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1. Shortly after I sent the memo below, I got the following in my e-mail:
“This is the mail system at host lists.vatican.va. I'm sorry to have to inform you that your message could not be delivered to one or more recipients. It's attached below. For further assistance, please send mail to postmaster. If you do so, please include this problem report. You can delete your own text from the attached returned message. " The mail system <benedictxvi@vatican.va>: host 212.77.0.211[212.77.0.211] said: 452 4.2.1 mailbox temporarily disabled: benedictxvi@vatican.va (in reply to RCPT TO command)” Anyone want to guess why some Vatican lackey would disable the mailbox to prevent my memo reaching its intended recipient? Whatever, it’s flattering that the opposition finds my missive so dangerous! 2) The following is excerpted from a CNN article which appeared the following day – suggesting you take a page from Jimmy Carter: Bush must navigate a treacherous postpresidency "He is a president where people are expecting some kind of repair work," said Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton. "If he just goes on the speaking circuit and focuses his time making huge money, that would only tarnish a presidency that only has a low approval rating." Instead, Bush is more likely to choose a similar post-presidential path, at least initially, as that of Jimmy Carter, who also left the White House with poor approval ratings, Zelizer said. Instead of seeking to profit off his years in office, Carter became a globe-trotting humanitarian and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his work promoting social and economic justice. In the process, Carter has rehabilitated his image and transformed a legacy that had seemed unsalvageable three decades ago. "What Jimmy Carter showed is that you can be very active in your post-presidential years and help improve how people think of you as a leader and a policy maker," Zelizer said. MEMO To: President George W. Bush From: Laura Jones - http://www.mamaleh-larisa.com Date: December 4, 2008 Subject: A Patriarchate for our hemisphere I really was not intentionally leading up to a Patriarchate with my previous memos – I think, I hope at least, that it was I who was being led by God! We will know if such is the case by how this proposal works out. I will list those in the Church that I see as beacons at this time. I will start with the Orthodox and Catholics – although not because that’s all there is to it, you know of my interest in Hinduism via Deepak Chopra, if you look on my web site, you will, I believe, find of interest the post (under “latest updates”): “My Mead ancestor, Margaret Askew Fell Fox:
’One of the founding members of the Religious Society of Friends, she was popularly known as the "mother of Quakerism". She is considered one of the Valiant Sixty, early Quaker preachers and missionaries.’ -Wikipedia” But, like it or lump it, Orthodox and Catholics – let’s just say they lead the pack. Progress on this front is being made. Besides more friendly talk among those at the top, the Catholics are doing a superb job of – uh, let’s say they seem to be integrating Pat. Bartholomew into their communion. Here’s a sample: VATICAN CITY, NOV. 30, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI says the relationship between Catholics and Orthodox is going deeper and he expressed his trust that the day will come when both Churches will share the celebration of the Eucharist. The Pope affirmed this in a message that he sent to the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, on the occasion of today's feast of St. Andrew. "[W]e reflect with joy and thanksgiving that the relations between us are entering progressively deeper levels as we renew our commitment to the path of prayer and dialogue," the Holy Father said. "We trust that our common journey will hasten the arrival of that blessed day when we will praise God together in a shared celebration of the Eucharist. The inner life of our Churches and the challenges of our modem world urgently demand this witness of unity among Christ's disciples." The Pontiff sent his message with a Vatican delegation that visited Bartholomew I for the festivities of the feast day. When they talk about sharing the Eucharist, and SOON, and because the WORLD DEMANDS THIS – I think, Mr. President, it is incumbent on us to strike while the iron is hot!!! Hopefully, if Benedict and Bartholomew thus make common cause, they will also reign in the Jerusalem Patriarchate which is such an abominable mess. That Patriarchate is already in Bart’s camp, the whole problem is in fact: what do Palestinians in their native homeland, Palestine, need with a Patriarchate that is totally GREEK? This Patriarchate’s efforts to simply nullify the Palestinian Arabs go to the length of maintaining the Palestinians are not even Arab, but simply “Arabophone [their neologism meaning “Arab-speaking”] Greeks” – remnants of the army of