Τετάρτη 27 Μαΐου 2020

Covid-19 & Υποσαχάρια Αφρική: Ένας αόρατος εχθρός σε έναν αθέατο κόσμο



*του Γιώργου Κουλούρη
Helpis.gr
Στον Ορθόδοξο Αμπελώνα της Αφρικής
 
11 Μαρτίου 2020, η ημερομηνία που ο Παγκόσμιας Οργανισμός Υγείας (Π.Ο.Υ) κήρυξε τον νέο κορωνoϊό Covid-19 ως πανδημία.
Μία πανδημία η οποία -ως αόρατος εχθρός- απειλεί την ανθρωπότητα, έχοντας έως σήμερα 691.867 επιβεβαιωμένα κρούσματα και 32.988 θανάτους. Τα περισσότερα κρούσματα του Covid-19 –πλέον- εντοπίζονται στην Ευρώπη και στις Η.Π.Α, ενώ σταδιακά βλέπουμε να αυξάνεται η ανησυχία και στην Αφρική –ιδίως στην υποσαχάρια.
Το ερώτημα που προκύπτει είναι αν η πανδημία που θέτει σε υψηλή δοκιμασία τα
συστήματα υγείας ανεπτυγμένων χωρών μπορεί να αντιμετωπισθεί –αποτελεσματικά- σε μία ενδεχόμενη εξάπλωση στις ήδη ευάλωτες χώρες της υποσαχάριας Αφρικής. Άλλωστε, τα συγκριτικά πλεονεκτήματα του νεανικού πληθυσμού (60% του πληθυσμού της Υποσαχάριας Αφρικής είναι κάτω των 25 ετών) και των υψηλών θερμοκρασιών φαίνεται να μην αποτελούν εμπόδιο στην εξάπλωση του νέου κορωνοϊού.


Covid-19: Η κατάσταση στην Υποσαχάρια Αφρική

Σε 46 χώρες της Αφρικής έχουν εντοπιστεί 4,351 επιβεβαιωμένα κρούσματα, εκ των οποίων 3.182 είναι στην υποσαχάρια Αφρική. Σύμφωνα με αναφορά του Π.Ο.Υ την τελευταία εβδομάδα παρατηρείται άνοδος του αριθμού των επιβεβαιωμένων κρουσμάτων κατά 25%.
Μπορεί ο Covid-19 να άργησε να εμφανισθεί στην υποσαχάρια Αφρική, ωστόσο ήδη καταγράφονται 36 θάνατοι.

Από τα στοιχεία του Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) του Πανεπιστημίου John Hopkins διαπιστώνεται ότι η χώρα με τα περισσότερα επιβεβαιωμένα κρούσματα είναι η Νότια Αφρική με 1.187 (1 ο κρούσμα πριν 3 εβδομάδες). 
Τη Νότια Αφρική ακολουθούν η Μπουρκίνα Φάσο με 207 κρούσματα και 11 θανάτους (τους περισσότερους στην περιοχή), 152 η Γκάνα, ενώ η Νιγηρία των 200εκ καταγράφει 97 κρούσματα.

Σε lockdown βρίσκονται η Νότια Αφρική και η Ρουάντα, ενώ Κένυα, Σενεγάλη, Ακτή Ελεφαντοστού είναι μεταξύ των χωρών που έχουν επιβάλλει περιορισμούς στο ωράριο κυκλοφορίας.Το σύστημα υγείας μπορεί να αντέξει στην εξάπλωση του Covid-19;
Τα επιβεβαιωμένα κρούσματα και οι θάνατοι δεν μπορούν να συγκριθούν με αυτά που έχουν καταγραφεί στην Κίνα, την Ευρώπη αλλά και τις Η.Π.Α, ωστόσο ανησυχητικό παραμένει αν και κατά πόσο το ήδη βεβαρημένο σύστημα υγείας αυτών των χωρών μπορεί να αντιμετωπίσει άλλον έναν εχθρό.

