#main cathedral

[jh-newman-opn]

The Moscow Fiasco

At the prodding of @quonunc, here is a quick overview of the incident I fondly referred to as "the Moscow fiasco" in a previous ask about the difference between Catholicism and Orthodoxy. It's a subject dear and horrifying to my heart after I wrote my undergrad dissertation on it.

In short: this is to do with how the Moscow Patriarchate (Russian Orthodox Church, hereafter ROC) is entirely in bed with the Russian government, and how Patriarch Kirill (of Moscow and All Russia) has been responding to the ongoing situation in Ukraine (and former Soviet lands more generally). Picture will make sense lower down the post.

The slightly longer short answer is that Patriarch Kirill is entirely in favour of the Ukraine war, and the ROC clergy are under significant pressure to support that as an official church stance-- my dissertation topic started to germinate when, completely by accident, I came across a 10-minute video of a ROC priest explaining very slowly and carefully that when he met the Pope, he did not talk about Ukraine. Will link this video if I can find it again, but at present it's proving elusive. (EDIT: found it!!! It was the Metropolitan Hilarion of Budapest and Hungary. This video looks like a hostage video honestly £10 says there's someone behind the camera holding a gun to this man's head for legal reasons this is a joke).

The foundation for this belief is obviously completely political (and the history of how the ROC and Russian state are completely entwined is long and complicated to say the least!), but officially the ROC stance is that it's about reclaiming the historic Slavic spiritual unity founded on the Baptism of Rus' in the year 988 by Vladimir the Grand Prince of Kievan Rus' when Slavdom become Orthodox. Proponents of this "Russian World" theory (Russkiy Mir') basically argue that it's the influence of the West that has fractured the unified Slavic people into different, opposing nations, and that by "liberating" Ukraine of this alien ideology of nationhood, the Slavic Orthodox world will regain its historic unity under the common banner of Orthodoxy. All I will say on this is that these people have a very rosy view of Kievan Rus', but that's a post for another day.

This has obviously caused friction within the Orthodox world. Ukraine now has two Orthodox churches-- the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which is in communion with the Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople, and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which is in communion with the Russian Patriarchate. They are not in communion with each other, and Constantinople's decision to grant autocephalous status to the OCoU caused Moscow to schism with Constantinople. Constantinople is also accusing Moscow of heresy (specifically, ethno-phyletism). Moscow obviously denies this. Obvious question for the Catholics among us-- does this mean Russian Orthodox christians are no longer Orthodox? No, because schisms between Orthodox churches are not particularly unusual, and they remain within the general cloud of Orthodox communion links.

The whole mess is then immortalised in the absolute monstrosity that is the Main Cathedral to the Russian Armed Forces, which is what I wrote my diss on. The YouTube video linked there is promotional material from Russian military-themed TV channel Звезда, and is one of the better sources of info on it-- a lot of English-language sources contain a lot of incorrect information on it-- either because they don't understand the cultural background, or just straight up lies from the Russian govt propaganda arm--, so take anything they say with a grain of salt. Kirill then gives televised sermons from this cathedral in which he talks about the glorious Russian martyrs of the Ukraine invasion, does his best to harmonise Stalinism and Orthodoxy, and oversees military parades for national holidays. This cathedral has a huge amount of weird symbolism and imagery, and I am super happy to talk more about the mosaics and propaganda going on there, because it's a lot (to say the quiet part out loud: pLEASE ask me more about this cathedral because the more I think about it the more scream-worthy facts about it I remember).

You may have seen memes with this picture of the Virgin Mary (below). Yeah that's from this cathedral. And it's a really really fucked up image. Like, more fucked up than you may think. Could have written my entire diss on this image alone and how shockingly awful it is. western orthobro converts who keep reblogging it as if it's somehow cool and macho are just showing how little they know and it's embarrassing.

The militarism of the ROC since this whole thing has also gone bonkers and there's a huuuuuge amount of corruption and weird stuff going on. The tension between the clergy and the laity has been extremely high for decades, and has spilled over most notably in Pussy Riot's Punk Prayer stunt, an exhibition called Осторожно, религия! (beware, religion!), and some shenanigans in church-building more generally. On this particular incident I would point to the blessing of nuclear weapons and the canonisation of a patron saint of long-range nuclear missiles as key moments. The cathedral also has matching mosaics of Putin and Stalin, a fact that the Russian government very much wants you to think never happened (officially the mosaics were removed, but they absolutely were not-- muggins here found them and has the pictures to prove it).

The main takeaway from this topic is that situation is obviously complicated and the repercussions for everyone involved-- particularly Russian and Ukrainian laypeople-- are unpleasant to say the least. It gives something of a window into the Putin regime and its propaganda arm (Epiphany swim, topless horseriding pictures, Soviet-style policies, I could go on) more than anything else, because the situation inside the ROC is still quite obscure. From talking to people who know Kirill personally, it's not clear quite what he thinks is going on or why he's involved the way he is. Either way. Fiasco.

