About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 16, 2018)
WORLD The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com Sunday, December 16, 2018 5C Ukraine leaders create own church Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, center left, and Metropolitan Emmanuel, center right, talk to each other as they attend a closed-door synod of three Ukrainian Orthodox churches to approve the charter for a unified church and to elect leadership in the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, Ukraine, Saturday, Dec. 15. BY YURAS KARMANAU AND EFREM LUKATSKY Associated Press KIEV, Ukraine - Ukrai nian Orthodox leaders on Sat urday approved the creation of a unified church independent of the Moscow Patriarchate and elected a leader to head that new church — a move that could exponentially raise ten sions with neighboring Russia. The vote, held at a closed- door synod in Kiev’s St. Sophia Cathedral, is the latest in a series of confrontations between Ukraine and authorities in Rus sia, including President Vladi mir Putin’s government. Ahead of the vote, the Russian Ortho dox Church called on the United Nations, the leaders of Ger many and France, the pope and other spiritual leaders to protect Orthodox believers in Ukraine. The leader of the new auto cephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church will be Metropolitan Epiphanius, a 39-year-old bishop from the Kiev Patriarchate. “God heard our appeals and gave us this anticipated unity,” Epiphanius told a crowd of thou sands who had gathered outside the cathedral on Saturday to hear the news. He stressed that the new church’s doors would be open to all, and encouraged Ukrainians to rally behind it. Still spiritual leaders attend ing Saturday’s synod couched their efforts to create an inde pendent church in patriotic rhetoric. Father Sergei Dmi triev said — given Ukraine’s ongoing conflicts with Russia — “we should have our own church, not an agent of the Kremlin in Ukraine.” Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who has made the creation of a new church a key campaign issue, attended the synod Saturday as a non-voting observer. “Ukraine was not, is not, and will not be the canonical ter ritory of the Russian church,” Poroshenko told the gathering, adding that creating an inde pendent Ukrainian Orthodox Church was now a matter of national security. “This is a question of Ukrai nian statehood,” Poroshenko said. “We are seizing spiritual independence, which can be lik ened to political independence. We are breaking the chains that tie us to the (Russian) empire.” MYKHAILO MARKIV I Associated Press Representatives of Ukraine’s three Orthodox Churches attended the synod in Kiev, but only two from the branch loyal to Moscow showed up. One Rus sian bishop — Metropolitan Hilarion in Volokolamsk — on Saturday compared those two representatives of the Moscow- backed church to Judas, the bib lical betrayer of Jesus. The newly formed commu nity is expected to receive inde pendence from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Istanbul-based institution considered the so-called “first among equals” of leaders of the world’s Orthodox Churches. Relations between Ukraine and Russia have been damaged by Russia’s 2014 annexation of the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea and its support for sepa ratists fighting the government in eastern Ukraine. The church schism and a Nov. 25 naval clash in the Black Sea in which Russia seized three Ukrainian ships and detained 24 Ukrainian crewmen have caused them to deteriorate further. Saturday’s religious rupture from the Russian Orthodox Church is a potent mix of poli tics, faith and national identity. Since the late 1600s, the Orthodox Church in Ukraine had been a wing of the Russian Orthodox Church rather than being ecclesiastically indepen dent. Many Ukrainians, how ever, resented the implication Ukraine was a vassal of Russia. The move Saturday raises deep concerns about what will happen to the approximately 12,000 churches in Ukraine under the Moscow Patriarchate. Recently, about 50 churches in Ukraine under the Moscow Patriarchate have been seized and transferred to the Kiev Patriarchate, according to Met ropolitan Antony Pakanich. Poroshenko said Saturday he would travel with Epiphanius to Istanbul in January to receive a Tomos — an official docu ment — from the head of global Orthodoxy that grants the new church independence. The Ukrainian leader promised “to respect those who decide, for one reason or another,” to remain with the Ukrainian branch of the Rus sian Orthodox Church — and to protect those who choose to leave the Moscow Patriarchate and join the new church. Putin says rap music dangerous Associated Press MOSCOW — Alarmed by the growing popu larity of rap among Russian youth, President Vladimir Putin wants cultural leaders to devise a means of controlling, rather than ban ning, the popular music. Putin says “if it is impossible to stop, then we must lead it and direct it.” But Putin said at a St. Petersburg meeting with cultural advisers Saturday that attempts to ban artists from performing will only bol ster their popularity. Putin noted “rap is based on three pillars: