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 <title>open Democracy News Analysis - Religion - Comments</title>
 <link>http://www.opendemocracy.net/russia-categories/religion</link>
 <description>Comments for &quot;Religion&quot;</description>
 <language>en</language>
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 <title>BыДpA on &quot;Following the cross: a journey with Russian pilgrims&quot;</title>
 <link>http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/russia-theme/following-the-cross-a-journey-with-russian-pilgrims#comment-517233</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;Ого! Благодарю! Теперь на день есть работа! :)&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:51:16 +0000</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>BыДpA</dc:creator>
 <guid isPermaLink="false">comment 517233 at http://www.opendemocracy.net</guid>
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 <title>CATAHИCT on &quot;Following the cross: a journey with Russian pilgrims&quot;</title>
 <link>http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/russia-theme/following-the-cross-a-journey-with-russian-pilgrims#comment-516859</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;Я никогда не сомневался в Вашем интеллектуальном уровне, но поймите, не все такие как Вы. :)&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:38:31 +0000</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>CATAHИCT</dc:creator>
 <guid isPermaLink="false">comment 516859 at http://www.opendemocracy.net</guid>
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 <title>Beckham on &quot;Remembering Aleksii II Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia 1990-2008&quot;</title>
 <link>http://www.opendemocracy.net/Russia/article/Remembering-Aleksii-II-Patriarch-of-Moscow-and-All-Russia#comment-512787</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;Оформление зачет :) Сами дизайн делали или тему стандартную ставили?&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <pubDate>Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:55:30 +0000</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>Beckham</dc:creator>
 <guid isPermaLink="false">comment 512787 at http://www.opendemocracy.net</guid>
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 <title>Бaбoчкa on &quot;Following the cross: a journey with Russian pilgrims&quot;</title>
 <link>http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/russia-theme/following-the-cross-a-journey-with-russian-pilgrims#comment-510214</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;Прикольно и полезно, а будет еще что-то из этой же серии?&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <pubDate>Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:47:20 +0000</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>Бaбoчкa</dc:creator>
 <guid isPermaLink="false">comment 510214 at http://www.opendemocracy.net</guid>
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 <title>лякa on &quot;Following the cross: a journey with Russian pilgrims&quot;</title>
 <link>http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/russia-theme/following-the-cross-a-journey-with-russian-pilgrims#comment-506063</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;А что Вы скажете, если я возьму на себя смелость утверждать, что все Ваши посты, не более чем выдумка?&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <pubDate>Wed, 27 May 2009 04:51:31 +0000</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>лякa</dc:creator>
 <guid isPermaLink="false">comment 506063 at http://www.opendemocracy.net</guid>
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 <title>BыДpA on &quot;Remembering Aleksii II Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia 1990-2008&quot;</title>
 <link>http://www.opendemocracy.net/Russia/article/Remembering-Aleksii-II-Patriarch-of-Moscow-and-All-Russia#comment-505902</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;Согласен конечно :)  Для меня это как раз очень актуально :)&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <pubDate>Sun, 24 May 2009 09:32:48 +0000</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>BыДpA</dc:creator>
 <guid isPermaLink="false">comment 505902 at http://www.opendemocracy.net</guid>
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 <title>Семен on &quot;Following the cross: a journey with Russian pilgrims&quot;</title>
 <link>http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/russia-theme/following-the-cross-a-journey-with-russian-pilgrims#comment-505864</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;Можно и подискутировать по этому поводу ... :)&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <pubDate>Sat, 23 May 2009 04:33:21 +0000</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>Семен</dc:creator>
 <guid isPermaLink="false">comment 505864 at http://www.opendemocracy.net</guid>
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 <title>Stevenlacey on &quot;Who controls Russian Orthodoxy in Britain?&quot;</title>
 <link>http://www.opendemocracy.net/russia/article/email/who-controls-russian-orthodoxy-in-britain#comment-501824</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;
Think it is interesting that the author Xenia Dennen is chairwomen of the Keston Institute. This institute has a very set agenda against Russian Orthodoxy. The best place to find more information about this is on
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
 &lt;a href=&quot;http://viewpointrussia.blogspot.com/&quot;&gt;http://viewpointrussia.blogspot.com/&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&amp;#160;
&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <pubDate>Thu, 09 Apr 2009 11:01:09 +0000</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>Stevenlacey</dc:creator>
 <guid isPermaLink="false">comment 501824 at http://www.opendemocracy.net</guid>
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 <title>The Unknown on &quot;Who controls Russian Orthodoxy in Britain?&quot;</title>
