How & Why Does the Russian Church Support the War?
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- čas přidán 28. 01. 2024
- Sister Vassa shares her paper, The Role of the ROC in the War Against Ukraine, first presented at the University of Exeter on Jan 17, 2024. For more info on the upcoming conference in Chicago, see: coffeewithsistervassa.com/events/.
Thank you for opening the eyes of the church to the power of the church….may we be Orthodox first and citizens here lastly 🙏🏼😇May all true churches and Christians come together in unity’s sake…as He desires us to be one family
Thank you, Sister. From my perspective, orthodox Christianity has always been and must always be the path of love and charity.
Always been? What do you even know about the history of the Church?
I am an American Protestant and this helped me understand this whole situation better. Thank you!
Sister Vassa do you have to say anything about persecutions of of orthodox Christians in Ukraine by Zelensky's regime and the so called OCU ?
No, i don't work for the Putin regime and do not busy myself with blaming the victim of its military aggression.
@@VassaLarinO.k. but the victim even if he is innocent (who now is not) has no right to produce other victims within his own country. You sister Vassa seem to have a lot of western friends and contacts. Will you ask them to help to re-open and restore normal monastic life in the most holy Kiyv's Petserskaya Lavra and stop persecutions of monks?
R.I.P. Alexei Navalny 🖐
@@VassaLarinгениально. Двойные стандарты...
@@Anna_Panferova After Alexei Navalny you still want to talk about double standards?
Thank you Sister. This is such a masterpiece of history, and present truth. And yes, their is hope here. Since God will and does sustain and save The Church. God bless you Sister. Some of my family have left Ukraine, and are in Slovakia and Switzerland. xoxo
Dear Sr Vassa. Thank you so much for this fearless and truthful video. I am almost at the point of Chrismation and the sad events in the Moscow Patriarchate has really been a stumbling block for me. I have asked what I should do and I've had non-committal or evasive replies from those I have asked and to hear someone like you come out directly and speaking the truth is extremely encouraging. Thank you and God Bless 🙂
Sister, you encourage my heart with your courage, your wit, and your faith. Lord, have mercy.
I will always love you.Thank you! ☦☦☦
Thank you, Sister!
Thank you so much Sister for your deep research and the great lecture! God bless you!
Very sad. Now it seems that the Orthodox Church is undergoing many tests. Let us hope in God's mercy. I still hope for peace. There is still time! Greetings from Romania!
Thank you Sister Vassa
Jesus stands for peace no matter the country
"Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword."
@@Qvadratus. And the sword would go for the sword of the Truth separating good from evil within your heart.
Thank you, Sister Vassa, for everything you have been doing to stand against the Russian Invasion of Ukrainian. Because you are a Russian Orthodox nun, your testimony is very powerful. I have watched a number of your programs, especially those which are against Putin and Kirill’s war. God bless you. I pray for you and your guests. I know how difficult all of this is for true-believing Russian Orthodox. Of course, I pray for the people of Ukraine, but I also pray for the people of Russia. They deserve to have a Church that actually preaches and lives Orthodox Christianity! They deserve to finally become free, rather than be slaves of various autocratic regimes. The many peoples of the Russian “Federation” also deserve to be free. May the Lord guide all of us with Divine Wisdom, because we live in very dangerous times.
You might want to watch Konstantin who has a CZcams channel called “Inside Russia.” He recently did a program on the Christians of the West mistakenly thinking that the “Russian World” and Putin’s war is actually about traditional family values. It is very good.
How about Scots, Palestinians, and American Natives? Doesn't they deserve to be free? Or at least have a right to live?
@@Qvadratus. Why don't you make a video for them?
Thank you for this.
God bless you, Sister! I always enjoy your videos and theological views.
Blless you sister
This has given me understanding of the dynamics of church and state in Russia that I previously did not have.
Thank you Sr. Vassa for taking a position that is not permitted in Putin's Russia. You justified theologically what I have believed - The Patriarch is indeed in Putin's pocket! As an aside, I enjoyed meeting you when you spoke to the parishioners of St. Thomas the Apostle Byzantine Catholic Church in Rahway, NJ.i
Thank you, Sister Vassa!
Could the Latin letter Z have been chosen to disambiguate from the Cyrillic equivalent, which is written as 3?
