”I came out of the cold water shivering, but full of joy and peace,” says writer Paul Kingsnorth after being baptized this year's Epiphany, thus becoming a member of the Romanian Orthodox Church (https://orthodoxtimes.com/writer-paul-kingsnorth-was-baptized-in-the-romanian-orthodox-church/). As far as I know, Kingsnorth has always deplored the destructive effects on nature and man neoliberalism had around the world. So probably he will feel even colder when he discovers that, for thirty years now, Romanian Orthodox hierarchs and theologians have supported not only missionaries of neoliberalism such as Mihai Neamțu or H.-R. Patapievici, but also neognostics such as the legion of universal spiritual minds formed by Andrei Pleşu, or conservatives such as Sever Voinescu, dedicated to saving anything that neognostics and neoliberals do not give a damn about – such as the sixpenny ideas of conservatives like Voinescu himself.
In this sense, Kingsnorth cannot but feel at home in the Romanian Orthodox Church, although not necessarily in the sense of the joy and peace he felt after his baptism. Specifically, he will find here the pagan wanderings (New Age spirituality, mindfulness) that he hoped he left behind (https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/paul-kingsnorth-orthodoxy-dark-chamber-baptism/).
It cannot be said, however, that Kingsnorth was not warned: “«He was determined to enter Orthodoxy, but I advised him to moderate his enthusiasm and not to expect to see angels flying through the church, » said the Romanian parish priest of Galway.” (https://orthodoxtimes.com/writer-paul-kingsnorth-was-baptized-in-the-romanian-orthodox-church/). Let us hope that his joy and peace will remain even after he discovers that the place of angels, driven away by the Orthodox hierarchy and academic theologians under the blurred insight of the faithful, has not been left empty, but has been occupied by other winged creatures, only less bright, just waiting for the opportunity to manifest to the full their powers.