Alexander the Great who according to this imaginary scenario would have ethnically-cleansed the native Palestinians and re-settled the area themselves. Jordan recently withdrew its support of the current Jerusalem Patriarchate, such support being required for its legitimacy – so hopefully this roadblock to stability in Israel will soon be removed. Also, I just finished reading that Israeli Defense Forces forcibly removed Israeli settlers – literally kicking and screaming and worse - from a house in the very contentious Hebron settlement. Meanwhile, back at the ranch …… well, the “counter weights”, I guess you can call them, to this Roman/Constantinopolitan grouping, are 1) the Russian Orthodox Church, which since healing its schism between the Moscow Patriarchate within Russia, and the Russian Church Abroad (the dispersion effected by the Bolshevik Revolution) now constitutes a Church with worldwide reach on a par with that of the Catholic Church. And 2) the Orthodox Church in America. The latter has - almost miraculously in its suddenness - just put its house in order. Here is a good clip on it. Orthodox leader seizes own Obama moment Monday, December 1, 2008 Julia Duin of The Washington Times They already are calling him "His Beatitude," and comparing him to Barack Obama. In less than a month, Metropolitan Jonah, 49, will be enthroned as the leader of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), the nation's second-largest branch of Eastern Orthodoxy. Some have termed Metropolitan Jonah's election an "Obama moment" because of perceived parallels between him and the U.S. president-elect: a much younger man with little experience shaking up a corrupt status quo by coming from outside the establishment via an electrifying speech. He was an unknown junior prelate, who had been Bishop Jonah of Fort Worth only since Nov. 1. A few days later, he flew to Pittsburgh for a special convention of Orthdox laity and clergy that would elect the successor to Metropolitan Herman, the previous OCA head, who retired in September. When the new bishop delivered a stirring presentation the evening of Nov. 11 on how to reform the scandal-plagued OCA, he created considerable buzz. About $4 million had been embezzled from the OCA under two previous metropolitans. "At that point, a lot of delegates began to see him not only as a possibility but the best choice," said the Rev. Gregory Safchuk, rector of St. Mark's Orthodox Church in Bethesda. "We felt the Holy Spirit had raised him up and given him to us as the best choice. He was not connected in any way to the problems we've had in the past few years." …. His election as metropolitan was a surprise. "He wasn't even on the radar," Mr. Safchuk said. "He had 11 days of experience as bishop. Nobody even considered he'd be a candidate, and his was not a name anyone was talking about." On Nov. 12, Bishop Jonah was nominated as one of four candidates for metropolitan. He led after the second ballot. All the assembled bishops then processed to a secluded area around an altar where they, according to Orthodox custom, would determine the winning candidate in a final vote. Bishops are not bound to choose the leading candidate as their primate, and the two previous metropolitans were not the winners of the popular vote. While Bishop Jonah and a runner-up sat apart from the other bishops, the remaining leaders placed their ballots in a chalice, and the votes were counted. Bishop Jonah knew he had won when all the bishops rose and formed a circle around him. "They expressed their complete support for me as a leader," Metropolitan Jonah said. "It was an incredibly humbling experience. Most of the bishops are 10 to 35 years my senior." He was led out to an applauding crowd, then vested in a light-blue cape and a white miter signifying his new position. "The black hole of our scandal was sucking the life out of the OCA," wrote the Rev. Steven Kostoff, a priest at Christ the Savior/Holy Spirit Orthodox Church in Cincinnati, on his personal blog. "The election of an untainted candidate with a good reputation now seems like not only a brilliant and spontaneous response by an alert body, but the work of the Holy Spirit." Apologies for using a piece with such emphasis on Obama – but, after all, that is the reality you and I both have to deal with at this point. Met. Jonah is American born, raised Episcopalian – the first OCA primate who is not Slavic. He was received into Orthodoxy, however, in one of the “representation” churches of the Moscow Patriarchate in the US (I think there are maybe 30 of these; some of them went with the Russian Church Abroad, and some remained with Moscow, when the schism ended.) His religious formation also had a large Russia component; most notably, he was nourished in the Faith within Russian monastic communities – the OCA has, to my knowledge, only St. Tikhon’s Monastery which qualifies as a substantial monastic community, and – uh, it doesn’t really rate A+, although it has improved