Don’t overthink it
1.17.41. Time codes please!
Hi Sister. Thank you for giving this talk. In my opinion, the letter "Z" is a coherent code for the entire narrative here. First of all, "Z" has a meaning roughly equivalent to Omega in Greek. It is the last letter of the alphabet and symbolizes the End, or eschaton. We can see in Alexander Dughin's essay, "The Metaphysics of the End," exactly how this symbol reflects the currents of mystical thinking in the elites of Russian society. Second, "Z" represents Zionism. I have immersed myself in the study of the New Right's emergence and philosophy for over a decade, and whether it's in America, Ireland or Russia, the same underlying theme runs through all of it. It is a mystical ethno-nationalism which is always connected to a specific geographic location and has both cultural and physical boundaries which are supposed to be rigorously policed by the authorities in order to enforce in-group cohesion and the eternal perpetuation of the collective identity, which itself is an idol to be worshipped as divine. This is no different than Zionism, and in fact affirms its claims in every way if believed. It is also the product of Zionism's political projects in these countries, and its goal is logically to bring about their Pharisaical eschaton, the coming of their Millennial Kingdom and the "end of history.' This is essentially a regression into the paganism of the pre-Christian world, and is intended to obliterate Christ as a reality in the world by reducing the Church to an instrument of ethnic identity alone, hence sharing the fate of the Judas in his epic fall from grace.
Nice seeing you here. I hate Brendon O'Connell was terminated not only on this platform but Bit Chute as well.
Well done, dear sister.
I firmly believe that the church is only where Christ Jesus is. Without Christ there is no Christian church and no faith. The problem is that churches around the world are often abused to a greater or lesser extent by politicians and political parties or systems. When this happens, the church becomes invisible. It may still be there, but it is no longer visible. That's why we also need the Holy Spirit to help us see the differences between the true and the false church. I think the Jesus Prayer can help us with this. The Lord of the Church is Jesus Christ and no one else. - Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me ! Guide me on safe paths and protect me from all evil and false prophets in and out the church!!
Glad to see another video. Thanks for posting
Similarly this education policy is dectated by gov as well by jewish authorites in Israel.
Now ask which school is on top of all this ?
Здравствуйте ! Большое спасибо за ваши передачи. Я ,к сожалению, не могу слушать передачи на английском языке из-за незнания его, но передачи на русском слушаю всегда. Спасибо за вашу твердую позицию . Это очень важно для нас- оставшихся в РФ христианах. Разочарование так сильно, что теряешь веру в рпц( специально пишу с маленькой буквы) .Хотя несла послушание при храме 13 лет. И ушла. Но то,что есть люди, оставшиеся верными добру , согревает душу. Нам в РФ очень нужно знать,что можно выстоять. И вы помогаете нам в этом. Если вы стоите твердо в вере, то и мы можем .СПАСИ БОГ ВАС ЗА ТАКУЮ ПОДДЕРЖКУ !
здравствуйте, я перевел ваше сообщение. Благослови тебя Господь! Спасибо за заботу
Можно включать режим перевода в настройках
@@user-ux3ou4bp1i Спасибо за совет ! Узнаю как это сделать и сделаю. Мне важно слушать эти передачи !
Я нахожусь в таком же положении и живу на континенте в Западной Европе (и нерусский). Это трагично для многих людей.
That’s how I feel when she’s speaking Russian ..we need magic buttons for translation 🙏🏼😇
Increase your prayer sister.
Hope her next lecture will be
" WHY DOES THE CHURCH IN THE WEST SUPPORT AND BLESS THE SIN?"😢
I mean, technically both east and western churches do but with different kinds of sin.
I don’t think east or west…true believers…truly believe…the adversity always has come from within…..not the world…history repeats itself
"The Sin" lol
Are there any Priests of the ROCOR doing obedience to their Patriarch by praying the "Prayer for Victory" during the Divine Liturgy?
And when are we supposed to see you publicly rebuking the western church that blesses the detestable acts?!
