The Baha’i International Community has received news of a shocking and outrageous new propaganda ploy to incriminate the Baha’is in Iran through a staged video production filmed in a kindergarten.
On 31 July, the same day as intelligence agents were invading Baha’i homes and arresting pre-school teachers, agents also entered a kindergarten in a major city in Iran and distributed Baha’i books and pamphlets to its teachers, none of whom were Baha’is. The agents then instructed and forced the kindergarten staff to say, on camera, that Baha’is had brought these materials and distributed them to the teachers.
“This shameful act of fraud and pretense, carried out in a kindergarten, once again reveals the true motives of the Iranian government in persecuting Baha’is only for their faith,” said Simin Fahandej, the BIC’s Representative to the United Nations in Geneva. “As the Iranian government has found no shred of evidence for their ludicrous accusations against the Baha’is, they have now resorted to fabricating evidence themselves, using Baha’i materials to accuse Baha’is of attempting to influence and convert Muslim children to the Baha’i Faith.”
Although the Iranian government attempts to frame the Baha’is as converting Muslim children, numerous official government documents testify to Iran’s plans to, in fact, convert Baha’i children to Islam.
In 1991, a confidential government memorandum, brought to light at that time by a United Nations Special Rapporteur, prepared by Iran’s Supreme Revolutionary Cultural Council and signed by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei himself, instructing that Baha’i children be enrolled in schools which have “a strong and imposing religious ideology” and that Baha’is be treated in such a way that “their progress and development are blocked”.
“The Iranian government not only attempts to distort history in school textbooks in order to remove the Baha’i Faith from Iranian history, and to force Baha’i children to change their faith,” continued Ms. Fahandej. “But it is now producing fake materials to advance its already baseless allegations against the Baha’is.”
This incident has occurred within a larger context of mounting attacks against the Baha’is in Iran in recent weeks. Since 31 July, the BIC has received reports of over 196 separate incidents of persecution against the Baha’is in Iran, including arrests, imprisonments, confiscation of homes and properties, closure of business and exclusions from university.
Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence released a rare statement on 31 July, in which it alleged that members of the Baha’i community were “propagating the teachings of the fabricated Baha’i colonialism and infiltrating educational environments,” including kindergartens. A number of Baha’i kindergarten and pre-school teachers were arrested on that day under the pretext offered by the Ministry’s statement. Filming the staged readings now also demonstrates that the authorities want to potentially use video footage to substantiate their false claims and seek to incite the general public against them.
Efforts to spread hate propaganda against the Baha’is are government policy. The 1991 memorandum by Iran’s Supreme Revolutionary Cultural Council also said that Iran’s “propaganda institutions … must establish an independent section to counter … the Baha’is.”
And in March 2021 two human rights groups, League for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran and the International Federation for Human Rights, published an official Iranian directive which instructed local authorities in the city of Sari, in the northern province of Mazandaran, to “conduct strict controls” on the Baha’is in the city by “monitoring their operations,” and to introduce measures to “identify Baha’i students” so as to “bring them into Islam.”
“The Iranian authorities have spread hate propaganda against the Baha’is for 43 years,” said Ms. Fahandej. “But Iranians of good will, who number in their millions, see through these lies. The incident at the kindergarten is the latest in a shameful litany of brazen deception, propaganda and hate speech, but these efforts do not go unnoticed by the international community and only work against Iran’s interests, showing its true motives of persecuting innocent people only for their beliefs.”
Researchers built a “light trap” around a thin layer using mirrors and lenses, in which the light beam is steered in a circle and then superimposed on itself – exactly in such a way that the beam of light blocks itself and can no longer leave the system.
A “light trap” was developed in which a beam of light prevents itself from escaping. This allows light to be absorbed perfectly.
If you want to use light efficiently, you have to absorb it as completely as possible. This is true both in photosynthesis and in a photovoltaic system. However, this is difficult if the absorption is to take place in a thin layer of material that normally lets a large part of the light pass through.
Now, have found a surprising trick that allows a beam of light to be completely absorbed even in the thinnest of layers. They built a “light trap” around the thin layer using mirrors and lenses, in which the light beam is steered in a circle and then superimposed on itself – exactly in such a way that the beam of light blocks itself and can no longer leave the system. Thus, the light has no other option but to be absorbed by the thin layer – there is no other way out.
This absorption-amplification method, from research teams from TU Wien and from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, will be presented today (August 25, 2022) in the scientific journal Science. It is the result of a fruitful collaboration between the two teams. The approach was suggested by Prof. Ori Katz from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and conceptualized with Prof. Stefan Rotter from TU Wien. The experiment was carried out in by the lab team in Jerusalem and the theoretical calculations came from the team in Vienna.
The “light trap” setup is shown, consisting of a partially transparent mirror, a thin, weak absorber, two converging lenses and a totally reflecting mirror. Normally, most of the incident light beam would be reflected. However, due to precisely calculated interference effects, the incident light beam interferes with the light beam reflected back between the mirrors, so that the reflected light beam is ultimately completely extinguished. The energy of the light is completely sucked up by the thin and weak absorber. Credit: TU Wien
Thin layers are transparent to light
“Absorbing light is easy when it hits a solid object,” says Prof. Stefan Rotter from the Institute of Theoretical Physics at TU Wien. “A thick black wool jumper can easily absorb light. But in many technical applications, you only have a thin layer of material available and you want the light to be absorbed exactly in this layer.”
Attempts have already been made to improve the absorption of materials. For instance, the material can be placed between two mirrors. The light is reflected back and forth between the two mirrors, passing through the material each time and thus having a greater chance of being absorbed. However, for this purpose, the mirrors must not be perfect – one of them must be partially transparent, otherwise, the light cannot penetrate the area between the two mirrors at all. But this also means that whenever the light hits this partially transparent mirror, some of the light is lost.
