The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada has refused relics of the Great Prince Vladimir offered for veneration by the OCA. In doing so they launched a strongly worded attack on the Russian Orthodox Church and its history in the Ukraine. You may read the details at Byzantine Texas.
Personally I think their reaction is way over the top. But hey, we wouldn't be Orthodox if we couldn't find some reason to throw furniture (or relics) at each other.
Sigh.
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It makes one wonder (if one weren't wondering already) why there should be a Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Canada (or anyplace else other than Ukraine). They wouldn't be spouting off like this if their only agenda was the Gospel. That (viz. the Gospel) is something that the Canadians are in need of.
Come to think of it, it's not clear why there is a Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, or a Greek Orthodox Church in North America, etc. etc.
I guess I will never understand.
Ditto to everything you just wrote.
I'm fine with the Ukrainian position.
good for the ukrainians
I can't see the Ukrainian position as anything more than hateful and needlessly divisive. Kievan Rus' is the ancestor state not only of Ukraine but of Russia and Belarus, so their claim that they are being offered relics from their homeland is not as clear-cut as they try to make it seem.
Secondly, I cannot recall any situation where the modern OCA itself tried to oppress Ukrainians. The UOC of Canada appears, to me, to be trying to cast the sins of some upon a whole nation. The fact that they are accusing the OCA of "Russification" is especially perplexing to me. The primate of the OCA is an ex-Episcopalian from La Jolla who smiles for photographs. You can't get much less Russian than that.
Whatever the Russians have done in the past, that statement strikes me as terribly racist and coming from a retaliatory attitude that has no place in an institution claiming to follow the Gospel.
Furthermore, I don't like the other blog's coverage of the situation. Joseph strikes me as one trying to drag the name of the Orthodox Church through the mud under the guise of reporting news. His commentary on this incident seems to bear that out.
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