There are many Lutheran missionaries in Russia. A few I support (or did till he passed away late last year of heart issues).
This law has not been talked about. Granted, they are in historically Lutheran areas, and in Siberia. And as an Orthodox once told me, they have a history with the Lutherans there that goes back to Catherine the Great.
“There are many Lutheran missionaries in Russia.”
I still say that the Russian Orthodox Church would not react well if they started trying to make converts among the Orthodox.
“Granted, they are in historically Lutheran areas, and in Siberia.”
Well, there you go.
“And as an Orthodox once told me, they have a history with the Lutherans there that goes back to Catherine the Great.”
And that history is not all kissy-face and kittens.
Yes! This is very true, which is why the new law is so disheartening, because the past two decades has seen much reconciliation between Catholics, Lutherans, and Orthodox.
I was a regular at St. Catherine’s of Alexandria on Nevsky Prospect while living in Saint Petersburg. And nearby were the Swedish and German Lutheran Churches...The German church was turned into an indoor swimming pool by the Soviets.
The priests at St. Catherine’s were shot, killed, and the church was especially repressed during the Stalin era, eventually converting into a storage space for the “Museum of Atheism” (which is again St. Isaac’s Cathedral) before it was restored again.