When the Homily is about Immunology

A few interesting news items


In Georgia (pictured above the Patriarch Ilia II) protesters have convinced the government to postpone a pact with the Vatican which would have granted more freedoms to the RCC in Georgia. A papist ploy to convert the Orthodox masses? The old world Orthodox seem to have a deeply held suspiscion of all things roman.

Article here

So we americans shiver at the notion that a free "government signed an agreement with the Georgian Orthodox Church recognizing its special role." But before we judge them, we ought to consider whether the Orthodox claim to being the foundational consciousness of countries and cultures in the east is more valid than the evangelical claims to the heritage of the United States. I personally have no qualms in seeing the Orthodox Church have special rights in their home countries.

Why now does the seperation of Church and State have some sacred value, while for the vast majority of Church history the exact opposite was the case?

And an "orthodox" gay wedding in Russia. The priest who did the job, lost his. (Please no one lecture me about "priesthood not being a job" I know this already...but couldn't resist the wording there.)