RUSSIA RELIGION NEWS
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Religion curriculum in schools being prepared
VORONEZH PROVINCE: RIGHT NOT TO STUDY OPK REMAINS
Blagovest-info,
20 June 2007
The deputy director of the Chief Administration of Education of
Voronezh province, Gennady Kozbert, during the course of a press
conference devoted to questions of current work of the educational
apparatus, also touched on the topic of the preparation of the schools
of the province for large-scale study of Foundations of Orthodox
culture (OPK). Gennady Kozbert said: "the right not to study this
course, for whatever reasons, remains for pupils and parents.
On 24 May the director of the Chief Administration of Education of
Voronezh province, Yakov Lvovich, announced the introduction of OPK as
an "obligatory elective" with the status of the subject of regional
competence, beginning 1 September 2007.
At that time the provincial education administration, the regional
Institute for Advanced Training of Education Workers, and the diocese
signed a new agreement scheduled to be in effect for three years which
contains a number of points pertaining to the teaching of the new
subject. In particular, it deals with joint financing of the initiative
by participants in the agreement.
It is planned that OPK will be introduced on the territory of Voronezh
province gradually in the course of the next four years and it will be
studied from grades two to eleven.
The label "obligatory elective" comes from the fact that the subject is
on the list of electives recommended by the Ministry of Education of
Russia for inclusion in the curricula of components of the federation.
In the city and in the province, proponents and opponents of OPK have
been conducting parallel collections of signatures, for and against the
subject respectively.
At present, a draft of a curriculum for lower (second to fourth) grades
has been published, which was developed by a teacher of Voronezh city
school No. 19, L. Romanova, in the course of the execution of previous
agreements between the education board and the diocese. In the 1990s,
on the basis of one of such agreements, school No. 19 acquired the
status of an "experimental space for regeneration of spiritual and
moral traditions of domestic pedagogy."
The draft of the Voronezh OPK curriculum for pupils of grades two
through four has three basic vectors for its execution. These are
"acquaintance with the life of the Orthodox church in accordance with
the dates of the church calendar and the links of this with every day
life, labor activity, and mutual relations among Orthodox people;
demonstration of the personification of the moral ideal of Orthodoxy
exemplified in the life achievements of specific people; ethical
readings and discussion of materials of real-life situations close to
the children."
The draft of the curriculum devotes great attention to children's
acquaintance with specific words and phrases and also the grammar and
literature of the Church Slavonic language, which, in the opinion of
the developer and practitioners, should serve to enrich the linguistic
culture of children and elevate the level of general literacy. Besides
the linguistic emphasis, the draft of the curriculum has positive,
patriotic, cultural, humanitarian, and motivational (to labor, charity,
and fulfillment of age-related roles) components.
The classes will be conducted for one hour per week. It is
recommended to assess the answers of pupils using only positive grades
for the purpose. The draft curriculum for lower grades provides also
for summary classes on topics covered, along with the use of play
elements such as participation of the children in creating concert
programs associated with Christmas and Easter and their performance for
parents. (tr. by PDS, posted 20 June 2007)
CARDINAL POUPARD BELIEVES POPE, PATRIARCH WILL MEET SOON
Interfax, 19 June 2007
President of the Pontifical Council for Culture Cardinal Paul Poupard
believes that there is little time left until the meeting of Pope
Benedict XVI and Patriarch Alexy II.
The sides are extremely close to such a possibility, he told the Moscow
press on Tuesday.
Numerous bilateral contacts and conferences of representatives of the
Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches laid the groundwork for
the historic meeting, he said.
The cardinal expressed the opinion that the two Churches have a mutual
interest in holding the meeting.
The entire course of their joint work is bringing such an opportunity
closer, he said.
CATHOLICS, ORTHODOX MUST JOINTLY PROTECT CHRISTIAN VALUES - CARDINAL
Interfax, 19 June 2007
The Vatican believes that contemporary challenges compel the Orthodox
and Catholic churches to seek rapprochement in order to jointly protect
Christian values.
"The Christian memory of Europe bears the wound of the split between
the East and the West, as well as the Reformation. However, today we
are rediscovering the unity of our common spiritual roots," President
of the Pontifical Council for Culture Cardinal Paul Poupard said at the
international conference "Christianity, Culture and Moral Values" on
Tuesday in Moscow.
The cardinal is certain that "we are capable of aligning our efforts
and to jointly propose responses to present day challenges to Europe,"
while all Christians have common concerns about the future of European
society, which is living through a surge in material values, religious
dissent and cultural decadence.
These negative events have been developing once again, including thanks
to mass media, "which selfishly strives for its own interests at the
expense of humanistic interests," the cardinal said.
VATICAN HAS NO PLANS TO CONVERT RUSSIA TO CATHOLICISM - CARDINAL POUPARD
Interfax, 18 June 2007
The Vatican does not want to convert Russia to Catholicism, and
relations with the Moscow Patriarchate are improving, President of the
Pontifical Council for Culture Cardinal Paul Poupard told students of
the Orthodox St. Tikhon Humanitarian University on Monday.
Poupard said the Vatican never wanted to make Russia a Catholic
country. The Holy See is praying for a Christian Russia and further
preaching by Orthodox and Catholic disciples, he said.
The cardinal admitted differences between Orthodox and Catholic clerics
as members of one and the same family.
