Patri, -oligarch and "Orthodox mafia". The church mafia plunges Russia into a fetid, black swamp of religious obscurantism Letunovsky is the organizers of the church mafia

Mafia and Church

Unfortunately, until recently, the Italian church did not set itself the task of purposefully fighting the mafia. It is unlikely that we should see this as her fault. After all, the state adopted the corresponding law only in 1982. The problem of the “crooked mirror” of Christianity is a philosophical problem, and it was also not so long ago that they began to deal with it (I mean, first of all, the works of medievalists on the peculiarities of the perception of the Christian religion among the illiterate peasantry). But the mafiosi organized folk religious holidays, made rich donations, participated in church processions ...

In 1964, when the Antimafia parliamentary commission (1962-1976) was planning an inspection trip to Sicily, Cardinal Palermo Ruffini justified his negative attitude towards this idea as follows: “Ruthless propaganda, acting through the press, radio, television, finally forced Italy and other countries believe that the infection of the mafia has spread to most of the island and that all Sicilians are mafiosi. "

We know of cases when Sicilian priests collaborated with the mafia (in the 70s, Padre Agostino Coppola was sentenced to ten years for complicity in the kidnapping carried out by Luciano Leggio; in 1980, the Franciscan monk Fra Giacinto was killed, who, as it turned out, “served "One of the graveyards of the mafia and received money from the mafia; now the prosecutor of Palermo accuses Archbishop Monreale Cassisa of having links with the mafia). However, such cases are rare exceptions. Sometimes the priests became unwitting accomplices of the mafia - they were used to negotiate the payment of ransom for the kidnapped (cases of the kidnapping of Cassin in Palermo and Rossi in Turin). There were many more such priests - in the dioceses of Palermo, Caltanissetta, Monreale - who fought against the mafia and became its victims.

The turning point in the attitude of the church towards the mafia was outlined in 1982, in connection with the murder of the spouses of Dalla Chiesa. The Archbishop of Palermo, Cardinal Salvatore Pappalardo, celebrated a mass that was called "anti-mafia", because in it the words of the Gospel sounded like a condemnation of this organization. In the same year, the cardinal renewed the ecclesiastical anathema against all perpetrators and masterminds of the murders, previously proclaimed in 1944 and 1950. Pope John Paul II visited Palermo in November 1982. In his speech, he condemned the killings, but the word "mafia" was not spoken.

By that time, important changes had taken place in the cultural situation in Sicily. In the 60s, pensions, public health care, compulsory schooling for children under 14 years old were introduced throughout Italy. Television broadcasting has allowed many people to get acquainted with a different, "civilized" system of values. The mentality began to change. Characteristically, the anti-mafia activist Giuseppe Impastato, who was killed in 1978, was the son of a "man of honor" from the Cinisi family, Luigi Impastato. In October 1982, the Christians of Palermo published an open letter, which, in particular, said: “What can be said about the cultural backwardness of our Church, which failed to analyze the mafia phenomenon in a balanced and consistent manner? convening a church conference at which we could ... together decide what can be done today for a new and free evangelical witnessing of our Church - precisely in connection with the problems that the power and violence of the mafiosi pose to us. "

In October 1993, the priest of the Brancaccio parish (in Palermo) Pino Puglisi was assassinated. For many years, this courageous man fought against the mafia in a very effective way - trying to improve the lives of his parishioners, to ensure that a secondary school, a library, a sports field were built in his quarter, and a church was renovated. He wrote to the authorities: “There can be no future for our children without a school, and that is why we are asking for a high school for our quarter. Many teenagers avoid compulsory schooling and choose the street as their teacher. They become victims of a wave of violence, from which it is very difficult to escape. " Puglisi did not “lighten the souls” of mafia leaders, as Padre Frittita, for example, did, but he also did not close the path to repentance for anyone. He addressed the mafiosi as follows: “The doors of the church are open, you are our brothers, you were baptized in this church. This quarter, your families can have a completely different life. "

After the arrest of Frittita, a discussion began for the first time on the development of a single church policy towards the mafia. On behalf of Cardinal Di Giorgi, five theologians at the University of Palermo prepared a list of issues to be discussed. The main meaning of this document is that the Church should fight the mafia by its own, specific means, different from the methods used by the political authorities or civil society. These means are "forgiveness, mercy, selfless love." From now on, it is not about the decision of any priest, but about the complex, organic actions of the entire Church.

One of the most pressing problems is the problem of repentance. Can a priest meet with a mafioso, for example, if he is hiding from the police? How should he behave in order not to become an accomplice of the criminal? According to theologians, a priest is not obliged to visit a mafiosi who is hiding from justice, except when he is on the verge of death. But, one way or another, the priest has the right to fulfill his duty towards the mafiosi only once - and must use all his influence to persuade him to repentance. What should this repentance consist of - a break with the mafia or a willingness to cooperate with the law, to name your accomplices? There is no consensus on this issue yet.

Another important issue concerns the relationship of the priests with the bishop. Theologians believe that the bishop should be notified of all extraordinary situations.

The third problem is the problem of the sacrament of the Eucharist. It cannot take place in the "underground" church, be limited to a purely church ritual, since it presupposes the unity of all believers of the Christian community. A necessary condition for the performance of this sacrament, therefore, must be the true repentance of the criminal.

Published almost simultaneously in Italian and French, Fabrizio Calvi's book is dedicated to a turning point in the history of the Sicilian mafia - the transition from traditional organized crime structures to “modern” structures and the conflict between the two. To a certain extent, this process is comparable to what is happening now, thirty years later, in Russia: with the relationship between “thieves in law” and the leaders of the underworld of the “new formation”, with the struggle of criminal groups for the redistribution of spheres of influence, with the spread of new types of criminal business.

Calvi's book reads like a gripping novel also because it has a specific plot: at the center of the narrative are the fates of several key figures of the Sicilian mafia, including Tommaso Buschetta, whose confessions, psychologically motivated by the violation of an unwritten code of honor during the war of the Sicilian clans in 80 -x years, for the first time made public the internal structure of the mafia and allowed to bring to court many of its leaders.

Another, but just as real character of the book is an ordinary "soldier" of the Society. Following his failed career, the reader will be able to get a fairly complete picture of the hierarchy of relations in the mafia "family", and some of the rituals of the mafia, and the typical ways of organizing crimes.

Today's level of our cretinism is simply amazing! Despite the fact that in almost all civilized countries the church is separated from the state, certain nuances of modern life and worldview that are "offensive to the feelings of believers" suddenly surface. The feelings of normal - nonbelievers - people simply no one remembers, and no one asks their opinions ... The level of directing of this "divine" comedy is so low and unpretentious that the phrase "madmen have seized power in a madhouse" involuntarily comes to mind for some time now ...

Consideration of a lawsuit against Darwin's theory began in St. Petersburg

In the October Federal Court of the city of St. Petersburg, the first meeting was held on the claim demanding to ban the teaching of the theory of evolution in schools and introduce other concepts of human origin into the curriculum, RIA Novosti reports. The lawsuit was filed by a resident of St. Petersburg Kirill Schreiber. The defendant in the case is the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, whose interests are represented by the city education committee.

“The meeting on this case began at about two o'clock in the afternoon. Today the date of the next meeting should be determined, a circle of experts who will conduct an examination, answer the question whether there is an insult to the feelings of believers in Darwin's theory, should be determined, ”Konstantin Romanov, the plaintiffs' lawyer, told the agency. It is unclear whether the plaintiffs plan to make evolution their main argument for believers, or whether they hope to convince the court that Darwin's theory is insufficiently supported by scientific evidence. The plaintiffs told reporters that, in their opinion, the system of scientific ideas about the laws of life development infringes on the rights of children "to have different ideas about the origin of a person."

Schreiber believes that the theory of Darwin in schools is "deliberately imposed on children", "as the only possible, from the point of view of science, which is a gross violation of the human right to choose."

Source: http://lenta.ru/news/2006/10/25/darwin/

George W. Bush began to fight Darwinism in schools

US President George W. Bush on Monday raised the issue of teaching an alternative to Darwinian theory of the origin of life in US educational institutions, writes the Financial Times. Teaching other theories will help students understand "what the current debate is about," he said.

“I believe that part of the educational process is the opportunity to let people see that there are different points of view on the problem,” the president said. “If you ask me whether it is necessary to give an alternative point of view, then my answer is yes.”

Bush did not elaborate on what kind of alternative theories he would like to see in the curriculum, but it is believed to be about the so-called “smart design” concept. This theory believes that some things in the universe can be explained only in terms of origin from some "reasonable" reasons, and not only through natural selection. These words of the president prompted a number of commentators to place Bush in the camp of the so-called "creationists" who challenge Darwin's theory from a religious point of view.

