Orthodoxy United - or Orthodoxy Divided and Ruled
The contemporary Orthodox world presents many bright sides, but also many dark sides. Of its dark sides, it must be said that its disunity, caused above all by petty nationalism, called ‘phyletism’, is by far the most disturbing. In the recent past, its nationalism was flattered, exploited and manipulated by the powers of that age, France and Great Britain. Today its nationalism is flattered, exploited and manipulated in the same way by the successor State Unions of those powers, the EU and the US.
The Great Vision and once Reality of the Orthodox Empire, first Roman, then after the Western apostasy Eastern Roman, then after the Eastern apostasy Romanovian, has been betrayed again and again by many Orthodox. This happened when they fell into narrow, petty, nationalistic interests.
The Orthodox Empire was betrayed not least in the last centuries by Imperial Russia itself. Its upper class was westernised, fell into Russian nationalism and personal ambition to be fulfilled by overthrowing the Orthodox Monarchy, which it did. This then led to the great Soviet apostasy, when the Third Rome became the Third International.
Beneath the ruins of the Soviet apostasy was buried the great vision of a multinational and multilingual Orthodox Empire of unity in diversity. This overview was lost not only by Russians themselves, but also by Orthodox peoples outside Russia. They naturally soon began to identify Russians with Soviets, that is, with enemies of Christ. It was this Russian and then Soviet nationalism that created distrust in the Ukraine and Georgia as well as fostering local nationalistic ambitions elsewhere in the Orthodox world.
Thus, parts of the Orthodox world entered the Godless, consumerist European Union, which is so profoundly alien to the Orthodox mind and civilisation. As a result, those countries are suffering, nowhere more at the moment than Greece. However, Romania, Bulgaria and Cyprus and the substantial minorities of Orthodox in eastern Poland, eastern Slovakia, Latvia and elsewhere are also suffering from the EU and its euro project, like square pegs in round holes. Even Germany, whose eurozone Reich they submitted to or wish to submit to, is realising that it has overstretched itself and that it is probably unable to absorb these countries.
Other parts of the Orthodox world have been tempted by the neocon US project. The Ukraine and Georgia come particularly to mind. True, the Ukraine, which lost years through having its democracy stolen from it by the US and EU funded and orchestrated media show of the ‘orange revolution’, is now returning to common sense. As for Georgia, much of it is still sunk in nationalist delusions, fostered by its tyrannical US puppets.
As for Serbia, with foreign troops on its sovereign territory, it is threatened by the EU and US project to dismantle it into Macedonia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Vojevodina. ‘Divide and conquer’ is the EU slogan here, just as it was under the Nazis.
Outside Orthodox Europe and in the Diaspora, two ancient Patriarchates and other fragments of the Orthodox world also play at divisive nationalism, separating themselves from Orthodox unity. Their nationalism is flattered and toyed with by foreign powers, masonic interests and heterodox calendars and splinters of Christianity. The latter long ago broke away from the Orthodox Church and have shown no intention whatsoever of repenting and so returning to the fullness of Orthodox unity. Many Orthodox have thus betrayed the Orthodox Empire – 'he who now restrains the mystery of iniquity' (2 Thess. 2, 7) - for the sake of their petty nationalistic interests. As a result, they are still under the influence of unOrthodox States 'overseas' and any efforts made by Orthodox Russia to bring together Orthodox outside the frontiers of the Russian Federation are betrayed.
The Orthodox world will be saved only when it repents of its nationalist treason of phyletism, its placing of the local above the general, its placing of its attachment to the world, which is what nationalism is, above its attachment to Heaven. Only when Orthodox repent of nationalism will all the peoples of the Orthodox world and their Diasporas, walk hand in hand as Orthodox brothers and sisters towards the very principle and focus of their unity. This is the imperishable Kingdom of God and not the kingdoms of men with their divisive, illusory, material 'benefits' that rot and corrupt the soul.
Archpriest Andrew Phillips
