Unpleasant landlords’ stories

I refer to the story about the Bangladeshi man who couldn’t find a property to rent because of his religion or race (March 21).

However, one must also learn the other side of the story as well.

Landlords have loads of stories to recount of unreliable tenants. On one occasion, a Muslim man cut the throat of a lamb and splashed its blood on the common parts of the block of flats which he was renting.

Besides other instances where dogs of other residents are not tolerated.

As long as these people act in an uncivilised manner, it’s not the landlords who are to blame but their fellow countrymen who create a bad name for other well-mannered Muslims.

Alfred Gauci – Sliema

Russia’s Orthodox Church and its involvement in the Ukraine war

Russia’s Orthodox Patriarch Kirill leading a religious service at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, in Moscow on February 27. Photo: Igor PALKIN/Russian Orthodox Church Press Service/AFP

According to The Times of London of March 14, a few days ago Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, formally and publicly presented Viktor Zolotov, head of the National Guard of Russia, with the Augustow Mother of God icon at a ceremony at the Christ the Saviour cathedral, in central Moscow.

The Guard is often referred to as Vladimir Putin’s private army and Zolotov, 68, was once his bodyguard. Zolotov said the icon “…will bless President Putin’s war machine and speed its victory in Ukraine”. The icon, which depicts the reported appearance of the Virgin Mary to Russian soldiers on the eastern front during World War I, will be kept at an Orthodox Church linked to the National Guard near Moscow.

Patriarch Kirill, 75, who has previously described Putin’s rule as “a miracle of God”, said that the icon would “inspire” National Guard troops involved in the fighting in Ukraine and aid them in their efforts to “protect the fatherland”. He said in a sermon last month that Moscow was fighting evil forces in Ukraine which have always strived against the unity of Russia. He justified Putin’s invasion because gay-pride parades had been held in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.

In 2020, the colossal cathedral of the Russian armed forces was opened near Moscow, the third-largest Orthodox Christian church in the world. Officials said that it symbolised “the spirituality of the Russian army”.

It contains a mosaic honouring Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. An image of Joseph Stalin, the Soviet tyrant, was only removed after an outcry.

Pope Francis is said to have close relations with the patriarch as he strives to fulfil his predecessor’s dream to unite Catholicism and Orthodoxy after almost 1,000 years of schism. Do Roman Catholics worldwide really want to unite their beloved Church with another supposedly Christian Church whose head asks for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary as he advocates the mass slaughter of fellow (Orthodox) Christians? Hardly a Christian sentiment!

The icon did not do much good for the Russian army during World War I as it was routed by the Germans.

Hopefully, this time it will be equally as effective!

Charles Gauci – Sannat

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