The light blocks itself
It is possible to use the wave properties of light in a sophisticated way in order to prevent this. “In our approach, we are able to cancel all back-reflections by wave interference,” says Prof. Ori Katz from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Helmut Hörner, from TU Wien, who dedicated his thesis to this topic, explains: “In our method, too, the light first falls on a partially transparent mirror. If you simply send a laser beam onto this mirror, it is split into two parts: The larger part is reflected, a smaller part penetrates the mirror.”
This part of the light beam that penetrates the mirror is now sent through the absorbing material layer and then returned to the partially transparent mirror with lenses and another mirror. “The crucial thing is that the length of this path and the position of the optical elements are adjusted in such a way that the returning light beam (and its multiple reflections between the mirrors) exactly cancels out the light beam reflected directly at the first mirror,” says Yevgeny Slobodkin and Gil Weinberg, the graduate students who built the system in Jerusalem.
The two partial beams overlap in such a way that the light blocks itself, so to speak. Although the partially transparent mirror alone would actually reflect a large part of the light, this reflection is rendered impossible by the other part of the beam traveling through the system before returning to the partially transparent mirror.
Therefore, the mirror, which used to be partially transparent, now becomes completely transparent for the incident laser beam. This essentially creates a one-way street for the light: the light beam can enter the system, but then it can no longer escape because of the superposition of the reflected portion and the portion guided through the system in a circle. So the light has no choice but to be absorbed – the entire laser beam is swallowed up by a thin layer that would otherwise allow most of the beam to pass through.
A robust phenomenon
“The system has to be tuned exactly to the wavelength you want to absorb,” says Stefan Rotter. “But apart from that, there are no limiting requirements. The laser beam doesn’t have to have a specific shape, it can be more intense in some places than in others – almost perfect absorption is always achieved.”
Not even air turbulence and temperature fluctuations can harm the mechanism, as was demonstrated in experiments conducted at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. This proves that it is a robust effect that promises a wide range of applications – for example, the presented mechanism could even be well suited to perfectly capture light signals that are distorted during transmission through the Earth’s atmosphere. The new approach could also be of great practical use for optimally feeding light waves from weak light sources (such as distant stars) into a detector.
Reference: “Massively degenerate coherent perfect absorber for arbitrary wavefronts” 25 August 2022, Science. DOI: 10.1126/science.abq8103
It’s difficult to imagine that three random words have the power to both map the globe and protect your private data. The secret behind this amazing power is just a little bit of math.
What3words is an app and web-based service that provides a geographic reference for every 3-meter-by-3-meter square on Earth using three random words. If your brain operates more naturally in the Imperial measurement system, 3 meters is about 9.8 feet. So, you could think of them as approximately 10-foot-by-10-foot squares, which is about the size of a small home office or bedroom. As an example, there’s a square in the middle of the Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers Turf Field coded to brilliance.bronze.inputs.
This new approach to geocoding is quite useful for several reasons. First, it’s more precise than regular street addresses. In addition, three words are easier for humans to remember and communicate to one another than, say, detailed latitude and longitude measurements. Because of this, the system is well suited for emergency services. With these advantages, some car manufacturers are even starting to integrate what3words into their navigation systems.
Every 10-foot-by-10-foot square on the planet can be labeled with its own unique three-word label. Credit: Courtesy what3words
Ordered triples
Here’s how three random words in English or any other language can identify such precise locations across the entire planet. The key concept is ordered triples.
Start with the basic assumption that the Earth is a sphere, recognizing that this is an approximate truth, and that its radius is approximately 3,959 miles (6,371 kilometers). To compute the surface area of the Earth, use the formula 4πr2. With r = 3,959 (6,371), this works out to approximately 197 million square miles (510 million square kilometers). Remember: What3words is using 3-meter-by-3-meter squares, each of which contains 9 square meters of surface area. Therefore, working in the metric system, Earth’s surface area is equivalent to 510 trillion square meters. Dividing 510 trillion by 9 reveals that uniquely identifying each square on Earth requires around 57 trillion ordered triples of three random words.
An ordered triple is just a list of three things in which the order matters. So “brilliance.bronze.inputs” would be considered a different ordered triple than “bronze.brilliance.inputs.” In fact, in the what3words system, bronze.brilliance.inputs is in fact on a mountain in Alaska, not in the middle of the RIT Tigers Turf Field, like brilliance.bronze.inputs.
Finding out how many words are used in a language and whether there are enough ordered triples to map the entire world are the next steps. According to some scholars, there are more than a million English words. However, many of them are very rare. Yet even using only common English words, there are still plenty to go around. Many word lists are available online.
The developers at what3words came up with a list of 40,000 English words. (The what3words system works in 50 different languages with independently assigned words.) The next question is determining how many ordered triples of three random words can be made from a list of 40,000 words. If you allow repeats, as what3words does, it is quite straightforward: there would be 40,000 possibilities for the first word, 40,000 possibilities for the second word, and 40,000 possibilities for the third word. The number of possible ordered triples would therefore be 40,000 times 40,000 times 40,000, which is 64 trillion. That provides plenty of “three random word” triples to cover the globe. The excess combinations also allow them to eliminate offensive words and words that would be easily confused for one another.
Passwords you can actually remember
While the power of three random words is being used to map the Earth, the U.K. National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) is also championing their use as passwords. Password selection and related security analysis are more complicated than attaching three words to small squares of the globe. However, a similar calculation is illuminating. If you string together an ordered triple of words – such as brilliancebronzeinputs – you get a nice long password that a human should be able to remember far more easily than a random string of letters, numbers, and special characters designed to meet a set of complexity rules.
If you increase your word list beyond 40,000, you’ll get even more possible passwords. Using the “Corncob list” of 58,000 English words, you could generate more than 195 trillion “three random word”-style passwords.
It’s important to note that there are numerous trade-offs among the different approaches to password selection and complexity rules. So, while “three random words” doesn’t give you a fail-safe for password security, the complexity of language does provide some incredible power in this realm as well.