Τα εθνικά συστήματα υγείας είναι ήδη καταπονημένα, καθώς αντιμετωπίζουν τις τρέχουσες ασθένειες όπως ελονοσία, ιλαρά και τον ιό Έμπολα. Ειδικότερα, η ελονοσία που αποτελεί μάστιγα στην περιοχή το 2018 προκάλεσε 405.000 θανάτους (το 94% των οποίων στην Αφρική), ενώ καταγράφηκαν 228εκ κρούσματα παγκοσμίως, εκ των οποίων το 93% στην Αφρική. H υποσαχάρια Αφρική είναι και η περιοχή όπου καταγράφονται και οι περισσότερες περιπτώσεις ατόμων φορέων του HIV, με 25εκ άτομα (4/5 νέα κρούσματα είναι μεταξύ ηλικίας 15-19 ετών).
Επιπλέον, η έλλειψη ιατρικών υποδομών, προσωπικού και ιατροφαρμακευτικών
εξοπλισμών δυσχεραίνουν τη διαχείριση της πανδημίας. Αρκεί κανείς να δει τους
αριθμούς που σχετίζονται με την υγεία για να διαπιστώσει την ανησυχητική κατάσταση σχετικά με την εξάπλωση του κορωνοϊού στην υποσαχάρια Αφρική. 


Συγκεκριμένα, η συνιστώμενη αναλογία από τον Π.Ο.Υ σε γιατρούς και ασθενείς είναι 1/1.000, όταν στην υποσαχάρια Αφρική η αναλογία ξεπερνά το 1/5.000. Ιδιαίτερα, η Νιγηρία –με 97 επιβεβαιωμένα περιστατικά- των 200εκ έχει μόλις 40.000 γιατρούς, ενώ η αναλογία νοσοκομειακών κλινών ανά πληθυσμό είναι 5/10.000. Στο ίδιο πλαίσιο η Κένυα μία χώρα 50εκ έχει 550 Μονάδες Εντατικής Θεραπείας.
Σε αυτό, πρέπει να προστεθεί ότι κάτω από το 50% του πληθυσμού έχει πρόσβαση σε μοντέρνες εγκαταστάσεις υγείας και μόλις το 8% εντάσσεται σε προγράμματα ιατροφαρμακευτικής ασφάλισης.  

Οι συνθήκες διαβίωσης μπορούν να επιδεινώσουν την κατάσταση;

Η υποσαχάρια Αφρική είναι η φτωχότερη περιοχή του πλανήτη με το βιοτικό επίπεδο να παραμένει ιδιαίτερα χαμηλό, καθώς 390εκ άνθρωποι να ζουν σε συνθήκες ακραίας φτώχειας και 258 εκ υποσιτίζονται.
Ωστόσο, το πιο σημαντικό στοιχείο και σε άμεση συνάρτηση με τον κορωνοϊό είναι η δυνατότητα πρόσβασης σε καθαρό πόσιμο νερό και οι συνθήκες υγιεινής. Τα μέτρα πρόληψης για τη μετάδοση και τη διασπορά του συγκεκριμένου ιού περιλαμβάνουν το τακτικό πλύσιμο χεριών με σαπούνι και νερό. Τι γίνεται όμως σε μία περιοχή όπου η πρόσβαση στο νερό δεν είναι δικαίωμα αλλά… προνόμιο;

Μόλις το 24% του πληθυσμού στην υποσαχάρια Αφρική έχει πρόσβαση σε καθαρό πόσιμο νερό, ενώ το 28% σε βασικές συνθήκες υγιεινής. Κάτω από το 50% του πληθυσμού έχει νιπτήρες στο σπίτι του, ενώ ακόμα μικρότερο είναι το ποσοστό των ανθρώπων που έχουν τη δυνατότητα να χρησιμοποιήσουν σαπούνι και νερό (15%).
Επίσης, το μέτρο της κοινωνικής αποστασιοποίησης (social distancing) δεν είναι το ίδιο εφικτό όπως σε άλλες χώρες. Το 47% του πληθυσμού που ζει στον αστικό ιστό ζει σε παραγκουπόλεις, οι οποίες είναι πυκνοκατοικημένες, ενώ σε χώρες όπως η Γκάνα συχνό είναι το φαινόμενο ένα δωμάτιο να το μοιράζονται από 10 έως 20 άτομα.

