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Monday, February 28, 2011

Farrakhan prediction;Pirates;FYROM;Serbia-Kosovo,Putin visit;Iran,Olympics Logo;Orientale Lumen Conference


Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan predicted on Sunday that America faces imminent uprisings that mirror those in the Middle East. "What you are looking at in Tunisia, in Egypt … Libya, in Bahrain … what you see happening there … you'd better prepare because it will be coming to your door," Farrakhan said in a booming voice, thousands of followers cheering in response. Farrakhan called on President Barack Obama to allow protesters to march, urging the president not to attack innocent people when they do. The controversial minister spoke to a packed house at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont as part of the 81st annual celebration of Saviours' Day, which marks the birth of the faith's founder, W. Fard Muhammad. The keynote address, titled "God Will Send Saviours," capped a weekend of workshops focused on health, preparing for natural disasters and unidentified flying objects. The Nation of Islam believes in a UFO called "the wheel" or "the Mother Plane." Farrakhan has described a 1985 religious experience in which he ascended into a flying saucer and heard the voice of Elijah Muhammad predicting events that came to pass. Speaking for about four hours Sunday, Farrakhan jumped from topic to topic. He praised Scientology and its founder, L. Ron Hubbard. Farrakhan extolled the virtues of Scientology and its auditing process, which is considered spiritual counseling by its members. "L. Ron Hubbard is so exceedingly valuable to every Caucasian person on this Earth," Farrakhan said. "L. Ron Hubbard himself was and is trying to civilize white people and make them better human beings and take away from them their reactive minds. … Mr. Hubbard recognized that his people have to be civilized," Farrakhan said to a cheering crowd.


Somali pirates on Monday hijacked a Greek-owned ship carrying a crew including 19 Filipinos, three Romanians and a Russian in the Arabian Sea, the EU naval mission said. The bulk cargo carrier Dover was on its way to Saleef, Yemen, from Port Quasim, Pakistan, when it was attacked by the pirates around 260 nautical miles northeast of Salalah at 0600 GMT, the EU Navfor mission said. "Details of the attack are not known at this time," the anti-piracy armada said in a statement. "There is presently no communication with the vessel and no information regarding the condition of the crew," it said. The Dover was registered with the Maritime Security Centre Horn Of Africa, which monitors the movement of ships in the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia. Prior to this latest hijacking, pirates were holding 31 vessels and 688 hostages off the coast of Somalia, according to the latest Navfor figures released last Friday. Piracy has surged in recent years off Somalia, a lawless, war-torn country that sits alongside one of the world's most important shipping routes, with seafaring gangs venturing further and further out to sea to capture ships.


Macedonia has made it clear it is ready to a compromise with Greece with respect to the notorious dispute over the country's name. In a formal letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki has declared that Macedonia could agree to one of the proposals for renaming the country suggested by special UN envoy Matthew Nimetz – namely, "Republic of Macedonia (Skopje)." The Foreign Minister of FYROM, however, has underscored that the new name could be adopted only after a general referendum. "The official authorities in Athens are investing a lot of funds, efforts, and energy in diplomacy in order to present Macedonia to the world as a country that hinders the finding of a solution for this 20-year-old dispute," Milososki says in his letter to Ban Ki-moon, as cited by Kanal 5, not missing the opportunity to slam Greece. Milososki's letter to the UN chief was sent about two weeks ago, apparently shortly after Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski was in the USA for talks with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden, as he did not meet with US President Barack Obama. The notorious "name dispute" is based on Greek concerns with Macedonia's constitutional name ("Republic of Macedonia") because much of Northern Greece is called "Macedonia" as an administrative district. Therefore, recognizing the same name for its neighbor could legitimize potential territorial claims by Skopje. Because of the name dispute, Greece has so far vetoed Macedonia's accession to NATO, and blockaded the start of EU accession talks with Macedonia. Because of the Greek position the Republic of Macedonia was admitted to the UN under the made-up name of "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)."


The talks with Belgrade come at a bad moment for Kosovo, as it is going through a series of institutional crises, stated Krenar Gasi of the Pristina-based Kosovar Institute for Policy Research and Development (KIPRED) and added that another reason why the talks are ill-timed is the fact that the idea of the dialogue did not come from Kosovo but was rather a plan made by the European Union (EU) and Serbia. Radio Free Europe reported Gasi as saying that Kosovo is about to enter a process whose level and topics Kosovo officials have no knowledge of, and this is something that neither Kosovo, Serbia nor the EU are ready for. Gasi also said that Serbia is perhaps the readiest of the three because it knows that in the course of the dialogue, it aims to open the issue of Kosovo's independence and its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The radio notes that at the time when the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue is expected to start, the opposition in Kosovo is calling the legitimacy of new institutions into question.


Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will visit Belgrade in March, local media reported on 19 February, quoting unnamed sources close to the Serbian government. Putin’s last such visit was in 2001 when he was president. Putin is expected to hold talks with Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic and President Boris Tadic, focusing on economic issues, including starting new strategic projects in the energy. Serbia is planning to become the first European country to begin constructing an onshore section of the South Stream gas pipeline, designed to transport Russian gas to western Europe, by the end of 2012. The construction of the Serbian 450-kilometer section of the pipeline is estimated to cost at least €700 million. South Stream Serbia AG is a joint venture founded by Russia’s Gazprom and Serbian state-owned company Srbijagas. South Stream is the yet-to-be gas pipeline that will pump natural gas from Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiisk to Bulgaria’s Varna and further split into two directions to Italy and Austria (these routes have not been finalized yet). The pipeline’s annual designed capacity is 63 billion cubic meters. The project is estimated at €8.6 billion. To build the pipeline’s overland section, Russia signed intergovernmental agreements with Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Greece, Slovenia, Croatia and Austria.


Tehran has officially challenged the 2012 London Olympic Games logo as racist and Zionist. Head of Iran's Olympic Committee Bahram Afsharzadeh said the logo was designed by a freemason organization. "We had to protest the measure. We intend to write a letter to the Asian Olympic Council to urge them to follow up on the issue," he told ISNA. Tehran believes the geometrical figures illustrating "2012" in the logo conceal the word "Zion," a term Iranian officials use to describe Israel and its government, which they do not recognize. Some Muslim nations raised objections as soon as the logo was unveiled, but their objections were rejected by British Olympic Committee and International Olympic Committee officials. Afsharzadeh said some British individuals and organizations also protested the logo. "This is the first time that this has happened in the history of the Olympics. Zionists have exercised influence in Britain, and according to our information, the summer games logo has been designed by a Zionist organization linked to freemasons," he said.


His Eminence, Metropolitan Kallistos [Ware] of Diokleia will serve as moderator at the 15th annual Orientale Lumen Conference [in Washington, DC], June 20-23, 2011. The conference theme -- "Rome and the Communion of Churches: Bishop, Patriarch or Pope" -- will be discussed from the Catholic and Orthodox Christian perspectives by several noted speakers representing both traditions. Other Orthodox Christian speakers include His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah, Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, and Sister Dr. Vassa [Larin], lecturer at the University of Vienna, Austria, of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Of Russia. Panel discussions and questions will follow each presentation. For the first time, the conference proceedings will be broadcast live through an on-line video webcast. Viewers will be able to submit via e-mail questions to the moderator. During the conference, the Rev. Ron Roberson, CSP, who coordinates Catholic-Orthodox dialogues in North America for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, will offer a summary presentation of the latest document from the North American Dialogue, “Steps Toward a Reunited Church: A Sketch of an Orthodox-Catholic Vision for the Future.” Sponsored by Eastern Christian Publications and the Society of Saint John Chrysostom, the annual Orientale Lumen conferences provide a forum for Orthodox Christians and Roman and Eastern Rite Catholics to gather, discuss and learn about their respective traditions. Additional information, registration forms, and a schedule of fees are available by visiting Orientale Lumen Conference website.

His Beatitude, Metropolitan JONAH Addresses the Faithful of the Archdiocese of Washington #Orthodox #Christian #OCA

His Beatitude, Metropolitan JONAH Addresses the Faithful of the Archdiocese of Washington from Archdiocese of Washington on Vimeo.


Dearly Beloved in Christ,

I greet you with the feast of the Last Judgment as we prepare ourselves for the Great and Holy Lenten Fast.

It is with sadness today that I address you, not because of the content of what I have to say, but because of the manner in which it needs to be said. As many of you know, in line with the longstanding tradition in the church of an intensified prayer life during Lent, I as a diocesan bishop, requested from my brothers on the Holy Synod to set aside a period of time for myself during the Great Fast to spend in personal reflection and renewal. Due to the complexity of my work and travel schedule since my becoming Metropolitan, this will be the first extended period of rest that I have taken in quite some time. I am extremely grateful to my brothers for granting me this request, and for taking on the burden of added responsibility to their already busy schedules: Bishop Tikhon is now the locum tenens of the Diocese of the Midwest, and Bishop Nikon is now the locum tenens of the Diocese of the South.

I had intended, and still plan on doing so, to rest as much as possible during the Great Fast, spending time with loved ones and celebrating and attending the Divine Services at my Primatial Cathedral of St Nicholas in Washington.

