During the Mass celebrated in Rome on the feastday of St. Josemaría (June 26), the Prelate mentioned that on that very day the stable work of Opus Dei in Russia had begun. These paragraphs from Bishop Echevarría's homily speak about these new beginnings.

Today I feel a special joy in my soul that I would like to share with you. Precisely today, as we celebrate St. Josemaría's feastday, the apostolic work of Opus Dei will begin in a stable form in Russia, that immense land that extends from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean and from the Black Sea to the frozen Arctic Ocean. This fulfills a dream of St. Josemaría, who always wanted the spirit of Opus Dei to spread throughout the whole world, including the nations of Eastern Europe. You can’t imagine how much he looked forward to this moment!

Thanks be to God, the faithful of the Prelature are now working in the countries of Eastern Europe as well as in so many others. For many years the realization of this dream was stalled by a lack of freedom. In 1955, during a trip to Vienna, St. Josemaría entrusted this intention to the Mother of God, invoking her with the aspiration: Sancta Maria, Stella Orientis, filios tuos adiuva! (Holy Mary, Star of the East, help your children!) He never tired of praying for this intention, although as the years passed he was never allowed to see to see even the beginning of an answer.

Later, when the walls built by violence unexpectedly began to fall, our beloved Don Alvaro del Portillo began the apostolic expansion of Opus Dei into those countries. First of all, Poland; then the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Hungary and the Baltic countries. And in the last few years, Slovenia and Croatia. Today, finally, the moment has arrived to carry this apostolic activity to Russia as well. Let us give thanks to God and let us ask, through the intercession of our Lady and St. Josemaría, for divine help in these beginnings. . . .

To carry forward any apostolic activity we must go, first of all, to God. We must also place the necessary material means at the service of the apostolate, for the apostolic activities of Opus Dei need the collaboration of many people, their prayers and their material help. In this way, through the grace of God and the generous contribution of so many men and women from different walks of life, an ever-growing work of evangelization is being carried out throughout the world in service of the Church.


The complete homily is available (in Spanish) at www.josemariaescriva.info.


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Escalation of tensions in the South Ossetia conflict zone could herald a new attempt by Georgia to restore hegemony, Russian politicians warn.

By Liz Fuller

Senior political figures in Russia and in the unrecognized republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia have expressed concern in recent days that the escalation of tensions in the South Ossetian conflict zone herald a new attempt by Georgia to restore what they consider its hegemony over that unrecognized republic by force of arms.

Senior political figures in Russia and in the unrecognized republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia have expressed concern in recent days that the escalation of tensions in the South Ossetian conflict zone herald a new attempt by Georgia to restore what they consider its hegemony over that unrecognized republic by force of arms.

There is also speculation, however, that Georgian artillery attacks on the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, could equally be intended to deflect attention from a planned incursion into Abkhazia, possibly as the world focuses on the informal talks in Kennebunkport between US President George W Bush and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

As recently as 26 June, Dmitry Sanakoyev, whom Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili named in May to head a pro-Tbilisi provisional administration in South Ossetia that is clearly intended to take control of the region following the collapse of the current pro-Moscow leadership headed by de facto President Eduard Kokoity, assured members of the European Parliament in Brussels of his commitment to direct dialogue with the people of South Ossetia to a peaceful solution to the conflict that erupted in 1990.

Violence breaks out

But within days, three separate mortar attacks were launched on Tskhinvali on 29-30 June, reportedly killing one young man and injuring a second man and a woman. Moscow and Tskhinvali have blamed Tbilisi for the attacks, although Georgian officials have denied any responsibility. That denial raises the possibility that renegade elements within the Georgian armed forces were acting on their own initiative, as was apparently the case in August 2004, when Georgian Interior Ministry troops launched a disastrous attack on South Ossetian villages in which up to a dozen Georgians were killed.

Kokoity on 29 June held talks in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who impressed on him the need for the "maximum restraint." The following day, Kokoity told fellow Ossetians in Vladikavkaz, the capital of neighboring North Ossetia, that "no matter how difficult it is for us, we shall not allow the dummy government in Tbilisi to draw us into an armed conflict."

On 29 June, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made an unannounced visit to Tbilisi, where he met with President Saakashvili and parliament speaker Nino Burjanadze. No details of their talks were divulged, but senior diplomats from the so-called Friends of the UN Secretary-General group of countries (France, Germany, Russia, the UK and the US) met in Bonn on June 27-28 with senior Abkhaz and Georgian officials to discuss, among other issues, the security situation in the Kodori Gorge, which straddles the territory of the unrecognized republic of Abkhazia and Georgia proper. Tbilisi deployed Interior Ministry troops in July 2006 to the upper, Georgian-controlled part of the gorge, but is now in the process of withdrawing them and co-opting local personnel to serve as their replacement, according to a detailed summary of the Bonn talks posted on 29 June on kavkaz-uzel.ru.

Unidentified armed men

According to the summary, the diplomats expressed concern in Bonn at reports that unidentified armed men have been spotted in the lower, Abkhaz-controlled sector of the Kodori Gorge, and they called on both the Georgian and Abkhaz delegations to the talks to investigate and clarify those reports. The Georgian delegation reportedly denied that any Georgian security personnel have ventured on to territory controlled by the Abkhaz side.

