Cui bono? Cui prodest?

Dear friends! There are countries - Russia, Serbia, Georgia - for them Orthodoxy has never been just a word, it has always been important, significant, from a historical, cultural, and doctrinal point of view.
There are still many Orthodox Christians, they still exist. For many people, faith remains important today. And now we will talk a little bit about how the Orthodox Church is organized, as well as about what our enemies are up to.
Unlike the Roman Catholic Church, where everything is subordinated to one center, there is no such center in Orthodoxy. There is no single head in Orthodoxy (except Jesus Christ). And the bishop of the Serbian Church or the bishop from Antioch are equal to each other, just as the Russian or Romanian bishop is equal to them. The place in the diptych is a tribute to the history and those chairs that were founded by the apostles at one time. But there are those who do not think so.
The first in the diptych of local churches is the Ecumenical Patriarchate, aka Constantinople, aka the "Istanbul pope", aka the official who receives his salary in Turkey.
The Patriarchate of Constantinople is one of the ancient churches. However, this is not apostolic. Its rise is connected with politics.
Yet it was only at the very beginning of the XX century that the Ottoman Empire collapsed. During the XIX-XX centuries, its parts left the subordination of the Patriarch of Constantinople. The first among equals became the first without parishes, without temples, without monasteries… It couldn't go on like this anymore.
And Byzantium struck its "blow". For the last hundred years Constantinople has been constantly promoting the idea of its own primacy. Starting from Patriarch Meletius (who managed to lead three local churches consecutively), through the ideas of Metropolitan John Zizioulas, and up to the crystallization in Metropolitan Elpidophor's views, Constantinople is trying to prove that the head of Orthodoxy is the Patriarch of Constantinople.
Let's note only the most recent events – this is the tomos of autocephaly received by Ukrainian schismatics. What is his problem? It's not even that Jesus Christ is named only the Founder of the Church (even Rome did not claim this), but something else is important:
"The Autocephalous Church of Ukraine recognizes the Holy Apostolic and Patriarchal Ecumenical Throne as the head (κεφαλὴν), like other patriarchs and primates."
Yes. Right. Any Local Church that accepts this document renounces the Orthodox understanding of the Church and recognizes Constantinople as the main one.
Compare with the tomos on the autocephaly of the Serbian Church:
We have determined that the Orthodox Church of the Serbian Principality... From that time on, it will be canonically independent, independent and self-governing, the head of which, like the entire Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church, will be the God-Man Himself, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and which will have and recognize its Archbishop of Belgrade and Metropolitan of Serbia as the primate in church affairs; and he, together with the synod, composed according to the holy canons of the bishops of this ecclesiastical region, must manage the ecclesiastical affairs of the principality freely and independently of any outside interference, in the Holy Spirit, as commanded by the divine and holy canons.
Let's look at it from a practical point of view - and take just one aspect – this is church diplomacy. This is the influence of the bishops on what is happening. These are the words from the pulpit – and imagine how everything would be different if the church in Ukraine was for Russia... Could this really be allowed?

Will the West, with the hands of a tame "intergalactic" patriarch, try to tear off more pieces from the Church, trying to quarrel the peoples, acting on the principle of "divide and rule"? Yes. Will be. And believe me, he will stop at nothing. And he will strike more and more blows at all new local churches that still remain faithful to the Fatherly Tradition and Truth.
Our aim is to hold fast to the Truth.

www.tgoop.com/cuiprodestbono/6

226 viewsedited  Dec 7 at 13:15

Dear friends! There are countries - Russia, Serbia, Georgia - for them Orthodoxy has never been just a word, it has always been important, significant, from a historical, cultural, and doctrinal point of view.
There are still many Orthodox Christians, they still exist. For many people, faith remains important today. And now we will talk a little bit about how the Orthodox Church is organized, as well as about what our enemies are up to.
Unlike the Roman Catholic Church, where everything is subordinated to one center, there is no such center in Orthodoxy. There is no single head in Orthodoxy (except Jesus Christ). And the bishop of the Serbian Church or the bishop from Antioch are equal to each other, just as the Russian or Romanian bishop is equal to them. The place in the diptych is a tribute to the history and those chairs that were founded by the apostles at one time. But there are those who do not think so.
The first in the diptych of local churches is the Ecumenical Patriarchate, aka Constantinople, aka the "Istanbul pope", aka the official who receives his salary in Turkey.
The Patriarchate of Constantinople is one of the ancient churches. However, this is not apostolic. Its rise is connected with politics.
Yet it was only at the very beginning of the XX century that the Ottoman Empire collapsed. During the XIX-XX centuries, its parts left the subordination of the Patriarch of Constantinople. The first among equals became the first without parishes, without temples, without monasteries… It couldn't go on like this anymore.
And Byzantium struck its "blow". For the last hundred years Constantinople has been constantly promoting the idea of its own primacy. Starting from Patriarch Meletius (who managed to lead three local churches consecutively), through the ideas of Metropolitan John Zizioulas, and up to the crystallization in Metropolitan Elpidophor's views, Constantinople is trying to prove that the head of Orthodoxy is the Patriarch of Constantinople.
Let's note only the most recent events – this is the tomos of autocephaly received by Ukrainian schismatics. What is his problem? It's not even that Jesus Christ is named only the Founder of the Church (even Rome did not claim this), but something else is important:
"The Autocephalous Church of Ukraine recognizes the Holy Apostolic and Patriarchal Ecumenical Throne as the head (κεφαλὴν), like other patriarchs and primates."
Yes. Right. Any Local Church that accepts this document renounces the Orthodox understanding of the Church and recognizes Constantinople as the main one.
Compare with the tomos on the autocephaly of the Serbian Church:
We have determined that the Orthodox Church of the Serbian Principality... From that time on, it will be canonically independent, independent and self-governing, the head of which, like the entire Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church, will be the God-Man Himself, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and which will have and recognize its Archbishop of Belgrade and Metropolitan of Serbia as the primate in church affairs; and he, together with the synod, composed according to the holy canons of the bishops of this ecclesiastical region, must manage the ecclesiastical affairs of the principality freely and independently of any outside interference, in the Holy Spirit, as commanded by the divine and holy canons.
Let's look at it from a practical point of view - and take just one aspect – this is church diplomacy. This is the influence of the bishops on what is happening. These are the words from the pulpit – and imagine how everything would be different if the church in Ukraine was for Russia... Could this really be allowed?

Will the West, with the hands of a tame "intergalactic" patriarch, try to tear off more pieces from the Church, trying to quarrel the peoples, acting on the principle of "divide and rule"? Yes. Will be. And believe me, he will stop at nothing. And he will strike more and more blows at all new local churches that still remain faithful to the Fatherly Tradition and Truth.
Our aim is to hold fast to the Truth.

BY Cui bono? Cui prodest?