However, due to inaccurate reporting on the Internet stating that I had been deposed, that I had resigned, that I am on a leave of absence, rumors that have spread worldwide and have caused great concern among many. I owe you the faithful of this diocese clarification of the facts.

I am still your Metropolitan. I am still your diocesan bishop. I am still the active primate of the Orthodox Church in America. The reports are not true. I am merely taking a retreat, a time for reflection.

I have requested a time of rest. In line with the Holy Canons, the Statute of the Orthodox Church in America, and the good order of the church, no major decisions will be made without my knowledge and consent. His Eminence, Archbishop Nathaniel will be assisting the officers of the church in day-to-day operations. His Grace, Bishop Melchisadek has been kind enough to offer his support in the role of interim Chancellor of the OCA. In line with the statute of the OCA, I am postponing the official spring meetings of the Holy Synod and the Metropolitan Council until the period of time after Pascha. The members of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America have been informed of this postponement.

As the Lord said in the midst of His disciples, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you… Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” I love you, I thank you for your continued support and prayers, and look forward to celebrating the Great and Holy Fast with you as we make the journey to the Pascha of Our Lord. Now, let us forget about what lies behind and push forward to lies ahead.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Greece:Illegals;Cyprus:Libya sanct's;Serbia-Kosovo;Russia-U.S. Docs,Afghan deal;Paleolithic Alaska;Orthodox Prison Ministry



Government officials on Thursday said that Greece cannot open its borders to thousands of economic migrants arriving from the Middle East or offer legal status indiscriminately to migrants living in the country. Speaking from Rome following talks with five of his European Union counterparts, Citizens’ Protection Minister Christos Papoutsis said they had agreed that Europe “will not tolerate an uncontrollable influx of illegal immigrants crossing its external borders and staying on its territory.” In a joint statement, the ministers from Greece, Italy, Malta, Cyprus, France and Spain noted that the EU’s borders were already under pressure from a large influx of would-be migrants from Tunisia, where pro-reform protesters brought down the government last month, and would come under further pressure from citizens of other Arab states currently in turmoil. The joint communique warned that such an influx could entail “serious consequences and potential risks to the EU’s internal security.” Greece also faced negative repercussions on its crucial tourism sector as migrants often enter Greece via the Aegean islands, Papoutsis said. Meanwhile in Athens, Interior Minister Yiannis Ragousis called on 237 undocumented immigrants who have entered the fourth week of a hunger strike to call off their protest, saying that the government could not grant them the legal status they demand. “We cannot do mass legalizations; it would be a major risk,” Ragousis said, noting that the hunger strikers might be given a six-month grace period. The minister said that boatloads of immigrants from Africa were expected to reach Greece soon. “If they go on hunger strike too, what do we do?” he said.


Cyprus Foreign Minister Marcos Kyprianou has said that any sanctions against Libya must be targeted so as not to harm the people of Libya. Speaking after a meeting he had on Friday with EU Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response Kristalina Georgieva, Kyprianou said there are some ideas about the sanctions that the EU may impose on Libya. He noted that any sanctions must be targeted so that the people will not be harmed. “The fact that we advice for caution does not mean that we are taking a position towards any direction,” he said. Kyprianou noted that “due to the particularity of the country we must be cautious, reflect on the situation and remain targeted.” He said that he expects that the EU will take its decision on the issue of sanctions in the next few days. Asked whether humanitarian aid will be sent to Libya, Kyprianou said that this is an issue addressed by the Commission, who will send humanitarian aid, as Commission Georgieva informed him. Kyprianou stressed that Cyprus always provides its help once it is asked to do so while he noted that almost all Cypriots that wanted to leave Libya have been evacuated. He added that approximately seven Cypriots are still in a region from where it is difficult to be evacuated. He also underlined the very close cooperation between the governments of Cyprus and Greece. He said that Cyprus is grateful to Greece for its help and tangible support and noted that he spoke on Thursday night with Greek FM Demetris Droutsas. Responding to another question, Kyprianou said that has been no request so far to Cyprus to investigate whether there are any assets of Mubarak’s family in Cyprus. As to his meeting with Georgieva, Kyprianou said that the EU Commissioner informed him about her priorities and policies and that they discussed ways to promote better coordination and improvement of the processes. He also noted that they discussed about issues that will emerge during Cyprus EU Presidency, noting that development policy and humanitarian aid will be among the EU Cyprus Presidency priorities. Kyprianou also said he discussed with the Commissioner efforts for the coordination at the European level to promote the issue of EU citizens repatriation, adding that there is an informal cooperation mechanism between various EU members in the region, at an intergovernmental level.


Serbia will try to overcome administrative obstacles to trade with Kosovo, regardless of its policy not to recognize the secession of its former province, state-run Tanjug newswire reported, citing Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic. Delegations from the two governments will meet in the coming months to discuss customs procedures and other “technical” issues unresolved since Kosovo declared independence three years ago, the newswire said.


Russia's lower house of parliament ratified an agreement Friday to allow the United States to ferry troops and supplies across Russian territory for military operations in Afghanistan. The Kremlin-controlled State Duma voted 347-95 in favor of the 2009 deal, which has already been implemented pending ratification. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the Duma that there have been 780 U.S. flights over Russia — carrying 115,000 U.S. troops and more than 19,000 metric tons of cargo to and from Afghanistan — since September 2009. Ryabkov said the air route has accounted for 16 percent of all U.S. military shipments to and from the country. He said the agreement has helped improve ties with the U.S. and NATO and protects Russia's interests in other areas. Russia has struck similar deals with Germany, France and Spain and has touted them as a key contribution to international efforts to stabilize Afghanistan. Communists, who opposed the ratification, denounced the agreement with the U.S. as a "unilateral concession."


The U.S. ambassador to Moscow on Friday formally returned to Russia 21 historical documents that were recovered by U.S. law enforcement after being smuggled from Russia to the United States. The documents, which were stolen from Russian national archives in Moscow and St. Petersburg between 1994 and 2002, include two decrees signed by Catherine the Great and a decree and an award signed by the last tsar, Nicholas II. Hosting the ceremony at his Spaso House residence in Moscow, Ambassador John Beyrle told Russian and U.S. officials that the return of the documents marked the end of a detective story on two continents. "Today we celebrate a success in the battle against the theft and smuggling of cultural and historical artifacts, and a success in our effort to build a closer and more productive relationship between Russia and the United States," the ambassador said. Russian Deputy Culture Minister Andrei Gagarin said it was right that the priceless documents should return home. He said the event was a result of improved ties between Russia and the United States fostered by Presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama. "This is evidence that the reset in Russian-U.S. relations is working," Gagarin said. Russian officials say 2,500 documents were stolen by Ze'ev Feinman, a Russian antiquarian who now has Israeli citizenship. Representatives of the Russian State Archive said at the ceremony that the bulk of the documents were stolen from the Russian State Historical Archive, and some from military archives. More than 500 papers have already been returned to Russia.


Discovery of the burial site of a cremated child in Alaska offers a unique look at one of the peoples who first populated the Americas. The child, which was between two and four years old when it died, lived in central Alaska about 11,500 years ago. At that time the land bridge between Russia and Alaska - the route that humans took to colonize the Americas - was either still open or had only recently been flooded. Called the Beringia Land Bridge, it was the crossroads between the Old and the New Worlds... The team of archeologists who investigated the site say the young child, whose sex could not be determined, died during the summer months. Why it died isn't clear from the bones. People, including women and other children, were living in a seasonal summer home. There they foraged for salmon and other fish, ptarmigan and other birds, ground squirrels and other small mammals. When the child died, it was placed in what was probably the hearth of the house, covered with wood that included poplar branches and cremated. Almost immediately afterwards the pit was filled in and the house was abandoned. The house is one of only a very few discovered from the first 2,000 years of North America's human occupation. All the rest are either in the lower 48 states or in Siberia. The only other known burial site from this time period is at Ushki Lake in Siberia. The find appears to answer a long-standing question about whether the people who lived in central Alaska during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene were part of one large cultural group or several different groups. Because the tools and remains found at Upper Sun River are similar to others in the region, the find supports the single culture theory.


The annual Convocation of the Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry [OCPM] will be held at the Sheraton Centre Downtown Toronto June 28 - July 2, 2011. This year's Convocation will bring together the many Orthodox clergy and laity from around the world who are participating in, or interested in initiating, prison ministry. The gathering will provide ample time for education, fellowship, encouragement, communal worship and the free exchange of ideas. OCPM is the official prison ministry of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America. For more information or to register, as well as for a wealth of ideas and models for initiating or expanding prison ministries, please visit Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Gaddafi,alQaida,NATO,Russia&missile def;U.S.anger,Kosovo media,Palestinians protest;Cyprus;Burdens of Daily Life



Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on Thursday alleged that al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden is behind the uprising in his country. Gaddafi made the comments in a phone call to Libyan state TV. "People were getting all their daily needs ... why did you have to get involved with the Bin Laden ideology," Gaddafi asked. The Libyan leader added that unrest the unrest in his country is "not 'people's power,'" but "international terrorism" in action. He reiterated the contention that protesters were using drugs. "People with any brains wouldn't take part in these protests," said Gaddafi, adding that demonstrators were kids who obtained "illegal" pills. Gaddafi repeatedly compared himself to England's Queen Elizabeth II, saying he was a merely symbolic leader. The Libyan leader said that he did not know when the violence in the country would end. He did, however, offer his condolences to the families of four Libyan security officers killed during the uprising, asking if bin Laden would compensate them.


NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says the Western military alliance will not intervene in the Libyan conflict. Fogh Rasmussen said Thursday the alliance has received no such requests and that in any case any intervention must be based on a United Nations mandate. He made the comments in Kiev where he was on an official visit meeting with Ukrainian officials. Fogh Rasmussen said the events in Libya do not threaten any NATO members, but the conflict could spark a mass refugee crisis. The popular uprising in Libya has been violently suppressed, leading some to believe the country could be moving toward civil war.


Russia should either join the European missile defense system or receive guarantees that this system will be no threat to its strategic interests. The statement came from Russia’s ambassador to NATO Dmimtry Rogozin, who has recently been appointed as the Kremlin’s special representative for missile defense talks with NATO member-states. The alliance insists on two separate but coordinated missile defense systems, arguing that it cannot share the responsibility for protecting its member-states with any third party. NATO’s Deputy Secretary General James Appathurai remarked that Russia too would hardly want to let anybody else defend its security. Commenting on the issue, Dmitry Rogozin said: If we really think, and military experts confirm, that Russia’s strategic nuclear potential may be at risk during the third or fourth deployment phase of the European missile defense, then we have two options. Either Russia should be inside this system and have real guarantees that it won’t be directed against Russia, or, if this system is fully controlled by NATO and Russia is not integrated into it, then it should have certain numerical, technical and geographic restrictions. In short, we should either be inside or be sure that this system will never be used against our national interests. The missile defense system proposed by NATO has an element of uncertainty also because some of its components are to be carried by ships sailing freely around Europe and thus posing a threat to Russia’s nuclear potential. A special group under Dmitry Rogozin will be created soon to coordinate missile defense talks with NATO. We are at the beginning of the road, but we already know what kind of missile defense we do not want, Mr. Rogozin told reporters.


The U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo has asked the top media regulatory body to sanction three media outlets for publishing what he said were private text messages exchanged during a vote to elect the country's president. Christopher Dell said on Wednesday that Albanian language newspapers Koha Ditore, Gazeta Express and KTV television "crossed the line in transmitting private communications." The outlets published photos of the exchanges between newly elected President Behgjet Pacolli and his associate. The three outlets said the messages show Dell encouraging Pacolli to run the third round of the vote in the assembly on Tuesday although he failed to secure the needed majority in the previous two rounds.


Thousands of Palestinians on Thursday rallied in the West Bank against the US veto of a UN Security Council resolution criticising Israeli settlement building. In Nablus, at least 5,000 people, many waving flags or holding banners, lashed out at President Barack Obama's administration for nixing the resolution, which criticised Jewish settlement activity. "The US veto puts Israel above international law," some chanted during the demonstration in the northern West Bank town. "We came here today to say no to the US veto, the veto of shame," said Mahmud Ishtayeh, a local official in the Fatah party of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. Another 1,500 people demonstrated in Ramallah against what was the first US veto since Obama took office. The resolution, drafted by the Palestinian leadership in an attempt to pressure Israel to halt settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, was supported by all 14 other members of the Security Council. The United States denied its veto should be interpreted as support for Israeli settlement construction, but said it did not believe the United Nations was the best place to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Palestinian officials have said they will launch a new bid for UN condemnation of Israeli settlement building, bringing a resolution before the General Assembly. Demonstrators in Nablus and Ramallah also called for unity between the Palestinian Authority, which controls the West Bank, and Hamas, the movement that rules the Gaza Strip. Hamas and Fatah, which dominates the Palestinian Authority, are longstanding rivals, but tensions between them boiled over in 2007, when the Islamist group ousted its Fatah opponent from Gaza. Successive reconciliation talks between the two sides have failed.


The Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) and the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce (KTTO) will sign tomorrow a bi-communal business partnerships grants scheme aimed at supporting bi-communal consortia that wish to form bi-communal business partnerships. According to an announcement issued here by CCCI, in the framework of the “ECONOMIC INTERDEPENDENCE” project, supported by UNDP-ACT and sponsored by USAID, subsidies amounting to 174,493 euros will be awarded to five successful consortia consisting of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot partners. The winning proposals will work across a range of business sectors ranging from the establishment of bi-communal radio stations and research centres to jointly producing traditional Cypriot lace and providing hearing conservation services. The bi-communal business partnerships grant programme is an activity of the Economic Interdependence project which aims to promote economic interdependence between the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot communities and contribute to the business and economic relations between the two communities.

VII. ORTHODOXWAYOFLIFE - Work and the Burdens of Daily Life

Our daily lives are of necessity filled with daily chores and work. This is our duty, to do them and to do them well. All our activities, including our work, even household chores, must be performed so that we are not distracted from thoughts about God. We cannot assume that because it is work, we do not have to think about God. God needs to be a part of every aspect of our lives. But, the reality is for most of us, when we are off to work, we are also away from thinking about God. This is wrong and dangerous. Saint Theophan reminds us, Life's everyday affairs, upon which the foundation of the home and society depend, are appointed by God, and carrying out them is not a desertion to the sphere of the ungodly, but a continuation of Godly affairs. We need to carry our both our household duties and our work in a way that we carry our the commandments given to us by God. Do everything as if you are doing God's work. This is the truest reality. All you do must be done for God. Saint Theophan says, Begin doing things with the knowledge that doing them in this way is a commandment, and do them as God's commandment is to be done. Once you have set yourself to this, there is nothing that will turn your thoughts away from God; on the contrary, everything will bring them closer to Him. All of us are servants of God. He has appointed each person a place and occupation, and He looks to see how each one of us carries it out. He is everywhere. He looks after you, too. Keep this in your thoughts and do each thing as if it were entrusted to you directly by God, no matter what it is. It is our obligation to God to carry out all our activities with attentiveness and enthusiasm. Saint Theophan says that if we perform Godly work in a carless manner it is cursed. Nor, do we want to carry worry into our work. Worry only disturbs our minds and keeps us from focusing properly on the task at hand. Saint Theophan says, Have enthusiasm for your work and, performing it with utmost care, expect success from God, dedicating the task to Him, no matter how small it is, and you will get rid of worry.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Tripoli streets deserted;KLA elected,Kosovo;Israeli gas,Greek price;Olympic flame,ISS?;NATO,Iran warships;MidEast churches



Witnesses in the Libyan capital Tripoli say many streets were deserted Wednesday, with residents afraid to leave their homes, a day after Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi urged his supporters to attack anti-government demonstrators. The witnesses told foreign news agencies that armed Gadhafi loyalists and mercenaries from other African nations were roaming the capital, threatening people who gather in groups and occasionally opening fire. In Gadhafi's first televised address since an uprising against his rule began last week, he vowed to stay in power and called on supporters to fight back against opposition protesters whom he described as "gangs" and "terrorists." He threatened death for anyone who takes up arms against Libya or engages in espionage. But, there were more signs that the Libyan leader has lost control of the eastern half of his country to protesters backed by defecting military units. Witnesses in the eastern cities of Benghazi and Tobruk say residents were in control of the streets Tuesday and celebrating their defeat of Gadhafi's forces. Benghazi residents also formed units to collect weapons and protect property. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said there are credible reports that about 1,000 people have been killed in Libya's week-long uprising. He also confirmed that the eastern half of Libya, known as Cyrenaica, was no longer under Gadhafi's control. U.S.-based rights group Human Rights Watch says at least 62 people have been killed in Tripoli since Sunday, in addition to 233 people killed in earlier violence, mostly in the country's east. Opposition groups say the death toll is much higher. In another setback to Gadhafi Tuesday, a close associate, Interior Minister Abdel Fattah Younis, announced his defection and support for the uprising. Numerous other Libyan officials, including the justice minister, diplomats and military officers, also have turned against the Libyan leader in recent days. Gadhafi took power in a coup in 1969.


Kosovo's parliament elected former rebel [KLA] leader Hashim Thaci to a second term as prime minister Tuesday and chose businessman Behgjet Pacolli as the country's new president. Hashim Thaci was voted in 65-1 to head a coalition government facing growing social tensions and a new round of talks with Serbia aimed at resolving a score of disputes. He also faces an investigation into allegations that members of the now-disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army once sold the organs of their civilian captives. Pacolli, a self-declared multimillionaire who owns a Swiss-based construction company, received 62 votes, with 4 against. Pacolli, the country's second president since Kosovo seceded from Serbia in 2008, was elected on the third attempt, after failing to secure at least 80 votes in the first two rounds of voting as required by law. Just 67 of 120 lawmakers were present as most of the opposition had walked out in protest over his nomination. Pacolli was suspected of bribing Russian officials in 1999 to win a deal to renovate the Kremlin, and also of smuggling hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash into Russia — but the allegations against him did not reach trial stage. Russia backs Serbia's claim to Kosovo, and Pacolli has often been demonized in the Kosovo press for his links to Russian businesses. The walkout also highlighted the political rivalries that have troubled Kosovo politics for decades — differences bottled up ahead of the 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia. Since then Kosovo's leadership has been tarnished by a series of corruption scandals, including an EU-led investigation into alleged embezzlement of public funds by Kosovo's Transport Minster, Fatmir Limaj. Limaj said he would not be part of the new cabinet after International officials requested that officials being investigated be left out of the new government. Thaci's party won the most votes in Kosovo's Dec. 12 election that was marred by electoral fraud and a series of voting irregularities before results were finally certified by election authorities. He was forced to form a coalition with minority parties to rule, including that of key ally, 59-year-old Pacolli. Kosovo's independence has been recognized by 75 countries, but Serbia has pledged to revert the secession. To read more about the Kosovo Liberation Army on wikipedia, click here.