Η υποσαχάρια Αφρική χρειάζεται ουσιαστική στήριξη

Ο συνδυασμός ενός αδύναμου συστήματος υγείας με την μικρή πρόσβαση σε καθαρό πόσιμο νερό και συνθήκες υγιεινής πρόκειται να δυσκολέψουν την υποσαχάρια Αφρική να αντιμετωπίσει αποτελεσματικά τον κορωνοϊό. Οι χώρες της υποσαχάριας Αφρικής είναι ήδη ευάλωτες σε ασθένειες που έχουν αντιμετωπιστεί στον δυτικό κόσμο όπως η διφθερίτιδα, ενώ ταλανίζεται από άλλες όπως η ελονοσία, η πνευμονία, ο ιός Έμπολα. Αυτή που ήδη αντιμετωπίζει πρόβλημα στην εξάπλωση του κορωνοϊού σε επίπεδα ίδια με ευρωπαϊκές χώρες είναι η Νότια Αφρική, ενώ η Νιγηρία με ιδιαίτερα πυκνοκατοικημένες πόλεις (Κινσάσα, Λάγος) και έλλειψη υποδομών μπορεί σύντομα να βρεθεί στο επίκεντρο.
Παρά το γεγονός ότι η Παγκόσμια Τράπεζα φαίνεται να παράσχει οικονομική βοήθεια στην υποσαχάρια Αφρική, αυτή από μόνη της δεν θα βελτιώσει την κατάσταση. Αυτό που χρειάζεται είναι η συνεργασία μεταξύ αρμόδιων διεθνών οργανισμών, κρατών με ισχυρά συστήματα υγείας και κρατών της υποσαχάριας Αφρικής ώστε να εντοπιστούν οι πραγματικές ανάγκες και να χρηματοδοτηθούν αντίστοιχα και με τον κατάλληλο έλεγχο για να αποφευχθεί μία ενδεχόμενη εξάπλωση του κορωνοϊού που θα σημάνει νέα προβλήματα τόσο στην υποσαχάρια Αφρική όσο και σε παγκόσμιο επίπεδο.

*Ο Γιώργος Κουλούρης είναι  Διεθνολόγος-Πολιτικός Επιστήμονας

Ascension of our Lord: "I am with you and no one is against you!"


Ascension of our Lord

The Glorified Black Body of Jesus

Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council (7th Sunday after Easter)

The Holy Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ: Through Christ, man becomes a "partaker of Divine Nature" - Click here & here, please!...
 
Icon from here

"Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come again in like way as you saw Him go into heaven." (Acts 1:9-11).

Orthodox Diocese of Gulu and Eastern Uganda (photos)



Ascension of the Lord to Heaven, Uganda 2020

Africa: Women and Children Will Pay For This Pandemic – Unless We Act...


allAfrica.com



Wherever COVID-19 strikes, it magnifies unfairness and inequality. In every nation and every community touched by the virus, hard-won progress for women, newborns and young people is being reversed.
This is not the work of the disease itself, but of our reaction to it: resources for essential health care shrink, people fear using health services, and poverty and hunger grow. The problems are compounded by fragile health systems and lack of preparation. A recent study in the Lancet indicates that, in low- and middle-income countries, all these factors could kill more than a million children and thousands of mothers in the next six months.
In the past twenty years, keeping mothers and children alive has been one of the great public-health success stories. Child death rates have almost halved, and maternal death rates are down by over a third. Those gains are now being eroded as inequalities spread, running like fractures along the lines of age and sex, further fragmented by geography, income, disability and ethnicity.

