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Reflection for Trinity Sunday 2025

Christian Witness

Reflection for Trinity Sunday 2025

Christian Witness

Reflection for Trinity Sunday 2025

Poland - Polish - Polonia

Been buying those Polish products?

From Fibre2Fashion: USA now stands as Poland’s most important trading partner

The challenges and opportunities facing companies exporting to America, was the theme for the conference that took place at 11 am, on Thursday the 27th September, in the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ) Press Centre in Warsaw.

The dynamic growth in the inflow of American investments to Poland means that the USA now stands as Poland’s most important trading partner. During the first seven months of 2007, the value of Poland’s exports to the USA has exceeded 1.1 billion USD, while American imports into Poland have reached 1.8 billion USD.

In USA trading contacts from the beginning of last year, the largest areas of growth have been in the export of arms, ammunition and in works of art. Increases in turnover have also been noted in the export of goods based on vegetable products, of food articles, chemical products and in plastics…

It’s too bad that arms has to play such a large role. Polish fibre products, food, and industrial products, glassware, etc. are top notch. Check your retail shelves and look for these lovely items.

Note that the article may only be speaking of trade in fibre goods.

Dorota Dabrowski, Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Poland responds that the US makes up only 2% of Poland’s trade. Germany is the biggest trading partner at about 45% of the total and the EU in general at over 80%. US companies as investors are big, but again only 15-17%. The bulk of investors again come from the EU.

Poland - Polish - Polonia,

Katyn Remembered

A few weeks ago the acclaimed Polish director, Andrzej Wajda released his new film about the Kayn Massacre.

On the heels of the release, Ewa Thompson, the editor of Sarmatian Review, wrote an article for the Washington Times on Katyn entitled Somber anniversaries, chances to reconcile

Notwithstanding that a Memorial to the Victims of Communism was unveiled in Washington, DC, in June 2007, the Gulag is fast slipping into oblivion. The Russians have destroyed all but one of the Gulag Archipelago camps, of which there had been hundreds, including the most barbarous ones in Kolyma and Solovki.

The only camp that still stands in all its infamous glory is located in the Urals. It survived almost by accident. In the 1990s, when the momentum of perestroika was still on, a museum commemorating the victims was built on camp grounds. In Vladimir Putin’s Russia, it seemed awkward to destroy the camp that included a museum; and thus the Perm labor camp No. 35 remained a lonely monument to communism’s way of dealing with dissent. But who goes to see Perm? Who knows about Perm except a few academic specialists?

The forest of Katyn in western Russia resonates better with world memory than Perm, though it devoured fewer victims: “only” 20,000 Polish officers, all prisoners of war, brought there surreptitiously at night, truckload after truckload, and shot in the back of the head as they were marched toward the carefully hidden ditches that became their graves.

Katyn was one of three places where these murders took place. It gained notoriety owing to one of history’s bitter ironies. The Katyn graves were discovered by the Germans in 1942, during their occupation of western portions of Soviet Russia. The Germans, ever eager to score propaganda points, waited to announce the discovery until April 1943, when the “liquidation” of the Warsaw Ghetto was to begin and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising broke out. At that point, the Germans brought to the Katyn mass graves the International Red Cross and the world press. Many pictures were taken and published worldwide. The Nazis hoped to divert the world’s attention from what they were about to do in Warsaw.

Amid all this stood the Poles, whose country had to endure Nazi death camps in the west, and the Soviet Gulag in the east. Katyn was just an episode in this grim competition of atrocities.

It was an episode, but it has remained an indelible part of Polish memory. On Sept. 17, or the 68th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland, Polish President Lech Kaczynski visited Katyn with pomp and ceremony. For the first time, the Russian government agreed to such a public manifestation of grief by the Polish head of state accompanied by many descendants of the victims.

Coincidentally, the Oscar-winning Polish film director Andrzej Wajda made a film about Katyn. The film premiered the same day, Sept. 17, in Warsaw’s Grand Theater. Mr. Wajda’s father was among the officers shot by the Soviets in 1940. Mr. Wajda dedicated his film to his father and his mother, who for years hoped against hope her husband would return from Soviet captivity. The final scene of the movie lasts 20 minutes, and it depicts the laborious process of killing the Polish captives.

There is a positive lesson in all this. At the Katyn cemetery, President Kaczynski made an appeal for Polish-Russian reconciliation. From his speech, it became apparent he did not go to Katyn to complain but to reconcile. Much bad blood exists between Poles and Russians, and it will take patience, forgiveness and wisdom to lay the past to rest. Mr. Kaczynski made the first step…

Poland - Polish - Polonia,

Stuart Dybek Receives MacArthur Grant

I’m catching up with some older news. Here one from the Chronicle of Higher Education: 8 Professors Are Among 24 New MacArthur Fellows

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation named eight professors today among the 24 MacArthur Fellows for 2007.

The fellowships, or “genius awards,” as they are commonly called, recognize people in a variety of fields for their creativity and promise. Each new fellow receives an award of $500,000, which is meant to encourage future exploration and comes with no strings attached.

