«МЫ ХОДИМ ЗДЕСЬ, КАК ПО ЗЕМЛЕ СОДОМА И ГОМОРРЫ»

Russian Orthodox Church in Stockholm prays for “victory over the enemy”

The New Russian Church – A Security Risk to Sweden

«МЫ ЗДЕСЬ ХОДИМ КАК ПО ЗЕМЛЕ СОДОМА И ГОМОРРЫ»

Archpriest Vitaly Babushin on Sweden and the Swedish Church

Excerpts of the Article conducted by Arkady Ryabichenko.

Priest Vitaliy Babushin “ROC” in Sweden

A backroom of a Protestant church, part of which is occupied by the Sergievsky parish. Funds are being collected for the construction (purchase) of a full-fledged church building.

– Father Vitaly, but in 2005 the Russian Orthodox Church decided to break off relations with the Swedish Church in connection with the establishment of an official rite of blessing for same-sex couples in it …

– With this break, the Russian Orthodox Church has put a clear emphasis on what the current Swedish Church is. In other words, we said to the Swedes: “While you still retained some kind of Christian identity, we could have some points of contact with you: discuss common Christian topics, debate, and participate in cultural and social projects. But you have introduced into the everyday life of your church things that are completely contrary to the Christian way of life – same-sex “marriages”, and participation in gay pride parades. From our point of view, the Holy Scripture has ceased to be an authority for you; for your organization, God is no longer an authority since you can freely distort His Divine Revelation to please your passions. Everything that was Christian in your church has ceased to be so”.

This gap, as it were, states the fact that, as a Church, we can only deal with the Church, which, in our opinion, the Swedish Church is no longer.

An exceptional case in our relationship is perhaps holy Baptism. While the Protestants perform it in the name of the Most Holy Trinity: “In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ” we can receive them into Orthodoxy through the sacrament of chrismation. However, in reality, Protestants themselves demand, upon conversion to Orthodoxy, to perform over them the full rite of Holy Baptism according to the Eastern rite. I am saying this to the fact that I recently heard that Swedish Protestants are developing a special gender formula for Baptism, in which there will be no Divine names of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I am afraid that after such an innovation, the Baptism of Swedes upon their conversion to Orthodoxy will become a natural condition.

However, if the Swedish Church asks for our participation in some forums, then I think it would be wrong not to share our opinions with them.

– What is the general situation with the spiritual life of ordinary Swedes? In the Swedish TV show From Sweden to Heaven, the journalist visited Catholics, Muslims, and idolaters with equal enthusiasm. What place does the Swedish Church take in the life of a modern Swede?

– The only thing the Swedish Church is really active in is social projects since it has no religious projects. Archimandrite Dorotheos (Forsner), the abbot of the Serbian monastery in the town of Bredared, is a Swede from the family of a Swedish pastor. Probably no one knows better than him the state of affairs in the modern Swedish church. Archimandrite Dorotheos says that the state of the Swedish Church has ceased to be religious. 40-50 years ago, the conservative part of the pastors and parishioners of the Swedish Church still retained the traditional way of life for Lutheran communities and families. Now, it is not at all necessary for a Swedish priest (or, rather, a “priest”) to be a believer during the so-called “initiation”. This emphasizes the direction of their organization from religious Christian service exclusively to a social institution.

In addition to preserving cemeteries, another main task of the Swedish Church is to issue certificates of baptism and marriage since many Swedes traditionally baptize their children and enter into marriages without motivating these acts with religious feelings. You are not required to believe in God, religious efforts, or participation in worship – it all comes down to the conclusion of contracts, membership fees, or some kind of legal function.

Once, I was at a service in a nearby Protestant church, from which we rented premises. This coincided with the end of the school year when the cheering schoolchildren were driven around the city in trucks, and they came to church under the so-called blessing. I came with one of our parishioners to see what this blessing is. The woman priest spent forty minutes talking to the graduates about how much energy she had when she was young, and she was very jealous of their youth, sexuality, and regrets that her years had passed. She cannot play football, frolic, or drive trucks to deafening music as they do. I kept waiting for at least one word about God to be said. But there were no such words because the conversation about God is considered in this case to be something uncomfortable, forcing you to think, to strain, with Whom Higher to relate to. Why should young people think about it if everything is fine anyway?