Coronavirus and children: 'I can't hug my mum any more'

BBC

Parents who are Covid-19 frontline workers have had to adjust interaction with their own children.
The usual parental hugs and dining together have been put on hold in order to reduce and possible risk of transmission of the virus.
BBC What's New spoke to some of their children and this is what they said.
Producer: Agnes Penda
Edited by Anne Okumu

Nouvelles d'Afrique



PanAfrikaniki

Congo-Kinshasa: Les raisons de la destitution de Jean-Marc Kabund
Source: Allafrica frPublished on 2020-05-27
 

Burundi: Recours d’Agathon Rwasa au pays – Peine perdue ?
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Afrique: Célébration – L’humanité se souvient de la place qu’occupe l’Afrique dans le monde  
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Algérie: La BAD lance une publication scientifique sur la politique foncière en Afrique  

Source: Allafrica frPublished on 2020-05-27 

Sahara Occidental: L’UA attachée au droit du peuple sahraoui à l’autodétermination
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Afrique: Déclaration à l’occasion de la Journée de l’Afrique
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Zimbabwe: Journée de l’Afrique-Sahara occidental – Le Zimbabwe appelle à la fin de l’occupation sur le continent africain
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Algérie: L’Universitaire Maougal met en garde contre des tentatives d’infiltration du Hirak
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Algérie: Corruption – Report au 2 juin du procès d’Abdelghani Hamel et de son fils
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Algérie: Les 76 centres de torture de Mascara – Témoins de la politique inhumaine du colonialisme français
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Sahara Occidental: Le Parlement de Navarre appelle à la libération immédiate des prisonniers politiques sahraouis
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Madagascar: Rapt d’Albinos – Un garçon recouvre sa liberté
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Madagascar: Fête nationale – Un défilé militaire à huis clos à Analakely
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Ile Maurice: Dengue – 167 cas recensés à Maurice
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RD Congo : le premier vice-président de l’Assemblée destitué, des députés se bagarrent
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Afrique de l’Ouest: Barkhane neutralise un groupe de terroristes à la frontière Mali-Burkina
Source: Allafrica frPublished on 2020-05-26
 

Afrique: Le groupe UBA réaffirme son engagement en faveur du développement du continent
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Madagascar: La dernière trouvaille, un Disneyland à Madagascar
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Afrique de l’Ouest: Le G5 Sahel – Survivre par temps de COVID-19
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Madagascar: Revendication des îles éparses – L’opposition privilégie la négociation
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Madagascar: Epidémie de paludisme et dengue – La Conférence des évêques de Madagascar interpelle
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Cote d’Ivoire: Décès du professeur Laurence Adonis Koffi
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Afrique: COVID-19 – La CAF et Speak up Afrique lancent une campagne de protection
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Soudan: Le Soudan renouvelle sa coopération avec l’Union africaine pour réaliser la réforme et l’intégration
Source: Allafrica frPublished on 2020-05-26
 

Soudan: 192 nouveaux cas de Coronavirus avec 19 décès
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Congo-Kinshasa: Procès 100 jours – Vital Kamerhe menace de « brûler la case »
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Afrique: Libre circulation en Afrique – Top 5 des pays africains sans visas
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Congo-Brazzaville: Football-transfert – Birmingham se sépare de Maghoma
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Tchad: Une puissance militaire régionale lutte en solitaire contre les djihadistes
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Guinée: Une cérémonie au son de la kora pour dire adieu à Mory Kanté
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Sud-Soudan: Coronavirus – Le président sud-soudanais coupe court aux rumeurs sur sa santé
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Maroc: Abusivement inégalitaire mon Maroc
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Libye : l’armée américaine accuse la Russie d’avoir déployé des avions de chasse
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Covid-19 au Sénégal : «Le graffiti pour sauver des vies»
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Madagascar: Un médecin porteur du virus retrouvé pendu
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Libye: Les drones turcs seraient-ils en train de changer l’équilibre militaire?
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Congo-Kinshasa: Jean-Marc Kabund destitué de son poste à l’Assemblée par un vote des députés
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Afrique: Les États-Unis demandent une enquête indépendante sur le président de la BAD
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Centrafrique: La CPS annonce l’arrestation de membres du groupe armé UPC
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Afrique: Les Etats invités à l’action pour approfondir l’intégration
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Κυριακή 24 Μαΐου 2020

