MetVitaly to Western leaders: Don't let Sov's fool you

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Barbara
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MetVitaly to Western leaders: Don't let Sov's fool you

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Metropolitan Vitaly, later life, standing before it looks like an Icon of the Mother of God of the Sign. Notice his sharp gaze. No one could possibly fool him !

This strongly stated exhortation by Rocor's 4th 1st Hierarch, Metropolitan Vitaly, should have been published in English at the time it was issued, in 1992. Before reaching the end of the article, one can pick this up by Met Vitaly's mention of perestroika, a now nearly forgotten term, but one which was bandied about like a mantra by the Western media at the time. "Communism is over !", the media chanted.

Met Vitaly tried to set the story straight. Too bad that few in the West -- neither leaders nor followers -- paid attention to the Metropolitan's sensible warnings. He certainly cut right through the deceits and tricks of the Soviets like the proverbial knife through butter.

[Editor's commentary > ]
"Vladyka Vitaly stood out by his elegant literary style and love for imperial Russia and its culture, and this account should help us to understand our history better....

"Forgive me, fathers and brothers if, at first glance, you may think that I am engaging in something that is not my business. I would like to say a few words about the plan which the heads of seven Western countries want to implement, promising Russia or, as they say, the Soviet Union, many billions in aid – many billions of valid American, English and French money: dollars, pounds, and other valid currencies.

Who will be the recipients of these funds? All the heads of state of these counties are fully aware and are under no misapprehension, having precise information from their embassies and consulates, that the “perestroika” in Russia extends only to the Communist Party. Admittedly, it did cast a faint shadow over all Russia in the sense that nobody was being executed for their faith, nobody was being imprisoned or sent to concentration camps for so-called religious propaganda. Yes, a small shadow indeed which benefited all Russia, but nothing changed in the main.

The official Communist Party was condemned, but it is all too clear that only the name was dropped, in reality it continues to exist. All those millions of communists did not vanish from the face of the earth or were swept away into a void, they continue to exist and stand at the helm of the entire state, in other words – the state is still being run by former communists, not under that name, but the same in substance.

This means that the Western funds shall be received by the very same communists, and what shall they do with them? Build new factories so that the people will have access to food and all commodities that are easily available here in the free world, and which are in such short supply in Russia? This is something they are unlikely to do, because the Russian people are not what the English language defines as “consumers” because they have no purchasing power.

The bulk of the Russian population lives in poverty. They pay with so-called “wooden” rubles, which are practically worthless. One ruble has less value than one cent. What does this mean? It means that the communist party shall use these American and other money to buy food from the West. By this, they shall enliven American industry, as the American government shall get all this money back, because all these commodities and grain, and butter and so forth cannot be purchased from anywhere but the West. It is possible that the Russian people will find life easier in the sense that they will be able to eat more or less normally for some years, but then everything will revert to the past. Nothing will change because there are two factors, which the communists running the country will never agree to alter. The first is that they will never agree to private property in the genuine sense of the word, and the second is that they will never allow the ruble to become a genuine globally-valid currency. That would be like death to them and to communism as such. There are numerous examples of this. In Barnaul, Russian people planted some wheat on a small allotment. When the wheat ripened, the communist party burned this wheat down to the ground. One woman in Sevastopol set up a cooperative, but the financial authorities made her life such a misery that she gave up and closed her venture.

They shall never permit private property because this would lead to their political demise.

Consequently, I would like to ask the seven heads of state the following question: what are you doing by giving billions in valid currency to Russia? You will feed the country for some time, and then everything will revert to the former status. Everything will be consumed, but as there is no genuine private property nor any real cultivation of millions of acres of Russian soil, it will be just as before. There will be hunger again, and a hand will be extended to you for more aid, while the communists will be building up their military power with the use of such aid. That military power will be directed against both the West and the Russian people in the form of internal military units, the KGB, and the police. And what will be the result?! No, governments of free countries, you need to issue an ultimatum to the Soviet Union – to pass a law regarding private property, its inviolability, and the mandatory transformation of the ruble into a valid convertible currency. The basements of the KGB are full of tonnes of gold and this measure could be implemented easily, but they will never agree to do so. They will continue to print billions of “wooden” rubles making it possible for people to buy bread, potatoes, and rotten cabbage, to pay rent for their all-too-often miserable dwellings and travel cheaply around the country. But who will travel all over Russia when the Russian people are poverty-stricken? This is what upholds the ruble inside the country: bread issued with food stamps, potatoes, half-rotted cabbage and cheap accommodation. That is what a Russian receives for his “wooden” ruble. Despite this, a real ruble will never exist if the government is not faced with an ultimatum.

You may ask me: “What business is this of yours, a metropolitan? You should pray to God and concern yourself with saving souls.” Yes, but the head of the Church has obligated to concern himself not just with the salvation of souls, but also the conditions in which these souls exist. But he should also think in terms of the state, and if there is any injustice of local or global scope, the head of the Church has no right to remain silent."

Source: Translated from Nasha Strana, May 16, 1992

http://www.rocorstudies.org/2018/01/14/ ... ping-1992/

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Metropolitan Vitaly's words also let us know how well informed he kept himself on conditions in the Soviet Union. Where was the talk in the New York Times of that era of the rotten cabbage, for example ? His observations show a knowledge of the world in general which is admirable.

Certainly, Rocor hierarchs should have loudly spoken out all those long decades, calling a spade a spade about how evil the USSR really was. Only pacifists and leftists would complain about Church men stepping into political commentary. Especially when it so obviously related to the mission of their Church to vociferously oppose Communism and educate the eternally naïve West about the realities of Soviet intentions and even everyday life, both of which Met Vitaly managed to cover in this short essay.

One would enjoy reading more of his 'op-ed' columns. Too bad he was not invited to write opinion pieces for the major US newspapers !

Andrzej
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Re: MetVitaly to Western leaders: Don't let Sov's fool you

Post by Andrzej »

Bp. Vitaly did misinterpret the "West" in this time.
The "West" is and was just a rival communist group with basically the same long range target: Replace everything grown by designed.
(Re. church: instead repression use leaded "discourse" for transformation into part of social industry as kind of pseudo spiritual NGO.)
The "former" communists glided easily everywhere, not only in Russia, easily to political parties and movements with a more flexible & creative version of socialist ideology.

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Barbara
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Re: MetVitaly to Western leaders: Don't let Sov's fool you

Post by Barbara »

Scary, isn't it, Andrzej ! Thanks for your remark.

With one True Orthodox Church set to glorify Met Vitaly along with 2 other Rocor 1st Hierarchs, I thought a look at his burial place outside the Mansonville Holy Transfiguration Monastery church might be of general interest.

Here are 2 views of the grave :

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Any sympathizers might want to leave a little memorial note at this site, findagrave.com. Or also to add some better photos such as this one :

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