of late, and definitely will get a boost from the new metropolitan. So what we have in the new primate is a genuine, home grown American, who nevertheless has received an authentic Orthodox formation where Orthodoxy is most vital and healthy, as having survived the most virulent atheistic persecution in history, and been purified and strengthened by this ordeal. So now I want to indicate to you how we can tie it all together, creating the national unity we need to go forward as Abraham Lincoln pointed the way: "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations." It truly pains me, Dubya, to see you getting such a bad press! I feel the same about my most dear friend, Met. Herman, our out-going metropolitan – for without him in the Church, as also without you on the governmental scene, things would have never become exposed in such wise that we would be on track toward that discernment between good and evil which breeds that firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right – not as everyone decides it in the light of their own self-interest (and also trusting the good faith of those who strive together with us, that they, as we, seek firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right!!! Only in this context can we work out our differences in good faith as we go along) – to achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations. Because however much I have disagreed with you on several counts, you, as president, struggled with your conscience as regards the decisions you had to make. I think you must be deeply in sympathy with the points I have been making about Paul’s teaching as a struggle with our self-concerned selves until we can say with Paul: Now the life I now live in the flesh is no longer my life, but it is Christ who lives in me! (Gal 2:20) And so I think you, Mr. President, are the person best positioned to petition Pope Benedict – who has the canonical right to create a new Patriarchate – to give us our own Church, comprising our “New World” hemisphere. This should be somehow under UN aegis, and a recent statement by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, who spoke before the UN assembly considering the theme “Culture and Peace” would seem to indicate that the Vatican is in fact waiting for such an overture from someone with the international stature - such as you have - to make such a gesture. Card Tauran Pres Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue spoke at UN about making fraternity a reality not just an ideal Says Believers Have a Know-How to Offer World NEW YORK, NOV. 14, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Religions, if they are faithful to their nature, are messengers and craftsmen of peace, declared a representative of Benedict XVI to the U.N. general assembly. The U.N. assembly was considering Wednesday the theme "Culture and Peace" and Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, spoke with the assembly about making fraternity a reality, not just an ideal. "All together, without negating our specific cultural and religious aspects, may we work to draw up a plan toward a more secure and solidary world," he encouraged.
His discourse showed how "religions, despite weakness and contradictions in their followers, are messengers of reconciliation and peace." The cardinal explained: "In their families and schools, as well as in their respective places of worship, believers who pray practice solidarity and encourage all the initiatives that contribute to the defense of the person and the earth, likewise teaching the language and gestures of peace. "They make an effort to listen, understand, respect the other, to trust in him before judging him. All of these attitudes educate and open a space for peace." "Each week, millions of believers gather in their synagogues, churches, mosques and other places of worship to pray," the Vatican representative continued. "They have an experience of fraternity. They achieve unity in diversity. They remind everyone that 'man does not live on bread alone.'" Cardinal Tauran said that believers want to "put this know-how at the disposal of everyone." "In inviting one to interiority, to harmony within himself, with others and with creation, religions give meaning to the human adventure," he added. The cardinal acknowledged that "it is necessary -- this is clear -- for believers to be coherent and believable. They cannot use religion to limit freedom of conscience, to justify violence, to promote hate and fanaticism, or to undermine the autonomy of politics and religion." But on the other hand, he continued, "in participating in public dialogue in the societies in which they are members, believers feel called to cooperate in the promotion of the common good, which goes along with values common to everyone, believers and nonbelievers: the sacred character of life, the dignity of the human person, respect for freedom of conscience and religion, adherence to responsible liberty, openness to diverse