According to Glenn Branch, deputy director of the National Education Center, “the federal government has no influence on the scheduling of educational institutions. The most that Bush can achieve is that he will be considered a "creationist." “Mr. Bush should first talk to his science advisor, John Marburger, who is not known to even consider intelligent design a scientific theory,” Branch added.

There is a debate in the United States over whether it is worth introducing the teaching of intelligent design theory in schools and universities. New York state legislators recently attempted to simultaneously teach both Darwin's theory and intelligent design theory to state schools, but to no avail. In Georgia, in Cobb County, schools are advised to label textbooks that read "Darwin's Theory Is Only A theory, not a fact."

In 1999, in the United States, the Kansas State Board of Education voted on a ban on the mention of Darwin's theory in schools. "Creationists" were then in the minority, but the teaching of Darwinism was allowed only as a hypothesis. In 1925, in one of the schools in Tennessee, teachers were convicted and fined $ 100 for teaching biology according to Darwin's On the Origin of Species, prohibited in the state. The process went down in history as "monkey". The ban remained in effect until 1967.

Source: http://lenta.ru/news/2005/08/03/darwin/

Serbia banned Darwin's theory

Serbian Education Minister Ljiljana Colic has banned schools from teaching Charles Darwin's theory of evolution from the beginning of this academic year, BBC News reports citing Glas Javnosti newspaper. Now, students will be introduced to the essence of Darwinian theory only along with the ideas of creationism, which criticizes the theory of evolution, since, according to the Minister of Education, "both doctrines are equally dogmatic."

However, Darwinism will not be excluded from biology textbooks. The ban introduced into the bewilderment of the teachers of the country, where the teaching of the basics of religion has recently begun. Darwinist biologist Nikola Tucic, in an interview with the newspaper, called the ruling "outrageous" interference of the Serbian Orthodox Church in politics.

“Similar attempts were made in some American states, but common sense prevailed and they were rejected. It turns out that our fundamentalists are more successful, ”Tukich said. In 1925, in one of the schools in Tennessee, teachers were convicted and fined $ 100 for teaching biology according to Darwin's On the Origin of Species, prohibited in the state. The process went down in history as "monkey". The ban remained in effect until 1967.

Something similar happened in the United States in 1999, when the Kansas State Board of Education voted to ban Darwin's theory in schools. And although creationists were then in the minority, the teaching of Darwinism was allowed only as a hypothesis. Creationists are of the opinion that the existing material world was created by an immaterial creator over the past 10 thousand years. Darwinists, by contrast, believe in evolution over billions of years.

Source: http://lenta.ru/world/2004/09/09/darwin/

Human evolution has stopped

Scientists have come to the conclusion that the evolution of man as a biological species is over, we have reached the peak of our development, and no changes can occur in the future, reports the Guardian.

“If you want to know what Utopia is, just look around, it’s all around you,” says University of London professor Steve Jones in a talk at the Royal Society of Edinburgh. "The positive and negative changes for our species are over."

Scientists believe that since the process of evolution itself is based on the properties of genes to cause changes in a living organism to adapt to the environment, a person stopped developing, since he largely lost his dependence on the biosphere, and in some cases even changes it to create favorable living conditions. Be that as it may, the scientific world agrees that such statements are valid in relation to Western civilization, where almost every inhabitant is provided with sufficient food, effective medicine and hygiene products. In the developing and poorest countries, such protection does not exist, and there some kind of evolutionary processes may continue.

Source: http://lenta.ru/world/2002/02/04/evolution/

Teachers in British schools will teach that God created life

There is a debate in the UK about how to teach the origin of life on Earth. It all started when the Emmanuel College of Technology in Gateshead began to teach the theory of creationism, reflecting the biblical point of view on this issue. Concerned about this news, 36 British academics expressed their concern about this.

A group of creationist theorists responded to their announcement by issuing an open letter asking them to change the school curriculum, according to which the biblical theory of the origin of life is taught as a myth.

“We believe that the opinion of many well-known researchers, who believe that Darwin's theory is the only correct one, is wrong,” the group said. “Until now, no one has been able to prove empirically that complex life forms can develop from simple forms. There is a huge amount of biological, chemical and geological evidence proving, as well as the foundations of information theory, that the theory of evolution has many shortcomings and cannot be the only correct model for the emergence of life on Earth, ”the letter says.

“My colleagues and I believe that students need to be taught to think, not to impose someone else’s opinion on them,” said Andy McIntosh, a professor of thermodynamics and combustion theory at Leeds University and author of Genesis for Today ”about the modern meaning of the biblical Book of Genesis. “I am extremely surprised why my colleagues support teaching the theory of evolution. Teaching should be analytical, not dogmatic, ”McIntosh said.

Isaac's Cathedral donated to priests? Why be surprised? The fact that Mr. Nobody by the name of Poltavchenko, appointed to the post of Mayor of St. Petersburg, made a single-handed decision to donate St. Isaac's Cathedral to the priests (which was never the property of the Russian Orthodox Church!) Is a quite expected milestone of the aggressive planting [at the filing of the state] in the towers of our fellow citizens of religious obscurantism ...

No, I, of course, understand the state's concern for filling the gaping void (left over from the evaporated ideals of socialism and other moral code of the builders of communism) in the souls of people, but I can't just endorse the state course for Russia's swift immersion into the swamp of black religious obscurantism - I resolutely against it!

An interesting, nevertheless, was a historical experiment: after centuries of lasting unbearable pressure of religious obscurantism, in 1917 the people of Russia (considered pious and even "God-bearing"), for some reason, with pleasure began to totally burn and rob churches and hang fat priests! Well, yes - they were wild people, dark and uneducated, but, it seems to me - the priests were also not sugar, but a little wimpy, since the God-bearing people purposefully trampled them without a command and chopped icons with axes ...

But! The leaders of the USSR were not idiots - they understood that the emptiness in the souls of papalism (formed on the site of the disavowed cult of the Russian Orthodox Church!) Needed to be filled with something, for which they invented a creative state quasi-religion - communist, which quite organically replaced the destructive religion implanted by the Russian Orthodox Church slavish! Relying on the creative quasi-religion of communism, the USSR in a historically short time turned into a Great Power, won the most destructive and bloody war in the history of mankind, conquered space, and built the first welfare state in history, and this became one of the most significant achievements of human civilization !

And when the people of the USSR, having gone mad, smashed a great power to hell and the communist quasi-religion died, then an emptiness formed in the souls of the people again, for what? That's right - the state decided to fill this void again!

But! Unlike the USSR, the state of the times of nit-Yeltsin was weak and creepy, so that the thieves' state, of course, did not master the project of a new quasi-religion, and the new "ideology of profit" did not pull on religion. Therefore, the souls of "dear Russians" were filled with what was within walking distance and literally lying underfoot - that miserable waste that for 70 years in shit and pissing was eating up in the trash heap, but not completely dead - the Russian Orthodox Church! They raised it, shook it off, washed it, fed it, rewarded it, apologized for the past, and declared the ROC a "spiritual bond" and a "pillar-pillar of the state" ...

Unfortunately, in Russia there are no balanced, well-thought-out decisions - only the maximum hardcore!

And shit raced through the pipes: duty-free trade in tobacco products and alcohol, massive takeovers of real estate to "return" it to the Russian Orthodox Church, golden rain pouring on the priests from the bins of the state, and so on. Further - "Gundyaevskaya apartment nano-dust", impudent "withdrawals" by the ROC of park zones of large cities for the construction of their religious buildings, etc., etc.

The church mafia plunges Russia into a fetid, black swamp of religious obscurantism

Even 15 years ago, the propaganda of religion and the Russian Orthodox Church caused bewilderment and laughter, and now those who are especially active "perplexed-laughing" can be imprisoned for this "bewilderment" in the zone under a new article of the Russian Federation for "insulting the feelings of believers", and the President on church services are taken for granted! Criticism of the Russian Orthodox Church is almost completely prohibited, and we hear terrible, disgusting PR and shameless propaganda of the importance of the Russian Orthodox Church from every iron!

What is especially disgusting and dangerous - the ROC methodically, persistently and consistently shoves its black dunk into schools, which is very cunning and prudent - you need to prepare a herd for "hilling" from an early age. If possible. And, such an opportunity is becoming more and more realistic!

Well, and the citizens ... And what about the citizens? Citizens of Russia - thirst for a Miracle!

Well, and now: Citizens believed in a Miracle: "Only the Russian Orthodox Church will save Russia and make it prosperous!" The other side of the MIRACLE, which opened the people's, damn it, chakras, is also not bad: "Whoever is not a fan of the Russian Orthodox Church is the enemy of Russia!"

And the Miracle went to the masses:

Millions of communists, who yesterday denounced, branded with shame, voluptuously trampled those who dared to subject their children to the rite of baptism, today suddenly massively passionately and fanatically believed in Jesus and, with devilish fire in their eyes, fiercely rushed to defend even the most vile movements of their newly found "spiritual father. "- ROC! And now these "new crusaders", religious fanatics and "adherents of the faith", pointing a finger at those who are dissatisfied with their obscurantist nishtyaks, shout with schizoid pleasure: "LET'S RUN THEM !!!"

