Hello Don,
Very honestly, I discover the cleric personnal controversials today in a below comment and had a glance on wiki. Read that he was a KGB agent, that he drove a BMW at a fast pace in Switzerland, would own a very rich apartment in St Petersburg and would have made a lot of money by organizing the cigarette business of against beds. He would also "have a girlfriend" too. He used to wear a 20.000€ watch. I was a little surprised to read all these things, even if reported by wikipedia (english and french versions)
You can check references bottom pages.
Is all this wrong? I ask you this without irony. I know wikipedia is quite anti-christian.
"fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrille_de_Moscou"
"en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarch_Kirill_of_Moscow"

I think as you that proof need to be bring for the cigaretts affair.

One thing that can be thought of after all this is that Patriarch Cyril was very clearly a KGB agent and probably is not yet the best example of Christian asceticism. And has a little soft spot for comfort.

What do you think of this summary?

Sorry but in french.

by many :
"Named bishop at 30, he holds the reins of the Leningrad Academy of Theology for ten years. And serves the regime. "No monk could become a bishop without belonging to the KGB," says Gleb Yakunin, a defrocked priest who had access to the KGB archives at the end of the USSR."

www.lepoint.fr/monde/kirill-l-ange-g…

Sometime back in the sixties a Catholic priest found himself in court facing a charge of riding his bicycle whilst intoxicated. The bemused Magistrate found the priest guilty and suggested the priest might seriously consider either giving up the drinking of alcohol or riding of his bicycle, to which the priest replied, " I thank you for your advice sir. adding, "It will be my bicycle I will dispense with." A true story. Point being? Lighten up people.

Is THAT your point, @Alex A ? That's a mighty casual reaction to Russia's highest member of the clergy having sold a product universally known to kill people in a slow and exceedingly ugly manner. Well now... who would have guessed?

What other morally reprehensible acts are you comfortable with seeing performed by the clergy? What else will have you suggesting people "lighten up", hmmm? Frankly, that's the kind of enabling attitude that contributed to the current abuse scandal afflicting the Church today.

For decades, victims knew there was always some brainless chuckle-head eager to turn a blind eye to ecclesiastical wrong-doing. Ostriches stick proverbially stick their heads in the sand when they see something they don't like.

The "lighten up" crowd restort to sticking them somewhere else, rather than face the truth.

Don Reto Nay
HC, You do not trust Holy Providence!

Yes, but...with the understanding that "Holy Providence" may not manifest itself as an immediate good outcome as judged by our narrow self-centered perspective. The good outcome may be seen sometime months or even years later or possibly the good outcome may not be known at all during this life but in the life to come.

Alex A unwisely wrote:

Alias Doctor Spock.] Pathogens, Aseptic, Mononucleosis, Meningitis, Mumps, etc, etc, all likely caused by 'Transubstantiation' Really???-

I never said "caused by" but rather pathogens "exist in spite of" Transubstantiation. There is a huge difference.

Doctor Spock? Really? Was my post too logical for you, Little Alex? Was proving a point with facts a bit upsetting for you? I’m terribly sorry. I tend to be given to deductive reasoning, such as the difference between reason and fallacy. Obviously you are not so inclined.

Never fear. I will make this post much less demanding intellectually so that even those who are intellectually challenged (hint, hint) will hopefully be able to understand. However, there are no guarantees.

Transubstantiation or no transubstantiation, germs are pathogens (pathogens are a bacterium, virus, or other microorganism that can cause disease) and unless you, Little Alex, are given to the foolish notion of presumption (God will protect me even though I act foolishly) than the possibility of getting ill from sharing a spoon or a cup with perhaps 100s of other people (some of whom may be suffering from a disease or are “carrying” an illness without presently manifesting that illness) is very real.

On the other hand, Dear Alex, if you have solid proof that God miraculously prevents germs from existing in either the cup or the spoon used to distribute transubstantiated wine, then site that proof. And, if you believe that simply wiping off the spoon or cup with a towel (a towel used over and over and over again) is sufficient to prevent the transmission of bacteria, then show the proof.

Aquinas nor the other Doctors of the Church do not mention it. Could it have been concocted from a progressive caucus following a recent Vatican council? I wonder?

In closing, Little Alex, here’s a bit of advice. "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt."

Little Alex wrote:
Given one receives the Blessed Sacrament after Transubstantiation, which in reality becomes the body and blood of Our Savior then there can be no danger of catching a disease, can there?

You can get sick from a contaminated cup or from a contaminated spoon either of which may harbor a pathogen from another individual. With regards to the cup, there could also be backwash where an individual who is sick sips but allows some of the liquid that entered into their mouth to reenter back into the cup.

Little Alex, Why don’t you explain to the world how is it that transubstantiation prevents the cup or the spoon, used to distribute the sacrament, from harboring any pathogens? Furthermore, where is it written that this is the case? Do you have an authoritative source, either secular or religious, for that belief? Post it. The scientific community awaits your answer, Mr. six foot three inches tall.

You are not going to provide an answer because one does not exist. Your simple minded belief is simply an unjustified hope in a supernatural causation which, in the vernacular, is commonly known as superstition. You and your belief is one of the reasons many, not all, Catholics are looked upon as being simple minded and lacking in common sense.

By the way, I'm six foot three inches tall.

It is not your stature that I am referring to when I call you "little Alex."

It’s obvious you are unwilling or incapable of comprehending what I have written. Therefore, it is pointless for me to waste any more time with you.