Written by Mary Lynn Reed, Professor of Mathematics, Rochester Institute of Technology.
An enormous mosaic of Stephan’s Quintet is the largest image to date from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, covering about one-fifth of the Moon’s diameter. It contains over 150 million pixels and is constructed from almost 1,000 separate image files. The visual grouping of five galaxies was captured by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
Last month, jaw-dropping images from its newest and most powerful space observatory, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). In unprecedented detail, pictures revealed distant wonders such as the Carina Nebula, the Southern Ring Nebula, and Stephan’s Quintet—a collection of five dazzling galaxies, some of which are actively colliding with each other.
In this video, Philip Appleton, a staff scientist at Caltech’s IPAC astronomy center, walks us through the new image of the quintet. Four of the five galaxies are gravitationally bound and make up a compact galaxy group located hundreds of millions of light-years away in the Pegasus constellation. At least three galaxies in this group are actively colliding with each other, producing shock waves that trigger new star formation.
Appleton and his colleagues have studied this turbulent region for nearly 20 years using other telescopes such as the now-retiredSpitzer Space Telescope, whose data archive is based at IPAC. Spitzer was managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (
Matilda Bogner, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, called for greater efforts to spare and protect civilians.
The Mission has been in the country since 2014, when it began work documenting violations in the east stemming from the fighting between Government forces and pro-Russian separatists.
Ms. Bogner said the resulting escalation of the eight-year long armed conflict has brought more death, suffering, damage, and destruction.
“Every day, we speak with people affected by the war, and hear about and document violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, including war crimes,” she said.
Since the start of the Russian invasion on 24 February, there have been 13,560 civilian casualties, with 5,614 deaths, including 362 children, and 7,946 people injured.
Most casualties, 92 per cent, were caused by the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects in populated areas.
“We know that the actual figures are considerably higher. Each of these figures is a human being, whose life or health has been lost or damaged,” said Ms. Bogner.
The Mission has also documented 327 cases of arbitrary detention and forced disappearance in territory controlled by Russian forces and affiliated armed groups. While 105 victims were released, 14 persons – 13 men and one woman – were found dead.
Additionally, 39 arbitrary arrests were recorded in Ukrainian Government-controlled territory, and 28 other cases that may amount to enforced disappearance.
“Many of these victims, on both sides, have faced torture,” said Ms. Bogner, who underscored that “human beings, whoever they are, must be treated with dignity”.
She added that prisoners of war also must be protected, as guaranteed under international law.
While the Mission has access to prisoners of war and other conflict-related detainees in Government-controlled areas, this is not the case for those held in other locations.
“We call on the Russian Federation to grant independent monitors full access to all individuals detained in relation to the armed conflict by the Russian Federation, including those held by Russian-affiliated armed groups,” she said.
WFP food parcels are distributed to war-affected people in Kharkiv Oblast in collaboration with the Ukrainian Red Cross.
Food at home and abroad
Throughout the war, the World Food Programme (WFP) has been using every opportunity to assist people, both within Ukraine and beyond.
WFP has disbursed more than $200 million to internally displaced Ukrainians, while some 11,000 families in neighbouring Moldova are receiving cash transfers to cover additional expenses for hosting Ukrainian refugees.
Overall, nearly seven million people have found shelter in European countries, according to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.
WFP reported that within days of the start of the conflict, staff began serving ready-to-eat meals and distributing bread to people in Ukraine.
Kits containing items such as meat or beans, sunflower oil, pasta and rice, are also being provided to families wherever food is unavailable or difficult to access.
OCHA/Levent Kulu
The first shipment of over 26,000 tons of Ukrainian food under a Black Sea export deal was cleared to proceed today, towards its final destination in Lebanon.
Grain exports critical
Prior to the war, Ukraine was a major global breadbasket and produced enough food to feed 400 million people a year.
WFP has been working with the Government and partners to both push for and facilitate grain exports through key Black Sea ports, as well as alternative land river routes.
Last week, the first shipment of Ukrainian grain for the agency’s operations left the port of Pivdennyi in Odesa and is now on the way to the Horn of Africa, where the spectre of famine haunts more than 20 million people.
Amid the ongoing global food crisis, WFP explained that allowing the export of Ukrainian grain is critical to stabilize global markets and alleviate hunger, but it also has direct benefits for Ukrainians.
The agricultural sector is an essential component of the economy, and also a direct source of livelihood for many of the 13 million citizens living in rural areas.
At a hospital in western Ukraine, doctors managed to remove a four-centimetre-long fragment of shrapnel and save a 13-year-old boy’s life after he was seriously wounded by shelling in eastern Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners are preparing for a challenging winter ahead and have been taking stock of lessons learned so far.
“Six months of war have had a devastating impact on the health and lives of Ukraine’s people, but despite many challenges the health system has managed to survive and deliver care where and when it is needed most,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director-General.
More supplies expected
The UN has helped deliver more than 1,300 metric tonnes of critical medical supplies to Ukraine, in coordination with the Ministry of Health and partners.
More are on the way, including power generators, ambulances and oxygen supplies for medical facilities, as well as supplies for trauma and emergency surgeries, and medicines to help treat noncommunicable diseases.
Although Ukraine’s health system has been shaken, Tedros said it has not collapsed.
“WHO continues to support the Ministry of Health of Ukraine to restore disrupted services, displaced health workers and destroyed infrastructure, which is essential not only for the health of Ukraine’s people, but for the country’s resilience and recovery,” he added.
“But no system can deliver optimum health to its people under the stress of war, which is why we continue to call on the Russian Federation to end this war”.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia will not be able to meet Pope Francis in Kazakhstan. The reason is that he will not participate in the VII Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, Metropolitan Antony of Volokolama, head of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, told RIA Novosti.