News from Africa




PanAfrikaniki
 

Elder Evmenios Saridakis: the holy friend of lepers (May 23th, 1999): “Lord Jesus Christ, I want You to save all people”...



ΤΟ ΙΔΙΟ, ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ

Fr. Evmenios was born in 1931 in Ethia of Monophatsion in the province of Heraklion of Crete, the eighth child of a poor family of faithful Christians. He became a monk at the age of 17; he struggled to cultivate his soul with love and prayer and was tested very harshly by leprosy; but later also, while a priest, by a demonic influence which tormented him in body and soul, but was freed of it after many prayers, vigils and exorcisms in monasteries of Crete, such as the monasteries of Koudoumás and Panagía Kalyvianí. 
Leprosy brought him to the Hospital for Infectious Diseases in the St.Barbara suburb of Athens. He was healed there, but, having seen human suffering, he decided to remain at the Hospital as a priest, in order to help comfort his fellow-men as much as he could! That was where “he was to begin his pastoral work, in the presence of which, those with theological degrees and ecclesiastic offices ought to kneel”.
His love and his ascetic labours brought God’s grace upon him; this humble priest (who officiated in the chapel of the Holy Unmercenaries and Physicians, Saints Cosmas and Damianos, situated inside the Hospital for Infectious Diseases) reached a high degree of sanctity – which  he kept secret as much as he could – and became endowed with the gift of foresight, lofty spiritual experiences and visions and helped countless people of every social class and level of education - not only with his advice and his prayers, but also with his sanctified presence.
The Elder loved everyone, every individual personally, and he was particularly a laughing saint – his booming laugh was one of his distinctive features – likewise, he would often exit the Inner Sanctum during the course of a Liturgy, with his beard soaked by his tears, since he used to pray for all of our suffering and unfortunate fellow-men, obviously because he also had the gift of tears.
Our beloved priest laughed; he used to laugh a lot. He would laugh together with us people and would infect us with his joy. He would laugh together with the saints, with the Lady Theotokos, with the angels, and would again infect us, with the joy of the saints, of the Lady Theotokos and of the angels. Which is why, whenever we paid him a visit feeling sad and tired in body and soul, we would depart with spirits…flying high.


Fr. Evmenios also often laughed during the course of services - sometimes while reading the holy gospel or while censing the icon of the Lady Theotokos during the chanting of the hymn in Her honour: 
“More precious than the Cherubim…” [an important troparion in honour of the Holy Mother, chanted at a predetermined point of the daily morning service – Matins], or during the “Paraclesis” services [Paraclesis = Entreaty; aka “Paracletic Canon” = a musical + poetic work comprised of prayers to the Holy Mother or to a Saint.  Christians often read paraclesies in their homes, but they are also chanted in the temple]. 
[…] “Whoever approached him saw a priest, a monk, with great joy reflected in his countenance. This joy would often be expressed with profuse laughter, which would either mingle with his words or overflow from the edges of his closed lips every time he remained silent.  You could tell that it was the laughter of a grace-filled man, a heart brimming with a true divine serenity and joy that poured out and refreshed those near him and made them wonder.
It was obvious that fr. Evmenios strived to restrain himself out of humility so that this divine trait would not be apparent, but he didn’t always succeed.
Whenever I visited him I would receive this gift – that is, his joy and his “different” laughter, which flowed right into to my heart. When he donned his hieratic attire and stood at the Beautiful Gate to say “Peace be to all” or to cense the icon of our Panagía at the iconostasis, his face - compared to his resplendent hieratical attire – shone far more brightly. Especially when in front of the icon of the Theotokos, during the hymn “More precious than the Cherubim…” or during the Salutations to the Theotokos, he would actually hail Her, flooded with joy and laughing on his own, as if the Theotokos had just given him some pleasant news […]” (cf. Monk Simon, Fr. Evmenios – The hidden saint of our time, Athens 2010, ed. 2, pp. 137-146).
Elder Porphyrios used to say about Elder Evmenios: “You should go and receive the blessing of Elder Evmenios, for he is the hidden Saint of our time. A saint like Elder Evmenios comes along only once every two hundred years”.
At the Hospital for Infectious Diseases, he was blessed to meet the leprosied holy monk Nicephorus who, even though blinded by the illness, had nevertheless become a great spiritual father of many Christians and a teacher to Elder Evmenios.
He spent the last two years of his life at the “Annunciation” Hospital and on May 23, 1999 he gave up his spirit in the Lord and was buried at his birth place (in Ethia), in accordance with his wishes. 