On the one hand, all this, of course, is ridiculous, but on the other, it is really disgusting, because obscurantism is always disgusting, and mass obscurantism is dangerous both for its carriers and for the state ...

In general, the constitutional declaration: "the church in Russia is separated from the state" at the current political moment has turned into meaningless letters on paper, since in fact Russia, having abandoned the course towards enlightenment and education, is rapidly plunging into the fetid, black swamp of state religious obscurantism of the lowest parsing, and it's very sad.

Back to the "gift". The fact that someone (I do not believe that Poltavchenko made such a decision on his own, without instructions from above) presented the Issakiev Cathedral to the priests is just another milestone, and there will be many more. Well, and then, perhaps, the new year 1917 will burst, which in this situation is very likely, gygygygy!

This is how we get an ouroboros! ...

Some time has passed since then, and I realized - not everything is as bad as I thought - after all, there are many educated, intelligent people in Russia who openly opposed the obscurantism of the ROC in general and the transfer of St. Isaac's Cathedral to the Blacks in particular:

in St. Petersburg, rallies of many thousands were held against the transfer of the Cathedral to greedy priests,

the petition against the transfer of the cathedral to the priests has collected more than 200,000 signatures,

scientists and art critics spoke out against the program,

But, of course, the obscurantists are not asleep! The scoundrels launched an unprecedented campaign to obsere all those who oppose the unreasonable preferences of the ROC (the main slogan of obscurantists: "whoever is against the transfer of IP to the ROC is against Russia, and there is a liberalist working for the State Department!"), And also began to scribble slanderous libels, in whom shit is poured over the workers of the "Museum of St. Isaac's Cathedral" - they say that the museum workers are pests, plunderers, thieves and criminals. True, I do not understand how to logically link these "revelations" with the "necessity" of transferring the IP of the Cathedral to the Russian Orthodox Church. Well, unless you just remember that the priests of the Russian Orthodox Church have always been an example of disinterestedness, unmercension, virtue and service to the flock and the Fatherland. Just don’t bend your face!

Here is a typical example of such a libel, which she copied (this uneducated, tongue-tied Baba Yaga cannot write two words without mistakes on her own!) The Parishioner, who has long and irrevocably gone crazy, is just a classic:

Why do you think the religious obscurantists, at the command of the Russian Orthodox Church, jumped and jumped and started shaking like a petty demon in hatred of educated people? It's simple - because a campaign was launched to justify the transfer of state property to thieving priests - the priests realized that society was not yet ready to lie under obscurantists in robes! Well, everything is clear here - the priests have such a business, they are cut for their loot!

But I want to say a special "thank you" to the morel named "Parishioner":

Listen, black granny, the "investigations and accusations" about the theft by the employees of the Isaac Museum are schizophrenic, just like everything that religious fanatics are trying to prove. Because normal people are not very concerned about the issues of huge salaries (55 thousand rubles) of museum workers and whether the director of this museum steals or not!

We are worried about this: state property is what belongs to all citizens of the Russian Federation (including religious idiots), but when the real estate is owned by the greedy priests of the Russian Orthodox Church, this is only THEIR sphere of business, and normal people are denied access to it despite all the priests' assurances that "for ordinary people nothing will change"! Yes, of course it will not change, we all understand: Gundyaev needs a new watch - new, for 320,000 bucks he has already entered, the nanodust has damaged them, gygygy!

The most interesting paradox is that after the transfer of the IP to the ROC, all cash flows will flow into the pockets of "fucking honest" priests, and even such a stupid "investigation" will be completely impossible. What do you think, grandma, can you find out and publish how many priests "working" in the IS will cut the dough for their salary? It is clear - you will not answer, but I know the answer.

Summary. No, I do not feel vain hopes - the decision to hand over the Cathedral was clearly not made at the zero-Poltavchenko level, and the victorious procession of obscurantism will continue.

But there is also a positive - there are many of us, normal, educated people, and we need to resist religious obscurantism at all levels. Especially you need to concentrate on keeping the priests out of schools. If we miss this moment, then it will already be a complete disaster!

PS. By the way. Are you aware that the Parishioner "... consults with the SPIRITUISHER on how to keep her blog, including who to ban!" (C) How do you like manual control? From my T.Z. - shizuha in its purest form and full control of the "confessors" of the ROC over such schizos, which gives well, sooooo broad prospects ...

PPS. The Crimean and Simferopol Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church asked to transfer to them for free use 24 objects of the museum-reserve "Chersonese Tauric", which are located in Sevastopol. The application was submitted to the Federal Property Management Agency in November last year (this became known only now), but the department rejected it "due to incomplete documents." Now representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church are going to submit another application.

These are the things, little kids ...

Case Magazine

Is the "Orthodox Mafia" involved in drug smuggling and placenta trafficking from late abortions? Sensational investigation by Ivan Yudintsev

PATRI, -OLIGARCH and the "Orthodox mafia"

Drug smuggling and trade in placenta from late abortions are just episodes of criminal cases in which the name of Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II appears

While the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II calls on the Russians to reconciliation and harmony, people from his inner circle are trading in oil, developing diamond deposits, keeping banks under control and, under the guise of humanitarian aid, importing duty-free cigarettes and Chinese consumer goods into Russia.

The turnover of enterprises operating under the roof of the Russian Orthodox Church is estimated in billions of dollars.

Because of the division of this money, "businessmen in cassocks" arrange a showdown among themselves and run into competitors.

Recently, the Fund for Reconciliation and Accord, chaired by Alexy II himself, was involved in drug smuggling.

In the very near future, a scandal may break out in the United States, even louder than the story of the "money laundering of the Russian mafia" in The Bank of New York. The "Orthodox mafia" is accused of involvement in the sale of placenta obtained as a result of late abortions.

Renaissance capital

The last ten years of the outgoing millennium have been the years of the rise of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). For the previous seven decades, the church in the USSR was really separated from the state and existed as if in a parallel world. And almost all of its countless treasures were declared historical and artistic values, confiscated and hidden in the depositories of state museums.

But in the 90s, a real Orthodox boom began in Russia. Old churches are being restored and new ones are being erected literally everywhere. Once confiscated buildings and treasures are returned to the Patriarchate and Dioceses. Chiefs of all levels, at least twice a year - at Christmas and Easter - personally stand all night. Any businessman, from an oligarch to an individual private entrepreneur, inclusive, regularly donates cash to an Orthodox parish. Books of religious content are sold in ten thousand copies.

All these events are directly related to the name of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II. Ascending to the highest level of the Orthodox church hierarchy on June 7, 1990, Alexy II immediately grasped the desire of the majority of Russians for a religious revival. One hundred and fifty million people, who once lost faith in a bright future, sought to gain eternal values. And the nascent Russian state needed a proven spiritual support.

Alexy understood all this perfectly. But he saw something else as well. During the years of the Orthodox Renaissance, the ROC received a unique historical chance for its own revival. Including the restoration and augmentation of the former church wealth. The secular government of the new Russia turned a blind eye to the very free financial and economic activities of the church. And sometimes

even patronized businessmen in robes.

In addition, in a matter of months, the former legal space collapsed. Many Soviet laws were no longer in force, and new Russian laws were adopted slowly and replete with "holes", ambiguities and understatements. It was into these legal gaps that the Patriarch directed the economic activity of the church.

A KGB agent from a white émigré family

The Orthodox Church is very lucky with the current Patriarch. Alexy II headed the Russian Orthodox Church just in time. Indeed, in the years of initial capital accumulation, success awaits precisely those organizations led by experienced business executives, not romantics.

Alexei Mikhailovich Ridiger (as the world called Alexy II) was never fond of biblical and evangelical tales. Born in 1929 in bourgeois Estonia into the family of an Orthodox priest who, due to his noble past, was hiding from the Bolsheviks, Alyosha Ridiger was forced to follow in his father's footsteps.

Brilliantly, "first class" graduated from the seminary, and then - and the academy, he becomes a priest. But the ritual services do not attract him. Young father Alexy is much more interested in managing the church economy - first as a priest of a small church in the Estonian town of Jõhvi, then as the rector of the largest Assumption Cathedral in Tartu.

It is significant that the young priest does not marry, leaving for himself the possibility of unlimited career growth, but he also does not take monastic vows (only this step opens the doors to the higher floors of the church hierarchy). Rumor has it that in those years Alexey was thinking about emigrating to neighboring Finland, where he intended to do business. At least, sailors of the Baltic merchant fleet who hunted in small-scale smuggling became frequent visitors to the Assumption Cathedral.

