Jerusalem hierarch: Priests must be ready for persecution and death

Metropolitan Timothy of Vostra. Photo: flickr.com/photos/spbpda

Metropolitan Timothy (Margaritis) of Vostra of the Jerusalem Orthodox Church said that Orthodox priests must prepare for a new struggle, marginalization, persecution and even martyrdom, the newspaper "Orthodox Life" reports.

In an interview with the resource, the hierarch noted that today “in the name of globalization, indirectly or at the instigation of international law, peoples are called upon to renounce their national and cultural traditions, revise historical events and, most importantly, to “update” religious values and beliefs for the sake of "peaceful coexistence" of different nationalities in every country and worldwide."

Metropolitan Timothy believes that the emotions and anxiety inherent in modern society “make most people lose sight of the spiritual dimension of man, the posthumous course of his soul, the salvation of which is not interesting for people. They do not find time to deal with these issues; therefore they ignore and even ridicule them.

“As a result, we are facing secularization in the Church, especially in the Western world, which, through the fashion for everything Western, pulls down ‘our’ East. The adoption of these new practices and theories contradicts the old traditions and Christian values, which the new world order seeks to replace at any cost,” the hierarch emphasized.

According to him, among the adepts of globalization, one can find many spiritual leaders “who believe that a middle ground with the new order of things is useful, and who begin to curtail religious traditions, especially in the countries with a traditionally Christian population. By contrast, followers of other religions are unshakable in their faith and hardly assimilated in traditionally Christian countries."

Metropolitan Timothy noted that “in such conditions Christians get disappointed in the faith, which is why they withdraw from the living source of the preaching of the Gospel. Thus, churches become empty, cease to be houses of prayer and worship; at best they retain only historical and cultural value, and at worst – the value of real estate that can be sold through rent, which is increasingly common in our time in the West. The premises of the temples are used as residential buildings and cultural centers or leased to representatives of other religions."

He recalled that globalization in the understanding of the Church is “the unification of the whole world in the name of Jesus Christ, Who accomplished salvation not only on earth, but also in eternity, when He brought all those who yearned for Him from hell to heaven ... Union in the spirit of His Church, where true love, care for each other, solidarity between all peoples, peace, justice and equality will prevail."

“Freedom of spirit in Christ and mutual respect between nations do not imply forcible submission, which is implied in the principles of the New Social Order (globalization),” Vladyka emphasized.

He noted that "for the good of man and his salvation, the Church offers physical and spiritual union with Christ; therefore She cannot agree with innovative ideas that try to equalize everyone according to the principle of human rights, rather than the Law of God."

“Recognizing the dreadful moral decline of society and the rejection of Christian values, the Church offers repentance. Her preaching is ridiculed, imputed in nothing. If the faithful clergy and laity insist on Her salvific mission, then the Church will be persecuted and targeted by those forces that are imposing the New World Order,” said Metropolitan Timothy.

Vladyka is convinced that "internal controversies and disputes over administrative issues weaken the voice of the Church." Therefore, “it is necessary to establish close cooperation between the Local Churches in order to resist those innovations that cause spiritual harm to people and to develop a common prudent position without any compromise, without man-pleasing, just as in ancient times Christians rejected anti-Christian laws of the Roman emperors and happily went to terrible torture and death for Christ."

“Therefore, the word of the Church in relation to globalization should be one, truthful, humane and focused on the Lord, since He is our salvation. Clerics must prepare for new struggles, marginalization, persecution and even martyrdom. It is not the first or the last time that the Church has been faced with such a situation,” Metropolitan Timothy summed up.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that, in the opinion of Metropolitan Timothy of Vostra, if the Churches are interested in unity, then they must "give up their interests and privileges of origin".

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