The Elder’s prayer (“And God was pleased”) 

The holy Elder’s secret life (= his personal ascetic struggles) is not widely known. However, the following prayer of his is of particular importance; a prayer that is included along with much more information on his life and the witness of many people who had met him (as well as many testimonies about his Holy-Spiritual (= miraculous) charismas), in the excellent book by Monk Simon, Fr. Evmenios – The hidden saint of our time, Athens 2010, ed. 2, pp. 133-134. Metropolitan Neophytus of Morphos, Cyprus, narrates the following story:
“A very important event from Elder Evmenios’ life that I recall, is a prayer that he had coined:   
“Lord Jesus Christ, I want You to save all people”.   
“And God was pleased”, he would tell me.   
“And then I said: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, I want You to save all the Catholics.  And all the Protestants, my Christ, I want You to save them”. And God was pleased.   
“I also want You to save the Moslems and all those who belong to all the religions; I want You to save even the atheists”. And God was very pleased.   
And I told him: “My Christ, I want you to save all those who have fallen asleep, from the time of Adam until now”. And God was very pleased.   
And I told him: ‘My God, I want you to save Judas also’. And finally I added: ‘I want you to save the devil also’. And God was saddened”.   
I told him: “Why was God sad?” 
“Because God wants to, but they don’t (want to be saved)”, he replied; “there is not a trace of good will for salvation in the devil”.    
“Hold on”, I told him, “how did you know when God was pleased and when He was sad?” 
And he said to me: “If your heart becomes one with Christ’s heart, you feel what He feels”. 
So, can you perceive the breadth of this man’s heart? This was one of the most powerful things I have ever heard; and I have never heard something like it by anyone else. And he perceived those things from the intensity of Grace. Depending on the degree of Grace, he was able to perceive His sadness or His pleasure, to whatever he said or did”.
[Grace: God’s benevolent energy, which emanates towards every creature and, depending on the degree that man opens up to that energy (= he desires it and becomes suitable for it to enter him by cultivating humble love), he is saved and becomes a saint. According to the holy Fathers, Grace is “uncreated”, in other words, not manufactured: it is emitted directly by God; it is not a creation of His; thus, whoever opens up and divine Grace enters inside him will have God Himself inside him, not a creation. In other words he becomes united to God (theosis-deification).] 