Apparently, it was with these connections that the KGB officers compromised him. A year and a half ago, a Moscow newspaper published a document found in the Tallinn archives of the Estonian KGB. From this report on agent-operational activities it is clear that the future Patriarch was recruited by the Chekists in 1958, receiving the nickname "Drozdov".

Describing "Drozdov", the KGB officer writes that he "has proven himself on the positive side, is neat, energetic, sociable. He is eager to carry out our tasks and has already submitted a number of noteworthy materials, which are used to document the criminal activities of a member of the board of Yikhvinskaya. Orthodox Church ".

Calling the merchant to the temple

Meanwhile, the cathedral entrusted to Rediger grew richer from year to year. And the Moscow church authorities drew attention to this. The young priest was noticed and invited to work in the Patriarch's office.

In 1961, he finally decides to pursue such a brilliant church career, performs the necessary ceremony of tonsure as a monk, and is appointed deputy chairman of the Department for External Church Relations, a position incredibly high for a 31-year-old. The fact is that the unwritten church tradition considers sometimes religious maturation to be 33 years old, it was at this age that Christ accepted the Calvary sufferings.

But in the case of the energetic and enterprising Rediger, the Patriarch made an exception, entrusting him with the coordination of the entire economy of the ROC outside the borders of the Soviet Union. He was faced with a difficult task. In conditions when religious trade within the USSR was minimal, it was necessary to find ways to obtain legitimate profits abroad. And the new employee of the Patriarchate justified the hopes placed on him.

During his three years in this job, Rediger completely rebuilt the system of economic ties between the Moscow center and foreign parishes. Foreign currency accounts were opened, there was an active trade in church souvenirs, and Western jewelers were ordered gold jewelry specially stylized as Orthodox pectoral crosses. In a word, everything possible was done to siphon cash out of Western lovers of Russian flavor.

Superintendent of All Russia

Rediger's successes in the field of the Orthodox business were so impressive that in 1964 something happened that did not fit into the traditional ideas about the career of an Orthodox priest. 35-year-old Alexy is appointed to the post of the Administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Drawing an analogy with secular power, we can say that under the Patriarch, Alexy became what the almighty Kremlin manager "Pal-Palych" Borodin was under President Yeltsin. Rediger was in charge of the entire church economy - monasteries and temples, seminaries and academies, ancient icons and golden crosses, in general, all the income and expenses of the Orthodox Church.

And in this key, by his own admission, post, the future Patriarch did not sit for much, not a little, but as much as 22 years. During this time, each Orthodox hierarch more than once went to bow to the almighty "business executive", who also performed the functions of the church minister of finance.

The height of the position of the young Ridiger increased also because the only hierarch who stood above him - the aged Patriarch Alexy I - suffered from deep insanity. He did not recognize the people he knew; he could sit for hours at the dinner table, trying to roll an Easter chicken egg into the "gate" made up of two mugs. And in the 1980s, "Brezhnev's illness" was repeated with the new elderly Patriarch Pimen, who replaced Alexy I.

It seemed that Ridiger would never part with such a lucrative place. But in June 1986, when it became clear that Pimen's days were numbered, Ridiger left the Administration of the Russian Orthodox Church and was appointed Metropolitan of Leningrad and Ladoga. It should be clarified here that the Administrator of Affairs cannot claim the highest ecclesiastical office: the Patriarch is elected from among the Metropolitans - the leaders of the regional dioceses.

So, leaving the warm place, Ridiger made a win-win career move. Less than four years later, he returned from Leningrad to Moscow, becoming Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II.

Holiest but far from holy

The official residence of the Patriarch is a miniature, but not hidden luxurious, palace located in Moscow in Chisty Lane, not far from the recently rebuilt huge Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The cost of the Patriarchal Palace is estimated at between ten and twenty million dollars, excluding the price of land.

The entire area adjacent to the residence is heavily guarded by both people in police uniforms and employees of private agencies. Concerns about the safety of Alexy II have even influenced the market prices of real estate. To buy or rent an apartment in this area, you will have to shell out more money than a similar living space located on the opposite side of Zubovsky Boulevard.

At the disposal of the Patriarch there is also a complex of buildings in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, where, according to tradition, he should reside permanently. But Alexy II prefers a dacha in the village of Peredelkino. In addition, he has at his disposal an official country residence, and another dacha belonging to the church. All this is used on weekdays. And on weekends, the Patriarch nostalgically turns into an ordinary citizen of Rediger and leaves farther - to the north of the Moscow region, where he rests in his personal dacha near Trudovaya station.

The main transport of the Patriarch is the armored "Meresdes", made by special order. Such a machine is capable of withstanding a lot. For example, the armor of a similar "Mercedes" saved the life of Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze when he was assassinated.

When the Patriarch's limousine rushes along Smolensky Prospekt, accompanied by security jeeps, traffic police officers block the intersecting streets. And yet one day the Patriarch's Mercedes got into an accident. Although it was the most common collision of two cars, viewers saw unique footage of the evacuation of His Holiness. Literally in a minute, the personal guards carried the unharmed Patriarch in their arms and put him in another car, which immediately rushed off in an unknown direction.

In short, the way of life of Alexy II is in stark contrast to the Orthodox calls for modesty and humility. Rather, it resembles the habits of the new Russians. For this, in the capital's political elite, the Patriarch is jokingly called "the oligarch of All Russia." Although not only for that.

Tears of a beggar Patriarch

Alexy II is at the head of a huge organization, the financial and economic activities of which are actually not controlled by the tax authorities. No one simply dares to demand from the guardians of faith and morality to the fullest extent of the law.

As a result, "Orthodox businessmen" get away with misconduct, for which an ordinary entrepreneur would be severely punished. The financial statements of enterprises and foundations, the founders of which include the Russian Orthodox Church, are not checked, but, pardon the pun, are taken on faith. Meanwhile, it is not clear from these reports where the Patriarch could have gotten the money for a luxurious palace, an armored limousine and other expensive attributes of a representative of the business elite.

Official data on the economy of the church are announced personally by the Patriarch and, to put it mildly, do not correspond to generally accepted standards. Once every two years, at a regular Council of Bishops, the Patriarch reads out the basic information about the structure of the income and expenses of the Moscow Patriarchate for the entire period that has passed between Councils, that is, for two years.

From the last such report, made in 1999, it follows that the main income of the Moscow Patriarchate came from some of its commercial enterprises (the Danilovsky hotel complex and the Sofrino art-industrial enterprise, specializing in the production of church utensils). The placement of funds in commercial banks and operations with securities are also recognized as income items of the church budget.

As for the contributions of the regional diocesan administrations - the main administrative link in the structure of the Russian Orthodox Church - they, according to the Patriarch, amounted to an insignificant amount. These contributions do not even allow for proper funding of church-wide educational institutions.

In short, the church is so poor that it can barely make ends meet. And the priests are not involved in business at all. So it is said in the report of Alexy II. But what about the real thing? And does the Patriarch know that a whole army of entrepreneurs makes a lot of money, hiding behind the name of the church and his own name?

The multilevel commercial system of the Russian Orthodox Church is made up of parishes (churches and monasteries), diocesan administrations at the regional level, some departments of the Patriarchate in the center, and commercial enterprises established with the participation of the ROC. Numerous charitable and educational foundations are closely related to the ROC-Ltd system, under the roof of which a real "Orthodox mafia" operates.

The lowest level of the Orthodox organization - churches and monasteries - are actually self-financing. They have four stable income items. The first in church business slang is called "mug". These are donations made by parishioners during and after the service. They are usually very large and are divided between priests and other church workers. For them, it is a "prize" for a job well done. The income from the "circle" is difficult to account for and they all represent a real "black cash".

Three other items of income of temples and monasteries are "candle" (that is, the sale of candles), which gives about 60-70 percent of the budget of the temple, "goods" (that is, everything sold by the church shop besides candles - icons, books, jewelry) and "treasures" (baptism, funeral service, reading memorial notes, etc.).

The high percentage in the total income of the temple, which is given by a candle, is explained by the peculiarity of the Orthodox rite. Candles are bought by almost everyone who comes to church. In addition, the low cost of candles allows you to receive 200-300 percent of the profit when selling.

Everything will be counted

But every temple also has a fickle source of income. These are one-time large donations, which have become a rarity today, help from corporate philanthropists (banks, oil companies) and local authorities, which happens now all the time. If a temple abbot is resourceful, he will find other ways to capitalize on his "religious status."

In early March 1999, the Nizhny Novgorod press drew attention to an unusual test scheme. To finance the repair and restoration of the Annunciation Monastery, at the suggestion of the city administration, an offset of five billion rubles was concluded between JSC Nizhnovenergo and the municipal enterprise Vodokanal. Then Vodokanal made another test, but this time with the Annunciation Monastery.

As a result of the implementation of this scheme, the monastery received the entire amount of offset of goods and services from 34 enterprises that have debts to Vodokanal. Moreover, the goods were by no means ecclesiastical: among them there were even wine and vodka products.

