HAHAHAH! Funniest picture ever!
This is Patriarch Bartholomew spearing a cat with his staff (naturally, because after all, that's why those Orthodox Patriarchs are given staffs in the first place -- so they can kill cats with them).
As "Spiritual Leader of the World's 300 million Orthodox Christians" (seriously, where do journalists get this crap? It makes it sound like he's the equivalent of the Catholic Pope), Patriarch Bartholomew has the all-important responsibility of setting a good example for all Orthodox believers. And that he does! For what better way is there to exemplify a Christ-like life than by spearing a cat?
For all of the idiots reading my blog who thought I was being serious (you know who you are) here is the actual copy that goes along with the above photo.
"They say a picture is worth a thousand words. In this case, a picture says a lot about a person -- in this case, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide [there we go again]."
On a typically-busy afternoon at the Phanar -- the Church's ancient headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey, in between visiting dignitaries, intense meetings and solemn church services, Patriarch Bartholomew stops for a moment to play with... a cat.
He explained that a family of cats have taken shelter within the compound of the Patriarchate. 'They too are God's creatures and deserve our love.' After tickling the cat with his staff for several seconds, he jokingly commented that he should be careful what he does, as a photograph of this instance -- taken out of context -- could be misconstrued as animal abuse. 'That's all we need now,' the Patriarch laughed continued playing with his feline friend."
Comments welcome (encouraged in fact).
4 comments:
Our bishop speared a couple garden gnomes last time he was it town. It was pretty cool. Shows how down to earth he is.
I think we have garden gnomes living in the walls of our apartment. I can hear them scratching the woodwork at night while I'm trying to sleep.
funny! we loved this picture. bishops also like to play with sheep.... in fact, sheepies were some of Jesus's favorite creatures.....
The "spiritual leader" thing is probably a reference to help non-Orthodox understand the EP's role. "First among equals" or "leader an entire Orthodox church council which is never going to happen" is a little too vague for most. But you're right, it does make him seem like the Orthodox equivalent of the RC pope. Interestingly, the flock under the EP's care numbers less than 5 million or so, about 1-2% of the entire Orthodox population worldwide.
86! How are ya? I was wondering when you'd start getting into blogging. Glad to have you on board.
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