DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF ST. JOHN OF SAN FRANCISCO

Vol. XXXIII. No 21, 1494
June 19/July 2, 2000
Editor: Father Neketas S. Palassis

      TO OUR READERS: We apologize for the recent delays in publishing .This issue, dated June 19/July 2, actually was produced and distributed in November. We hope to be caught up soon. Pray for us.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ IN THIS ISSUE:

     A recent issue of the Orthodox Christian Witness (No.1491) published a review of the book, The Struggle Against Ecumenism. This review, written by Vladimir Moss, is favorable for the most part, calling the book “objective”, “the best on  its subject to have appeared in English, and quite possibly in any language”, and observing that points in the book are “treated with admirable fairness.”

     The reviewer, at the same time, offers the opinion that the defense which the book makes for the late Archbishop Auxentius is “sketchy and biased”. He maintains that The Struggle Against Ecumenism “slanders those other Orthodox bishops who tried to introduce canonical order into the church” when they “deposed” Archbishop Auxentius.

     It was good that Mr. Moss qualified these remarks with the words “in the opinion of this reviewer.” This qualification is important, because it highlights some problems in his observations.

     The first problem is that the reviewer, as he has admitted elsewhere, has no knowledge of the Greek language. Therefore, all his information on questions pertaining to the traditional Orthodox Christians of Greece was and remains secondhand at best. He could not have read the many pages of evidence, testimony, and signed affidavits that were distributed widely, and which demonstrated the Archbishop's innocence.

     Also, our reviewer fails to mention a letter signed by him (dated June 20/July 3, 1994), in which he separates himself from those very bishops that supposedly “deposed” Archbishop Auxentius. The reasons given in this letter for Mr. Moss’s departure from these bishops were their canonical and dogmatic infractions.

     Further, since he was not present and does not speak the Greek language, Mr. Moss could not have known firsthand that Bishop Stephanos of Chios—one of the bishops which “deposed” the Archbishop—came to Archbishop Auxentius’ funeral, tearfully begging forgiveness of the now reposed Archbishop and saying in the presence of all,  “Forgive us, Father, for we have sinned against you. We embittered you, we slandered you....” The photograph that captured this particular moment is published on page 129 of The Struggle Against Ecumenism.

     Neither does our reviewer mention the fact that, “for the sake of the unity of the Church,” the very bishops who "deposed"” Archbishop Auxentius later “lifted” his deposition on September 18, 1998.

     Nor does Mr. Moss mention yet two other bishops—Kallinikos of Lamia and Euthymios of Thessalonica, who, with the others had “deposed” the Archbishop, and later went on to form their own “Synod”. These bishops, too, admitted officially (in an Encyclical dated April 1/14, 1997, protocol number 73) that the Archbishop's deposition “arose from the plots of third parties,” that it was “un-canonical, invalid and void”, and that they recognize “the blessedly reposed hierarch” “as the rightful and canonical” ruler of his throne.

           These incontrovertible facts, we believe, clarify this matter.
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      WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 1, 2000 -- A NASDAQ-traded company has finally unveiled its long-touted and highly
controversial "Digital Angel" -- a subdermal microchip implant designed not merely for keeping tabs on pets, but for
widespread, worldwide use in tracking human beings.

      The high-tech device, engineered by Applied Digital Solutions, Inc. had its debut Monday before an overflow crowd of
more than 300 invited guests at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City.

      The audience included U.S. Secretary of Commerce Norman Mineta, who addressed the crowd, as well as other
government officials, potential joint venture/licensing partners and press representatives.

      Richard J. Sullivan, Applied Digital Solutions' chairman and CEO, waxed eloquent about the market potential of Digital
Angel, claiming the company has "uncovered a total marketplace that is conservatively estimated to exceed $70 billion."

      Randy Geissler, chairman and CEO of Digital Angel.net Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary, zeroed in on potential
applications.

      "Our analysis shows that we are well-positioned to move quickly into certain applications while developing a number of
others. Two areas of particular interest are in the health care arena," he said, "monitoring heart disease and respiratory disease
patients." The tracking and monitoring of pets, he added, is also "right up our alley."

      The demonstration, which was conducted by Dr. Peter Zhou and Dr. Keith Bolton, showed how Digital Angel "can be
used to monitor a person's key body functions -- such as temperature and pulse -- and transmit that data wirelessly, on a real
time basis, along with the accurate location of the person, to a web-enabled ground station or monitoring facility," according to
a press statement.

      The technology consists of a miniature sensor device, designed to be implanted just under the skin, that captures and
wirelessly transmits the "wearer's" vital body-function data, such as body temperature or pulse, to an Internet-integrated ground
station. In addition, the antenna receives information regarding the location of the individual from the GPS satellite. Both sets of
data -- medical information and location -- are then wirelessly transmitted to the ground station and made available on
Web-enabled desktop, laptop or wireless devices.

      A more sophisticated version of microchip technologies currently used as electronic ID tags for pets, Digital Angel is
powered electromechanically through muscle movement, or it can be activated by an outside monitoring facility.