And another priest, also a woman, one and a half or two years ago in one of the cities of Sweden, before the beginning of the elk hunting season, went to the sacristy during the divine service, put on a plush elk head, and went out to preach. The few parishioners had a lot of fun and left in a great mood: this was a service, and at last, something new was found in the Swedish Church!

Swedish female Priest wearing a plush Elk head when preaching

Sveriges Radio 

http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=93&artikel=5678453

The woman priest told reporters that when she saw an interesting souvenir in the shape of an elk’s head in the window of a hunting store, she thought: “This is what we need. It will at least slightly delay and cheer people in the church. ” The task of the Swedish Church, according to her minister, is to amuse people and create a good mood for them. With a Moose’s head! This characterizes spirituality, or lack thereof, in Swedish Protestantism. Therefore, I agree with Father Dorotheus, who believes that modern Sweden is a post-Christian country.

– The Russian media are overwhelmed with news about Sweden’s anti-Christian “achievements”: sex education, blasphemy, freedom of sin. What are your impressions of this country? After all, you have lived here for three years?

– My first impression, which is getting sharper every year, is that we walk here, as in the land of Sodom and Gomorrah. Even next to our temple, there was a cafe with a sign on which was clearly written “Cafe Sodom”. I am absolutely sure that my task and the task of those people whom the Lord has entrusted to me like a flock is to lead such a way of life so that the Lord will never pour out His anger on this earth, as has already happened in history. I believe that any country exists solely because it has godly people, like the biblical Lot. As if they are among the Swedes; after all, not everyone here accepts and supports what is being introduced by the state from toddler age – I mean sex education and gender games.

However, in order to resist the state system, which rigidly implements its experimental education programs, you need to have heroic qualities. Some parents, trying to resist this system, fall into the plane of the child protection system. Whether you want it or not, it is not the state that is guilty a priori, but the parents who seem to fall out of the coordinate system. You yourself can fall out, but we won’t let the child! Therefore, many parents hide their indignation, keep it to themselves, and rush about, looking for a way out, but there is no way out. It’s kind of like totalitarianism: you really don’t have freedom – freedom to give up all this.

In Sweden, there are special services that monitor the lives of children from the moment a pregnant mother is registered with health patronage. If something seems dubious to them, they have the right to double-check it, warn, and take their own educational measures to the extent that their baby may not return from kindergarten or school. He will be in a strange family. There are enough such cases among our parishioners in Sweden to draw serious conclusions.

Parents here are simply afraid to declare their unwillingness to bring a child to kindergarten when their teacher is a homosexual, or he was a man and became a woman: the children got used to their uncle, and now he is an aunt. In our opinion, a child who observes such ugliness develops a corresponding ugly worldview. Incidentally, this is not where the mass of “modern art” works that fill the Stockholm metro, street banners … all these crazy sculptures in school courtyards, and ubiquitous advertisements. Some kind of irresistible craving for ugliness, which is instilled under the guise of cultural breakthroughs and the highest achievements of civilization on a par with the appearance of well-being and clean streets.

Vitaliy Babushin ROC in Stockholm

Arkady Ryabichenko spoke with Archpriest Vitaly Babushin on April 21, 2015

The above are just a few excerpts from the article. The complete article can be found in Russian at the following link.

Author’s note: One can wonder how the mental health of this individual is.
Николаос АА Черопулос

Источник:

2022.05.06 Russian Orthodox Church in Stockholm prays for “victory over the enemy”
https://pravoslavie.ru/78807.html (“WE WALK HERE AS IN THE LAND OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH”)
https://pravoslavie.ru/84676.html
https://pravoslavie.ru/84677.html

Пересмотрено октябрь 2023 г.