We are all waiting for your video about that
You are misinformed. Read more there is no blessing of the acts. This is assuming you want the truth, of course
Thank you! Reason why this war's supporting I don't go to a church now, I just can't, can't force myself. Greetings from Siberia
the same federal agency that killed MLK also has been promoting nazis in ukraine for many years
nazis in Ukraine is bullshit russian propaganda. there are always some nazi kind radicals in any country - USA, Germany, UK, etc. it was'nt state ideology in any way. And, by the way, the presedent on Ukraine mr Zelensky is a jew. What nazy support are you talking about?@@derek123wil0
Same... It hurts but I can't bring myself to go. Also, it's part of the protest for me. I'm one of the people who had been there at the Christmas service for over 10 years and made the conscious decision to not attend it in 2024
well, you can see this from another perspective, to not let them occupy God's place. Just go to meet Christ, not just to the church. And feel free to express what you think (of cource if its safe for you). Me, living in Estonia, also dreaming about independent church not connected to moskow as it is now (thank God mitropolit Jevgeni is now going gack to russia, cause authorities did'nt prolonge his green card). So, for me it is absolutely safe to say what I think about things are going in church now. But you don't have to wait for better times to meet Christ, just go and pray - for God, not for kirill. If it's not safe - well maybe it's time to choose another place to live, where you can express yourself without beeing afraid to go to jail... Again, it's easy for me to say, living in the EC, but if you are in russia, you see, where things are going. and they may get even worse. so maybe better is to decide and leave now, then never. @@AlexandraShibalina
@@DennisRealMenace not everyone can leave, you need resources for that. Besides, my homeland and government are two different things. Why must I leave my home and the people I love? It's not that simple, alas.
A truly remarkable discussion of a truly dark situation. I have been following the war every day from the beginning, and the conduct of the Russian Orthodox leadership has filled me with disgust. It has been good to hear you discuss it so frankly.
I only wish our own Republican leadership here in America did not fill me with even more disgust as it toys with the lives of those trying to defend their country-and ours-from all the Russian madness They are giving Putin his only glimmer of hope in the process, which is simply reprehensible. These seem to be times of immense moral, political, cultural, social, and spiritual decoherence. No one is unaffected.
If only you understood a bit about how international conflict works
@@youssefsammouh501 Make my day-enlighten me.
Васса матушка к, если я в Питере какого священика позвать. К пожилому человеку. Всё храмы за победу молятся? Как быть?
Молитесь за мир!
💘
Почему не собирабт синод чтобы избрать нового патриарха в рпц?значит виноваты все
Патриарх избирается не на синоде, а на поместном соборе. Разберитесь в этом вопросе, потом бред пишите.
I cannot find info on which church Sr Vassa belongs to. She has connection with the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits, but that is all i managed to find. If anyone knows, please share. Thank you.
"She has connection with the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits"
Really? What else do you need to know?
Sr Vassa grew up in the ROCOR. Her father was a priest, She entered a Russian monastery in France in her late teens. Later on she studied In Germany and Rome. Her whole footprint in on the Net - you can find her background and views there. "Dr Vassa Larin is a ROCOR nun of the Diocese of Berlin and Germany, and a former University Assistant who taught Liturgical Studies at the University of Vienna in Austria. She is a founding member of the Society of Oriental Liturgy and has a medium size presence within the Orthodox Christian community online with her CZcams channel having around 18,000 subscribers, her Facebook around 4,000, Instagram around 3,000, and 400 hundred on Patreon."
Explains a lot.
R.I.P. Alexei Navalny 🖐
The Russian "Orthodox" "Church" has nothing to do with Christianity.
Dear Sister, since you have invited your viewers to leave a comment, I felt compelled to leave one of my own. Forgive me in advance for the length of my message, but your video is one hour long and you have raised many points, some of which I would like to address here.
My general impression after watching your video, is that you start from a good intention and the most noble of ideal: namely, the evangelical ideal of life in grace and peace. From the outset, I want to say that I fully subscribe to this ideal and find the very idea of war to be abhorrent. So, just to reassure you, we do have that in common. The other thing that I have in common with you is that you rightly identify the dangers of mixing religion and nationalism.
Thus, if I believe your initial intentions to be good, I also feel that your description of the situation is partial (to say the least) and therefore very biased against the Russian Orthodox Church. I will spare you the details but will just raise some points that I hope, will give you foods for thoughts.
- Firstly, I would like to point out how things look very different when one assesses the situation in Russia from a religious perspective or from a political prespective, also from a Russian point of view or from a country that nurtures anti-russian feelings... and so on. My point being: your assessment is strictly on the religious plan and never takes into accounts the political nature of the war. You are pretending that this aspect does not exist. You live in peace, in a monastery, in a country that is not likely to be attacked or even threatened, so the concerns of the Russian people (that see NATO armies build up at their borders) are not something that you can relate to. You could argue that your concerns are for the Ukrainians whose land has been invaded and wrecked by the Russians, but likewise, I would argue back that we did not hear your concerns for the ethnic Russians that have been living under Ukrainian bombs for 8 long and painful years. So from my point of view, what you call an invasion is more of an escalation. The Ukrainians are under Russian bombs today, but during the 8 previous years, it was the other way round. What has changed since the beginning of the so called special military op. is only the scale of the war.