The incentive for enterprises to participate in the "Annunciation offsets" was the tax incentives provided to them by the city authorities. In general, if a businessman or enterprise helps the church financially, they can really count on concessions from the authorities.

Church value added tax

At the diocesan (that is, the regional) level, the permanent income of the ROC consists of the church tax on parishes, income from the activities of the diocesan church and income from the diocesan warehouse.

Church tax on parishes is set at 20-25 percent of the turnover of a church or monastery. But it is usually paid only by "old" churches that functioned back in Soviet times. In addition, the diocesan tax is usually paid once a year. So inflation eats it up a lot. And this is not to mention the fact that parish reporting is easily falsified: on paper, prices for "requests" are understated, and income from the "circle" is often not shown at all.

The income from the activities of the diocesan council, in which the ruling bishop serves on holidays and is formally the rector, directly depends on his relations with the regional secular authorities and the business elite. In the Nizhny Novgorod region, this source of income is, apparently, the main one. Although Orthodox tourism also brings a lot of money. The flow of pilgrims and tourists to our region especially increased after the relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov were reburied with great fanfare in the Holy Diveyevo Monastery.

Disassembly in Yekaterinburg

But the most interesting type of income is from the diocesan warehouse. It is around him that real "church showdowns" arise. The fact is that the ROC recommends churches and monasteries to buy candles and other goods at a centralized warehouse, which is in every region. And here the commercial interests of the diocese clash with the interests of individual priests.

In the spring of last year, a huge scandal erupted in Yekaterinburg. The Synodal Commission "removed from their posts" two abbots of the monasteries at once. And the head of the diocese, Bishop Nikon, was reprimanded by the Holy Synod "for omissions in leadership."

The conflict was based on the division of income from the diocesan warehouse. Bishop Nikon forbade the monastic leaders to buy goods in Moscow. But at the same time, he set exorbitant prices in his warehouse. If for a pack of candles in Moscow they paid 25 thousand rubles, then in Yekaterinburg its wholesale price rose more than four times and reached 115 thousand rubles.

It is characteristic that only monasteries went into conflict with Nikon, which, in the main, burn candles themselves during numerous services. Ordinary temples simply raised retail prices for candles sold to their parishioners.

Oil dollars in a church mug

And yet the biggest money revolves at the very top of the church hierarchy. Remember Alexy II's confession about the profitability of commercial enterprises, about bank deposits and securities? So, all these ideas belong personally to the former Administrative Office, and now - to His Holiness the Patriarch. And they are realized by his protégés, who, by analogy with the new Russians, are called "new Orthodox".

Favorite brainchild of Alexy II - the group of companies "International Economic Cooperation" (MES). In the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church, she is openly called the "wet nurse". The Moscow Patriarchate was one of the founders of the MES back in 1990, shortly after the election of Alexy II as Patriarch. Currently, the Patriarchate has, according to various sources, from 20 to 40% of the MES shares.

And this group is not engaged in Orthodox activities. The basis of its activity is the sale of oil abroad on preferential terms. They say that these privileges were granted on the personal order of Yeltsin.

To understand the scale of the oil trade carried out by the Orthodox Church, it is enough to name one figure. MES's trade turnover is more than $ 2.7 billion per year.

And all these huge financial flows are controlled by people from the inner circle of Alexy II. It is known for certain that until the end of July 1999, Bishop Viktor (Pyankov) of Podolsk was the representative of the Patriarchate on the MES board of directors, to whom Alexy II entrusted the important post of chairman of the economic administration of the Moscow Patriarchate.

From diamonds to tights

Many of the most important business projects of the Patriarch are supervised by the heir of Alexy II in the position of the manager of the affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Sergius of Solnechnogorsk (Fomin). Moreover, Father Sergius is responsible for relations with the dioceses, and therefore for receiving money from them. The luxury hotel complex "Danilovsky" is subordinated to him.

But the entrepreneur Sergei Fomin entered the ratings of the influence of the Russian business elite in connection with the start of a new grandiose project. We are talking about ... the development of diamonds at the Lomonosov deposit in the Arkhangelsk region.

However, the main financial advisor to the Patriarch is not Metropolitan Sergius, but the head of Sofrina, Evgeny Parkhaev. Today he is almost the main "gray cardinal" of the Russian church. Its structure flourishes not only because it is prestigious for any parish of the Moscow Patriarchate to have utensils or vestments made in Sofrina.

The reason for the commercial success is that the company, equipped with excellent equipment, actively seeks outsourced contracts. These "non-Orthodox" orders allow the church enterprise to be independent of the ROC financially. Moreover, the business interests of the church elite often prevail over the interests of the Orthodox Church itself. For example, in the summer of 1997, due to delays in payment, Sofrino refused to publish the main church-wide organ, the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. Meanwhile, his printing machines, without stopping, were giving out hundreds of thousands of packs for women's stockings.

The Ridiger Tradition

Parkhaev diligently revives all the best traditions of church business, laid down by the young Alexei Ridiger in the early 60s. Therefore, in many of their projects, Parkhaev and the structures under his control work together with the Department for External Church Relations (DECR).

For example, on March 30 last year, the DECR press service disseminated a message that "the Russian Orthodox Church has opened a special account designed to collect voluntary donations in favor of Orthodox Christians and all Yugoslav civilians who have suffered during NATO missile and bomb strikes."

You will say that this is a good cause, and ask, what does the commercial interests of the ROC have to do with it? Elementary. The account was opened with the Russian General Bank (RSL), in which Sofrino is one of the main founders. So, attracting funds to the RSL by any means is nothing more than a simple expansion of the financial base of church business. By the way, Sofrino has a preemptive right to receive soft loans in a bank established with its own participation.

Even earlier, DECR and Sofrino had agreed on another commercial project. On October 24, 1994, they established the Sofrino trading house, the main field of activity of which was to be the jewelry trade. Moreover, all in the same best traditions of Ridiger of the early 60s, it was decided to develop its own jewelry trade not in Russia, but abroad.

There, up to two hundred parishes are subordinate to the Department of External Church Relations. Many of them are located in quite prosperous countries. A significant part of the clients are nostalgic expats. There are also wealthy parishioners from among the fans of everything Russian.

Probably, the commercial activity of the DECR will intensify even more. Since, on the eve of the 2000 meeting, with the aim of organizing an Orthodox pilgrimage to Jerusalem, this department created several unique travel companies, staffed by high-class secular specialists.

Divine Monopoly

The commercial corporation "ROC-Ltd" does not strive for fair competition. Rather, the opposite is true. The Orthodox Church is trying to become something like a natural monopoly. Church ministers of all levels vigilantly make sure that no one can earn money on anything that in some way concerns religion and God.

A typical case took place last summer in Khabarovsk. Representatives of the Khabarovsk diocese dressed in black robes came to the largest municipal store "Book World". They delivered to the store director a strict message from Vladyka himself, Bishop Mark of Khabarovsk. In this letter, Vladyka urged the store management ... to stop selling spiritual literature.

The background is as follows. At the beginning of the summer, the Book World decided that it was inconvenient for the buyer to search for books on Orthodox topics in great demand in various departments: The Life of Sergius of Radonezh - in the historical section, Treatise on the Trinity - in the philosophical, the brochure "How to behave in a cemetery" - among reference literature, and Nikolai Leskov's novel "The Enchanted Wanderer" - among fiction.

This is how a special department of spiritual literature appeared. And immediately became one of the most visited in the store. But in an interview with a local TV company, the director of "Book World" managed to blab out, naming the amount of projected profit that the store expects to receive as a result of the innovation.

"Bazaar" according to Orthodox concepts

It was then that people in black robes came with a letter from Vladyka. Bishop Mark wrote that spiritual literature has no place in a bookstore. And he argued his position by the fact that the money received from the sale of books in the store "goes to personal enrichment." While the proceeds from the sale of books in the church go "to the restoration of temples."

In connection with all of the above, Bishop Mark in a harsh manner demanded to "present" absolutely unthinkable documents to him: an agreement between the store and the Patriarchate, as well as "a license allowing the store to sell church literature." And the department, of course, should be closed.

Translated into normal language, the ecclesiastical authorities demanded that the secular authorities ask her for permission to sell books. This "translation" is not a stretch. After all, "Book World" is a municipal enterprise, that is, owned by the city of Khabarovsk and controlled by the mayor's office, the secular authorities. And the church authorities demanded that trade be coordinated with it, including the works of the classics of Russian fiction - Leskov and Shmelev.

But the most interesting thing is further. A few days later, the store received a command from the department of trade and nutrition of the administration of the Khabarovsk Territory: to close the department of spiritual literature! And that was done. So, when the commercial interests of the church are hurt, it is quite capable of defending them, "hitting" any competitor. Including state power.

Flying from shadow to light ...

