我們今天來到南歐的宗教聖地：Ohrid。
上次提到馬其頓作為一個民族概念、甚至是地理概念，是近代的是。作為一個國家，那更是二戰以後的事。
這並不表示這個地方是化外之地，花不香、鳥不語。
相反地馬其頓的Ohrid在歷史上可是非常重要的。

首先，Ohrid在AD990 – 1015 是第一保加利亞帝國的首都，也是保加利亞正教會Bulgarian Patriarchate的教座，掌管所有保加利亞基督教（東正教）一切事務。
東羅馬帝國佔領保加利亞之後，這個教會地位不變，只是從自主轉而接受君士坦丁宗教會管轄。
到了十六世紀，地位更高，還囊括掌管今天摩達維亞（Moldova）與塞爾維亞地區、甚至部分義大利的事務。

其次，大家可能知道西瑞里克字母，它的創造也與Ohrid有關。
Saints Cyril and Methodius是一對兄弟，生活在九世紀。
皇帝Boris I不希望拜占庭對他的國家有太多影響，於是希望所有教會都使用斯拉夫語，而不是希臘語。
為此，他做了兩件事：一，懇請Saints Cyril and Methodius成為主教。第二，創立學院，以斯拉夫語教授神學。這兩位聖者就因此創造了西瑞里克字母。今天甚至遠到吉爾吉斯都使用這種字母。
而Ohrid就是兩座學院所在城市之一，另外一座現在已成廢墟。
Cyril的學生之一是Clement克雷蒙，就成為Ohrid學院的校長。
今天在Ohrid還有一座克雷蒙教堂，據說是他親自設計的。

不過Ohrid最上相的教堂是另外一座：Church of Saint John the Theologian, Kaneo。
看到今天的照片，大家一定馬上就知道為什麼。
這座教堂供奉的是John of Patmos，後者是他被羅馬帝國流放的一座希臘島嶼。
這位約翰是《聖經》最後一篇「啓示錄」的作者。有些人認為與耶穌十二門徒之一、同時是約翰福音的作者是同一人。

我們這幾天都會在約翰教堂背後的山丘上，欣賞不同時間的景色，並且來聊聊馬其頓歷史上最重要的人物：亞歷山大。雖然當時的馬其頓帝國位處於希臘北部。

#WeConnect #Belarus

🏳️What's happening in Belarus (08/13/2020, 23:00 HKT):
⠀
The protest movement can already definitely be called the "Awakening Revolution", because new social groups have joined and are joining the active protesters.
⠀
For the second day over, more than several thousand women have come out to peaceful protests. Women stand along the avenues, holding hands in white robes. So they protest against the killing of civilians. This action has already become mainstream and now every day women go out like this in Brest, Grodno, Lida, Pinsk and other cities. In general, this action is already taking place in 12 cities.
⠀
Starting from yesterday, large enterprises throughout Belarus declared a strike and stopped working. Employees of BelAZ, employees of Grodnozhilstroy, pharmaceutical plant Belmedpreparat and have stopped their work and are demanding fair elections and the release of prisoners.
⠀
Motorists joined Strike. In big cities and in the capital, they block roads, reducing the speed to 20-30 kilometers per hour, so as not to start up paddy wagons and armored personnel carriers.
⠀
Also in Belarus Christian churches have declared their support to the protesters. Catholics officially opened their churches to provide assistance and so that people could take refuge there from persecution, Orthodox priests and believers distribute water, food and medicaments to the protesters. Interestingly, the official Belarusian Orthodox Church congratulated Alexander Lukashenko on his victory. This is due to the fact that the BOC-MP is subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate. The Belarusian society is already calling for the creation of an independent Orthodox Church, following the Ukrainian example.
⠀
Also a wave of dismissals from government posts swept across the country. On the Internet, in opposition telegram channels and chats, there are hundreds of videos showing how riot police, police or military officers burn their uniforms, tear their stripes and say that they are with the people. They are also dismissed from the state media and from the office of the President of Belarus.

During the nighttime protests, Belarusians use “be water” tactics. The movement is coordinated from the telegrams of the NEXTA channel and the chats of the 97% movement. Surprisingly, all coordination consists in updating relevant information and reporting and the appearance of law enforcement agencies in different places, as well as the need for assistance. Administrators of telegram chats "97%" report a large presence of Kremlin-bots provoking and misinforming participants in the Awakening Revolution. Also, a huge amount of lies and propaganda is being poured through the state television channels of Belarus and Russia. It is stated that the protesters are drug addicts and alcoholics, unemployed right-wing radicals. The opinions of so-called experts about the "Ukrainian trace" in the protest are regularly heard - allegedly Ukrainian nationalists are supervising Belarusian protesters. The same accusations are made towards the EU countries, especially Poland and Lithuania.