Georgia has sought on two previous occasions to co-opt irregular forces to launch a new incursion into Abkhazia to bring that breakaway republic back under its control. The first attempt, in May 1998, by two Georgian guerrilla formations, the so-called White Legion and Forest Brothers, was launched across the Inguri River that marks the border between Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia, and failed spectacularly.

In the second, in early October 2001, senior Georgian officials whose identity has never been established co-opted Chechen resistance fighters loyal to field commander Ruslan Gelayev and transported them across Georgia to the Kodori Gorge, whence they sought to penetrate Abkhaz territory. They were, however, beaten back by the Abkhaz armed forces. More than 100 people were reported killed in the 1998 offensive and some 40 - including five UN observers - in 2001. Any armed force that did succeed in advancing to the lower reaches of the Kodori Gorge would be strategically placed to launch an attack on the Abkhaz capital, Sukhum(i).

Warning note?

Could UN Secretary-General Ban's lightning stopover in Tbilisi have been connected with the reported presence of unidentified fighters in Abkhazia? If so, Ban might have delivered a warning to President Saakashvili that any new military aggression in Abkhazia would not only incur condemnation from the international community, but risk undercutting Georgia's position at the ongoing UN-mediated peace talks.

But Saakashvili, who has on numerous occasions referred to the Abkhaz and Ossetians as "brothers" and "allies" whom he professes to love, must be acutely aware that he has a maximum of 15-16 months to make good on his repeated pledges to restore Georgia's territorial integrity before his first presidential term expires.

Should he try and fail, he will be perceived as a lame duck, and strengthen the man observers identify as his likely main challenger in the 2008 presidential ballot, Irakli Okruashvili, a decided hawk who has served as both defense and interior minister. It was Okruashvili who, as interior minister, commanded the abortive attack on South Ossetia three summers ago. Okruashvili is currently said to be preparing to launch his own political party, to which some parliament deputies from Saakashvili's United National Movement are reportedly ready to defect.



Copyright (c) 2007. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC 20036. Funded by the US Congress.


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By Martin Barillas

After meeting President George W. Bush in Kennebunkport, Maine, to discuss bilateral issues such as trade and defense, Russian leader Vladimir Putin left for Guatemala on July 2 for a three-day visit to the Central American republic.

Putin's government has been lobbying the International Olympic Committee to decide on the Russian city of Sochi as the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics. The Russian government has reportedly promised an expenditure of over $1.5 billion dollars to ensure the success of the Games at Sochi, which is located on the Black Sea. It is expected that Russia will improve infrastructure such as airports and railways, as well as provide adequate sporting facilities for the 2014 Winter Games.

Sochi is among two candidates being selected by the IOC on July 4 in Guatemala. In the running are Salzburg (Austria) and Pyeongchang (South Korea). Austrian chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer will also be on hand in Guatemala City to lobby for Salzburg's bid. Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's presence in Singapore during the 2005 IOC session in Singapore is widely seen to have cinched London as the site for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.

But fun and games are not the only things on the agenda for the meeting of Putin with Guatemala's President Oscar Berger. According to Guatemalan Foreign Minister Gert Rosenthal, the two are expected to toast a successful conclusion of some 12 years' trade negotiations between Guatemala and Russia, which are to expected to benefit Guatemala's coffee and sugar exports with favorable tariffs. The negotiations brought about Guatemala's support of Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The two presidents met July 3.

In advance of Putin's arrival to Guatemala, Russian Vice Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov was quoted saying that "We hope to establish new economic, commercial, and cultural relations with Guatemala on this visit. There are large Russian petroleum companies that are interested in cooperating with technology transfer."

Zhukov reminded listeners that Russia is a completely different country from the defunct Soviet Union, saying "We are ready to invest in various areas, to cooperate economically. It depends on Guatemala's interest." Zhukov also made it official that Guatemala will soon have a Russian embassy, whereas relations with Guatemala are currently conducted out of Russia's embassy to Costa Rica.

Russia is the largest producer of petroleum in the world. Coincidently, Sheik Ahmad Fahad al-Sabah of Kuwait, the president of the Oil Petroleum Exporting Countries cartel (OPEC) is also to visit Guatemala in the coming week. Compared to Kuwait and Russia, Guatemala produces small amounts of petroleum and has little refining capacity. Exploration was conducted as early as the 1950s when Texaco commissioned a survey for a possible road and pipeline in the Peten region in 1959.

Guatemala is Central America's only oil producer, while the 30-year-long civil war, low oil quality, and poor infrastructure discouraged further investment. In 1981, new deposits of oil were discovered in the northern jungle region of Guatemala. A pipeline to the Caribbean coast was completed in 1981 but attacked more than a dozen times in 1991, ostensibly by Marxist guerrillas. Since the end of the civil war in 1996, oil concessions have been granted by the government and production has averaged 23,300 barrels per day in 2000. Guatemala also has modest natural gas reserves.



©Copyright, Martin Barillas 2007

Martin Barillas is a former US diplomat and human rights observer who served in Latin America, Europe, and the US. He is Religion News editor for Spero News and blogs at HispanoBizantino.

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