sex, drugs and protest.” But he is particularly concerned with drug themes prevalent in rap, saying “this is a path to the degradation of the nation.” He said “drug propaganda” is worse than cursing. Putin’s comments come amid a crackdown on contemporary music that evoked Soviet- era censorship of the arts. Last month, rapper Husky, whose vid eos have garnered over 6 million views on YouTube, was arrested after he staged an impromptu performance when his show was shut down in the southern city of Krasnodar. The 25-year-old rapper, known for his lyr ics about poverty, corruption and police bru tality, was preparing to take to the stage Nov. 21 when prosecutors warned the venue his act had elements of “extremism.” Husky climbed onto a car, surrounded by hundreds of fans, and chanted “I will sing my music, the most honest music!” before he was taken away by police. On Nov. 30, rapper Gone.Fludd announced two concert cancellations, citing pressure from “every police agency you can imagine,” while the popular hip hop artist Allj cancelled his show in the Arctic city of Yakutsk after receiving threats of violence. Other artists have been affected as well — pop sensation Monetochka and punk band Friendzona were among those whose concerts were shut down by the authorities last month. ‘TTfouieUf, Auto Insurance Specialist • Easy Payments • Any Driver • Any Age NEW LOCATION! For details and childcare information visit: GFUMC. COM/CHRISTMAS 4mI Gainesville First UNITED METHODIST CHURCH f#@o 2780 Thompson Bridge Rd. Gainesville, GA 30506 2415 OLD CORNELIA HWY., GAINESVILLE Next to Rabbittown Cafe 770-450-4500 Qfvwstmad Coloring Content! Look for this weeks Christmas Coloring Contest page in Thursday's Paper. You could win $100! 7 killed as BY AIJAZ HUSSAIN Associated Press SRINAGAR, India - At least seven civilians were killed and more than three dozen injured Saturday when government forces fired at anti-India protesters in dis puted Kashmir following a gunbattle that left three reb els and a soldier dead, police and residents said. Indian troops surrounded a village in the southern Pulwama area on a tip that militants were hiding there, said Muneer Ahmed Khan, a top police officer. As the sol diers began a search opera tion, militants jumped out of a civilian home and took positions in an apple orchard while firing at soldiers and counterinsurgency police, Khan said. Three rebels and a soldier were killed in the exchange of gunfire, and one soldier was wounded, he said. The gunbattle sparked protests, with hundreds of people chanting pro-militant slogans and calling for an end to Indian rule over the Himalayan region. The pro testers threw stones at troops to help the militants escape while government forces fired bullets, shotgun pellets and tear gas to stop them, killing seven and injuring at least 40 others, nine of them critically, police said. Khan said large crowds came from multiple direc tions while attacking secu rity deployments in the area. Police said in a statement later Saturday that they regretted the killings, and that the protesters had come “dangerously close” to the gunbattle site. Residents accused troops Sponsored By: Liberty Utilities 1766 Cleveland Hwy • Gainesville GA 30501 678-707-5205 • www.libertyutilities.com Indian forces fire on protesters B E /0 UR GUEST FOR C H R Iji/S T M A S EVE W O R IS, H I P MONDAY, DECEMBER 24 11 am FAMILY WORSHIP in the Great Room featuring Children’s music. 5pm MODERN WORSHIP in the Great Room, candlelight service. 5, 7,11pm CLASSIC WORSHIP in the Sanctuary, candlelight services. Communion at 11pm. of directly spraying gunfire into the crowds. “They (Indian troops) fired at us as if they were practic ing their guns,” said Shabir Ahmed, a local resident who accompanied injured taken to a hospital in Srinagar, the region’s main city. Two police officials, speak ing on condition of anonym ity because they were not authorized to talk to the media, said the civilians died in the anti-India protests. However, residents said at least two civilians, including a teenage boy, were killed away from the gunbattle site. Soldiers in an armored vehicle fired at civilians away from the battle site, and as the vehicle got stuck on a roadside, the troops fatally shot one of them, said resident Ubaid Ahmed. Separatists who challenge India’s sovereignty over Kashmir said the killings were part of India’s state pol icy and called for three days of mourning and a general DAR YASIN I Associated Press Kashmiri villagers shout freedom slogans during the funeral procession in Indian controlled Kashmir, Saturday, Dec. 15. shutdown in Kashmir. Mir- waiz Umar Farooq, a sepa ratist leader, said in a tweet that India’s government should “stop this inhumanity as it will not achieve anything except further rebellion and hatred.” Saturday’s killings trig gered more anti-India pro tests and clashes in the region, including Srinagar. No one was reported injured in the clashes. abersham treat 'Assisted Care Community Now Offers a New Assisted Living Home Located <8> 258 Park Ave Baldwin GA The uite Life Come by for a visit. Prebook one of our new rooms that you can make your very own. www.habershamretreat.com Call us @ 706-499-6842