For all commercial enterprises with the participation of the Moscow Patriarchate, the business acumen of the entrepreneur Ridiger is felt. Although Alexy II himself has always remained in the shadows, from behind the curtains, managing the big business under his control.

The turning point happened last year. Either the 70-year-old Patriarch himself got tired and lost his caution, or the new favorite of the Orthodox elder sunk his soul too much - we do not undertake to judge. It is only known that in the year of his anniversary, Alexy II was embroiled in a scandal. Moreover, the scandal is international. Threatening to become louder than the story of the "money laundering of the Russian mafia" in The Bank of New York.

Be that as it may, and in May 1999 on the central TV channels began to broadcast videos in which Alexy II personally urged viewers to make donations to the Russian Charitable Foundation for Reconciliation and Accord. Similar appeals from the Patriarch were published in the paid advertisements of many newspapers. The large-scale action was timed to coincide with the International Children's Day.

The patriarch called "in this difficult time" to restore "the lost unity", to look into the eyes of children, "praying for help and participation." Then there was a brief history of the foundation's three-year charitable exploits and, of course, its details.

But the loud action failed miserably. Less than a quarter of the invitees gathered for the charity marathon concert, which completed the collection of donations. And the seats in the front rows of the Column Hall of the former House of Unions were almost empty at all: none of the major Russian politicians came to the concert.

The boycott to which the capital's elite subjected the action with the participation of the Patriarch can be easily explained. By the time of its apotheosis, it was already known that the "Fund for Reconciliation and Accord" headed by Alexy II was involved in ... drug smuggling.

Patriarch in "Vertepe"

Note that the name "Fund for Reconciliation and Accord" (FPS) seemed very consonant with the times. After all, the President is none other than Boris Yeltsin declared 1999 "the year of reconciliation and harmony." So no one was surprised to learn that Alexy II had agreed to personally become the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the foundation with such a relevant name.

However, all the real work of the FPS is not carried out by a representative of the Moscow Patriarchate. The president of the fund is a purely socialite - entrepreneur Gulnaz Sotnikova. The semi-church foundation with a loud name is just the tip of the iceberg of its commercial group, which also includes the medical company Vertex, the transport and trading company Vertex-Avia and other commercial enterprises. They have such scandalous fame that their name has long been changed by journalists to "Vertep".

Through the efforts of Sotnikova, supported by the Patriarch, the FPS almost managed to obtain the status of an intermediary in the preparation of supplies from the United States of humanitarian food aid in the amount of $ 650 million. But at the last moment, the Americans refused the mediation of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Fund for Reconciliation and Accord, citing claims that the Russian tax authorities allegedly have against Sotnikova.

The events in Russia that soon followed confirmed the fears of the Americans. In those very summer days, when the Patriarch called for helping children with money through the Sotnikova Foundation, in her office on Petrovsky Boulevard, the employees of the Moscow RUBOP seized documents. Were withdrawn contracts, invoices, correspondence and other papers of the firm "Vertex".

TASS is authorized to declare ...

Russian politicians and journalists that evening openly pitied the Patriarch, saying in a whisper, they say, set up Gulya Sotnikov "grandfather Lesha" (so affectionately in the non-religious elite they call Alexy II).

But literally the next day after these events, Alexy II gave an interview to an ITAR-TASS correspondent. Most of this interview is devoted to the direct defense of Gulnaz Sotnikova, and its text is striking in its emotionality. Until then, the Patriarch had never defended anyone with such passion.

Here are the lines of that message of the ITAR-TASS agency: "Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II assessed the publications that appeared in a number of media outlets about alleged abuses in the activities of the Russian Charitable Fund for Reconciliation and consent ... He called all publications concerning both the foundation itself and its president Gulnaz Sotnikova slanderous. "

Who is this same Gulya Sotnikova, to whose defense our Patriarch no doubt rushed? And what did she do that the RUBOP decided to search her office?

Each elder has his own Dyachenko

Gulnaz Sotnikova is well known to law enforcement agencies. She is the character in at least five criminal smuggling cases. But despite such a rich biography, it is Gulnaz Ivanovna who is today the main favorite of the Patriarch.

Favoritism in the Moscow Patriarchate has its own history. Under the previous patriarch Pimen, the bright star was Nadezhda Nikolaevna Dyachenko - the wife of Archpriest Peter, priest of the Church of Ilya Obydenny, near which the Cathedral of Christ the Savior is now being built. Nadezhda Dyachenko is not a relative of Yeltsin's daughter Tatyana Dyachenko, but just a namesake. However, many of the mystically inclined priests are ready to see in the same surnames of these influential persons something more than just a coincidence.

Nadezhda Nikolaevna appeared in Chisty Pereulok, where the working residence of the Moscow patriarchs is located, in 1985, when Pimen's health deteriorated sharply. Doctors noted an exacerbation of diabetes in the elderly Patriarch against the background of the last stage of rectal cancer.

The prudent Administrator Father Alexy (future Patriarch Alexy II) assigned Dyachenko to look after the sick Pimen. At the same time, she had to solve "necessary issues" in the interests of Alexy. For her influence and closeness to Pimen, they called her the Nadezhda of All Russia and were very afraid.

Before his death, Patriarch Pimen himself changed his will, having written off a substantial part of his property to Nadezhda. The situation turned out to be so embarrassing that the new Patriarch Alexy II was forced to convene the Holy Synod. In order to disavow the will of the late Pimen, the Synod made a special closed decision that the gifts presented to the head of the Church belong not to him, as an individual, but to the organization - the Church.

Heroin for the people

Gulnaz Sotnikova appeared in Chistye in February 1996. She came to congratulate the Patriarch on the day of the angel and offered to make a film about him. But she did not come empty-handed: a blue Jaguar was brought to the Patriarch as a gift to Chisty Lane. However, the Patriarch made a beautiful reciprocal step: now this particular "Jaguar" has become the service car of Gulnaz Ivanovna herself.

Firms owned by Sotnikova were engaged in the import of consumer goods from China - the one with which wholesale markets are inundated. Gulnaz Ivanovna had enough cash, and she began to make generous donations. In return, the patriarch began to help Sotnikova settle problems with law enforcement agencies.

Cooperation between the ROC and the semi-criminal business grew and widened. It is known, for example, that the year before last, Sotnikova made a luxurious renovation at her own expense in the Patriarch's residence in Chisty Pereulok and ordered new furniture for the office of Alexy II.

Shortly thereafter, Alexy II decided to give the children at the Patriarch's Christmas tree unusual gifts - real fishing rods. Gulya, who owns her own airline, came to the rescue, too. Fully loaded Il-76 N 76457 landed before the New Year at the military airfield in Chkalovsky. The boxes with the cargo quickly ended up in the trailers, they drove onto the highway, where they were stopped and checked by the RUBOP officers.

It turned out that they mainly contain Chinese consumer goods: clothes, shoes, carpets, watches, jewelry, pens, key rings, children's toys, fake CDs. At the same time, the scale of smuggling is striking. Being absolutely sure of impunity (after all, according to the documents, she was carrying Christmas gifts from the Patriarch to children), Sotnikova stuffed a cargo plane, as they say, to capacity. The cost of Chinese consumer goods alone, according to customs officials, is $ 1.6 million. The cost of the software, which was recorded on half a thousand homemade Chinese CDs, is, according to the Association of Software Manufacturers, $ 1,978,200 (fake for Autodesk) and about $ 1 million (fake for Microsoft).

But the main surprise awaited the RUBOP employees ahead. During a detailed examination of the cargo, several caches with drugs - hashish and heroin - were found.

Russian Patriarch can become a hero of an American thriller

Through the efforts of the Patriarch, the Patriarch succeeded, if not hush up, then at least put the brakes on the story of drugs that Sotnikova was carrying "as a gift to children." But it became a pretext for new revelations against the Vertex group of firms belonging to the Sotnikov group.

Recently, the American Foreign Policy Council, an American non-governmental organization, in its Russian Reform Monitor, published information about Sotnikova's involvement in various areas of the criminal business.

Moreover, the accusations set forth in this publication are very reminiscent of the plot moves of fantastic thrillers. For example, the author of the publication, a well-known expert on Russian crime and Russian special services, Michael Waller, claims that "Moscow law enforcement agencies are convinced that Vertex is behind a large unlicensed collection of human embryo tissue obtained as a result of operations carried out in the clinic of the Moscow Institute of Biological Medicine." ...

It must be emphasized that these dire accusations have not been proven. It is only known that the Institute of Biomedicine does exist in Moscow, and that late abortions are indeed performed there. The existence of the specialized medical company "Vertex" is also a fact. There is another curious coincidence: immediately after the publication of the article by Michael Waller, the activities of the medical firm "Vertex", owned by Gulnaz Sotnikova, were "temporarily suspended".

But no one has yet been able to prove the connection between these disparate facts. And, probably, it would be premature to collect them together, if one more important fact was not obvious.