[wgm-beautiful-world]

Main Cathedral of Russian Armed Forces - RUSSIA

[just-an-emily-existing]

~The Cathedral of The Stesel Team~

❤️✨Thomas, The Tank Engine✨❤️

🧡✨Edward, The Wise Engine✨🧡

💛✨Henry, The Brave Engine✨💛

💚✨Gordon, The Big Engine✨💚

💙✨James, The Red Engine✨💙

💜✨Percy, The Small Engine✨💜

🩷✨Toby and Henrietta, The Wooden Lovers✨🩷

❤️✨Duck, The Great Western Engine✨❤️

🧡✨Donald and Douglas, The Scottish Twins✨🧡

💛✨Oliver and Toad, The Great Western Duo✨💛

💚✨Emily, The Sterling Engine✨💚

💙✨Emily, The Human Girl✨💙

💜✨Porter, The Seaside Engine✨💜

🩷✨Skiff, The Adventurous Boat✨🩷

❤️✨Diesel, The Sneaky Diesel✨❤️

🧡✨Mavis, The Quarry Diesel✨🧡

💛✨Paxton, The Sweet Engine✨💛

💚✨Salty, The Dockyard Diesel✨💚

💙✨Splatter and Dodge, The Splodge Twins✨💙

💜✨D10, The Rough Engine✨💜

🩷✨Daisy, The Diesel Railcar✨🩷

❤️✨BoCo, The Calm Diesel✨❤️

🧡✨Rosie, The Cheery Engine✨🧡

💛✨Rebecca, The Supportive Engine✨💛

💚✨Spencer, The VIP Engine✨💚

💙✨Isabel and Dulcie, The Slipcoach Twins✨💙

[skunkes]

there should be more art of talon fucking butts tbh 😳

😏

[rabbits-of-negative-euphoria]

they're trying SO hard not to be bourgeois

[krzyfilmphotography]

Römerberg - Frankfurt, Germany

[trapperangel]

Last night I was feeling nostalgic about this one powerpuff girls episode I used to watch as a kid so I found it and put it on and guess what I see in the opening credits. “Directed by John McIntyre” GIMME A BREAK

[postcard-from-the-past]

Cathedral of Le Mans, Maine region of France

French vintage postcard

[bioswear]

The new nier reincarnation art for the new chapter looks and feels SO drakengard 3 tho - the use of the same blue and white contrasting palette in some of the locations of the cage is just like 👀👀 and it may just be the immense Drakengard 3 brainrot, but it feels a little intentional from a design standpoint

Like, this is the same color palette of Cathedral City as well as similar architecture

This palette reminds me of the Land of Forests - the harshness of contrast in values is also a very Drakengard 3 aspect

This color palette reminds me of the throne room in One’s Cathedral, and during our fight with One in Branch C.

Obviously this is just speculation and pointing out the visual familiarity of the concept art for the new chapter but like… makes you think 👀🤔

[beefcheeeks]

[mirdaniaa]

i'm almost finished with the armor of light and i don't want to give a final-final opinion yet but i've not been a huge fan of this book. it feels...i shan't say lazy, but it has definitely been my least favorite of the kingsbridge books so far.

[lindenott]

В этом отпуске я видела красоту....

[da-riya]

Congrats!

Thank you and the 4 random people who liked my "I passed the exam" post when I passed my exam

[sunlessea]

it is accustomed to these prying eyes : the entirety of a city turns to its attention when it occupies their space, gawking and whispering among themselves. he may not be, not to this degree ... but he would quickly have to be. it takes its place before him, the crowd of the bazaar practically splitting from its path until he is the only one quite courageous enough to stand before it. and what a boon that is, too ... it's his jacket it holds, delicately propped via palm and claw.

"dearest rabbit," it undeniably purrs to grab his focus, eyes narrowed behind its mask. 'tis bothersome, the clicks of heels that pause 'round them as the public who has ridiculed the artisan as of late begins to chitter like the rodents they are in either disbelief or fascination. but it is strategic : and mr veils, so often ran from and never spoken to in public so amicably, knows well what it is doing. "difficult are you to track the footfalls of in this busy little city. but here you are. it seems you left something of yours in my home, delicious artisan."

@londonfallen › yeah.

[bellshazes]

i have to say that ain't no cathedral. it is a very pretty gothic chapel. but i accept that this does not constitute clickbait

[postcard-from-the-past]

Main Gate of Our Lady Maria Cathedral in Ribe, southern Jutland, Denmark

Danish vintage postcard