Among the academic winners for 2007 are a medieval historian, biologists who study bees and spider silk, and several other professors working in the sciences.

The MacArthur Foundation does not accept applications for the awards. Instead, it invites approximately 100 professionals from nearly every academic discipline to submit anonymous nominations to the foundation’s 12-person selection committee. The committee, whose members also serve anonymously, reviews all nominations and then forwards its recommendations to the foundation’s Board of Directors for approval. Winners are then notified via telephone.

This year’s class of 24 brings the total number of MacArthur Fellows since the program began, in 1981, to 756.

…

Stuart Dybek, writer in residence at Northwestern University. His short stories pay tribute to the literature and iconography of the Old World while exploring the imaginations of contemporary American communities.

Here is Mr. Dybek’s profile from Western Michigan University where he is a professor of English.

Perspective, , ,

Global South

A friend and occasional correspondent referred the following article to me and asked that I include it in my blog.

From the National Catholic Reporter: Global South underrepresented in college of cardinals

In naming 23 new cardinals on Wednesday, Pope Benedict XVI chose to acknowledge one bit of demographic reality, but largely ignored a much bigger one.

Americans have noted, and rightly so, that the nomination of Archbishop Daniel DiNardo in Houston accurately reflects a shift in Catholic population in the United States away from the East Coast, towards the South and Southwest. From a global point of view, however, the new crop of cardinals is remarkably unrepresentative of where Catholics are today.

To understand that, it’s essential to recall that Catholicism experienced a demographic revolution in the 20th century. In 1900, there were 266 million Catholics in the world, 200 million of whom lived in Europe and North America. Just a century later, there were 1.1 billion Catholics, only 380 million of whom were in Europe and North America, with 720 million in Latin America, Africa and Asia. The global South accounted for 25 percent of the Catholic population a century ago; today it’s 67 percent and climbing.

You wouldn’t know that, however, from looking at Benedict’s appointments. Focusing just on the 18 new cardinal-electors, meaning those under 80 with the right to vote for the next pope, ten are Europeans and two are from the United States. (Three of the five over-80 cardinals named by Benedict XVI are likewise Europeans. Had Bishop Ignacy Ludwik Jez of Poland lived to receive the honor, it would have been four of six.) After these new cardinals join the church’s most exclusive club in a Nov. 24 consistory, 60 of 121 electors will be European. Adding the cardinals from the United States and Canada, the total for the global North rises to 76 electors out of 121, meaning 63 percent.

To put this into a sound bite, two-thirds of the cardinals come from the global North, while two-thirds of the Catholic people live in the South.

Such disparities do not go unnoticed. The pope’s announcement was made at roughly 11:30 a.m. Rome time, and within a half-hour I had an e-mail from La Tercera, a newspaper in Santiago, Chile, asking for a reaction to the following question: “Two-thirds of the nominees are from Western Europe or the U.S. Why?”

Why indeed? At least three reasons suggest themselves…

This didn’t jump out at me, so thanks for the referral.

I think that the author covered the issues well, and that this was an interesting analysis.

This does bring up an interesting aside in relation to the current crisis in the Anglican Communion.

As we know, the global South is leading the charge for a traditional understanding of Christianity within the Anglican CommunionMy understanding is that global South Anglicans tend to be more Evangelical in their Churchmanship and that their “traditional” understanding of Christianity does not preclude women as clerics.. I would think that that fact is not lost on the Bishop of Rome. At the same time, the South presents its own set of problems, from Liberation Theology to challenges to celibacy, problems with overdone efforts at inculturation, and occasional failings in confronting and opposing evil.

I would wonder how many of those lessons and issues played into the mix of choices.

For more on issues confronting the Roman Catholic Church in Africa check out Christianity in Africa South of the Sahara, Roman Catholic Christianity, The Church in Africa since Vatican II from African Christianity, A History of the Christian Church in Africa.

Perspective, Political,

They’re not speaking for us

…but he is:

The complex of considerations weighed heavily on Rabbi Howard L. Jaffe of Temple Isaiah, who after weeks of thought decided to back the genocide resolution. —It’s very hard for me to support a position that could be detrimental to Israel,— he said. —But for me as a Jew, I have to take seriously Jewish values, and they require us to do what is right and righteous.—

From the NY Times in Armenian Issue Presents a Dilemma for U.S. Jews

The article discusses the conflicts that have arisen between various Jewish communities in Massachusetts and a couple of national Jewish organizations that are advocating against recognition of the Armenian genocide.

The problem with organizations like the ADL, AJC, and AIPAC is that they claim to represent the interests of all people of a certain ethnic group. That’s not bad in and of itself. The fight for respect is a worthy fightHeaven knows that the Polish American Congress has long rallied against anti-Polish defamation and the mis-characterization of Poles, Polish-Americans, and Poland, especially in the MSM.