 <link>http://www.opendemocracy.net/russia/article/email/who-controls-russian-orthodoxy-in-britain#comment-501352</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;I see nothing wrong if The Russians wish to implement their cultural traditions within the Diocese of Sourozh, after all it is called The &quot;RUSSIAN&quot; Orthodox Church. And this is the same with all national orthodox churches such as: The Egyptian, The Armenian, The Ethiopian, The Greek, The Serbian, The Syrian, etc,, if you attend their liturgies they are all done in their cultural and traditional way.&lt;br /&gt;
The Russians have not been selfish with their way of Orthodoxy at Ennismore Gardens in London SW7 as the english language is still used throughout parts of the liturgy, and at certain times the angelic choir sing some of their hymns in english, this is a sign that although traditionally it is a &quot;RUSSIAN&quot; Orthodox Church &quot;ALL&quot; nations are welcome,, which is still the case today as people of different nations still visit The Russian Orthodox Church in Ennismore Gardens London SW7 and are not made to feel uncomfortable at any time but are fully welcomed..&lt;br /&gt;
For those who are looking for a purely Briitish way of Orthodoxy, there are a few Brtish Orthodox churches within London and the U.K. (which can be found with research) that i am sure they will be welcome to attend.. &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;And as for the rubbish about women wearing head scarfs in church look like muslims, well that is totally ridiculous.. If you read the scripture written by St Paul in 1st Corinthians Chapter 11 he indicates that women should pray with their head covered and men should pray with their head uncovered, and he tells us to remember him in all things and to keep the ordinances as he delivers them to us,&lt;br /&gt;
This is Church Tradition..&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <pubDate>Mon, 06 Apr 2009 15:59:58 +0000</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>The Unknown</dc:creator>
 <guid isPermaLink="false">comment 501352 at http://www.opendemocracy.net</guid>
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 <title>Steven Lacey on &quot;Who controls Russian Orthodoxy in Britain?&quot;</title>
 <link>http://www.opendemocracy.net/russia/article/email/who-controls-russian-orthodoxy-in-britain#comment-499196</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;I am an English member of the Russian church and as such would like to put the record straight&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Russia church in London is multi ethnic church&lt;br /&gt;
Far from being the home of just Russians. The Russian church in Knightsbridge is multi - ethnic: containing Americans,  Arminians,  Beleruusians Estonians,  English, French, Latvians, Lithuanians, Polish, Greek and Irish. This is despite the split.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;A closed church&lt;br /&gt;
The Russian church in London is not a closed church it is open to everyone. People are free to express their views openly&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;A move away from &#039;Liberal autocracy&#039;&lt;br /&gt;
Despite Bishop Basil supporters claiming that they are &#039;open&#039;, the truth of the matter is that the reverse was often the case. The church under Bishop Basil was ruled by an iron fist, a priest were banned from church, members of the Parish council were banned from meetings, public meeting were cancelled and not allowed to happen. This was not a democratic church. The group around Bishop Basil were often refereed to as the &#039;orthodox Taliban&#039;: as anyone who disagreed with their stand point was harshly treated.  &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;A club for the boys&lt;br /&gt;
The Russian church under Bishop Basil was run as a closed club, those that disagreed with the club were ostracised. The club was essentially made up of &#039;middle class&#039; English academics who loved the over intellectualise religious thought, those who were not as academically gifted and could not speak with an oxford twang were ignored and treated like idiots.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Lack of cultural understanding bordering on Xenophobia and racism&lt;br /&gt;
Those around Bishop Basil showed a real lack of understanding for people that are not English e.g. referring to people as &#039;new Russians&#039;: when this is a term for Russian oligarches, one must consider that most of the congregation are poor immigrants from ex USSR(a large majority of which are not even Russian) - who need help not condemnation,  this group often referenced women in head scarves as those that look like Muslims - these are the kind of comments that you would expect to find BNP literature, not comments made by Christian people&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;A question of spin&lt;br /&gt;
Not sure if Bishop Basil and his supporters have a &#039;spin doctor&#039;? But at times it feels like it. These guys are the masters of &#039;black PR&#039;, everything is dressed up like we are still in the &#039;cold war&#039;: everyone is KGB, everything is run by oligarches, false rumours such as everyone will be forced to wear head scarves, English will be banned, women won&#039;t be able to wear trousers etc was regularly spread around the church.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Political cronyism&lt;br /&gt;
Bishop Basil and his supporters are very well connected to the &#039;English establishment&#039;. I think it is amazing that Liberal MPs are taking up their cause especially when you consider that one of Bishop Basil parish councilors is the aunty of Nick Clegg - cronyism - you make up your own mind?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Destroying the memory of Metropolitan Anthony&lt;br /&gt;
