Posted on 10/27/2010 1:01:27 PM PDT by kronos77
By Stephen Ryan October 25, 2010
"if the new mayor turns to ordinary people rather than investors" it will be "the biggest and the most long-awaited wish of the Russian Orthodox Church." Father Vladimir
Just off the heals of President Dimitry Medvedev's recent decision to create a new Russian holiday - a public holiday that marks the adoption of Christianity in 988, new Moscow Mayor has ordered the city administration to locate 200 building lots to construct new Orthodox Churches.
This is the latest demonstration of the Kremlin's support for an Orthodox Church that has grown increasingly powerful since the fall of Communism.
Not wasting anytime, new Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin, in one of his first offical administrative decisions has ordered the city to locate building lots to raise 200 Orthodox Churches throughout the city of Moscow.
Interfax of Russia reported "According to the Moscow government instruction, prefectures of administrative districts together with Moscow Architecture Committee and Land Resources Department should search for the land lots."
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia initiated the request to build the 200 Orthodox church complexes in Moscow, the interviewee of the agency reminded.
According to him, after selecting options for building churches, prefects of the districts will hold public hearings on allotting land for building Orthodox church complexes.
Last month when the Sergey Sobyanin was officially approved as new Moscow mayor, the Patriarchate expressed hope that he will realize the program of building 200 new Orthodox churches and priests will get access to city schools.
"We certainly expect that Moscow government, mayor and his office will further cooperate on the project of building in the city 200 churches at the first stage initiated by His Holiness the Patriarch," head of the patriarchal press service Archpriest Vladimir Vigilyansky told an Interfax-Religious correspondent.
(Excerpt) Read more at ministryvalues.com ...
Odd, how the atheist and totalitarian Soviet Union did a 180 into freedom and preservation of its culture, and how the United States did a 180 away from freedom and its own traditions.
Communists, Muslims and Atheists take note.
Yes, there have been lots of reports of Russia going heavily Catholic all of a sudden. Fatima?
Because all the commie reporters are here.
It would be splendid if they built elegant churches that would edify the nation, instead of our soul-less office building/airport terminal churches that inspire no one.
Many of their more problematic citizens immigrated.
Russia is surely an enigma. I still remember listening to my (now deceased)uncle who fought in Russia when he was in the German army. In all the long years his unit fought in the Soviet Union he could not remember one church that had not been desecrated by the Soviet authorities. Normally the buildings would be turned into schools, barns or NKVD headquarters. Amazingly, one of the first things some German units did when entering a town or village was to reopen these churches-not because the German authorities wanted it but because certain officers in combat divisions saw it as a means of placating the Russians or Ukrainians.
“This is the latest demonstration of the Kremlin’s support for an Orthodox Church that has grown increasingly powerful...”
Church power comes from G-d, faith, and people, not from governments. (IMHO)
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