“This year, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, the Russian Orthodox Church will be represented by an official delegation. His Holiness the Patriarch himself will not participate in the work of the congress. Therefore, his meeting with Pope Francis is not planned in Kazakhstan,” the Metropolitan said.
Earlier it became known that Pope Francis will not have a meeting with the Russian Orthodox Patriarch during his visit to Kazakhstan next month, Reuters recalled.
The Holy Father will be present from September 13 to 15 at a meeting of religious leaders in the Kazakh capital, Nur Sultan.
In previous interviews, Francis had indicated that he hoped to meet with Patriarch Kirill while in Kazakhstan.
The planned May meeting between Pope Francis and the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, was also canceled. It was reported that the meeting was scheduled to take place in Jerusalem, a day after the pope ended his trip to Lebanon.
The head of the Roman Catholic Church held a telephone conversation with the Orthodox Patriarch Kirill in the spring.
Basilians (Vasilians, lat. OSBM, Ordo Sancti Basilii Magni) is the common name of several Catholic monastic orders of the Byzantine rite, following the cenobitic charter, which is attributed to St. Basil the Great. All Basilian orders also have female branches.
The Basilians are:
• Order of the Italian Basilians of the monastery of Grottaferrata, Italo-Albanian Catholic Church (lat. Ordo Basilianus Italiae, seu Cryptoferratensis);
• The Basilian Order of St. Josaphat, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (lat. Ordo Basilianus Sancti Josaphat, Ukrainian ChSVV, Order of St. Basil the Great, also Ukrainian. Basilian Order of St. Josaphat);
• Melkite Orders of the Holy Savior, St. John the Baptist and the Aleppine Order, Melkite Catholic Church.
Monastery of Grottaferrata
Abbey of Grottaferrata
The first monasteries of the Byzantine rite appeared in southern Italy in the 8th-9th centuries. They were founded by Greeks who fled from Byzantium during the period of iconoclasm. In 1004, the monk Nil Rossansky founded the monastery of Grottaferrata, 18 kilometers from Rome. After the Great Schism, this and a number of other monasteries in southern Italy continued to practice the Byzantine liturgy and live according to the rule of St. Basil the Great, being in communion with the Holy See as part of the Italo-Greek (later Italo-Albanian Eastern Catholic Church). The practice of using the rule of Basil the Great in the Catholic Church was finally legalized in 1561 by Pope Pius IV. In 1579, on the basis of the Greek monasteries in Central and Southern Italy, Pope Gregory XIII founded a single order of Italian Basilians with a center in Grottaferrata.
The order was almost destroyed at the end of the 18th-19th centuries as a result of the secularization policy pursued in the Kingdom of Naples, all the Basilian monasteries, except for Grottaferrata, were closed. In 1937, Pope Pius XII raised Grottaferrata Abbey to the status of a territorial abbey with direct subordination to the Vatican, the abbey is currently an independent unit within the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church. The monastery has 25 monks, of which 15 are priests[1]
Basilian of St. Jehoshaphat
The Order was founded in 1617 on the basis of the monasteries that accepted the Union of Brest in 1596. Originally called the Order of the Holy Trinity. Confirmed by Pope Urban VIII in 1631.
The order became widespread in the eastern regions of the Commonwealth, where the majority of the population traditionally adhered to the Byzantine rite. The activities of the order contributed to the transition to Catholicism of the Eastern rite of the Orthodox population of the eastern lands of the Commonwealth. Subsequently, the order was renamed in honor of St. Josaphat Kuntsevich.
Since 1720, all Greek Catholic monasteries in the Commonwealth belonged to the Basilians. Until the end of the 18th century, almost all the Greek Catholic metropolitans of Kyiv were Basilians. In the middle of the XVIII century, the order consisted of 195 monasteries and more than a thousand monks.
Great emphasis in the activities of the order was placed on the education of young people, in this field the Basilians competed with the Jesuits, and after the dissolution of the latter they received several Jesuit colleges in their possession, so that at the end of the 18th century they were in charge of about twenty-six schools. The Basilians also owned 4 printing houses, the largest was located in the Pochaev Lavra.
The heyday of the order ended with the divisions of the Commonwealth. In the 19th century, the order effectively ceased to exist as a centralized organization, although independent Basilian monasteries continued to exist in Austria-Hungary. In the Russian Empire, Basilian monasteries outside the Kingdom of Poland were closed in the 1830s, and in the Kingdom of Poland thirty years later.
By 1882, the order was reduced to 60 monks in 14 monasteries, but then a new rise of the order began. In 1896, Pope Leo XIII approved a new constitution for the order. The Basilians began to actively establish missions in the New World, working primarily with Ukrainian and Belarusian emigrants. By 1939 the number of monks had grown to 650.
After the Lvov Cathedral in 1946 and the ban of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the activities of the Basilians in the USSR were illegal, and the monasteries of the order continued to exist only in the diaspora countries.
After the collapse of the USSR and the exit of the Greek Catholics from the underground, the order was restored in independent Ukraine and in other Central and Eastern European countries, including Belarus.
Currently, the order is actively involved in the revival of the Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine and the spread of its activities in the eastern regions of the country. In Ukraine, the Basilians own 31 monasteries. In total, according to 2005 data, the order consisted of 609 monks, 310 of which were priests.[2]
Basilian-Melkites
There are three Basilian-Melkite orders, for which a single monastic constitution was created in 1934.
• The Basilian-Melkite Order of the Holy Savior (lat. Ordo Basilianus Sanctissimi Salvatoris Melkitarum) was founded in 1684 in Lebanon, approved by the Holy See in 1717. The residence of the order is located in the city of Saida (Lebanon). 18 monastic cloisters are located in Lebanon, Egypt, Syria and the Palestinian Authority. In 1998, the order consisted of 123 monks, of which 94 were priests.