Dirty Deeds in Clean Lane

Gulnaz Ivanovna never appears in smuggling cases alone. All her characteristics begin with the indication of the position: "President of the Fund of Consent and Reconciliation, established on the initiative of the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia."

The name of Alexy II is also mentioned in a scandalous article that gives rise to a new international scandal. Its author is surprised that "a woman blessed and sponsored by the Patriarch can speculate in embryonic tissue."

It is very likely that in the near future American journalists, who have already put the phrase "Orthodox mafia" into circulation, will begin an investigation of the entire economic activity of the Russian Orthodox Church. And then the name of His Holiness will begin to appear on the criminal pages of foreign newspapers.

It seems that this will not benefit either Russia or its Patriarch.

What is the threat to Russia of holding the "Pan-Orthodox" Council in 2016?

Olga Chetverikova

At present, a Meeting of the Primates of Orthodox Churches is being held in Chambesy (Switzerland), at which the issue of holding a Pan-Orthodox Council in 2016 is being discussed.As we have repeatedly written, this Council is being held in the interests of the Patriarchate of Constantinople under the supervision of the Vatican. There is no detailed information about what is happening at this Meeting, but some specific information still comes out. Thus, on the website of the Romanian Orthodox Church, a short but remarkable message was posted about the first day of the Assembly, during which the patriarch Bartholomew allowed himself to threaten all "dissenting" Orthodox Christians:

« Noting that the Pan-Orthodox Council, even before its convocation, received the name of a “robber council” from some “defenders of Orthodoxy,” the Ecumenical Patriarch asks whose authority this determination has been made and what the canonical consequences will be in case of disobeying these decisions. The Patriarch proposed that the Council work for two weeks. He noted that the non-participation of some Churches in the work of the Ecumenical Councils did not deprive them of their status as Ecumenical. The Patriarch noted that since the Orthodox observers were at the Second Vatican Council, it is necessary to invite Catholic observers to our Council.».

In this regard, we would like to inform you that on January 13, 2016 in Moscow, in the building of the Moscow Regional Duma, a seminar-meeting was held « Spiritual security of Russia in the conditions of the ideological expansion of the West. Pan-Orthodox Council 2016» ... At the very beginning, the participants of the meeting were handed out the text of the deputy's official appeal Zininoy S.I. to the Security Council of the Russian Federation, which was sent there in mid-December. The answer should be received in the coming days, it will be published on our website.

The message reads as follows:

"Recently on a number of Greek Internet resources the text of the Memorandum was published , signed, as indicated therein, on June 25-29, 2014, and concerning cooperation in the field of politics and religion between the European Union, representatives of the Christian Churches and the governments of several states.

Memorandum lays out a specific plan complete reorganization of society and the Church, linking into a single node the electronic identification of a person, the proclamation of a new planetary religion, a new morality, a new system of education and health care. At the same time, specific dates for the implementation of these changes are indicated: from May 1, 2016 to August 16, 2020.

In the light of this document, the reasons for such a hasty preparation for the convocation in Constantinople in 2016 on the day of Holy Pentecost of the Pan-Orthodox Council become clear, at which it is planned to adopt documents aimed at a deep reform of the Orthodox Church.

Of particular concern is the fact that the Memorandum refers to abolition of national sovereignty and the creation of Federated States to be accepted by Christian churches. This could be perceived as a kind of unrealistic project if a number of the provisions specified in the Memorandum had not already begun to be implemented in many countries, in particular, the electronic identification of citizens of the EU and Russia, the acceptance of homosexual marriages, the merger of hospitals and the creation of multinational centers, etc. ...

Due to the fact that on the Russian side this Memorandum is signed by the Metropolitan of Volokolamsk Ilariona (Alfeeva), the citizens of Russia are asking for clarification on what basis the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate takes upon himself the solution of issues concerning the entire Russian state, moreover, related to the plans abolition of national sovereignty?

The activity that Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) has been carrying out in recent years has caused extreme concern and bewilderment among Russian citizens, since, as the head of the Department for External Church Relations (DECR), he takes on the performance of those functions that are characteristic of state authorities. The DECR has long been pursuing its own policy, its own foreign policy, which is inconsistent with the course of the Russian state, which was especially clearly manifested in the spring of 2014 during the acute crisis in Ukraine.

It was when the fate of Crimea was being decided that the DECR organized a trip for a delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate to the Pan-Orthodox Conference of Primates and Representatives of 13 Local Orthodox Churches in Istanbul, the capital of a NATO member state, whose government openly announced that Crimea was part of Ukraine. The meeting in Istanbul was held under the dictation of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, who closely cooperates with the American leadership and recognizes the papal primacy in the Christian Church.

The following visits and meetings of Metropolitan Hilarion with statesmen of foreign countries caused the utmost concern of the citizens of Russia, given that church leaders of his level possess certain confidential information about Russian public figures:

- in December 2007, a meeting at the Jesuit Georgetown University with representatives of the US Department of State and the administration of the US Vice President J. Cheney;
- in February 2011, during a visit to the United States and a visit to the US National Security Council, a meeting with a special assistantPresident of the United States, Senior Director of the National Security Service for Russia and Eurasia Michael McFaul;
- in September 2014, a meeting with the newly appointed US Ambassador to Russia John F. Tefft, during which the situation in Ukraine and the Middle East was discussed.

During 2015, a number of meetings were held with the participation of Metropolitan Hilarion and representatives of the Orthodox Churches, at which the documents were finalized to be adopted at the Pan-Orthodox Council in Istanbul in the spring of 2016. If adopted, a serious blow to the spiritual sovereignty of the Russian state will be dealt representing the backbone of its national security.

In connection with these events, we ask you to check whether thesaid Memorandum and in case of confirmation of the fact of its signing, take appropriate measures aimed at ensuring the national security of our state in the context of the extreme aggravation of the situation in the Middle East, which has intensified due to the irresponsible policy of the Turkish authorities. "

After that, the seminar began its work, during which its participants discussed the issue of the upcoming Pan-Orthodox Council in 2016, speaking unanimously about the inadmissibility of holding this event due to the fact that it will deal a strong blow to the spiritual security of our state, which is fraught with the most serious consequences. Following the discussion, an Appeal was adopted, which was sent to the President of the Russian Federation, the Chairman of the Government, the Chairman of the Federation Council, the Chairman of the State Duma and the leaders of the leading factions. The Address says the following:
In the context of an extremely aggravated international tension, the issue of the upcoming Pan-Orthodox Council in 2016, which until recently was scheduled to be held in Istanbul, should be viewed not as an internal church, but as political question... Since it concerns the spiritual sovereignty of our state, and this sovereignty is the core of the national security system, its geopolitical significance came to the fore.

Currently, the Western intelligence services are waging a war against Russia in the economic, financial, and political spheres, but the main attention is paid to the ideological war, which takes place in the form of information-psychological and behavioral wars.

A particularly important role is played by religious institutions and their leaders, which are used as political instruments that work to undermine Russia's national security. First of all, we are talking about Vatican, his orders and special services, and about the Patriarchate of Constantinople, whose extreme dependence on the Turkish authorities, on the Vatican and the US leadership make him an obedient conductor of the policy of ideological decay of Orthodoxy through the introduction of the heresy of ecumenism.

The goal of the Vatican is to achieve the transfer of Orthodoxy under the control of the Pope and his institutions through the implementation of the union, both formal and informal. The Patriarchate of Constantinople, already recognizing, in fact, the primacy of the Pope and defending the idea of ​​its primacy in Orthodoxy, according to the plan of the special services, should introduce the ROC MP into the orbit of the Vatican's influence through "interreligious dialogue" subversive (which was well shown by the events in Ukraine). It is aimed at transferring Orthodox citizens of Russia (and we are talking about tens of millions of people) under the spiritual authority of the center that is outside of Russia and hostile to Russia - this is the center of supranational ecumenical power, where the Patriarchate of Constantinople has already been integrated.

The Council is planned by the Patriarchate of Constantinople as the final stage of the "interreligious dialogue". We know its agenda, the order of representation and the procedure for making decisions - through consensus, according to which the council must come only to approve decisions that have already been agreed upon in advance. The purpose of the council is also known from the speech of Patriarch Bartholomew, who pointed out the need for an appropriate officially established regulatory body (supranational synodality), which should approve ecumenism as the official doctrine of the Orthodox Church.

That is why all preparations for the cathedral and its documents are being prepared. secretly, behind closed doors, without lighting what is happening. The citizens of Russia, aware of the negative consequences of ecumenical activity in relation to the state sovereignty of the country, have repeatedly expressed their disagreement and warned about the danger of this council, which is an instrument of ideological sabotage and subversive activities of the Western special services. However, even the war in the Middle East and the aggravation of relations with Turkey did not change the situation, calling into question only the location of the council.