Israeli natural gas discoveries can serve as an alternative source of gas for the EU in the future, Greek Deputy Minister for the Environment and Climate Change Ioannis Maniatis said Wednesday. Speaking at a renewable energy conference in Eilat, Maniatis said Greece was interested in serving as a gateway to the EU for gas from the eastern Mediterranean. Israeli gas is not likely to be exported before 2016 at the earliest. The two gas discoveries at Leviathan and Tamar have estimated reserves of nearly 25 trillion cubic feet. Maniatis is in Israel to prepare for next month's visit by Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou. Energy issues will be among the topics discussed during Papandreou's planned visit to Israel. Israel and Greece have already held initial discussions about energy cooperation in the past year. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Greece in August when the subject was first discussed. Greek Minister for Investments Harris Pamboukis said last month that Greece had begun exploratory talks with Israel about transporting natural gas from the Leviathan field to markets in Europe. However, it appears that the high cost of such a pipeline has led the partners of the Leviathan project -- Noble Energy, Delek Drilling, Avner Oil and Gas and Ratio Oil Exploration -- to focus on LNG. Delek has already had initial talks with Cyprus about the possibility of an LNG terminal for the export of gas from Leviathan and future discoveries off the coast of Cyprus. Greece currently imports 70% of its gas from Russia and the rest from Algeria and central Asia. In 2010 the country consumed 3.75 billion cubic meters of gas.


The price of gasoline and diesel in Greece is the second highest in Europe, according to the monthly price survey conducted by the Automobile and Touring Club of Greece (ELPA) this month. The average price per liter for both kinds of fuel remained stable in Greece compared with last month, at 1.593 euros for gasoline and at 1.391 euros for diesel. The highest gasoline price in Europe was recorded in the Netherlands this month, where the average rate was 1.657 euros per liter. The lowest in Europe is in Belarus, at 0.783 euros per liter and in the European Union it is in Luxembourg, at 1.253 euros per liter. The only country to have an average price for diesel above that of Greece’s is the Republic of Ireland, at 1.399 euros per liter. The cheapest rate is to be found in Belarus again, at 0.624 euros per liter, with Andorra at 1.032 euros per liter and Luxembourg at 1.148 euros per liter. However, drivers will not be able to fill their tanks on Wednesday in Greece, as fuel station owners have called a 24-hour strike.


The Olympic flame that will travel the world before reaching the Russian resort town of Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics may also a pay a brief visit to space, a top official said Wednesday. An Olympic visit to the International Space Station is an "interesting" idea that requires further study, news agencies quoted the deputy head of Russia's Federal Space Agency as saying. "It is not a bad idea," Vitaly Davydov said. "It is theoretically possible." The space official admitted that open flames were not allowed on board the international space lab, which is manned by US, Russian and various other astronauts. But he said that his agency was open to ideas from Russia officials if they do decide to send the torch and flame to space. Russia has been pulling out all the stops since winning the 2014 Games, a prestige event that the Black Sea resort town won against all the odds on the back of a personal lobbying effort from former president Vladimir Putin. The Games have been estimated to cost about 31 billion dollars. The Olympic torch rally traditionally spans the world before reaching the host city. Davydov said Wednesday tradition prevented Russia from taking the novel step of lighting the torch in space from sunbeams.


The NATO military alliance said Wednesday it was monitoring two Iranian warships that have entered the Mediterranean Sea, a presence that has unnerved Israel. "We follow events in the region and we follow these two Iranian warships with as much interest as we do any other warships in the region," said NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu. "We are monitoring events," she told reporters, refusing to elaborate. The U.S. State Department said earlier that Washington would be "watching carefully to see where these ships go and the implications of that." The Iranian ships sailed through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean on Tuesday at a time of upheaval in Europe's Arab neighbourhood. It was the first time Iranian vessels entered the canal since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. En route for Syria, it took them past Israeli territorial waters and Israel put its navy on high alert, saying it would respond immediately to any "provocation."


Churches in the Middle East must work together to overcome the problems facing the region in order that "peace can prevail," Archbishop Chrysostomos of Cyprus said in an address on 18 February at an extraordinary meeting in Cyprus of the Executive Committee of the Middle East Council of Churches. "We believe strongly that the time has come for all of us -- all the churches of the Middle East -- to join forces and work consciously towards a solution of the many serious problems that exist in our region, and above all so that peace can prevail in our countries and among our peoples, far from religious fanaticism and bigotry," the archbishop told the gathering. However, he noted, in order to be effective the MECC must overcome its own internal disagreements and he reiterated his proposal that the Church of Cyprus undertake the secretariat support of the council's offices. "As can be easily understood, in order for us, the Middle East Council of Churches, to be able to exercise our role and make an active and fruitful contribution to the desired objective of establishing a better and happier world in our region, without wars and bloodshed, we must focus with Christian love and in a spirit of good will and mutual understanding, on the task of examining the problems we are facing, in order to give answers and achieve solutions," he said. All four church groups -- including the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical churches -- were represented by their presidents and five additional representatives from each church. One of the objectives of the meeting was to prepare for the general assembly scheduled to take place in Cyprus in August... In his address, Chrysostomos also noted that the executive committee meeting was taking place during "critical times for the region." In particular, he noted "the regrettable phenomena of the rise of religious fanaticism and the serious violation of religious freedoms." He said that in the northern part of Turkish-occupied Cyprus, Turkish security officials are preventing priests from carrying out their religious duties.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

BabyName:Facebook;Gaddafi"martyr",Castro&NATO;Pirates kill 4;Syria gas;Hague:KLA case;Prayer:Controlling Thoughts



Johnny Cash sang about a Boy Named Sue, but a couple in Egypt have chosen to call their first born "Facebook". The baby girl was named after Facebook in tribute to the part it played in the Egyptian revolution where Mubarak was eventually toppled. Egyptians used the website to organise protests in Tahrir Square, which contributed to the eventual departure of president Hosni Mubarak. They also turned to the internet, especially Facebook and Twitter, to authentically air outrage and connect protestors. An army of bloggers also helped lobby for their rights.


Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said on Tuesday he does not hold a post he could resign from and said he would die a martyr in his home country. "Muammar Gaddafi has no post to resign from. He is not a president, he is the revolution leader and will die here as a martyr," the Libyan leader said in his televised address to the nation. Gaddafi, who has ruled Libya since 1969, is speaking from his residence in the country's capital, Tripoli. According to international organizations, up to 500 people have been killed by government forces since protests against Gaddafi's regime began on February 15. However, Gaddafi denied the use of force against Libyan protesters. "We haven't used force so far but we can do it under Libyan and international laws," he said urging all Libyans to join his supporters and defend stability in the country. "There is no war in Libya. Drugged youth gangs attack military barracks and police stations and steal weapons," he said. Gaddafi accused "certain forces" of instigating the riots and supplying protesters with money and weapons.


The United States will soon order NATO to invade protest-wracked Libya to take control of its rich oil fields, former Cuban leader Fidel Castro predicted in a column published on Tuesday in Cuban state-run media. "What is for me absolutely evident is that the government of the United States is not worried at all about peace in Libya and will not hesitate to give NATO the order to invade that rich country, maybe in a matter of hours or very few days," the 84-year-old Castro wrote. He did not fully explain why he felt a NATO invasion of the North African nation was imminent, but said oil had been the basis for much of the United States' power. Libya has been rocked for days by anti-government protests that witnesses and rights groups say have left hundreds dead at the hands of security forces. Castro withheld judgment on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi for the violence, saying it would take time to know what was true from the many media reports about Libya's uprising. He also said he did not think Gaddafi had left the country, as had been rumored in recent days, because he could not imagine him "eluding" responsibility for his reported actions. Castro and Gaddafi have been allies for years, sharing a history of revolution and animosity for the United States. Castro bashes the United States often in the columns he has written regularly since leaving power following intestinal surgery in 2006. Last summer, he predicted the World Cup would not be finished because the United States and Israel would lead the world into nuclear war over sanctions against Iran for its nuclear activities.