• The Order of the Basilian-Melkites of St. John the Baptist (lat. Ordo Basilianus Sancti Johannis Baptistae Melkitarum), also called the Order of the Shuwayrites, was founded in 1712 in Lebanon, in the village of Shuwayr. Approved by the Holy See in 1757. The residence of the order is located in the city of Khonchara (Lebanon). All 6 monastic cloisters are located in Lebanon. In 1998, the order consisted of 56 monks, of which 38 were priests.
• The Basilian-Melkite Order of the Aleppines (lat. Ordo Basilianus Aleppensis Melkitarum) was founded in 1829 in Lebanon, branched off from the Shuwayrites. Approved by the Holy See in 1832. 13 monastic cloisters are located in Egypt and Sudan. In 1998, the order consisted of 37 monks, of which 29 were priests.
Following US Sanctions on Three Liberian Government Officials, State Minister McGill says he is innocent and welcomes President Weah fight against corruption.
According to a letter published in other news outlets, the Minister of State for Presidential affairs, Hon Nathaniel McGill has denied corruption allegations after he was sanctioned by the United States U.S. Treasury Department along with two senior government Officials for allegedly engaging in “corruption including the misappropriation of state assets, taking private assets for personal gain, or bribery”.
In a letter addressed to the President of Liberia, Minister McGill commended President George M. Weah for the “decision taken” to suspend him and two other senior officials as it demonstrates his unwavering fight against corruption.
The Minister further called on the President to set up an investigative committee with the assistant of foreign partners (The European Union, Africa Union and ECOWAS) as well as other competent Authorities to probe into the grave allegations levied against him by the U.S Department of Treasury to be afforded the opportunity to have his “day in court” as in keeping with the principle of due process, mentioning that he has “great faith in the American system and believe I will be given an opportunity for a review process”.
As per the sanctions, “all property and interests in property of the three officials that are in the United States must be blocked and reported to Treasury, while people who engage in transactions with the officials may be subject to sanctions themselves, the statement said”.
Peace, according to the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is revealed as a gift from God to man. God Himself is the God of peace (Gen. 26:4 – 28:14) and His blessing favors man with the gifts and benefits of a peaceful and peaceful existence, happiness and prosperity on earth.
• In the biblical wisdom of the Holy Scriptures, true and lasting peace is seen as the fruit of God’s justice, and Jesus Christ as Savior and Messiah is the “Prince of Peace” (Is. 9:6). The Messianic kingdom of righteousness is the kingdom of God’s peace.
• Peace (Hebrew shalom; Greek eirini Latin pax) is a state that derives from God, but also from justice – from God’s justice and human justice. It is based on the principles of justice, respect and regard for the natural rights of man and his legitimate interests and well-being.
• Violation of peace as a blessed condition in the relations between man and God and between man and other people leads to enmity and injustice, to evils and aggression, to violence and misfortunes for men, for society and for nations.
War as a consequence of the Fall
• War is a fruit of sin and enters the world together with the consequences of sin in man’s relationship with God and the destruction of the bonds of peace with his fellow men.
• War is an evil that is a manifestation, action and state of violation of God’s law of love and God’s justice.
• The war between men begins with Cain’s fratricide and the violence committed against his brother Abel.
• War is the result of enmity and lack of peace and is manifested by aggression and violence, which are enmity against God and neighbor and a violation of God’s law of love for God and neighbor.
THE PEACE OF CHRIST AS A GRACEFUL GIFT OF SALVATION
“Peace I leave you; My peace I give you; Not as the world gives do I give to you” (John 14:27)
• The biblical concept of peace is much broader than the usual political or formal legal understanding of peace as the absence of war or enmity and the absence of conflict in interpersonal relationships.
• Peace is a great gift and blessing from God, which requires benevolence (benevolentia) – “good will” between people (Luke 2:14) and justice in its spiritual-moral, social and legal dimensions, which are the real and permanent basis for everyone true peace.
• lasting and stable peace in human relationships can only exist on the basis of the satisfied requirements of God’s justice and human justice. This applies to social, political and international relations as well as to interpersonal relations and the resolution of moral conflicts.
The Christian View of War and Peace
• Enmity and rivalry, envy and arrogance, trampling on the rights and freedoms, dignity and honor of an individual, or of a community, people and state as one of the parties in interpersonal or contractual-legal relations, regulated by the principles of justice or legality, lead to conflicts, fratricidal wars and international disasters.
• The gospel and the protection of peace on the part of the Church do not completely overlap with the causes of political pacifism, but have a wider value dimension, which in theological science is defined as “Irinism”.
• These principles of Christian ethics derive from the Savior’s words to His disciples: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you; Not as the world gives do I give to you” (John 14:27).
Moral problems of peace and war in the history of Christianity and the tradition of the church
• The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments definitely talk about the possibilities of using force for the protection of peace, order or a just cause, and even about the need to defend sacred causes through the legal and morally justified use of force.
• The answer that St. John the Baptist gives to the soldiers who came to be baptized by him and seek spiritual advice about how to act and what to do in order to live righteously and godly in order to achieve salvation does not contain a command to prohibit the weapon and demand that they give up their ministry.
• Saint John the Baptist advised the soldiers not to give up the use of arms, but not to use their arms and power for injustice: “Do not trouble anyone, do not slander and be content with your wages” (Luke 3:14).
• war in Christian ethics and for the possibility of moral justification of defensive war and liberation war, which are related to the legitimate use of force to oppose violence, lawlessness and injustice.
The theme of “just war” in Christian ethics and church tradition
• The theme of peace and war, of justice and violence and the just use of force in Christian moral theology, as well as in the theory of international law, is considered in history and in relation to the theory of “just war” (justum bellum).
• Within the Christian ethical tradition, this topic has its historical development and significance for ethics, for the state and law, and for international relations.
• Christian ethical concepts are the result of centuries of discussion, development and improvement of the norms of morality and international law, both in the East and in the West.
• The doctrine of just war (justum bellum) in Christian ethics passes from antiquity and the legacy of the Ancient Church to the Medieval philosophical tradition and Western European culture, and in some aspects it is connected to the moral code of chivalry.