That being said, such organizations are often self-perpetuating institutions, supported by a small percentage of the community, and held to the fore by those who make a living off that support. Unfortunately, that’s a recipe for loosing sight of the people’s needs as well as their voice.

In the Massachusetts case, the people took back their voice. True freedom of expression recognized.

Christian Witness,

Bridges between the earthly and the divine

From the Buffalo News: A stunning makeover at St. Stephen Serbian Orthodox Church

Lackawanna church getting a lush coat of imagery

After more than 50 years, the spartan whiteness inside St. Stephen Serbian Orthodox Church is steadily disappearing beneath a lush coat of luminous Christian imagery.

A huge portrait of Jesus Christ haloed in gold leaf now peers from overhead. Dramatic scenes out of the Bible, such as the healing of the paralyzed man and the raising of Lazarus, are depicted on other sections of the curved ceiling.

The Rev. Theodore Jurewicz, a master iconographer from Erie, Pa., is about a quarter of the way through a stunning makeover of the Lackawanna church. When completed, the ceiling and walls will be covered with 22 scenes of biblical feasts and miracles, as well as paintings of numerous Christian saints and martyrs.

For Orthodox Christians, the colorful icons are not mere paintings: They are considered essential elements of the worship experience and bridges between the earthly and the divine.

—We call icons windows into heaven,— said the Rev. Rastko Trbuhovich , pastor of St. Stephen.

Icons have graced the iconostasis —” a screen that separates the nave from the sanctuary —” since the 90- year-old parish opened a new church at Abbott and Weber roads in the 1950s.

Those icons were —written— by the late Rev. Kiprian Pishew, a legendary iconographer who trained students in the Russian-Serbian style at Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville in Central New York.

Jurewicz, 57, was one of those apprentices and is now himself highly regarded in the world of iconography. The parishioners of St. Stephen waited at least a decade for him to become available for their project, figuring that he would be the best iconographer to integrate new frescoes with the old…

An interesting bit of history. Right next door to St. Stephen Serbian Orthodox Church is Our Lady of Bistrica Roman Catholic Church (Croatian). Interesting neighbors during the Balkan wars – they actually got along amicably and with Christian charity.

Current Events, Perspective, Political

What might have been

It looks like some Democratic members of Congress are backing off their support for the Armenian Genocide resolution (see: Support Wanes in House for Genocide Vote from the NY Times).

It seems odd in light of the President and Congress honoring the Dali Lama (see: Bush and Congress Honor Dalai Lama in Plain View also from the NY Times).

Bush and the Congress are willing to go toe-to-toe with the Chinese who, as of this point in history, can literally squeeze the United States until we cry (i.e., they own all our debt and can ravage our economy). See particularly: China may lead US economy to collapse dumping US dollar from Pravda.

This past August, two Chinese government officials highlighted China’s massive U.S. dollar holdings (which include treasuries) and how it supports the value of the U.S. currency. They also noted that Beijing could use those holdings as a political weapon to counter congressional calls to revalue the yuan and impose trade sanctions on Chinese goods. Chinese state media referred to the country’s stockpile of U.S. dollars as its economic —nuclear option,— capable of destroying the dollar at will.

It would seem that we have more to fear from China than from an almost third world Islamic state like Turkey who depends largely on U.S. support (upwards of $26.5 billion in economic and military aid, not counting other “special” aid programs that specifically target Turkey and IsraelU.S. Department of State: Turkey 09/07 and CRS Report for Congress, Foreign Aid: An Introductory Overview of U.S. Programs and Policy, Updated April 15, 2004).

I think a hint to the sudden change-of-heart among the few can be found in the various articles that circulated in recent days. They noted that Turkey would cut off logistical support for the U.S. war effort in Iraq. It appears something like 30% of the fuel and 70% support materials going to our troops in Iraq go through Turkey. For instance, from CNN:

“More than half of the cargo flown into Iraq and Afghanistan comes through Incirlik Air Base, and this base would be a key component of any plans for redeployment of our troops in the future,” they wrote.

Lt. Gen. Carter Ham, the director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Pentagon planners are looking at “a broad range of options” to keep food, fuel and ammunition flowing to U.S. troops in Iraq if Turkey blocks Incirlik.

“We’re confident that we’ll find ways to do that,” Ham told reporters at the Pentagon. “There’s likely to be some increased cost and some other implications for that, and obviously we’d prefer to maintain the access that we have.”

Defense Secretary Robert Gates echoed lawmakers’ concerns last week.

“About 70 percent of all air cargo going into Iraq goes through Turkey. … About a third of the fuel that they consume goes through Turkey or comes from Turkey,” Gates said.

Now if the Democrats were smart they would do all they could to anger the Turks. Let them cut off our supply chain. This might just be the thing that needs doing in order to capsize Mr. Bush’s war. We would end up like the Germans, stuck in Africa or Russia at the far end of the supply chain – only saved because we should be smart enough to get out while we can.

Time to bring ’em home.

But then again, no Democrat wants to end the war either. If they did, they would cut Mr. Bush’s supply of money and material, whatever it takes.

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