Pirates shot dead four American hostages on a yacht they had seized in the Arabian Sea, and a firefight left two pirates dead and 13 captured, the U.S. military said on Tuesday. The sequence of events was not immediately clear, but the U.S. military's Central Command said the dead hostages were only discovered after U.S. forces responded to gunfire and boarded the pirated yacht, known as the Quest. "As they responded to the gunfire, reaching and boarding the Quest, the forces discovered all four hostages had been shot by their captors," the U.S. military's Central Command said in a statement. "Despite immediate steps to provide life-saving care, all four hostages ultimately died of their wounds." The military, which said the incident took place at about 1 a.m. EST, had been monitoring the Quest since discovering it had been taken over by pirates for about three days. It said negotiations to secure the release of the Americans had been under way when the gunfire broke out. The U.S. Embassy in Nairobi on Saturday said a yacht with four Americans on board was hijacked in the Arabian Sea, and was heading toward Somalia. Two Somali pirates spoke with Reuters by telephone on Tuesday. "Our colleagues called us this morning, that they were being attacked by a U.S. warship," a pirate who identified himself as Mohamud told Reuters. "The U.S. warship shot in the head two of my comrades who were on the deck of the yacht by the time they alerted us," Mohamud said. "This is the time we ordered the other comrades inside yacht to react -- kill the four Americans because there was no other alternative -- then our line got cut." "The killing of those four Americans and our comrades is a fair game that has started. Everybody will react if his life is in danger. We should not agree to be killed and let the hostages be freed," a pirate called Hussein told Reuters from Hobyo, another Somali coastal pirate haven. Neither could say how many of their colleagues were killed. Pirate gangs preying on shipping lanes through the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean typically target large merchant ships, with oil tankers and the prize catch, but the snatching of foreigners can also yield high ransoms.


Syria wants its share of oil and gas discoveries in the Levant Basin in the Eastern Mediterranean. Following Israel, Cyprus, and Lebanon, Syria will publish tenders for four marine oil and gas exploration licenses, reports "Dow Jones Newswires". The report is based on comments by Syria's Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources. Syria will also grant eight onshore oil and gas exploration licenses during 2011. The marine tenders are scheduled to be closed within a month, after the original deadline was pushed back from September 15, 2010 to February 8, 2011. The onshore licenses cover 74,000 square kilometers in eastern and northern Syria. Like Cyprus, Syria's oil and gas exploration regime is based on production sharing contracts (PSCs) between the state and the licensee. The licenses are not based on royalties, as in Israel.


The Hague Tribunal will hold a status conference in the case against Ramus Haradinaj. One of the leaders of the ethnic Albanian KLA is undergoing a partial retrial, accused of committing war crimes in Kosovo, in 1998. The previous status conference was held October 26, 2010. The Hague Appeals Chamber overturned July 21 the verdict of not guilty that Haradinaj received in the previous trial, stating that the process was characterized by witness intimidation. The chamber decided to retry Haradinaj on six counts of his indictment. In April 2008, Haradinaj was found not guilty on all 37 counts of the indictment. The trial will be repeated for two more indictees as well, former KLA members Idriz Balaj, who was also released, and Ljah Brahimaj, who was sentenced to 6 years in prison. The three are accused of crimes against prisoners in a KLA camp in Jablanica, near the western Kosovo town of Dečani, between March and September 1998. The victims were Serbs, Romas, and ethnic Albanians.


One of the most common questions asked about prayer is about how to control distracting thoughts. When we get serious about our prayer life we assume that all we have to do is to make the time and commit to doing it. We quickly find that we have very active minds and there are forces that try to disrupt our prayer time. We desire to concentrate on God but we are continually brought back to concerns of this world through thoughts that continually interrupt our prayer. If you find this tendency disturbing, this is a good sign of your sincerity. Prayer is not a time for daydreaming, relaxation, or problem solving. It is a time to lift ourselves above our worldly minds, above the control of our brain and senses to God. Concern about our ability to focus and concentrate is essential for developing a meaningful prayer life. Saint Theophan tells us: Steadfastness and continuity of labor over oneself is an essential condition for success in the spiritual life. Lasting pacification of thoughts is a gift from God, but this gift is not given without intensifying one's personal labors. God is all loving but He will not give us something unless we put our full effort into it. Saint Macarius the Great says: It is necessary to force oneself even in prayer, if one does not have spiritual prayer... God seeing that a man is calling with effort and restraining himself (that is, his thoughts) against the will of the heart, grants him true prayer. True prayer is a prayer that is not distracted by any thoughts, where one is absorbed in prayer, where the mind stands before God. In this state it does not want to leave this place with God. The dangerous condition is where we voluntarily allow our thoughts to wander. Here is some advice from Saint Theophan when we are faced with involuntary thoughts during prayer. He says: When your thoughts stray involuntarily, you must immediately turn them back, reproaching yourself, regretting and grieving over your weakness. Saint Theophan also suggests that it is helpful to memorize your prayers. Even better is to go to a church and pray. But where we mostly pray, at home, we need a place where we will have minimal distraction, the comfort of icons, a cross, and candle lamp. Saint Theophan also suggests that we prepare ourselves for prayer. Make some preparations for prayer, trying to collect your thoughts ahead of time and direct them toward standing worthily toward God. Rouse within yourself the need for prayer at this particular time, because there may not be another time. Do not forget to renew the consciousness of your spiritual needs and for the most immediate real need of all––the settling of your thoughts in prayer with the desire of finding satisfaction for them, namely in God. When there is is this consciousness and the feeling for such needs in the heart, the heart itself will not allow your thoughts to wander off to something else, but will feel more keenly your complete helplessness; without God, you are completely lost... Go into it with a feeling of total misfortune and the consciousness that there no one who can deliver you from it except the One God.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Iran,Suez;Greece,Israel;Cyprus-Qatar&NATO;Kosovo lacks vast recognition;Medvedev meets Pope;Christian Education Online



Iranian state media say Tehran is sending two warships through the Suez Canal. Press TV on Thursday quoted an unnamed Iranian navy official as saying Egyptian authorities see "nothing wrong" with the vessels' passage. Earlier, Suez Canal officials said no Iranian naval ships would pass through the waterway Thursday. The official said the waterway's management had not received any requests by Iranian naval ships to transit the canal. Other officials said Thursday that plans for the two ships – a frigate and a supply ship - to pass through had been cancelled. Iran television contradicted that report but did not specify on Thursday when the voyage will take place. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Wednesday that Iran was about to send two warships through the Suez Canal for the first time in years and called it a "provocation." He told American Jewish organization leaders visiting Jerusalem that the Iranian ships were heading toward the Mediterranean and Syria. Israel views Iran as a threat because of its nuclear program, its support of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and calls by Iranian leaders for the demise of the Israeli state. Vessels intending to transit the Suez Canal must give the waterway's authority at least 24-hours notice before entering the canal.


Moving quickly to fill the diplomatic and economic vacuum created by the deterioration of relations between Turkey and Israel, a new regional partnership is being formed by Israel and Greece. With Cyprus as a catalyst for rapprochement and wide-ranging cooperation, the ultimate goal is a new multinational bloc that could include Bulgaria and Albania. The University of Piraeus’ Professor Aristotle Tziampiris described the new links between Athens and Jerusalem as an informal alliance that “has the potential to bring Israel closer to Europe and act as a source of regional stability.” Eventually, he told a recent academic gathering at Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv, Greece could help reduce tension that was spawned by Israel’s airborne operation last May against ships that set sail from Turkey to run the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. Nine Turkish passengers aboard the Comoros-flageed Mavi Marmara were killed in clashes with Israeli commandos. While it may seem surprising that Athens could play a constructive role in mollifying the Turks, Tziampiris said, it should be borne in mind that “Athens maintains good relations with Ankara. ... The elimination of all strained regional relations is ultimately in its (Greece) best interest..." Long-range Greek interest in Israel’s natural gas is a major, if not dominant, catalyst in the ongoing rapprochement. With the main impetus evidently coming from Cyprus, which would be one of the projected recipients, experts from all three countries have been preparing blueprints for these underwater conduits. They could link Israel’s Leviathian natural gas field to Crete as well as Cyprus. From the strategic standpoint, this could be a “game changer,” Tziampiris said. “It certainly would alter Israel’s position vis-a-vis Europe and lessen the continent’s energy dependence on Russia (especially significant now, since the Nabucco gas pipeline project appears problematic)... Routinely, the Greek and Israeli air forces and navies have conducted joint exercises in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. The United States evidently is favorably disposed to the positive turn in Greco-Israeli relations and has been nurturing it. This is a reflection of its having won strong congressional support... There is a significant historical precedent for the positive trend in Greco-Israeli relations. Greece’s initial entry to the Holy Land under the command of Alexander the Great had a major cultural impact on the Kingdom of Judea, which he conquered 2,300 years ago. It fostered a revision of religious concepts especially in the more affluent segment of Judean society and caused a sharp division between Hellenists and Chasidim. It also led to the incorporation of many Greek words into Hebrew, an effect still evident in modern Hebrew as spoken and written in contemporary Israel.