• Augustine’s views on just war were adopted in medieval theology through the writings of Isidore of Seville, who also provided one of the authoritative formulations embedded in the Christian tradition.
Just war and defensive war to repel armed violence with the lawful use of force
Lawful and just use of force
• Based on the examples from the Holy Scriptures and above all by carefully examining the teaching of Jesus Christ, it can be concluded that the use of force, in itself, cannot be qualified as an unconditional evil from a Christian point of view. Although Jesus Christ distinguished himself from his contemporary zealots, and taught about the peaceful change of social injustices and evils, the fair use of force is possible under certain conditions.
Defensive warfare and coverage of an armed attack
• Christianity does not absolutize the New Testament principle of manly bearing of evils and sufferings and not resisting evil and calls everyone to bravely fight against evil and wage a spiritual battle against it, and if it is armed evil and evil that uses weapons of violence and injustice, to use for the purposes of defeating evil and neutralizing its destructive action, and legitimate use of force.
Note: The text was presented within the framework of the international scientific conference organized on May 12, 2022 in Sofia by the “Pokrov Bogorodichen” Foundation on the topic: “The Church and War”, the purpose of which was to present a theological reflection on the topics related to war and peace , from the perspective of Christian tradition, history and anthropology.
In May 1944, the Bulgarian Synod granted the Russian community firstly the church “St. Great Martyr Ekaterina” at the cemetery in Kniazhevo, and after two months – the church “St. Petka Samardzhiyska” on “Maria Luiza” Blvd. in the center of Sofia. The deceased superior was replaced by Archpriest Georgii Golubtsov, well known to the parishioners. A common concern is the purchase of the necessary church utensils and liturgical books to replace the lost ones. From its Svetogorje brothers, the Russian parish received a priceless gift – a large enthroned Gospel and a set of silver Eucharistic vessels. In the small church on “Maria Luisa” Blvd., daily services and regular festive and solemn bishop’s services continue.
During the bombings in the spring of 1944, the “St. Nicholas the Miracle Worker” – the roof collapsed, the southern wing was completely destroyed, part of the frescoes was lost. Since, according to the Soviet-Bulgarian protocol of July 6, 1940, the Soviet side handed over the temple for free use to Bulgaria for 15 years, the costs of its restoration are borne by the Bulgarian government. BGN 8 million was allocated, then the amount increased to BGN 12 million. Repair work began as early as 1944. The damaged zography in the south nave was restored by the Russian émigré artist Mikhail Maletsky, who for the first time cleaned and strengthened all the frescoes. The famous Bulgarian artist Nikola Andonov also participated in the restoration, who 30 years before, as a student, contributed to the iconography of the temple under the guidance of Prof. Perminov.
The changed political conditions after the end of the Second World War lead to serious changes in the life of the Russian emigration in Bulgaria. The Russian clergy began to look for ways to reunite with the mother church in the homeland and to serve it with their experience and knowledge. In April 1945, Archbishop Seraphim appealed to the Russian Patriarch Alexy, declaring his readiness to accept the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate. He asks that a patriarchal representative be left in Bulgaria, because he “was related to his flock, to his spiritual children, not only to the Russians, but also to the Bulgarians”. He also begs Moscow to accept under its omophorion all the Russian clergy that he rules in Bulgaria. The opinion of Pskov-Porhov Archbishop (later Lenigrad Metropolitan) Grigoriy, who in April 1945 came to Sofia to celebrate the restoration of full communion with the Bulgarian Orthodox Church after the overthrow of the schism, helped to resolve the issue positively. In his conclusions presented to the patriarch, he characterized Bishop Seraphim as an unconditionally spiritual person, enjoying great respect among the people. The Soviet Embassy also notes that Archbishop Seraphim is not compromised in his past and present activities and has authority among the Bulgarian clergy.
On October 30, 1945, the corresponding decree of the patriarch was issued, confirming the powers of Bishop Seraphim in the management of the seven Russian parishes in Bulgaria as a representative of the Moscow Patriarchate. In the spring of 1946, the Soviet government suspended the protocol granting Bulgaria temporary use of the Russian ambassador’s church and handed over the church to Archbishop Seraphim.
On June 4, 1946, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued a decree granting Soviet citizenship to subjects of the former Russian Empire living in Bulgaria. Bishop Seraphim accepted Soviet citizenship, they issued him certificate No. 1 for a Soviet subject living in Bulgaria. Some of the staunchest opponents of Soviet power condemned his decision. But as a true shepherd, Bishop Seraphim is guided above all by concern for the fate of his flock, for its physical survival and salvation from communist persecution, and shows true “meekness of a dove and wisdom of a serpent.” The fact is that all questions related to the fate of the Russian emigration passed at that time from the hands of the Bulgarian government under the control of the Soviet representatives in the Allied Control Commission, who decided them in accordance with class principles and declared all emigrants and non-returnees to be ” enemies of the people”. Those who accepted Soviet citizenship acquire a new status, from “White Guards” they become Soviet citizens, equal in their rights with the citizens of Bulgaria. This means that many restrictions related to the “reactionary” stigma are removed from them, they have equal opportunities to find a job, get housing, can count on social security.
After the state decree of November 17, 1944 liquidated all organizations of Russian émigrés and prohibited any of their public activities, the Russian church is now the last and only place where they can freely profess their faith, communicate and help each other mutually. Archpriest Andrey Liven, who after the death of Archpriest Georgiy Golubtsov, became the head of the temple, has great credit for uniting the parishioners. He is characterized by true Russian hospitality, cordiality, kindness, he does a lot to attract young people to the church, organizes talks on spiritual topics, poetry evenings, at which he often reads his own spiritual poems and magnificent translations.