      As WorldNetDaily has reported, in addition to locating missing persons and monitoring physiological data, Digital
Angel will be marketed as a means of verifying online consumer identity for the burgeoning e-commerce world.

      In August, Sullivan told WND, "We are currently talking to a watch maker who is interested in placing the device on
the back of their watches." He added that "technology is being developed that would allow Digital Angel to function from the
back of a cellular phone, transmitting bio-sensor information when carried by the user."

      And in an interview last March, the chief scientist, Zhou, told WorldNetDaily he believes the implant will be as popular
as cell phones and vaccines.

      Digital Angel "will be a connection from yourself to the electronic world. It will be your guardian, protector. It will bring
good things to you," said Zhou.

      "We will be a hybrid of electronic intelligence and our own soul," he added.

      MONDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2000 -- Meet the 'Digital Angel'  -- from Hell

       'Twas Lord Byron who said it first, I believe: "'Tis strange but true; for truth is always strange; Stranger than fiction."

      In the 21st century, I'm certain we will find that truth is even stranger than science fiction.

      You had better sit down for this one, privacy fans. A company called Applied Digital Solutions has what sounds to me
like the final solution. The NASDAQ-traded high-tech company is excited about its acquisition of the patent rights to a
miniature digital transceiver -- which it nicknamed "Digital Angel (R)." Personally, I think it should be rated X -- or worse.

      The product is billed as a versatile transceiver that can send and receive data -- and which can be implanted in humans.

      It can provide a tamper-proof means of identification for enhanced business security, the company boasts. It can locate
lost or missing individuals, say the proud owners. It can track and locate valuable property, they claim. It can monitor the
medical conditions of at-risk patients. And it can slice, dice and destroy the last vestiges of personal privacy in an increasingly
impersonal world.

      The implantable transceiver's signals can be tracked continuously by global positioning satellites. When implanted in the
body, the device is powered electromagnetically through the movement of muscles, and it can be activated either by the wearer
or by the monitoring facility.

      "While a number of other tracking and monitoring technologies have been patented and marketed in the past, they are
all unsuitable for the widespread tracking, recovery and identification of people due to a variety of limitations, including
unwieldy size, maintenance requirements, insufficient or inconvenient power-supply and activation difficulties," explains a
company prospectus. "For the first time in the history of location and monitoring technology, Digital Angel(R) overcomes these
limitations."

      Oh, goody.

      The company projects a global market for this technology in excess of $100 billion.

      But the applications it discusses just don't add up to that kind of number. The math doesn't work for me. You decide.
Here's what the company is talking about: business security, locating individuals, monitoring medical conditions, tracking and
locating essential military and diplomatic personnel, tracking personal property.

      The only way that adds up to a hundred billion in my calculator is if every human being on earth gets one of these
implants. And maybe that's the idea.

      On Jan. 31, APS accepted the special "Technology Pioneers" award from the World Economic Forum for the
company's contributions to worldwide economic development and social progress through technology advancements.

      And what is the World Economic Forum? It bills itself as an independent organization committed to improving the state
of the world. It does this by "creating the foremost global partnerships of business, political, intellectual and other leaders of
society to define and discuss key issues on the global agenda."

      Now, I want you to use your imagination here, for a moment. Why would an organization committed to breaking down
nationalist barriers and moving the world toward global government give a technology award to a company that just acquired
the patent to a sophisticated, implantable identification device? Hmmmmm? And guess what one of the foremost goals of WEF
is? You got it -- vaccinating every human being on the planet. How convenient! What a coincidence.

      President Clinton recently addressed the WEF in Davos, Switzerland. He boasted about asking the Congress to give
pharmaceutical conglomerates tax credits to make vaccines more widely available at low cost. He appealed for a similar effort
from the World Bank, other nations and the corporate world to deliver the vaccines to the people who need them -- meaning
everyone.

      How could ADS ever hope to make $100 billion with this new technology? By implanting it in every human being in the
world. And how could that be done? At vaccination time, of course.

      Let's see now. The application is buying and selling. The technology is implantable. The plans are global.

      This sounds remarkably like something I read in Revelation 13:16-18: "And he causeth all, both small and great, rich
and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he
that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count
the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six."

      Digital Angel? Sounds more like we could be entering the age of the Digital Devil.
                ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

      St. Demetrios Parish of Pomona, CA, will host an Orthodox mini conference February 16-18, covering a wide range of subjects, including “Attractions of the new Age,” “ Parenting and Parental Authority” and “Living an Orthodox Life in a non Orthodox World.”

      Invited conference guests include Metropolitans Ephraim and  Makarios, Bishop Moses and Frs. Panagiotis Carras of St. Nektarios Parish of Toronto and Nicodemos Gayle of St. Seraphim of Sarov Parish of  Richmond, VA..

      There is no charge to attend the conference, and activities are being planned for children, so parents are urged to bring children. Some free housing also is available for conference-goers.

      For additional information, telephone Nectari Liberis at 1-714-964-5453, or you also may direct E-mail inquiries to sdc@socal.rr.com.