The government will proceed in a responsible manner with a proposed investment by Qatar in the capital Nicosia, Government Spokesman Stephanos Stephanou has said. Speaking after today’s Cabinet meeting, Stephanou said that the three-member committee overseeing the investment project has submitted a recommendation on the issue to the government. Replying to a question, Stephanou said that “we will proceed with responsibility, as we have done so far, to serve the interests and the prospects of the economy as well as the interests of the Republic of Cyprus.” Asked if there is a relation between today’s presentation of the proposal and the visit of Cyprus Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou to Qatar, Stephanou noted that Kyprianou’s visit has to do with the government’s policy to enhance its relations with several foreign countries, including Qatar. He pointed out that ties between Cyprus and Qatar have developed a lot lately, recalling the visit of the Emir and the Prime Minister of Qatar to Cyprus and the visit of President Christofias to Qatar. This is proof that relations between the two countries are developing rapidly, he said, adding that in that framework Kyprianou visited Qatar. Cyprus and Qatar signed in April 2010 two agreements and four memoranda of understanding, covering sectors such as air services and the creation of a joint venture for a project opposite Hilton Hotel in Nicosia, including a five-star hotel, a shopping mall, offices and apartments. The agreements and memoranda were signed at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia during official talks between delegations of Cyprus and Qatar, headed by President Christofias and the Emir of Qatar.


NATO officials agreed to enhance security consultations on all fronts with Qatar, the NATO secretary-general said. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen met with Qatari Crown Prince Tamim Bin-Hamad Bin Khalifah al-Thani and top military officials in Doha. Rasmussen said the NATO alliance considered Qatar a potential partner in the region as Western allies address a myriad of concerns in the Middle East. Apart of political upheavals in the Middle East, Western allies are concerned about Iran, looming violence in Iraq and the potential consequences of Hezbollah's growing political influence in Lebanon. "We are enhancing security policy consultations on all issues that might be of interest to partners," said Rasmussen in a statement. "We are also offering greater practical cooperation by fully opening our toolbox of cooperation projects to all our partners, including the gulf states." He added there was the "potential" to do more as energy security weighs on the minds of many allies in the region.


Three years ago, Kosovo's interim assembly adopted a declaration which defines Kosovo as “an independent and sovereign state formed on the basis of the Martti Ahtisaari Plan.” The independence was declared despite the fierce opposition of Serbia's top officials, and contrary to UN Resolution 1244 and provisions of the international law. Just one day after the proclamation of independence, eight countries recognized the unilateral decision- first Afghanistan, then the US, France, Albania, Turkey, the UK and Senegal. To this day, 75 countries recognized Kosovo's independence, 22 of which are EU member states. However, in the last two years the wave of approval has significantly lost its momentum. Kosovo was recognized by 53 countries in 2008, 11 in 2009, 8 in 2010, and 3 this year. A vast majority of the UN member states (117) have not recognized the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo, some of them holding the right of veto in the UN Security Council. The EU is still divided over the issue since Slovakia, Romania, Spain, Greece and Cyprus did not recognize Kosovo, and have no intention of doing that. The declaration of independence was passed on February 17, 2008, after having been approved in the interim assembly. The Serb MPs, head of UNMIK, and KFOR commander were not present. The declaration defines Kosovo as “an independent and sovereign state formed on the basis of the Martti Ahtisaari Plan”, a document which has never been considered in the UN Security Council, nor approved by the Republic of Serbia.


Russian President Dmitry Medvedev paid his first official visit to the Vatican on Thursday and met with Pope Benedict XVI. The sides were expected to discuss bilateral and religious ties, global affairs and cooperation within the framework of various international organizations. After the meeting, Medvedev introduced his spouse, Svetlana, and other members of Russian delegation to the pope. The aide to the Russian president, Sergei Prikhodko, said earlier on Thursday the president and the pope were expected to discuss a dialogue between the Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches. A Russian diplomatic source told RIA Novosti that a meeting between the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, and the Pope now appears "more realistic" than it did several years ago. He did not say, however, when or where such meeting would take place. Neither Pope Benedict nor his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, has visited post-communist Russia.


Weekly bulletin inserts - designed for bulk distribution with the Sunday bulletin and a welcomed resource for group or individual study - are available in downloadable PDF format at from the Orthodox Church in America's Department of Christian Education. Weekly topics include contemporary issues, lives of saints, film and book reviews, and commentaries on Scripture. The inserts also complement many of the curriculum resources available on the Department of Christian Education web site. Though formatted as bulletin inserts, each one-page edition also can be distributed as an e-mail attachment for wider distribution. New editions are available every Monday. The inserts for February 20 and 27 and March 6, which present themes appropriate for the pre-lenten and lenten seasons, are already available.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Turkey:Iran applauds,Greece urges;U.S.&Cyprus Gas;Nuclear Terrorism;UN&Kosovo;Map:MidEast protests;Wonder Blog



Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised Turkey for distancing itself from Israel and increasing its support for the Palestinians, Iranian state TV reported Tuesday. During a meeting with Turkish President Abdullah Gul in Tehran, Khamenei said political changes in Ankara – particularly its "separation from the Zionist regime" – have brought Turkey closer to the Muslim world. "This is a proper policy. The more Turkey approaches the Muslim world, the more it will be in its own and the Muslim world's favor,” Khamenei reportedly told Gul. The supreme leader, who did not address the recent protests against the regime in Tehran, added that "years of the US and the Zionist regime's hegemony in Egypt and the humiliation of people were the main reasons behind the mass protests in Cairo. Egyptians are a Muslim nation which has strong Islamic motivation.” Khamenei stressed the importance of maintaining and strengthening unity in the Muslim world and warned Muslims to not fall into the "trap of foreign powers aimed at causing discord. “If the Muslim world becomes acquainted with its high capacities and capabilities, conditions will drastically change and the Muslim world can play a role in international developments as an influential power,” he said... Earlier Tuesday, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said the US and Israel were behind the anti-government protests in the Islamic Republic. The parliament condemns the Zionist, American, anti-revolutionary and anti-national action of the misled seditionists," Larijani said during a parliament session.


Greece's Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas again asked Ankara to immediately begin withdrawing its occupation forces from the island and "contribute sincerely to finding a mutually acceptable solution to the Cyprus issue." He stressed that such a course of action would help Turkey further its ambitions of joining the European Union. The minister underlined that if Turkey sincerely desired a solution, it must accept that the root cause of the Cyprus problem was the invasion and military occupation of the island and withdraw its forces. Droutsas reported that his talks with Kyprianou had centred mainly on the efforts underway to solve the Cyprus problem... Droutsas said that Athens expected the UN to be objective and maintain its 'good offices mission'. Expressing confidence in the UN secretary-general, the Greek foreign minister emphasised that the Greek Cypriot side and Cyprus President Demetris Christofias, in particular, had shown a very constructive attitude and very good proposals made in a constructive spirit. "Unfortunately, we do not discern or find this same constructive spirit on the other side, the side of [Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu]," he added. "Solving the Cyprus problem is the greatest challenge faced by the Cyprus Republic but at the same time it is a priority for Greek foreign policy and a wager for full normalisation of Greek-Turkish relations," Droutsas stressed. He underlined Greece's support for the efforts of the Cyprus Republic and Christofias to end the Turkish occupation in the north of the island, in the framework of finding a mutually acceptable, fair, viable and functional solution... Commenting on the recent protests by Turkish Cypriots and the reactions in Ankara, the Greek minister said these were a sign of a non-viable situation in which the Turkish-Cypriots were suffering when they could be enjoying the economic and social benefits of EU membership.


U.S. company Noble Energy said Wednesday that seismic data indicate a strong chance of a sizable natural gas find off the southeastern coast of Cyprus and that it hopes to begin drilling late this year or in early 2012. "We don't have an exact number on the amount of resources available, but the structure that we can tell from seismic looks very favorable to be a sizable quantity," Terry Gerhart, Noble Energy vice president for international operations, said after talks with Cyprus president Dimitris Christofias. Gerhart said Noble Energy's confidence of a large gas find off Cyprus is boosted by its discovery of large natural gas fields in Israeli waters close to Block 12, an 800,000-acre (1,250-square-mile) area that Cyprus licensed the U.S. firm to explore in 2007. One of the recently discovered Israeli fields, dubbed Leviathan, contains more than 450 billion cubic meters (15.9 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas. "We're working very diligently to accelerate the process to get a well drilled and certainly, hopefully, start it fourth quarter 2011," said Gerhart, adding that procedural delays could push the start date back to the first quarter of 2012. He said Noble Energy would be interested in bidding for additional exploration rights inside Cyprus' 51,000-square-kilometer (17,000-square-mile) exploration zone that is carved into 13 blocks when the island proceeds with a second licensing round in the second half of this year. Noble Energy is jointly exploiting the Israeli gas fields with Israeli energy company Delek and Gerhart said Nobel would welcome working with Delek in the Cypriot fields, "if approved." Delek last month proposed a partnership with the Cypriot government to build a facility on the island for processing and exporting natural gas found in Israeli and Cypriot waters. Cyprus' energy service director, Solon Kassinis, said the island's gas plans aim to cover domestic demand and export excess supply. "Our primary target is to examine the possibility of covering the country's gas demand as well as exporting to third countries through the establishment of a pipeline from the hydrocarbon field in Block 12," Kassinis told The Associated Press in an e-mail Wednesday. "Natural gas supply from the Israeli deposits is also considered as an option." The potential for an offshore gas bonanza has complicated oil-dependent Cyprus' negotiations with other potential liquefied natural gas suppliers, including Royal Dutch Shell PLC.