opinions, the right use of reason, appreciation of democracy and attention to natural resources, to name a few." The cardinal concluded affirming the desire of the Church to "continue offering to all brothers and sisters in humanity a spirit -- that of fraternity; a strength -- that of prayer; a hope -- that which Christ offers." I mean, Dubya, for the first time in living memory we have a Vatican - no less!!! - pronunciamento which lays no claim to Catholicism being the only infallibly true and right way to think and behave!!! It has to be the Holy Spirit speaking loud and clear! Of course I am going to suggest – as I have been doing already for several years – myself, as 1) the disciple of Herbert Schwartz (for an introduction to whom see my web site, http://www.mamaleh-larisa.com), and as also 2) deaconess to Abp. Paul, currently of Ryazan and Kasimov, to spearhead this effort. It was with such an eventuality in mind that some 5 years ago I bought the motor home I have lived in ever since, and I find it does, in the event, make it possible to settle down in a community for a long enough period to get to know the people “like family” and I assure you I am already making things happen! As for Abp. Paul, he is – just for starters – a kind of repository of the inheritance of the Optina Monastery in Russia which played a signal role throughout the 19th century in Russia, and is rightly credited with having prepared Russia – within the Russian land as also abroad – to confront the atheistic onslaught waged throughout the 20th century against Holy Rus, taking the form of Soviet persecution within Russia, coupled with the no less intense militant secularism rampant in Europe and North America. Abp. has family ties to Optina as it functioned in the time of the tsars, when, Peter the Great having abolished the office of Patriarch – seeing the power of the Church within the Russia society as a threat to his own, most especially to his westernizing and secularizing agenda – and put the Church under a governmental Overprocurator, the Russian people distrusted the official Church and instead made pilgrimages to the monasteries. Pre-eminent among these was Optina, notably frequented by Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and many, many other writers, artists, and other members of the Russian intelligentsia. If you study the literature, art, music, etc. of Russia in Soviet times, I think you will be amazed at the omnipresence of religious themes. The monastery which figures so prominently in The Brothers Karamazov is in fact an image of Optina, the monks who figure prominently being based on actual monastics there, who were known to the Russian readers. More than that, however, Abp. Paul grew up in one of the prison cities of the Soviet Gulag, Karaganda, Kazakhstan, known – and famous, or infamous – as Karlag. The Optina Elder, now a canonized saint, St. Sebastian of Karaganda, was incarcerated there, and after he had served his sentence, rather than return to Russia, he organized the other inmates, along with many, many pilgrims who flocked to this community, into a lay society – but living according to the traditional monastic discipline. If you read about our Mt. Hope community, with Dr. Herbert Schwartz, a New York Jew of Russian extraction, who became Catholic when he encountered So we are well positioned to carry out this task. The first step would be the meeting between Pope Benedict and Patriarch Aleksi of Moscow which has been the topic of the day ever since at least 1988, the millennial year of Christianity in Rus, and the year the Church became free of the Soviet government as it collapsed. It even goes back to the Fatima apparitions of the Mother of God, I never got the details, but it was a cause very dear to Pope John Paul II. It would be best if this project could be launched on Jan. 6, the Feast of Epiphany, which in the western Church celebrates the visit of the Magi, and hence is considered to be pre-eminently the “Ecumenical Feast” – Christ’s first appearance to non-Jews. It’s also the feast on which my Mother reposed – she being Episcopalian. In the wonderful extended visit we had just prior to her falling asleep, she told me that she had never understood why I had become Catholic, why, as she put it, the Episcopal Church wasn’t good enough for me – but, she said, she never said anything, “Because I always trusted that God would take care of my child.” When she fell asleep very shortly after, her trust became my own in a very powerful way – which is why I trust with the certainty of Faith that this project is going to fly! And, as an endnote: I recently discovered that my Mama’s spiritual inheritance to me was not really the now so troubled Episcopal Church – but the deep piety of the Mother of Quakerism, Margaret Askew Fell Fox! Which has so much in common with the hesychast spirituality practiced in the Russian monasteries, and taught us by Herbert Schwartz.
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