Courtyard of the Moscow Patriarchate
After the death of Bishop Seraphim, the management of the Russian church communities in Bulgaria was taken over by Archimandrite Panteleimon (Staritsky), who led them in the capacity of bishop’s deputy. In 1951, there were more than twenty priests on the territory of Bulgaria under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate.
At the end of May 1952, the Moscow Patriarchate sent Archpriest Sergius Kazansky, a cleric from the Baku Diocese, to Bulgaria as the new episcopal vicar of the Russian Orthodox parishes. On July 3, 1952, in a report to Metropolitan Nikolay of Krutitsa-Kolomna about the state of the episcopal vicarage in Bulgaria, the archpriest reported that the community of the Russian temple in Sofia numbered 500 people, there were two priests, a deacon and a psaltery. According to the opinion of Fr. Sergius Kazansky, only this parish “can be considered normal”, while the rest of the Russian municipalities “do not meet even the most minimal signs of a normal parish”. The “Pokrov Bogorodichen” virgin monastery in Kniazhevo consisted at that time of an abbess, two mantled nuns, four Rasophorian nuns and three novices, three of whom had Soviet citizenship, and seven – Bulgarian.
In his report to Moscow, Archpriest Sergius Kazansky claims that the existence of Russian parishes and priests causes some dissatisfaction among the Bulgarian clergy and incites unnecessary tension. As a result of his talks with the chief secretary of the Bulgarian Synod, Bishop Iona, and with Metropolitan Kiril, the future Bulgarian patriarch, Father Sergiy concluded: “Most of the higher hierarchs of the Bulgarian Church have nothing against the existence of a Russian episcopal vicarage in Bulgaria, but they would very satisfied if the Russian Church handed over the Russian parishes under their rule and left only one court to represent it in Sofia, as is the situation in Moscow…”. Bishop Yona directly stated to him that if Patriarch Alexy found it necessary and expedient to transfer the Russian parishes under the jurisdiction of the Bulgarian Church, it would be “a great manifestation of love for the Bulgarian Church and the Bulgarian Church will record this act on the tablets of its church annals “.
On November 10, 1952, by decision of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, the existing Russian Orthodox parishes, monasteries, clergy and monks in Bulgaria were transferred to the jurisdiction of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The Holy Synod decreed “to fraternally ask the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church to extend its love and care to the listed parishes, monasteries and clergy, and to preserve, after accepting it into its jurisdiction, the Russian spiritual order and way of life in the Kokalyansky Monastery, for which his monks are asking… From the moment of the signing of the act of handing over the mentioned parishes, monasteries and clergy under the jurisdiction of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, the episcopal vicarage of the Russian Orthodox communities in Bulgaria should be considered liquidated, while Archpriest S. Kazanski would remain the head of the Russian Orthodox Church “St. Nicholas the Wonderworker” in Sofia, which from now on will be called the courtyard of the Moscow Patriarchate”.
After a long hiatus from the end of 1973, the Moscow Patriarchate again began to send from the USSR superiors of the courtyard temple. In 1973-1975, this position was held by the cleric of the Vladimir Diocese, Archpriest Arkady Tishchuk.
In 1975-1985, the priest of the temple-courtyard was the cleric from the Vilnius-Litovsk diocese, Archimandrite Nikita Yakerovich. During his time, from 1975 to 1977, with the blessing of the Russian Patriarch Pimen and with the assistance of the Bulgarian Patriarch Maxim, cleaning and restoration of the frescoes in the temple took place. The restoration activities are financed by the Bulgarian Synod, the Committee on the Affairs of the Bulgarian Church, the Sofia City Council, from the funds of the temple and are carried out by a team of the Bulgarian National Institute for Cultural Monuments under the leadership of the artist Baeva. Unlike the restoration in 1945-1946, when they were washed with solvents, this time a different technique was used – rubbing with special erasers, which led to a significant fading of the painting. Again, the painting layer was strengthened, using a technique close to the author’s; the wooden elements of the exterior decoration and tiled roofs have been preserved. As early as 1970, with funds from the Moscow Patriarchate, the domes and cornices of the temple were again gilded, and in 1982 the iconostasis was again gilded.
In 1972, 1975, 1977 and 1983, the Russian Patriarch Pimen visited the temple.
After the departure of Archimandrite Nikita on January 25, 1985, a new superior arrived, the cleric of the Simferopol-Crimean Diocese Archpriest Nikolay Dzichkovski, a fourth-generation priest. He, like his predecessors, took care of the improvement of the temple. In the summer of 1987, the tombstone of Bishop Seraphim was lined with multi-colored marble. In the following year, the crypt was completely restored, where rooms for holding parish meetings, choir rehearsals, an office for receiving visitors, and a library were equipped. The temple is painted on the outside. The Bulgarian artist Angel Radushev restored the icons from the iconostasis. Father Nikolay obeyed for 10 years, and it was he who was destined to witness and participate in a new cardinal change in the life of the “St. Nicholas the Wonderworker” in the early 1990s.
On November 8, 1992, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the courtyard, a solemn prayer service was held, which was attended by the Bulgarian Patriarch Maxim, the General Secretary of the Synod of the BOC, Bishop Neofitus of Levki, and also numerous employees of the Russian Embassy headed by Ambassador Avdeev. And this is not just compliance with the diplomatic protocol on the occasion of the round date, but a reflection of qualitative changes in Russian society. Father Nikolay Dzichkovski and Father Simeon Minchev then baptized many adults and children, married both newlyweds and married couples who had lived in a civil marriage for many years. All the great Lord’s and Virgin’s feasts are celebrated together; the temple is full of people. Numerous Russian diplomats, led by Ambassador Avdeev and his wife, gather at these services. People feel a special sense of unity when they gather together to offer prayers for their Fatherland and for all Orthodox Christians.
