Translated material
Why does the media need the cemetery and orphans theme?!
“The lamp of the body is the eye. So, if your eye is pure, then your whole body will be light; but if your eye is bad, then your whole body will be dark. So, if the light that is in you is darkness, then what is it? darkness?" (Matthew 6:22,23)
I read a message from priest Svyatoslav Shevchenko (diak_svyatoslav), head of the public relations department of the Annunciation diocese, one of the most popular Far Eastern bloggers, which he left on his LiveJournal under the heading: “The Church was accused of caring for orphans.”
Father Svyatoslav writes:
“I didn’t want to get involved in this political magnetic-anti-magnetic fuss, but, sorry, we got it. Certain liberal media, bursting with special “love” for the Russian Orthodox Church, literally look into the mouths of church speakers to find something incriminating in their words. Even if this something is far-fetched.
Lies again
This time the words of our Patriarch were distorted again. The history of the issue is as follows. In 2011, the Moscow diocese appealed to the authorities to allocate a plot of land to build a cemetery for deceased orphans, who in Russia are buried worse than animals. At the diocesan meeting in Moscow, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill reported to those gathered on the progress of the arrangement of orphan cemeteries. And then the liberal press began to scream..."
Oh, how right father is! I will give only the headlines on this cemetery-orphan topic that the liberal media tried to inflate (only what I managed to find):
LentaCom . Ru: "Moscow authorities have allocated a site for the burial of orphans to the Russian Orthodox Church."
At the request of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, the Moscow authorities allocated a plot of land with an area of 0.45 hectares for the burial of orphans.
Kommersant FM: “Patriarch Kirill “knocked out” places in the cemetery for orphans.”
The patriarch's appeal to the mayor's office with a request to allocate space for orphans in the new cemetery caused a wave of indignation on the Internet. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church asked the Moscow government to give a special plot at the Alabushevskoye cemetery for the Christian burial of orphans.
RBC TV: "The Russian Orthodox Church will provide Christian burial for orphans."
Lenta.ru: “The blogosphere was outraged by the Russian Orthodox Church’s request for a cemetery for orphans.”
Echo of St. Petersburg: “The Russian Orthodox Church denies the connection between the request for the allocation of land for an orphan cemetery and the “anti-Magnitsky law.”
Polit.ru: "The Patriarch received land for a cemetery for Orthodox orphans."
Utro.ru: “Patriarch Kirill provided the orphans with a place in the cemetery.”
Moscow Komsomol member: “The Patriarch helped the orphans with a “Christian burial.”
News: "The Russian Orthodox Church received land for burying Moscow orphans."
And so on, and so on... Why, on New Year’s Eve, should the secular media, mostly with a liberal bias, as they say now, “nightmare” the country with passions for burying deceased orphans?!
Dear gentlemen, journalists who are trying to write about “fried facts” from the life of the Russian Orthodox Church, it is clear that sensations are necessary for the rating of your publications, but you are looking for them where these “sensations” a priori cannot exist. If you are carrying out an order to “damage” our Church, then you should not sell or change your conscience for these information “ducks”. Moreover, the half-truth you are trying to talk about is worse than a lie!
And this topic is very, very delicate... Although in a society where the remains of babies are rolled into barrels, registered as “biomaterial” waste, and then simply thrown into the trash, what kind of morality can we talk about?! Everyone remembers this wild incident, when on July 22, 2012, four 50-liter plastic barrels were found in the forest near the Nizhny Tagil-Ekaterinburg highway in the Sverdlovsk region. 248 human embryos were found in the barrels...
But this fact of the moral degradation of our society probably caused less concern and also caused “revival” in the secular media than the cemetery-orphan issue in the light of the “Dima Yakovlev Law.”
Unfortunately, you note that the liberal media have once again shown their “friendly” face to the Church, which in the Report of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' at the Diocesan Assembly of Moscow (December 28, 2012) read and “discussed” only this point , and for some reason other moments “eluded” their attention.
They did not dare to quote our Patriarch Kirill, who spoke about the creation of Family Assistance Centers, and about social work and assistance to the homeless. For example, in 2012, in response to an appeal from the Patriarch, the Moscow government allocated a site in the city of Shcherbinka for the construction of the “Hangar of Salvation” to warm the homeless during the cold season. At the moment, all conditions for using the site have been agreed upon and its opening is being prepared.
The secular media did not say a word about the organization, with the blessing of His Holiness the Patriarch, of the crisis center “Home for Mom,” which opened in February 2011 and is designed to support women who find themselves in difficult life situations during pregnancy or with a baby in their arms.
“The center extends its assistance to large and low-income families, as well as single mothers. All Moscow parishes have organized a collection of things necessary for the functioning of the center: food, clothing, hygiene products, equipment, cribs, strollers.
In addition, an agreement was reached on the participation of the Moscow clergy in the work of crisis centers for pregnant women, opening in antenatal clinics of the city with the assistance of the Department of Social Protection to counter abortion.
In 5 churches in Moscow, regular prayer services for pregnant women are held, as well as conversations with the clergy.
Traditionally, in August, Moscow parishes held charity events to collect school supplies for children from large and low-income families going to school. Stationery collection points were set up and announcements were posted on temple information boards. After the end of the action, all donated items were transferred to the families,” the Patriarch says in his report.
The media also remained silent about the enormous assistance that the Russian Orthodox Church has provided and continues to provide to those affected by the flood in Krymsk. Moscow clergy and volunteers from a specially formed emergency service immediately after the tragedy flew to the scene and helped from the first days of eliminating the consequences of the flood. The capital's parishes actively participated in collecting donations for the victims. His Holiness Patriarch Kirill himself personally visited there, visited the most destroyed areas, met with people, and prayed with his flock in these difficult days. Isn't this information worthy of more detailed coverage, gentlemen, journalists?! Where are your materials about this, why are you silent?! Or is this “rating” material?!
In the same report, His Holiness the Patriarch very precisely noted:
“In conditions of intense competition of ideas and points of view, the harshest methods of fighting for the attention of the audience are used. But, unfortunately, neither the senders nor the recipients of information often have time left for rational persuasion. It is much easier to win the attention of the audience through emotions. Therefore, modern mass media more often appeal to instincts and base feelings than to reason and conscience. In order to increase readability ratings, some media resources can not only use low-quality, unreliable and unverified information, but also often do not hesitate to resort to outright lies in order to “fried” them. news to attract people's attention."
I would also like to end with a quote from the Holy Gospel of the Apostle Matthew:
“No one can serve two masters: for either he will hate one and love the other; or he will be zealous for one and neglect the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matt. 6:24)
P. S. We've already been through something similar...