Russian and U.S. generals will meet in Lisbon in June to discuss cooperation between the two countries in fighting nuclear terrorism, the head of the Russian Military Commanders Club said on Wednesday. The discussion will take place as part of a meeting of the Elba international military commanders club, Gen. Anatoly Kulikov said. The talks will continue the three-day discussion held in October last year in Istanbul, which involved five Russian and five U.S. generals, he said. The Russian Military Commanders Club, involving more than 2,000 members, was created in January 2005 with support of then-Russian President Vladimir Putin and security services heads.


The United Nations (UN) Security Council will discuss Wednesday the latest report by Secretary-General of the world organization Ban Ki-moon about the situation in Kosovo-Metohija. Ban said in the report, obtained by Tanjug, that UNMIK was ready to fully support the investigation into the allegations about human organ trafficking in Kosovo and also expressed his expectation that there would be visible progress towards an open dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina in the coming period. UNMIK remains willing to offer its full support for any possible further investigation, said the UN secretary-general. In his report, Ban expressed regret that the collapse of the ruling coalition in Pristina and the calling of early elections there had postponed the beginning of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue. The UN secretary-general expressed his hope that there would be visible progress in the dialogue process and that the developments in Pristina would contribute to political stability that would lead to a prompt initiation of negotiations. Ban estimated the overall situation in Kosovo as a relatively quiet one, but still potentially unstable, as organized crime remained a concern, especially in relation to drug trafficking and smuggling. Commenting on the situation in northern Kosovo, the UN secretary-general expressed regret that certain Pristina media misrepresented the activities of UNMIK, considering the body the main obstacle for Pristina to extend its authority and implement its strategy for the north in that region of Kosovo as well. Kosovo's authorities, he added, especially those in southern Kosovska Mitrovica, regularly challenged the authority of UNMIK. Ban pointed out in the report that the dispute over the new license plates might have a negative impact on the freedom of movement, as well as on the political and security situation. He stressed that the situation could stay that way until a lasting solution was achieved, adding that a solution might be reached in the upcoming Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.


Following the fall of the presidents of Egypt and Tunisia, unrest has been spreading throughout the region. Could a domino effect sweep more leaders from power? Egypt - President Hosni Mubarak announced he was stepping down on 11 February after 18 days of protests. Aged 82, he had been in power since 1981. Egypt had long been known as a centre of stability in a volatile region, but that masked problems which erupted in popular demonstrations against the 30-year rule of President Mubarak on 25 January. The main drivers of the unrest were poverty, rising prices, social exclusion, anger over corruption and personal enrichment among the political elite, and a demographic bulge of young people unable to find work. With President Mubarak gone, Egypt's Armed Forces Supreme Council will run the country for the next six months, or until elections are held. The Islamist and conservative Muslim Brotherhood would be expected to do well in any free and fair elections, but fears of a lurch towards Islamist rule is the main worry for Western powers and Israel. Other countries highlighted are: Saudi Arabia; Bahrain; Iran; Syria; Jordan; Libya; Tunisia; Algeria; Morocco.


"Life in the Fast Lane; Preparing for Great Lent" is the theme of the February 2011 installment of the OCA's young adult blog, "Wonder," now available at OCAWONDER. Articles include "Fasting from Guilt" by Luke Beecham; "A Facebook Lenten Journey" by Kate Behr; "'Chocolat' and the Great Fast'' by Harry William Reineke;" Fasting and Forgiveness" by the late Metropolitan Anthony [Bloom]; and "Nourishing our Bodies During Great Lent – How to Navigate the Campus Dining Hall" by Chris Masterjohn. "Wonder," a publication of the OCA's Department of Youth, Young Adult and Campus Ministry, provides thought-provoking articles geared toward young adults and college students and those who minister to them. Readers are invited to submit articles, creative writing and artwork, poetry, photos, and videos for future installments. Suggested topics are always welcome. Send all materials and comments to via EMAIL. To subscribe to "Wonder," log on to OCAWonder and click the "sign me up" link on the left of the page.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

MidEast,N.African protests;Turkish agenda:Cyprus;Corruption:Balkans,Kosovo:mafia state;U.S.,NATO;Christianity&Classical music



Shock waves from the ouster of presidents in Tunisia and Egypt continued to roll across North Africa and the Middle East on Monday, with peoples long subject to autocratic rule demanding to be heard. Despite many states cautiously welcoming the overthrow of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak, their own populations have been seized by the momentum and are demanding greater freedoms and reform. Following is a breakdown of events, both current and planned, in the Arabic-speaking world and in Iran. ALGERIA: Opposition leaders planned a second protest march in the capital despite a long-standing ban on demonstrations, and France called on Algiers to allow anti-government protests to take place freely and without violence. BAHRAIN: Bahraini police used tear gas to disperse dozens of protesters in the eastern village of Nuwaidrat, as security forces deployed in the tiny Gulf kingdom following Facebook calls for a February 14 "revolt." EGYPT: The new military regime called on workers to end a wave of strikes and civil disobedience that has threatened to paralyse the country in the wake of the fall of Hosni Mubarak's government. IRAN: Thousands of defiant Iranian opposition supporters in Tehran staged what they said was a rally supporting Arab revolts as riot police fired tear gas and paint balls to disperse them, witnesses and opposition websites said. IRAQ: Baghdad will on March 29 host its first annual Arab summit since the US-led of invasion of 2003, in the wake of popular uprisings that transformed the political landscape of the volatile but long autocratic region. JORDAN: Justice Minister Hussein Mujalli joins a sit-in held by trade unions and describes a Jordanian soldier serving a life sentence for killing Israeli schoolgirls in 1997 as a "hero," demanding his release. LIBYA: Facebook groups numbering several hundred members have called for demonstrations to mark a "day of rage" in Libya on February 17 modelled on similar protests in other Arab countries. MOROCCO: Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi was to meet the opposition to discuss parliamentary polls, with the impact of the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia weighing heavily on the talks. PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas reappointed Salam Fayyad as premier and tasked him with forming a new government after his cabinet resigned. SYRIA: Woman blogger Tal al-Mallouhi, 19, gets five years in prison after being found guilty by a security court of "divulging information to a foreign country." Her blog focuses on the Palestinians, not Syrian politics. TUNISIA: The country marked a month since the overthrow of president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. YEMEN: Pro-democracy protesters clashed violently with police and supporters of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, with clashes also reported in Taez south of the capital, where thousands of people joined anti-Saleh demonstrations.


An Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus become yet another piece in a possible domino of popular uprisings that started in Tunisia and spread to Egypt? The mass protest of 10,000 Turkish-Cypriot trade unionists in occupied Nicosia was not just about the new economic austerity imposed by Ankara, which has supported the occupied territories economically for decades. It was a sweeping condemnation of Turkey’s policies of occupation and expanding settlements that have decimated the Turkish-Cypriot community - most have fled the island - and supported the settlers from mainland Turkey. Slogans condemning Turkey have until now been unheard of in the north. Banners proclaiming “Ankara, hands off” and “This motherland is ours - we will run it” sent shockwaves through the Turkish capital. The presence of Republic of Cyprus flags at the protest was the ultimate affront to Ankara, which, despite its EU application, steadfastly refuses to recognise the government of EU member-state Cyprus. The flags were a ringing message from native Turkish-Cypriots that they seek a settlement within a unified state, a state that is poised to become very rich from its energy resources... Since Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974, Ankara has explained its occupation of the nearly 40 percent of the island as necessary to protect the Turkish-Cypriot minority from the Greek-Cypriot majority. It is still the pretextual basis of bizonality - a sort of ethnic apartheid - that was a major concession in 1977 by then president Makarios and is still a basis of UN-sponsored settlement talks... Turkey’s geopolitical interest in the island multiplied exponentially with the recent discovery of huge natural gas deposits belonging to the Republic of Cyprus. “Who do you think you are? We have martyrs, heroes and strategic interests [in Cyprus],” Erdogan said in response to the January 28 protest, clearly signalling that Ankara’s interests supersede those of the Turkish-Cypriots. He went as far as to declare that Turkish-Cypriots “don’t have the right” to protest against Turkey. Less than five months before parliamentary elections, the Turkish opposition sought to capitalise politically on what it saw as a major prime ministerial gaffe. Ankara’s attempt to depict the protests as a sinister plot by Cyprus President Dimitris Christofias’ Progressive Party of Working People (Akel) is another sign of panic. Ankara’s order to Turkish-Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu that protesters who insult Turkey be prosecuted will only fan the flames. Erdogan, who seems to blame Eroglu for the mess, underlined his displeasure by holding talks on February 7 in Ankara with former Turkish-Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat. Picking up the gauntlet thrown down by Erdogan, the protesting trade unionists in a letter to the Turkish prime minister stressed the paradox that Erdogan stood up for the right of Egyptians to protest but recognised no such right for Turkish-Cypriots. The reference to Egypt was an ominous warning that the Turkish-Cypriots are prepared to take it to the limit. Athens University geopolitics professor Ioannis Mazis told the Athens News that Erdogan’s statements are the official confirmation of his neo-Ottoman foreign minister’s agenda. “In his book Strategic Depth, [Foreigh Minister Ahmet] Davutoglu said that even if there were only a single Turkish-Cypriot remaining, we must keep the Cyprus issue alive,” he noted. But that view came far before neo-Ottomanism, as prime minister Ismet Inonu said as much half a century ago. “Erdogan wants to send a message to [Turkish-Cypriot leader] Eroglu: It is impossible to undermine Turkey’s strategic interest in Cyprus,” he said.


