MNHCC@cunyvm.bitnet (06/10/91)
Some of you might be interested in this excerpt from a
letter I received from a science fiction fan in Kiev:
"This year we have celebrated Christmas officially, the
first time during the Soviet period. (All Orthodox Churches
celebrate their holidays according to the Julian calendar, so
Christmas was on January 7). In late December 1990 the three
greatest Christian holidays were declared official holidays in
Ukraine., i.e. Christmas, Easter and St. Trinity Day. Russia
declared them as ones, too. During recent years the attitude of
the communist power toward the Church changed greatly, and now we
have a real Christian Renaissance, as well as a renaissance of
other religions.
"The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and the Ukrain-
ian Catholic Church (banned since 1930 and 1946 respectively) are
now restored in Ukraine, and the UAOC Patriarch, Mstyslav, was
elected in May 1990. Previously he was an Archbishop of the UAOC
in the USA. He is now 92 years old, and his life was full of
troubles and dangers. He escaped Stalin's repressions during the
outlawing of the UAOC, because at that time he was in Poland in
political emigration, being the nephew to Simon Petlura, one of
the leaders of the Ukrainian state in 1918-1919. He was thrown
into jail under the communists as well as under the nazis, and
after WW2 emigrated to the USA. His life is worth writing a
novel about.
"My great grandfather was a priest of the Russian Orthodox
Church. In 1929 he was exiled by the communists to the Vyatka
region in northern Russia, near the Urals and died there two
years later. My parents were brought up as atheists as almost
all the people in the USSR were, including myself, but I was
always interested in Christianity, being raised in Kiev, one of
the greatest centres of Christianity in Eastern Europe.
"Before the communists began to fight religion there were a
lot of confessions in Kiev: Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox
Church, Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox Church of Old
Rite, Baptists, Adventists, Ukrainian Catholic Church, Roman
Catholic Church, Protestant Church, Armenian Church, and several
minor confessions. And there were other religions: Jews, Mos-
lems, Karaims, and God knows who else. All that was ruined
during the 1920s-30s. Many temples were blown up or ruined in
other ways. The jewels of medieval architecture, such as St.
Michael's Cathedral, were demolished. And under the Germans
another masterpiece of architecture, the Dormition Cathedral, was
blown up. Recently they began to rebuild it. Its iconostasis
was found several years ago, hidden during the invasion by the
monks, and all the frescoes and mosaics were photographed in the
1930s."
This was part of a letter to RADIO FREE THULCANDRA, a Chris-
tian-oriented science fiction fanzine I edit and publish. RFT is
a typical fanzine but with a Christian emphasis. There are
discussions of Christianity in relation to science fiction,
fantasy, and fandom. There are no doctrinal debates, not because
I object to them but because I think they would probably predomi-
nate and deflect RFT from its intended purpose.
During the recent discussion here of THIS PRESENT DARKNESS
and its sequel, which have been discussed in RFT as well, several
people indicated a more general interest in science fiction and
fantasy. If you have such an interest and would like a sample
copy of the latest issue of RFT, send me your snail mail address
and I'll send you one. Interested non-Christians are welcome.
The current mailing list includes atheist and neo-pagan fans, and
probably fans with other beliefs, since people are not asked
their beliefs and many have not identified themselves. The
Christian readership includes Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Funda-
mentalists and liberal Protestants.
Marty Helgesen