The battle with the enemy (the devil) 

Because many of our readers would like something more on the subject, let us mention a few more excerpts from fr. Simon’s book (pp. 60-65).
The enemy struck when, after a series of demonic visions with wild beasts, the Elder (a young and inexperienced priest at the time, albeit with faith, full of love and a champion of prayer) ceased to have any demonic offenses and felt that he had “vanquished the devil” and had made a fool of him. That moment was an egotistic fall into a trap and the enemy struck him as he was descending the stairs at the Infectious Diseases Hospital - first on his face and eventually on his soul.
Regarding that period of his life, the Elder said: “It was a time when my tears burned my face; scalding hot tears”. His suffering ended, not with the help of psychiatry, but after fasting, vigils and numerous visits, in the company of faithful friends and fellow-villagers, to the monasteries of Crete. According to the holy elder, the final battle against the enemy took place at the Monastery of Panagía of Koudoumá; a victory by the Panagía for his sake.
It should be noted that the Monastery of Koudoumá (south of the Heraklion province) is one of the most important Orthodox monasteries of Crete and many saints rose there, such as Saints Parthenius and Evmenios (they fell asleep in the early years of the 20th century), Joachim the Dwarf, Gennadius (later ascetic of Akoumiani of Gialia in the Rethymnon province) and others.
A poem dedicated to the venerable Elder Evmenios Saridakis
I do not recall the exact date -
after all, I’m not very good with numbers;
they have too much logic and they tire me.
But what I certainly do recall
is that when the blessed relic arrived in our island,
after a two-day pilgrimage to the capital
I went up to the village to see a Saint.
After all, such a phenomenon is not that common!!!
 
When I drew near him,
a radiance that scorched every hesitation
and rationalizing custom
appeared vibrantly on his countenance.
 
No!!! It wasn’t just me who could see it;
there were many there, with lit candles
and wounded hearts:
He was glowing!!!!!!
 
But that glow had nothing of this here creation.
It was not a light in a sky of ours,
nor was it a form like those that adorn the walls
of our space and time.
It was not a frame that awakens one from oblivion
and loneliness for those departed.
It was a light, out of the light.
A radiance, of an Easter adorned.
 
But most of all, the thing that muted the sounds of logic
and silenced and calmed
the innermost voices of my defiant thoughts was
… those weary feet of the Saint:
they were warm and soft, like his heart;
and yet, three days had passed since he fell asleep!!!
 (fr. Libyos)

Translation: Petros

Κυριακή 17 Μαΐου 2020

Bishop Neofitos Kongai: Samaritan woman and the need to belong


Icon from here
 
Bishop Neofitos Kongai Of Nyeri and Mt Kenya
St Barnabas Orthodox Orphanage & School

A Samaritan woman came to draw water and Jesus said to her, “give me a drink.” The Samaritan woman said to him, “ How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jewish do not share things common with Samaritans).
I write this as a prayer in my own version and interpretation hoping that the story of the Samaritan woman with Jesus Christ at Well will bring healing to the divisions we have had for many years in the Orthodox Church here in Kenya.
Christ came to reconcile us to himself, to heal that which was broken or wounded, to bring to us peace, love and unity so that we may all be one as He is one with the Father (John 17:21). Christ came to break all the human created barriers between Him and His people so that through Him and in Him we may inherit the kingdom of God as His children.
When one studies the history of the Orthodox Church in Kenya, you will be surprised to find that there are serious historical challenges and developments that the church has experienced over the years and continues to be a thorn in the ecclesiastical spirit and mission of the church. Most people don’t understand, most people don’t know, that there are varieties (divisions) of orthodox churches in Kenya and each expresses their own super ecclesiastical authority either canonically or uncanonically. 

In other words we are not in communion with each other and this disturbs me a lot. I wish we were as many as we are but in communion. Because we are all Kenyans and Africans who are divided in their own house called Orthodox and at their own home called Kenya in Africa? How comes we have;