If we want to trace back the war at its inception, the real tipping point has nothing to do with religion: it is of a political nature. In 2013, the then Ukrainian president Yanukovich was facing a choice between signing an economic deal (a bail out of the Ukrainian debt) either with Russia or with the European Union. After Russia and Ukraine finally agreed to a 15billion dollars bail out, the European Union and the USA orchestrated a coup d'état that saw Yanukovich fleeing the country and replaced by Ukrainian pro-western actors that had the support of the USA and were driven by strong anti-russian feelings. This conveniently resulted in the collapse of the economic deal with Russia and with a new E.U. bail-out. The relationship between Ukraine and Russia was in tatter but the E.U. and their allies thought that they were the winners. Meanwhile, a domino effect was triggered: The pro-Yanukovitch East rightly felt robbed by this coup d'état and declared secession. Why should they be part of a country that pretends to be democratic, invites them to vote, and then does not respect the electoral outcome? What would prevent this to reoccur in the future? The illusion of a democratic Ukraine had vanished as quickly as it had emerged. The rest is history, and we are now seing the result of an escalation: a real proxy war between the NATO countries and Russia which first started on the economic turf and of which the Ukrainian are the collateral victims. Would your assessment be fair, it would have taken into account the actions of anti-russian forces both in the West and in Ukraine itself. But you chose not to make mention of it.
- You also pointed out the nationalism in the Russian Church but then turned a blind eye to the radical nationalist elements in the other churches, including the Ukrainians. I even remember seing Bandera being painted in a church together with the Saints of Ukraine. This Ukrainian extremism is not a consequence of the war (as some would have it), but it predates the war and is one of the main reasons why the Russians attacked Ukraine (to uproot this evil). The problems of nationalism in Orthodoxy is a broad problem, not solely limited to Russia. It is a result of complex historical circumstances that have seen the merging of national identity with religious identity over the centuries. But let's be fair and ask what would the Greeks have done in Russia's situation? Today, they reprimand the Russians, but not so long ago (in 1923), the Greeks launched a special military operation of their own that aimed at liberating Constantinople from the Turks, with the full support of the clergy and the then Patriarch of Constantinople. Constantinople and Kiev can be said to have the same historical importance for the Greeks and the Russians respectively.The Greek military operation turned into a debacle, but the point, is that the Greeks seem to have one standard for themselves and a different one for other nations.
- You mentioned the role of the Russian Church in times of war, and I agree that the voice of the Church should always be one of peace. The defrocking of priests that pray for peace rather than victory is indeed very disturbing. But the question of whether a war is justified or not is essentially a political one: is Russia right to feel threatened by NATO countries? This is not a question for you or me to answer considering that we lack the political knowledge and background. So what should be the stance of the Russian Church in these particular circumstances? For the West, nothing less than a full opposition to Putin and the Kremlin is acceptable (whether they are in time of peace or in time of war). Is this a reasonable position to adopt for you? I would like to hear your answer. I would just highlight that the Russian Orthodox Church has never enjoyed the freedom and a good relation with the state that it enjoys today, otherwise, please prove me wrong: when has the Church ever enjoyed more freedom in the history of the Russian Church? Under the Tsars? Certainly not! Your mistake is that you confuse a good relation between state and Church as some form of "compromission", a subordination to the Kremlin.... While at the same time, you do pray for a good relationship with the State at every liturgy, don't you? So you need to come clear with what your expectations are of the state/church relation: why is it bad for the head of the Church to be in good terms with the head of the State in Russia? ... and why is it not bad when Met. Elpidopourous shake J.Biden hand? Do you understand that showing photographies of the Patriarch shaking Putin's hand does not prove what you think it proves. Your perspective is warped because you are surrounded with people that equate Putin with the devil himself, and for them, your photos are a proof that the Russian Church is compromised. For the more neutral and unbiased observer however, Putin is the elected leader of the Russian people and your pictures just shows good relations between Church and State. Nothing else. Now back to my question: what are your general expectations of the Russian Church (other than praying for peace and an end to the war)? Generally speaking, should the Church oppose the Kremlin or work with it? In time of peace the answer would seem very easy. In time of war, it becomes more tricky. Think about it: if the Church does not support the State when the country is threatened, the possible consequences are: 1) it may become a cause of division in the country (at the time when it needs unity); 2) it may lose the privileged status and good relations that it enjoys with the State ; 3) Worse even: it might see Muslims taking that spot (considering the zeal that the Chechens are showing in the defence of the Russian nation). By these considerations, I do not mean to justify the Russian Church's errors but at least, -unlike yourself- I understand that they are in a tricky situation and that their margin for manoeuvre is very narrow. They should not defrock priests that pray for peace, but you should not expect from them not to pray for their military when they believe that they are giving their lives to protect their national interests (on their perspective). Once again, your perspective is warped because of the particular circumstances from which you assessed them.
