of year but that’s about it. According to Benny Avni, writing in the New York Post, “fifty years ago, Christians made up 70 percent of Bethlehem’s population; today, about 15 percent…Practically the only place where the Christian population is growing is in Israel.” As to the Church of the Nativity, it was treated abominably by Palestinian terrorists who, in 2002, held priests hostage there and treated it as a combination garbage dump and toilet. Israeli forces had to rescue the priests and arrange a cease-fire and surrender. In the West Bank, churches, Christian cemeteries, and Christian-owned businesses have been attacked and defaced. Christians have been leaving in droves. According to Benny Avni, the current “West Bank Christian population (not counting Jerusalem)…is now less than 8 percent of the population.” Of course, Muslims persecuted, colonized, and genocidally exterminated other non-Muslim groups too. Let’s not forget the Hindus in India who were under genocidal attack for 700 years; the Zoroastrians and Baha’i who were under attack in Iran; and the Armenians who were genocidally exterminated by Turkish Muslims. Armenians are a Christian ethnic group whose members belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church. To this day, the Turks still refuse to admit their responsibility. As the world celebrates the birth of the Prince of Peace — originally a Jewish rabbi from Bethlehem–let’s be clear: In these times, Jesus would not be safe in the city where he was born, neither as a Jew nor as a Christian. I hope that all Christians who live in a Muslim country are allowed to celebrate this day safely, in tranquility and joy. Merry Christmas.


Christmas Day comes in all sizes. By sizes I mean our Christmas Days have come with good or bad, happy or sad, memories of all sizes. Beyond the pleasant, peaceful and meaningful day of giving and receiving gifts is remembering that God gave his son on that first Christmas Day. There is an advantage for some Christians who are of the Orthodox (or Eastern Church) as they can celebrate two Christmases a year if they choose. They can celebrate Dec. 25 according to the Gregorian calendar or Jan. 7 according to the Julian calendar. History tells us that on Christmas Day of the year 800, Charlemagne was crowned as the holy Roman emperor and a mere 266 years later, in the year 1066, William the Conqueror was crowned as king of England. St. Francis of Assisi is said to have assembled the first Nativity scene. In Austria in 1818, the first singing of “Silent Night” was performed. In 1868, President Andrew Johnson granted unconditional pardon to all Civil War Confederate soldiers. The state of Alabama was the first state to recognize Christmas as an official holiday, beginning in 1836. Christmas was declared a federal holiday on June 26, 1870. Texas colonizer Stephen F. Austin was freed on bail from a Mexico jail on Christmas Day, 1834. The Christmas of 1941 was not a pleasant one for the people of Hong Kong. That was the day Japanese forces took the colony in World War II. A history-making meeting on Christmas Day 1977 was that between Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and the president of Egypt, Anwar Sadat. The date also was Sadat’s birthday. Others born on Christmas Day include: Sir Isaac Newton, Clara Barton (founder of the American Red Cross), hotel magnate Conrad Hilton (whose Cactus Hotel in San Angelo was one of the first he built), musicians Cab Calloway and Tony Martin (Dean Martin died on Christmas Day), actors Humphrey Bogart and Sissy Spacek, scriptwriter Rod Serling (“The Twilight Zone” and “Requiem for a Heavyweight”), American footballers Ken Stabler (“the Snake,” Oakland Raiders and Houston Oilers) and Larry Csonka (Miami Dolphins running back in Super Bowls VI, VII, VIII). Nineteen short years ago, the first successful trial run of the system that has become known as the World Wide Web was on Christmas Day 1990. The Internet era began.


Death doesn't stop for Christmas. Neither does hunger, poverty or illness. Fortunately, there are loving people to brighten the worst of circumstances. Paul Rose, 5, was diagnosed with diabetes this week. But he smiled shyly Wednesday night, dressed in Buzz Lightyear pajamas, as he sat in a vacant multi-purpose room at Pitt County Memorial Hospital. Before him were four puppet stages reaching nearly to the ceiling. Elaborate Czech-designed marionettes danced through a show for Paul and another young patient for nearly an hour, under the skilled hands of two men from the Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church. The puppets acted out the story of wise men bringing gifts to the newborn Jesus. Other sick children occupied the ward but were unable to attend, based on treatment schedules or general fatigue. Lynne Rose, Paul's mother, welcomed the Wednesday night distraction and the underlying message. “Santa Claus is fun and all. But to present the real story of Christmas? That's impressive.” She and Paul's dad have spent the last several days waiting for lab results and learning what their son's new life would look like. “We're doing good,” Lynne Rose said. “We're learning how to count carbs, prick fingers and give insulin shots.” She said Paul had taken it all very bravely. He clutched a stuffed sheep under his chin — a gift from the puppeteers — and talked about the chaps and cleats he hoped to find under the tree. “Will I get them?” he asked his mother, brandishing a toothy grin. “You'll have to wait and see,” she said. But the best gift of all? The Roses expected Paul would be released Thursday morning to head back to their home in Goldsboro in plenty of time for Christmas morning.


It's always give, give, give with St. Nick. Sure, children leave him the occasional glass of milk and cookie. But what does anyone ever really give him for Christmas? Some children in Pennsylvania reversed roles with the saint earlier this month at St. John Chrysostom Orthodox Church in Springettsbury Township, a community of 24,000 people about 100 miles east of Philadelphia. They gave him presents. In the process, they learned something about the Feast of St. Nicholas -- a tradition many Christian churches observe around the world through celebrations, processions, church services and gift giving. That explains why St. Nick eschewed his more familiar red coat for gold robes and a bishop's hat. This was St. Nick. Not Santa Claus.In Springettsbury Township, the gifts children gave will eventually be donated to the needy families through Access-York and the Victim Assistance Center in York County, Pa. "I can see you've been teaching the children to love others by giving to the poor," St. Nicholas told the Rev. Peter Pier, the pastor of the church. Parishioner Ray Reitz portrayed the third-century bishop while more than 30 children handed over wrapped presents and told him about their good deeds over the past year. Some kids, though, were reluctant. "We're supposed to keep it to ourselves," 13-year-old Irene Snyder tells the York Daily Record. "It's not something we brag about." Each child received gold-covered chocolate coins. This echoes a legend about St. Nicholas. Three sisters in his village were supposedly bound for slavery or prostitution because their father couldn't afford dowries. Legend has it St. Nicholas threw three bags of gold through the family's window, providing the money so each could be married. The Rev. Pier tells the York Daily Record that people often forget that St. Nicholas was motivated by Jesus' command to love others. "The sad thing is St. Nicholas metamorphosed into the secular figure," he says. "The generosity is there still, but it has nothing to do with spirituality. Today's tradition is a good antidote to a society's materialism in that what you get is what you give." A member of St. John Chrysostom suggested celebrating the Feast of St. Nicholas as a way to give children a history lesson and remind them what Christmas is all about.