Turkey’s ban on Cypriot-flagged or - related vessels using its ports is costing the island’s economy about 138.5 million euros ($188 million) a year, according to Erato Kozakou-Markoulli, Cyprus’s communications minister. The Turkish embargo costs the equivalent of 1.3 percent of Cyprus’s gross domestic product and affects 2,800 vessels, she said at a conference in Nicosia today, according to a transcript of her speech posted on the government press office website. These ships are either flagged in Cyprus or are from elsewhere in the European Union and are managed by companies based in Cyprus, Europe’s largest ship-management center, Kozakou-Markoulli said. Cyprus, an EU member since 2004, has been divided for almost 37 years between its Greek- and Turkish-speaking communities. Turkey occupied [invaded] the northern third of the island in 1974. Since then Cyprus has been represented by the Greek Cypriot government. The EU has demanded that Turkey open its ports to Cyprus to be considered for membership of the bloc.


The latest arrests in Romania, FYRMacedonia, Montenegro and Croatia, as well as resignation in Albanian government, confirm that Balkan countries are still very much steeped in corruption and organized crime, even those that have entered the EU. “In most Balkan countries – due to the omnipresent nepotism and low level of judiciary system independence – a judge ought to be brave to dare and convict some very important person. And for someone to get convicted, they need to be crazy or to have lost their political protectors’ support”, says professor Petrus van Duyne, expert on corruption teaching at the Dutch University of Tilburg, Reuters reports. In many countries in the region, many cases of corruption were subject of investigation, but that is still picking on the surface, the analysts estimate. The number of convicted persons is inadmissibly small, especially in regards to “the big fish”, although the corruption has – and no one can argue with that – spread its tentacles through many structures of society, all the way to the top. As by a rule, until now targets of judicial system were simple clerks that issued illegal permit for a house construction, professors that sold exams, customs officers that allow import of goods without a fine. Latest findings seem to indicate a new climate in tackling this problem, which rooted deeply after the falling apart of communist system and wars in former Yugoslavia. ROMANIA – In Romania in past few days there were mass arrests of customs and police officers on border crossings toward Serbia and Ukraine. Nearly one hundred persons ended up behind the bars due to involvement in cigarettes’ trafficking. Prime Minister Emil Boc replaced his chief of national customs service, on account of suspicion of taking the bribe. In November European Commission report Romania and Bulgaria were warned they still have not done enough in combat against the corruption. Due to that, these two countries will most likely not be accepted into the Schengen zone, even though they are EU members since 2007. ALBANIA - In Tirana, Prime Minister Deputy Ilir Meta has recently resigned, due to a video which shows him trying to arrange a job for a provision of EUR 700,000. That caused massive demonstrations of the opposition demanding resignation of the government. Prime Minister Sali Berisa refuses those allegations and at the protest on January 21 security forces in Tirana killed four protesters, while more persons were injured. MONTENEGRO – After the Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic’s resignation, which was previously interrogated in Italy regarding the alleged cigarette smuggling, nine persons ended up in custody in Budva, among which the brother of former prime minister deputy Svetozar Marovic. The opposition hopes that is just a beginning. Meanwhile, Djukanovic announced he would prosecute the Italian prosecutor. CROATIA – Former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader is in detention in Austria, after being accused of abusing his position while he was head of the government, thus obtaining huge wealth. FYRMACEDONIA – In Skopje, a controversial businessman Velija Ramkovski, owner of TV station A1 as well as several newspapers, was arrested recently. Along with 13 associates, ha was accused of avoiding paying the taxes and of ‘laundering’ suspiciously obtained money. Corruption is deeply rooted in other Balkan countries too. According to the last ‘Transparency International’ report, Bosnia-Herzegovina has the worst placement regarding the degree of corruption – 91st position in the world, Albania holds 87th position, Serbia shares 78th position with several other states, Montenegro and Romania share 69th position, Croatia and Macedonia are in 62nd and Bulgaria is right behind them. After this infavourable experience with Balkan countries, that issue is about to become more strict in the European Union. Decisive – and not like until now merely declarative – combat against corruption will be a precondition for obtaining the EU candidate status.


Euro-Parliament member and head of the United Nations counternarcotics agency Pinot Ariacchi describes Kosovo as a mafia state built around transnational organized crime and the import of Afghan-produced heroin. Speaking in Moscow Monday, he criticized the international officials in Kosovo and the nations that extended recognition to it for turning a blind eye to the problem.


The United States on Monday said it would stop funding a multibillion-dollar U.S.-European missile defense program known as MEADS after fiscal year 2013, calling it unaffordable in the current budget climate. "Our partners may go forward with some MEADS, but it is not our plan to do so," the Pentagon's comptroller Robert Hale told a budget briefing. He was referring to Italy and Germany... The Pentagon said it remained concerned about the overall track record of the program and might ordinarily have canceled it. But Hale noted that continuing development of the program until 2013 would avoid costly termination fees and benefit the partner nations on the program. A Pentagon fact sheet said the program had experienced a number of technical and management challenges since its start in the mid-1990s. It said that although the program had shown marked improvement in recent years, it had been unable to meet schedule and cost targets. It said a recent restructuring proposal would have extended the design and development phase by some 30 months, requiring at least $974 million in additional U.S. investment from fiscal year 2012 through 2017, and possibly as much as $1.6 billion. Washington said it had decided to continue the program's development up to a cost ceiling of $4 billion to ensure development of a meaningful capability for Germany and Italy, and possible future option for the United States. The department said it had already spent $1.5 billion on the program to date, and was already committed to funding an additional $804 million. Continuing the program would cost nearly $1 billion, or more, but the Army could not use MEADS to replace its Patriot missiles given delays in the MEADS program... The first MEADS battle manager and launcher had moved to a test range in Italy for system tests, Lockheed spokeswoman Cheryl Amerine said in a statement. She said MEADS could defend up to 8 times the area of current systems with fewer system elements at a cost lower than upgrading existing systems.


Classical music is underappreciated for its spiritual contribution to the church, the metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church said in a Feb. 9 address at The Catholic University of America. “I am well aware of the insignificant number of young people who listen to classical music, whereas almost everyone listens to popular music,” said Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev. “This I consider to be a real tragedy.” However, he said he believes secular music “is possible within Christianity, including that which exceeds the limits of classical music which I love so much.” “Christianity is inclusive; it does not set strict canonical limits to art,” he said, adding that “Christianity can even inspire a secular artist” to convey sacred messages in “the language of modern musical culture.” Metropolitan Hilarion, who is the archbishop of Volokolamsk and a permanent member of the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Moscow, delivered a multimedia presentation on “The Intersection of Music and Faith” to students, faculty and guests in the university’s Caldwell Hall Auditorium. Trained in violin, piano and composition, the metropolitan served in the Soviet military before entering the monastery in 1987. He has a master’s in theology from the Moscow Theological Academy and a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Oxford in Great Britain. He has the author of more than 300 published monographs and other written works and has composed numerous musical works. His composition “St. Matthew Passion,” a grand oratorio for soloists, choir and orchestra written in 2006, has received standing ovations at performances in Moscow, Rome and Melbourne, Australia. Its English-language U.S. premiere was Feb. 7 in New York City. His 2007 “Christmas Oratorio” has been performed in Washington, Boston and New York to critical acclaim. In his presentation, Metropolitan Hilarion emphasized that genuine art serves God either directly or indirectly and even if it is not intended for worship, it can be dedicated to God. “The works of Beethoven and Brahms may not directly praise God, yet they are capable of elevating the human person morally and educating him spiritually,” he said. He praised Bach for music that he said contains a universal element that is all-embracing. He added that the composer was able to combine “unsurpassed compositional skill” with rare diversity, true beauty and profound spirituality. “Even Bach’s secular music is permeated by a sense of love for God, of standing in God’s presence, of awe before him,” he said. He commented that Bach, a Lutheran, was “truly ‘catholic,’“ the original Greek term meaning “universal” or “all-embracing,” for he saw the church as “a universal organism.” Bach’s music “belongs to the world as a whole and to each citizen separately,” he said. The metropolitan used his own spiritual journey as an example of how faith and music can intersect. He was always a talented musician but one time he intentionally abandoned music because he felt caught between ministry to music and ministry to the church. He chose to renounce the world, including his love for music, to follow his calling to serve the church. “I neither played musical instruments, nor even listened to recorded music,” he said. Slowly, Metropolitan Hilarion changed his outlook, but it took listening to a performance of one of his own compositions at a festival of Orthodox music he was invited to attend. It helped him realize there was a piece of himself that was missing, he said. “Listening to my own music, something stirred inside me, and I began to compose again almost at once,” he said. His presentation was a part of a series of events celebrating the theme of Catholic University President John Garvey’s inaugural year: “Intellect and Virtue: The Idea of a Catholic University.” To listen and view videos from orchestra performances of Metropolitan Hilarion's "St. Matthew Passion", please click here. Additional information and photos can be found on St. Vladimir's seminary website by clicking here.

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