In connection with the above, we emphasize once again that the question of a Pan-Orthodox Council is not a question of internal church life, it concerns the foundations of the spiritual life of the entire Russian society, and therefore is connected with the security of our state and its citizens. We consider any attempts to present Orthodox citizens speaking from these positions as outcasts, schismatics and extremists inadmissible and working to undermine the foundations of Russian statehood.

We, citizens of Russia, appeal to the state authorities of our country:

1. Put an end to enemy attempts to use our Church in dirty international political games and prevent the holding of a Pan-Orthodox Council, which could become a detonator of the collapse of the state;

2. In the event that the All-sent Council in 2016 is held, prevent the participation of the delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church in holding the council;

3. To stop any participation of representatives of the ROC in international pre-council meetings, as they contribute to the preliminary adoption of decisions by the council;

4. Initiate the exit of the ROC from the World Council of Churches, as an ecumenical organization whose activities are aimed at the destruction of traditional religions and traditional statehood;

5. Ensure at the legislative level the protection of the fundamental rights of citizens from ideological, ideological and technological expansion;

6. Stop manifestations of anti-church extremism, which often go unpunished (as in the cases with the organizers of the blasphemous exhibition in the Manezh in August 2015 and the blasphemous opera Tannhäuser) and radically suppress the return to the practice of using punitive psychiatry against those who are trying to protect moral foundations and spiritual values ​​of society in conditions of self-elimination of the state from solving these problems.

To date, 7,300 signatures have been collected from people who oppose the holding of the Pan-Orthodox Council and the participation of the delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church in it. We hope that the hierarchy will hear the voice of the children of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Zinina Svetlana Ivanovna - Deputy of the Moscow Regional Duma
Sivkov Konstantin Valentinovich- Doctor of Military Sciences, Chairman of the Union of Geopolitics
Sokolov Konstantin Nikolaevich- Corresponding member of RAEN, expert on geopolitics
Olga N. Chetverikova- Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor of MGIMO, Member of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems
Tsareva Galina Ivanovna- Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, member of the Union of Journalists, director
Myamlin Kirill Evgenievich- Director of the Institute of High Communitarianism
Podoprosvetov Vladimir Vasilievich- a priest
Kurylev Vladimir Mikhailovich- Doctor of Philosophy, Academician of the International Academy of Sciences
Strashinsky Alexander Nikolaevich- Chairman of the Chelyabinsk branch "Orthodox Russia"
Kurbatov Andrey Vsevolodovich- Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences
Petrunya Oleg Eduardovich- Candidate of Philosophical Sciences
Sinitsyn Alexey Petrovich- Chairman of the Smolensk parental movement
Pashchenko Valentina Mikhailovna- Chairman of the Voronezh Parental Movement
Sutormin Valery Valerievich- Head of the Spiritual Security Service
Yatskova Valentina Gennadievna- Chairman of the Cheboksary Committee "No to electronic documents"
Zakharova Valentina Viktorovna- Co-chairman of the Ryazan movement "People's Cathedral"
Vasily Balashov- publicist, human rights activist
Simonova Galina Nikolaevna- Honored actress of Russia
Zamansky Vladimir Petrovich- People's Artist of the USSR, laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation

Please send your answer to:

Moscow Regional Duma, 129063, Moscow, Prospect Mira, 72 to the deputy Zinina S.I.

We ask you to come to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior during the Bishops' Council on February 2, 3, 2016 and take part in the distribution of this appeal to the bishops.

Let us recall that we have already repeatedly written that the origins of the idea of ​​a Pan-Orthodox Council under the leadership of the Patriarchate of Constantinople are in the papacy, that the essence of the Vatican's ecumenical policy is to achieve the transfer of Orthodoxy under the control of the Pope and his institutions. That is, we are talking about a new kind of union - union informal ... Such a union was concluded with the Patriarch of Constantinople Athenagoras, a zealous ecumenist, Freemason, in 1965 by signing the Declaration on the Abolition of the Anathema of 1054.

As a result, the patriarch not only declared the Catholic Church "sister", but also included the pope in the diptych of the Patriarchate of Constantinople: the pope became "The first bishop of Christianity", and the patriarch - “ his second brother". In 1967, Patriarch Athenagoras concelebrated with the Pope in a Roman cathedral St. Peter.

Thus, the Patriarchate of Constantinople recognized Orthodoxy as heretics and, avoiding the formal acceptance of papal primacy, actually accepted it. In the end, the declaration of mutual forgiveness turned out to be a more effective means of "unity" than formal union, since it eliminated the need to resolve theological contradictions by simply abstracting from them. This purely Jesuit method became a model for the introduction of other Orthodox churches into the fold of Catholicism. This mission is carried out by the Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew who, while remaining “his own” in the Orthodox world, is a conductor of ideas alien to this world. He must approve in Orthodoxy borrowed from papism idea about the visible head of the Orthodox Church with special power prerogatives, to put it under the control of the pontiff, whose supremacy he is ready to recognize even formally (the norm for him are joint prayers with the pope and participation in divine services).

It is from this main fact that they want to divert our attention. .

In accordance with the teachings of the theologians of Constantinople, if the Patriarch of Constantinople, being a bishop, is "the first among equals", then, as the archbishop of Constantinople, he is "the first hierarch without equals". Accordingly, the primacy of the See of Constantinople is understood as a specific institution with specific powers and is embodied in the personality of the patriarch, who has special privileges, such as, for example, granting or taking away autocephaly.

It is significant that one of the leading ideologists of this concept, Archimandrite Lambriniadis presented it shortly before the meeting in Istanbul on March 6-9, 2014, at which Patriarch Bartholomew called upon the heads of Orthodox churches to gather. So everyone knew where they were going and who they were going to.

Indeed, the entire Istanbul meeting was held under the dictation of Patriarch Bartholomew: he appointed when and where to meet, the procedure for representation, the procedure for making decisions by consensus, and he outlined the scope of his powers - against which no one spoke out.

As we were told, the main result of the meeting was the general agreement on holding a Pan-Orthodox Council in 2016 under the chairmanship of the Patriarch of Constantinople and that decisions at the Council will be made not by vote, but by consensus (by unanimous expression of will). Moreover, each delegation will have one vote and express the common opinion of all its episcopate, clergy and believing people.

But this means that the rules and agenda of the Sobor, the principles of its formation, the minutes of its services and meetings, and the drafts of the main conciliar documents should be pre-agreed by all Local Churches. The decisions taken by consensus are known in advance. That is, the delegation (one vote) must come to the Council in order to simply approve the decisions with which everyone already agrees, since they are reconciled .

However, having focused our attention on technical, procedural issues, we were not told around what, who and with whom everyone will be reconciled. However, this clearly follows from the speech of Patriarch Bartholomew himself.

At first, he pointed to a great experience ecumenical - "pan-Orthodox" activity the last 50 years (starting with Athenagoras), as a result of which “ matured the decisions adopted by all Orthodox, on the issue relations with non-Orthodox... For all Orthodox Churches, these decrees were considered as obligatory that should be implemented as "internal law" of each of them».

Secondly, he expressed dissatisfaction that autocephalous churches often behave as self-sufficient churches - developing their own position regarding non-Orthodox. Resolutions adopted "pan-Orthodox", that is canonical norms , some churches were not observed, despite the fact that they themselves signed them. Such Churches act on their own accord, developing their own position in relation to non-Orthodox, allowing « illegal criticism " established regulations.

"Only It is fitting for the Ecumenical Councils to challenge these decrees... In some Churches, the church authorities are patient with such phenomena ... But council decrees must be recognized by everyone, for only in this way is the unity of the Church preserved. "

Third, he concluded: “ All this reveals the need for by some [regulating]organ established officially or unofficially, which would solve all the differences and problems that arise in order to avoid divisions and strife ... We must develop the consciousness of the unity of the Orthodox Church, and this can only be achieved through synodality... It's time to give preference for unity: both within each Church and between the Churches ".

That is a new supranational a regulatory body (synod) that will raise everyone to perfect unity - this body should be the Pan-Orthodox Council of 2016, after which, as we have been given to understand, other councils may follow.

Thus, for 50 years some ( unknown to us ) ecumenical documents of a binding nature, which can be changed only at the Pan-Orthodox Council, and now this needs to be consolidated and make ecumenism a law, it would be a crime to object. This is the main outcome of the Istanbul meeting. The purpose of the Council is to become the appropriate body to legitimize the heresy of ecumenism .

After Istanbul, the Russian Orthodox community has repeatedly expressed its concern over the preparations for the Pan-Orthodox Conference, but its appeals on this topic have not been answered. And the corresponding work continues as before - behind closed doors, secretly, without coverage of what is happening.
Since the religious institutions of the West are used today as a political instrument in order to destabilize and destroy our state, the question of “ interfaith dialogue", The solution of which is possible only within the framework of the state approach aimed at ensuring the national security of the country.
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