Bishop Basil supporters claim they are upholding the memory of Metropolitan Anthony. Yet Metropolitan Anthony did not believe that the Parish Exarch(which Bishop Basil and his supporters joined) should exist.  So by joining this organisation they are going against Metropolitan Anthony&#039;s wishes.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So what was the row about?&lt;br /&gt;
The row was orchestrated by a handful of Bishop Basil supporters who were members of the parish council - this group ruled by fear and believed that their power base on the parish council was under threat, due to the wave of new immigration. Rather than face a vote at the parish council elections they decided to take matters into their own hands and planned a split that has caused immense pain to a large number of the orthodox faithful within the U.K.&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <pubDate>Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:31:29 +0000</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>Steven Lacey</dc:creator>
 <guid isPermaLink="false">comment 499196 at http://www.opendemocracy.net</guid>
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<item>
 <title>ianniscarras on &quot;Who controls Russian Orthodoxy in Britain?&quot;</title>
 <link>http://www.opendemocracy.net/russia/article/email/who-controls-russian-orthodoxy-in-britain#comment-497421</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;
In fact the British Court system has found itself at the centre of an argument about the future of Orthdoxy not only in Britain but all over the world.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
For on the one hand there are those Orthodox that believe their religion should be open to others and integrated into the societies in which they live, while on the other are arrayed those who consider Orthodoxy to be an extension of nationality, and therefore that Orthodox communities overseas should serve as tools for the foreign policy goals of their respective states. This split is visible not only in Russian Orthodoxy but also in many other Patriarchates. That is the crux of the religious question.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
The related legal question is about the rules governing the Diocese of Sourozh as established during the Cold War under British law. If there is any country in the world however that has a reputation for following the law without political interference it is Britain. It would be astonishing if in such a case Britain were to waver from this its longest held tradition.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
I.C.
&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <pubDate>Wed, 18 Mar 2009 20:36:47 +0000</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>ianniscarras</dc:creator>
 <guid isPermaLink="false">comment 497421 at http://www.opendemocracy.net</guid>
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 <title>Alar OIljum on &quot;Remembering Aleksii II Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia 1990-2008&quot;</title>
 <link>http://www.opendemocracy.net/Russia/article/Remembering-Aleksii-II-Patriarch-of-Moscow-and-All-Russia#comment-485887</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;Thanks for recalling Alexei&#039;s Estonian roots. I must however object to your repetition of the big lie that Estonia was &quot;liberated&quot; in 1944. I must also disagree - at least as far as Estonia is concerned - with your contention that &quot;Nationalist aspirations threatened schisms amongst Orthodox  faithful in ... the Baltic states.&quot; What happened in Estonia was a legal restitution of the property of the Estonian Orthodox church (aligned with Constantinople) that had been illegally seized by Stalin when he ordered the incorporation of the Estonian Church with the Moscow patriarchate. This had less to do with nationalism and more to do with justice being done.&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <pubDate>Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:24:20 +0000</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>Alar OIljum</dc:creator>
 <guid isPermaLink="false">comment 485887 at http://www.opendemocracy.net</guid>
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 <title>Antonia77 on &quot;The Grannies who baptised Russia&quot;</title>
 <link>http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/russia-theme/the-grannies-who-baptised-russia#comment-479071</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;Thank-you, Marina. This is a beautiful account for anyone keeping a hope in their heart in the face of hostile repression.&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <pubDate>Fri, 24 Oct 2008 18:34:58 +0000</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>Antonia77</dc:creator>
 <guid isPermaLink="false">comment 479071 at http://www.opendemocracy.net</guid>
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 <title>Thomas Ash on &quot;Following the cross: a journey with Russian pilgrims&quot;</title>
 <link>http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/russia-theme/following-the-cross-a-journey-with-russian-pilgrims#comment-479048</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;Beautifully written piece. The link explaining the Romanov murders doesn&amp;#39;t work, though.&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <pubDate>Fri, 24 Oct 2008 12:15:00 +0000</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>Thomas Ash</dc:creator>
 <guid isPermaLink="false">comment 479048 at http://www.opendemocracy.net</guid>
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 <title>Not logged in on &quot;The Grannies who baptised Russia&quot;</title>
 <link>http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/russia-theme/the-grannies-who-baptised-russia#comment-478945</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;Russians do not have faith, they have penance.&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
 <pubDate>Thu, 23 Oct 2008 13:04:26 +0000</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>Not logged in</dc:creator>
 <guid isPermaLink="false">comment 478945 at http://www.opendemocracy.net</guid>
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