The number of admirers of Bishop Seraphim among the Russians and Bulgarians, who have known from personal experience the extraordinary power of prayer to him, is increasing significantly. For many, books with his sermons and articles become a real discovery. At the bishop’s grave with the inscription “FROM MY MOTHER YOU ARE MY PROTECTOR” (Ps. 70:6) people bring more and more letters. After consulting with the parishioners, Father Nicholas established a sort of “mail box” near the bishop’s grave.
Thanks to the renewed contacts with the “White Guard” emigrants, the diplomats from the Russian embassy finally paid attention to the Russians living in the disabled home in Knyazhevo, created in the 1920s, to all the lonely, sick, disabled people. Donations are collected at the embassy to buy gifts for Christmas and Easter.
On May 19, 1994, the church solemnly welcomed the Russian Patriarch Alexy II, who arrived in Bulgaria to visit the Bulgarian Patriarch Maxim. The First Hierarchs were accompanied by numerous hierarchs of the Bulgarian Church, who participated in the celebrations in the Russian temple more than once. A funeral litany was celebrated together at the grave of Bishop Seraphim, who loved the Bulgarians and the Bulgarian Church so much. With the blessing of the two patriarchs, it was decided to proceed with the restoration of the Russian church.
By order of the ambassadorial committee, nun artists from the icon-painting studio of the “Pokrov Bogorodichen” Princely Monastery painted the crypt of the temple. Under the guidance of the talented sister Magdalina (Nacheva), they create murals that are astonishing in their beauty and depth. Several plots are united by the topic “Archbishop Seraphim – Patron Saint of Sofia”. With iconographic means, the artists manage to tell about the righteous life of Bishop Seraphim, and about his struggle for the purity of Orthodoxy, and about his boundless love for him. Thanks to the magnificent frescoes, the name of the untimely martyred Sister Magdalene (may God rest her in His heavenly kingdom!) has been united forever with the name of Bishop Seraphim. The restoration of the legendary Samara flag was entrusted to the skilled craftsmen from the Princely Monastery – they breathed new life into the priceless relic, a symbol of the Russian-Bulgarian brotherhood.
A great celebration for the whole parish is the solemn consecration of the Russian temple after the completion of the repair and restoration works. Ambassador Avdeev’s merits were marked with a high award – by decree of Patriarch Alexy II he was awarded the Order of “St. Righteous Prince Daniel of Moscow”.
Archpriest Nikolai was replaced by the energetic Archpriest Sergii Trukhachov, the father of a joint family with many children. During his time, the iconography of the crypt was completed, which, with this finished look, became a true decoration of the temple. The talented conductor Matushka Lyubov successfully leads the choir of the Russian Church, which is traditionally one of the best in Sofia. Father Sergius enjoys great love from the parishioners, he manages to create an amazingly benevolent and cordial atmosphere in the parish.
From 1998 to 2008, the head of the Russian temple was Archpriest Alexander Karyagin, a cleric from the Kostroma Diocese.
From April 2008 to March 2009, the abbot of the courtyard was Isidor (Minaev), a graduate of the Valaam Monastery. The short time of his ministry proved to be very fruitful. The life of the parish becomes both more active and more diverse. In connection with the 130th anniversary of the end of the Russian-Turkish war, the year 2008 has been declared the “year of Russia in Bulgaria”. Solemn religious services, festive events, concerts, artistic and literary exhibitions are organized throughout the country, including a photo exhibition dedicated to the 1020th anniversary of the Conversion of Russia, an exhibition “Temples of Moscow”, a week of Russian spiritual culture. In addition to the festive events, the traditional activities of the parish are not forgotten. A Sunday school is successfully operating, consisting of several classes for children of different ages. In addition to the catechism and church history lessons, there are also classes in church singing and arts and crafts. As part of the cycle “What do we know about Orthodoxy?”, the head of the courtyard gives monthly theological lectures at the Russian Cultural and Information Center.
The yard continues its many years of tradition in providing assistance to the elderly, the disabled and the needy. Constant work is also being done on the beautification and maintenance of the Russian cemeteries.
Since March 2009, Hieromonk Zotik (Gaevski) has been performing the duties of head of the courtyard. For Bulgaria, he is not a new and unknown person – he studied here and often served together with Father Isidore in the church “St. great martyr Panteleimon” at the Russian cemetery in Kniazhevo. The employees of the yard have serious tasks ahead: a new restoration of the Russian temple is ahead, and its centenary is not far away.
From the translator: Hieromonk Zotik managed the courtyard until May 2011, after which Archimandrite Philip (Vasiltsev) was appointed as the head. Archimandrite Philip is a man of extraordinary energy and determination. Despite some initial disagreements and ferments in the parish, Archimandrite Philip’s time will be remembered mostly for one of the most comprehensive restorations of the church “St. Nicholas the Wonderworker” throughout its existence, and also with the canonization of St. Seraphim, the Sofia Wonderworker, carried out in solidarity by the Russian and Bulgarian Orthodox Churches in 2016 – a unique event in church history. This canonization has been expected for many years by the faithful people, but only the will and energy of Archimandrite Philip, who organized the collection of numerous testimonies of miracles and prayer help, and put his heart and soul into this process, gave impetus to the canonization procedure.
From March 2018 until today, the head of the courtyard and representative of the Russian Patriarch in Sofia is Archimandrite Vasian (Zmeev). We wish His Eminence Fr. Vasian a successful and fruitful ministry, health, strength and help from above in his works, and may God continue to bless the importance of the Russian temple in Sofia as a unique living bridge and connection between the two brotherly countries and churches.
Will the temple “St. Nicholas the Wonderworker” is just a historical monument or it will continue to be a focus of the Russian Orthodox community in Sofia, called to serve the prayerful unity of the Orthodox people, Russians and Bulgarians, largely depends on us. Well, the church is not just a beautiful building with cubes and icons. It is a living organism, and it is made so by the believing people gathered together in the name of Christ; and that’s all of us.
Publication in Bulgarian: To remain human/History and religions by Olga Reshetnikova – In SVET, Issue 3/2022
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