These are some of my thoughts. In conclusion, I would recommend that you take more distance with your immediate surrounding but also your cultural milieu (which exerts influence upon your views); be more realistic and pragmatic with regards to your expectations of the Church; and -most importantly- listen to every sides in the conflict and take into considerations their respective interests.
Yours in Christ
+ + +
Thank you for your insights!
Sister Vassa gave me second thoughts regarding this war in Ukraine.
What would one do if one's family is threatened with violence and death in one's home?
By the same token, what is the path of wisdom when an entire nation of millions of citizens is threatened?
To protect seems reasonable and honorable, possibly even Godly.
Praying for peace for both sides is the desire and prayer, probably of millions of citizens.
May the Lord give the Orthodox Churches worldwide enlighlightment, wisdom, and love.
Glory to God for all things!!!
Well spoken, in the Russian Church they not only pray for peace, but also for their enemies.
100% russia TV propaganda - noone with a sense of reality will ever believe that schisofrenic nonsense.
Your post said everything I was thinking, and even more. Thank you.
Contrast this
church of man ,not of God with the church of Christ the Saviour built to remember the Napoleonic .invasion even in its 19th century form. One does not need to say more.
Хорошая и необходимая критика московской апостасии. Спасибо Вам! Но всё-таки Ваш типично западный оптимизм в конце доклада, сестра Васса, выглядит очень неглубоким и не основанным на православной традиции. У этой риторики нет корней, потому что церковь, утверждавшая себя носительницей Истины и постоянно услаждавшая слух "пророчествами" о величии того или иного православного царства (Рима, Византии, Руси, Греции), вдруг оказалась не готова к подлинному развитию событий. А это говорит о непонимании до конца природы нашей реальности как таковой.
Например, о какой власти и о каких властях всё время пишет Павел? Не о тех ли, которые "духи злобы поднебесные"? Почему нужно думать, что Павел говорит о двух разных властях - земных и небесных - и как мы отличаем их друг от друга в тексте? Невежество, как показала жизнь, бывает критичное, как и путаница в словах и понятиях.
Exactly the MP and Russian Church is in apostasy. The "constructive view" (optimistic) expressed by Sr Vassa in her closing comments are not in accordance with reality.
R.I.P. Alexei Navalny 🖐
A very immature review, especially for an Orthodox nun.
R.I.P. Alexei Navalny 🖐
YOU HATE RUSSIA MORE THEN YOU LOVE KOSOVO = NOT ORTHODOX !!!
Hate ?!?
@@user-mv8jl6wd6d Ecuminism is a heresy
Be careful brother, the CIA in my country works overtime to divide, and this nun seems to work towards the same goals. There are many imposters amongst us these days. And: Kosovo is Serbia!
R.I.P. Alexei Navalny 🖐
@@ConspiracyAI Navalny was criticizing Russian government for insufficient lockdowns and not insufficient enforcement of vaccination.
Her smug, elitist demeanor is nauseating.
R.I.P. Alexei Navalny 🖐
@@ConspiracyAI , or "Rest in peace, US intelligence plant."
@@premodernprejudices3027 😁 you are such a smart guy aren't you?
@@ConspiracyAI , smarter than you, at least, yes.
@@ConspiracyAI This premodernsomething must be another real Nationalist Christian with an open mind, be careful, his weapons are blessed by Kirill and The Lord of the Ring
Become Ukrainean Orthodox, or even better Ukrainean Uniate!
The bishop of Viannitsa in the Ukraine of the TRUE Orthodox Church of Russia doesn´t support Putin´s invasion and has always opposed your false church "The Moscow Patriarchate"
As someone who has no egg to fry in this manner I'm quite confused how you solely blame Russia for this war. Absolutely ridiculous.