At the same time, police violence is only gaining proportions. The riot police fired at residential buildings and threw shells at the windows, the Ministry of Internal Affairs no longer hid the statement about its use of service weapons, the police brutally beat everyone they meet and spoil human property.
⠀
At the moment, the Ministry of Internal Affairs does not provide information on the number of detainees. The number of those detained, according to the human rights organization Viasna, has already exceeded five thousand. There are four confirmed deaths so far, unconfirmed four to eleven. The Supreme Court of Belarus has published a list of the names of 500 detainees.

The two youngest are only 18 years old, the oldest is 56 years old. At the same time, more than once in the opposition telegrams, the channels reported on the detention of minors. Most of the detainees were sentenced to 15 days of imprisonment, the longest "official term" - 25.

There are no detained citizens of Ukraine and Russian opposition journalists on the lists. It is impossible to estimate the real number of those detained, killed and wounded.

Text: Antony Tcherepenko (FHKC coordinator, Krakow)

All photos are from open sources.

#WeConnect #Belarus

🏳️What's happening in Belarus (08/13/2020, 23:00 HKT):
⠀
The protest movement can already definitely be called the "Awakening Revolution", because new social groups have joined and are joining the active protesters.
⠀
For the second day over, more than several thousand women have come out to peaceful protests. Women stand along the avenues, holding hands in white robes. So they protest against the killing of civilians. This action has already become mainstream and now every day women go out like this in Brest, Grodno, Lida, Pinsk and other cities. In general, this action is already taking place in 12 cities.
⠀
Starting from yesterday, large enterprises throughout Belarus declared a strike and stopped working. Employees of BelAZ, employees of Grodnozhilstroy, pharmaceutical plant Belmedpreparat and have stopped their work and are demanding fair elections and the release of prisoners.
⠀
Motorists joined Strike. In big cities and in the capital, they block roads, reducing the speed to 20-30 kilometers per hour, so as not to start up paddy wagons and armored personnel carriers.
⠀
Also in Belarus Christian churches have declared their support to the protesters. Catholics officially opened their churches to provide assistance and so that people could take refuge there from persecution, Orthodox priests and believers distribute water, food and medicaments to the protesters. Interestingly, the official Belarusian Orthodox Church congratulated Alexander Lukashenko on his victory. This is due to the fact that the BOC-MP is subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate. The Belarusian society is already calling for the creation of an independent Orthodox Church, following the Ukrainian example.
⠀
Also a wave of dismissals from government posts swept across the country. On the Internet, in opposition telegram channels and chats, there are hundreds of videos showing how riot police, police or military officers burn their uniforms, tear their stripes and say that they are with the people. They are also dismissed from the state media and from the office of the President of Belarus.

During the nighttime protests, Belarusians use “be water” tactics. The movement is coordinated from the telegrams of the NEXTA channel and the chats of the 97% movement. Surprisingly, all coordination consists in updating relevant information and reporting and the appearance of law enforcement agencies in different places, as well as the need for assistance. Administrators of telegram chats "97%" report a large presence of Kremlin-bots provoking and misinforming participants in the Awakening Revolution. Also, a huge amount of lies and propaganda is being poured through the state television channels of Belarus and Russia. It is stated that the protesters are drug addicts and alcoholics, unemployed right-wing radicals. The opinions of so-called experts about the "Ukrainian trace" in the protest are regularly heard - allegedly Ukrainian nationalists are supervising Belarusian protesters. The same accusations are made towards the EU countries, especially Poland and Lithuania.

At the same time, police violence is only gaining proportions. The riot police fired at residential buildings and threw shells at the windows, the Ministry of Internal Affairs no longer hid the statement about its use of service weapons, the police brutally beat everyone they meet and spoil human property.
⠀
At the moment, the Ministry of Internal Affairs does not provide information on the number of detainees. The number of those detained, according to the human rights organization Viasna, has already exceeded five thousand. There are four confirmed deaths so far, unconfirmed four to eleven. The Supreme Court of Belarus has published a list of the names of 500 detainees.

The two youngest are only 18 years old, the oldest is 56 years old. At the same time, more than once in the opposition telegrams, the channels reported on the detention of minors. Most of the detainees were sentenced to 15 days of imprisonment, the longest "official term" - 25.

There are no detained citizens of Ukraine and Russian opposition journalists on the lists. It is impossible to estimate the real number of those detained, killed and wounded.

Text: Antony Tcherepenko (FHKC coordinator, Krakow)

All photos are from open sources.