Bishop Agafangel opens his "LiveJournal"

[Joanna Higginbotham]

Fr. Gregory is NOT the administrator for North America. He is the administrator for non-Russian/Slavonic mission in the Dept. of Missions.

I'm sorry if this caused any problems. I should have been more careful. (My first post and already I'm messing up.)

[drewmeister2]

Fr. Gregory is NOT the administrator for North America. He is the administrator for non-Russian/Slavonic mission in the Dept. of Missions.

I'm sorry if this caused any problems. I should have been more careful. (My first post and already I'm messing up.)

It's ok! I've made plenty of posts on forums that I shouldn't have lol.

Please feel free to come and post regularly!

[GOCTheophan]

Bishop Agafangel does have a website in English

http://ruschurchabroad.com/engindex.htm

Fr. Gregory Williams in Tennessee (St. John of Kronstadt Press) is the administrator for North America.

The apostate Agafangel encouraged the "former" Communists of the Ukranian state not to give legal recognition to the part of ROCOR that stayed loyal to Met Vitaly and other True Orthodox groups. Given this
surely a thread about this enemny of Christ and His Church should be in the World Orthodox section?

Theophan.

[Pravoslavnik]

GOCTheophan,

Code: Select all

    Can you please clarify this criticism of dissenting ROCOR Bishop Agafangel?  I have been in the ROCOR for many years, and never fully understood the events surrounding the retirement of former ROCOR Metropolitan Vitaly (Ustinov.)  When and how did the Ukrainian ROCOR Bishop Agafangel betray the Orthodox Church?  As I recall, Metropolitan Vitaly retired, and Metropolitan Laurus Skurla was then chosen as his successor by our ROCOR Synod.  Are you saying that Bishop Agafangel sinned against the Church by remaining in the ROCOR after the retirement of Metropolitan Vitaly?  If so, many of us have also sinned against the Holy Church by doing so, however unwittingly.  When, and how, should we in the ROCOR have known that our Synod was intending to draft and accept the Act of Canonical Communion with the Moscow Patriarchate?  I can assure you that I was not certain that this would actually happen until a few months ago.  Perhaps we should all have been more clairvoyant.

[Anastasios]

Bishop Agafangel does have a website in English

http://ruschurchabroad.com/engindex.htm

Fr. Gregory Williams in Tennessee (St. John of Kronstadt Press) is the administrator for North America.

The apostate Agafangel encouraged the "former" Communists of the Ukranian state not to give legal recognition to the part of ROCOR that stayed loyal to Met Vitaly and other True Orthodox groups. Given this
surely a thread about this enemny of Christ and His Church should be in the World Orthodox section?

Theophan.

Our Synod recognizes Agafangel as an Orthodox bishop. Please watch the hyperbole.

[GOCPriestMark]

Our Synod recognizes Agafangel as an Orthodox bishop. Please watch the hyperbole.

Dear Anastasios,
Seeing this begs the question, "Does your synod also recognize Metropolitan Kyprianos of Oropos and Fili as an Orthodox Bishop?"
I ask this because it appears that Bp. Agathangel's people do.
http://ruschurchabroad.com/references.htm
http://ruschurchabroad.com/engreferences.htm

[drewmeister2]

While I think Theophan wrote that a bit too strongly-worded and that he should be more careful about writing such things as I do see him as an Orthodox bishop as well, I do think Bp. Agafangel and some of his clergy have shown to be anti-Catacombnik (although who knows for sure at times Bp Agafangel flip-flops on this issue, older writings of his says he wants nothing to do with Catacombniks and that he doesn't recognize them whatsoever, later writings say he wouldn't mind meeting with them and would receive Catacombniks as-is, as if they needed to be received lol). Some of his leading priests though have written some very anti-Catacombnik writings however; I have seen some of the letters that had to be put out in defense against these clergy's writings. Fr. Mark brings up an interesting point too as Bp Agafangel wants to preserve the spiritual legacy, so he says, of ROCOR but then he may turn to Cyprian for ordinations??? That makes a lot of sense. RTOC has more relations with ROCOR than Cyprian ever will or did, as +Abp. Lazar was on the Synod of Bishops of ROCOR, not to mention all the other issues with Cyprian.

What it comes down to is this. There needs to be a united Russian Church and all this bickering is a bunch of garbage. Bp. Agafangel IMO shouldn't even be talking to Greeks but rather to Russians in the hope of forming a Russian Church that at least has the Catacombniks and the Church Abroad in communion with each other. The best thing we can do though, is pray for him and all the other Russian bishops that they makes the right decision and that all this fighting over trivial issues can stop.