Orthodox Russia Serves Notice!

Amid the last two weeks of heart-stopping genocidal barbarity in occupied Palestine, much attention was focused on the Muslims’ internal plight and their external response in neighboring countries, with massive crowds chanting, “beat, beat, beat Tel Aviv, Nasrallah!” Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah of the Lebanese Hezbollah has been circumspect so far, carefully aligned with the graduated and united response of the regional Resistance Arc. However there exist other players on the global chessboard.

Little remarked in the west-controlled global media has been the equally savage treatment and eradication of the humanity, cultural, religious and health infrastructure of the arab and international Orthodox Christian community of Gaza. The third oldest church in Christendom, the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius, established 1,600 years ago and where 500 people were taking shelter, was leveled by four Israeli bombs. This was a few days after the John the Baptist Hospital hosting 5,000 refugees was struck.

the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius, Old Gaza city, Palestine

After adding fuel to the fire and solely touring Israel in pointed partisan support of global Zionism, the US President Biden blearily pontificated from the Oval Office, attempting to justify the unjustifiable, and said Russia = Hamas. An attempt was made to tar both nations involved in a defensive war in the Ukraine and in Palestine, respectively, as terrorists to be hunted down. This extraordinary and self-unaware insolence was too much — on top of the unprecedented and still ongoing savagery of collective punishment directed at precious Islamic and Orthodox lives and millennial houses of worship by the combined Zionist West.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the opening ceremony for the Invincible Admiral – Invincible Russia: Holy Righteous Warrior Fyodor Ushakov exhibition (Moscow, October 20, 2023)

Yesterday, 20^th of October, 2023, a significant step was taken by Russia vis-a-vis the genocidal aggression directed at the innocent Orthodox and Muslims of the Holy Land. They set a marker of imminent return and response to Zionist criminality. Lavrov visited a Foreign Ministry photo exhibition gathered to celebrate the unparalleled glorious career of Admiral Ushakov.

Sergey Lavrov: “Ushakov’s talent as an organiser revealed itself in full during the construction of the port of Sevastopol and the creation of the Black Sea fleet. He did not suffer a single defeat, nor lost a single ship. None of his subordinates were ever taken prisoner… Fyodor Ushakov is the only Russian military leader to be canonised by the Russian Orthodox Church… I would like to use this occasion to donate some copies of materials about our great compatriot from the Foreign Policy Archive of Russia to the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society.”

“The Black Sea Fleet was founded by Prince Potemkin on May 13, 1783, together with its principal base, the city of Sevastopol… Russian control over Crimea was confirmed when Russian naval forces under the command of Admiral Fyodor Ushakov defeated the Turkish fleet at the Battle of Kerch Strait in 1790.”

As epochal as was this warrior consolidating control of the warm-water ports of the Black Sea for Russia, even more intriguing were two of the sponsors of this most unusual exhibition at this moment in time!

Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill and IPPO Chairman Sergey Stepashin

The first sponsor of this exhibition was Sergey Stepashin, Chairman of the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society (IPPO).

“The Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (IPPO), created by the sovereign will of Emperor Alexander III and the public initiative of prominent Russian people of that time, dates back to 1882… A solemn meeting of the founding members was held in St. Petersburg, where the Society was established. The Constituent Assembly was timed to coincide with the celebration of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Tsar Constantine and his mother, Tsarina Elena. Since then, this day has been celebrated as the Society’s birthday.

In the first paragraph of the Charter, it was determined that the Society was created with exclusively scientific and charitable purposes, for the achievement of which it was granted the following opportunities and rights:

• • collect, develop and disseminate information about the holy places of the East in Russia;
  • provide allowances (assistance) to Orthodox pilgrims;
  • establish schools, hospitals, and hospices, as well as provide material support to local residents, churches, monasteries, and clergy.

The Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society is unique in its significance in the history of Russian culture. The statutory tasks of the Society – promotion of pilgrimage to the Holy Land, scientific study of Palestine and humanitarian and educational cooperation with the peoples of the countries of the Biblical region – are closely linked to the traditional spiritual and cultural values of the Russian people and the priorities of Russian foreign policy. By 1914, the IPPO had about 3,000 members, and its departments operated in 52 dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church.”

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia was the fifth son and seventh child of Emperor Alexander II of Russia. He was an influential figure during the reigns of his brother Emperor Alexander III of Russia and his nephew Emperor Nicholas II

Historical St. Nicholas Metochion of the IPPO in Jerusalem

Modern day St. Sergius Metochion in Jerusalem

“… In 2008, the St. Sergius Metochion of the IPPO in Jerusalem was returned to Russia by the Israeli government. In 2011, a Russian Museum and Park Complex was opened in Jericho, the site of which before the revolution belonged to the IPPO, and was transferred to Russia by the Palestinian leadership. In June 2012, in the presence of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, the building of the IPPO Cultural and Business Center in Bethlehem was inaugurated… In 2014, at the initiative of IPPO Chairman Sergey Stepashin, our IPPO was the first in Russia to start collecting humanitarian aid for the Syrian people suffering from the war. This charitable activity was and continues to be carried out in cooperation with the Inter-religious Working Group on Assistance to the Population of Syria of the Council for Interaction with Religious Associations under the President of the Russian Federation.”

The second sponsor of this exhibition was the St. Spyridon Center for Cultural Cooperation, which specializes in cultural exchanges, especially with Greek and Orthodox communities abroad. The Church of Saint Porphyrius destroyed a few days ago is of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

In the recently unveiled “Concept of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation,” the premier military power of our times served notice it would contest imperialist aggression everywhere its allies or supplicants were assailed. “It contains a clear declaration that the US is the enemy and that Russia aims to be one of the pillars of the developing multipolar world order.” Additionally, on the section on “International humanitarian cooperation,” this document approved by decree No. 229 of the President of the Russian Federation on March 31, 2023, states:

“… 43. For the purpose of strengthening the role of Russia in the world humanitarian space, shaping a positive attitude thereto abroad, enhancing the positions of the Russian language in the world, counteracting the Russophobia campaign led by the unfriendly foreign states and their associations as well as enhancing mutual understanding and confidence among states, the Russian Federation intends to give priority to: …

4) promoting the development of international relations between religious organizations belonging to Russia’s traditional religions, and protecting the Russian Orthodox Church from discrimination abroad, including in the interests of ensuring the unity of Orthodoxy;

44. With the purpose of countering the falsification of history, incitement of hatred against Russia, spread of the ideology of neo-Nazism, racial and national exclusivity, and aggressive nationalism, and strengthening the moral, legal and institutional foundations of contemporary international relations based primarily on the universally recognized outcomes of World War II, the Russian Federation intends to give priority to:

1) disseminating accurate information abroad about the role and place of Russia in world history and the formation of a just world order, including the decisive contribution of the Soviet Union to the victory over Nazi Germany and to the founding of the UN, its extensive assistance in decolonization and the formation of statehood of the peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin America;”

Other sections declare intent to protect Russian citizens and organizations abroad, and implement these comprehensive foreign policy directives, wherever they may be. The ring tightens between the Second Orthodox Constantinople, firmly established on Crimea, and the maddened Zionist Jerusalem. The moto of the IPPO is « I will not be silent for Zion’s sake, nor will I rest for Jerusalem’s sake! » The satanic injustices in the Holy Land cry out to the highest Heavens! The Russian cavalry is on the way.