1.) Holy Archbishop of Kenya which acts like a church while it is registered as a company? Does is make sense??
Bishop Neofitos
2)We have; African Orthodox Church of Kenya registered as a Church under societies act of Kenya. Now this is the legal church, But they don’t have a bishop, their bishop is on borrowed lease from the company! How can a church lease a bishop from a company but still claim to be theirs? In a more serious note, they have a chairman and a secretary whom we seek their approval in order to get licenses to conduct sacraments like of marriage. I thought the head of the church in every jurisdiction is a bishop. Does this make sense?
3) We have;Genuine Orthodox Church… with full authority of a Bishop whether canonical or uncanonical- He claims a belongingness to African Orthodox Church because he is african and Kenyan all together! Talking from where I belong, He marshals spiritual respect from our clergy and faithful.
4) We have Mathewhites Orthodox Church exercising their full authority and expanding their mission work in Kenya and beyond. He is loved, respected as well.
5)We have; Old Calendarists situated in Embu- well established, though not in communion with us. Their bishop is from Canada! But they get all their licenses to conduct sacraments and operate as a church from african Orthodox Church because apart from being old calendarists etc, they claim their roots are in African Orthodox Church of Kenya. Actually they claim that they are the true african Orthodox Church. They have many clergy, a women monastery of over 2O nuns. Does this make sense either?
6) We have; Greek Orthodox Church in Kenya? This one seems to be at its loose end though it is mysteriously tied to Orthodox Archbishopric of Kenya. So it can’t die.
7) We have a new development; The Russian Orthodox Church in Kenya. It is taking root in Western and gradually making its ways everywhere. There are priests already developing an appetite of belonging to it and they are enjoying privileges already. Now this one is tricky because the Russian Orthodox Church is a canonical Church, we are in communion and well financed! Well they are aggressive and we might experience a more rigorous division because there seems to be a growing shift of the clergy who in the real sense find themselves belonging to nowhere anyway ! Does this make sense, may be not!


As a Kenyan hierarch of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and all Africa which I ascribe my canonical allegiance and obedience to,
find myself in an awkward position to belong to a church here in Kenya that has given birth to children that don’t have a father. Or to a church that has many children who have denied their father and mother because of family troubles in the family or misunderstandings.
I am deeply troubled to belong to a company and a church at the same time here in Kenya. For me to feel at home and make sense of my life,
I need to belong to one church;
AFRICAN ORTHODOX CHURCH OF KENYA; UNDER ORTHODOX PATRIARCHATE OF ALEXANDRIA AND ALL AFRICA!
I Pray that our brothers and sisters on the other side to agree to burry our differences whatever it was, whatever it is, and come together as one church! Let there be no more “Jews “ and “Samaritans” Genuine and non genuine orthodox! African and more african. We are all Africans and Kenyans for that matter.The Patriarch of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and all Africa THEODOROS II, has lamented about this divisions so many times and he has asked us to burry this divisions and form a unified church under the Patriachate of Alexandria! He has no problem as long as we don’t cut ties with our mother church- Alexandria where the throne of St Mark is enshrined.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, Let us come together, let us have dialogue for our unity.
Jesus is waiting for us at the well and He says, “I wish you know what you are missing out of me”
It is time we get serious as Kenyans and as a Kenyan church. We have one thing in common to share and that is; our African Orthodox Church. She is the reason of our being as orthodox in Kenya.
Let us make sense of our divisions.

  
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Now that you are here; I wish to let you know that there are many needy children under the care of St Barnabas Orthodox Orphanage and School. please find it worth to make a one time or a monthly donation and help give basic needs and education to a needy child. click here to donate
In Christ service,
FR JM Kariuki

See also
  
The Sundays after Easter in the Orthodox Christian Heritage!
African Initiated Churches in Search of Orthodoxy...
African-American Orthodoxy — Eight principal areas of convergence between African spirituality and Ancient Christianity 
In Search of Orthodoxy (tag)
Ancient Christian faith (Orthodox Church) in Africa

The Orthodox Church in Kenya & the Orthodox Patriarchal Ecclesiastical School of Makarios III 
The Kikuyu tribe proclaimed the Metropolitan of Nairobi as their “Elder”
Hope for the Kikuyu (Kenya) / "The caves along the Tana River became the refuge for freedom fighters..." 
Orthodox Christian dialogue with Banyore culture