The two churches want to speak about their belief, he said, adding that
at the meeting he was wearing a cross he had received from Patriarch of
Moscow and all Russia Alexy II.
The atmosphere of inter-church relations has changed, Apostolic Nuncio
to Russia Archbishop Antonio Mennini said. He said they could affirm
Christian values together and be friends.
The Russian Orthodox Church feels that it is respected by the Holy See,
the archbishop said. The Vatican regards the Russian Orthodox Church as
the national church and welcomes the opportunity to meet and learn
about the Russian religious tradition, he said.
MOSCOW PATRIARCHATE, VATICAN AND SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVES
DISCUSS PROSPECTS AND PROTECTION OF CHRISTIAN VALUES
Interfax, 18 June 2007
Problems involved in joint efforts to advocate Christian values in
Europe today are to be discussed this week in Moscow by representatives
of the Russian Orthodox Church, Roman Catholic Church and over 50
scholars from Russia, Vatican, Great Britain, Germany, Italy and the
USA.
The discussion will take place at the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS)
within the framework of the international conference on Christianity,
Culture, Moral Values to take place from June 19 to 21.
Among the organizers of the forum are the RAS, the Moscow Patriarchate
Department for External Church Relations (DECR), Pontifical Council for
Culture and Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences.
As Rev. Igor Vyzhanov informed Interfax on Monday, the forum is 'an
essential follow-up of the Orthodox-Catholic conference that took place
last year in Vienna under the theme To Give a Soul to Europe. The
Mission and Responsibility of Churches.
The priest recalled the words of Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and
Kaliningrad that out of all the Christian confessions the Orthodox and
Catholics are closest in their view on moral values.
The participants in the conference will try to answer together the
question: is it possible to bring the Christian values of old Europe
and the liberal values proclaimed by the Enlightenment to a consensus
and on what grounds?
METROPOLITAN KIRILL DENIES RUMORS OF PATRIARCHÕS EARLY MEETING WITH POPE
Interfax, 19 June 2007
Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad has denied rumors of
Russian Patriarch Alexy II's early meeting with Pope Benedict XVI.
"It's difficult to say who circulated these rumors - perhaps someone
who wants to keep them rolling," Metropolitan Kirill, the head of the
Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations, told the
press in Moscow on Tuesday.
Metropolitan Kirill also said that the Russian Orthodox Church remains
in permanent dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church, discussing
important issues with it.
"But Pope Benedict's visit to Moscow is not on the agenda right now,"
he said.
The Russian church "has never said that a meeting between the Patriarch
and the Pope is impossible," he said. "But all of these important
events in inter-church relations must be preceded by serious work and
we are busy doing it," he said.
"Someone has probably gotten ahead of events," Metropolitan Kirill said.
Supporters of religion in schools rally
VORONEZH: RESPONSE TO COLLECTION OF SIGNATURES OPPOSING OPK
Portal-credo.ru,
19 June 2007
In response to the collection of signatures of opponents of the
introduction of "Foundations of Orthodox Culture" (OPK) into schools of
the region, advocates of the new subject have begun collecting letters
in support of the initiative.
After representatives of civic organizations active in Voronezh issued
an appeal against the introduction into the curricula of local schools
of OPK as a "required elective" (as a subject of the regional
competence), which had been announced by the administration of
provincial education, those who consider the presence of the new
subject in public schools to be necessary moved to a similar form of
mobilization of proponents, according to a report from a
Portal-credo.ru corresondent.
According to information posted on the site of the Voronezh diocese of
RPTsMP, on 14 June more than 150 collective and individual letters had
been "registered," which had been sent to the Chief Administration of
Education of Voronezh province, the provincial Institute for Advanced
Training of Education Workers, and the local diocese.
Several of the statements contained in these letters were selected and
posted on the diocese site. Thus, librarian Tatiana Sokolova
wrote: "With a feeling of profound satisfaction and spiritual joy
I learned on 24 May 2007 at a meeting of pedagogues in the Voronezh
Provincial Institute for Advanced Training of Education Workers
(VOIPKiPRO) from Ya.E. Lvovich (the directory of the provincial
education administrationÑPortal-credo.ru) that beginning in September
2007 the elective "Foundations of Orthodox Culture" will be introduced
into all schools of Voronezh diocese."
Along with this, the director of the Center for Spiritual and Moral
Education of VOIPKiPRO, who also is a member of the diocesan department
of education, Tatiana Dorofeeva, recalled the results of a recent
sociological survey, conducted by the Kvalitas Center for the Study of
Public Opinion, according to which 77.6% of surveyed citizens stated
that they do not oppose the study of OPK by children, and she posed the
questions: "It's just not quite clear where these people are now. Why
have we not heard from them? Why are only the opponents of
teaching this subject declaring so strongly their position?" (tr. by
PDS, posted 19 June 2007)
ORTHODOX ORGANIZATIONS BEGIN DEFENSE OF "FOUNDATIONS OF ORTHODOX
CULTURE" WITH LETTER TO PUTIN
Agenstvo natsionalnykh novostei, 15 June 2007
The Headquarters of Public Movements for the Defense of OPK asked
Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop "terrorists of education," the
bureaucrats who are trying to insert into the process the study of a
"History of World Religions" course instead of "Foundations of Orthodox
Culture."
The headquarters was created 9 June by representatives of a number of
patriotic organizations and groups. It unites such organizations and
movements as "Narodnyi sobor," "Preobrazhenie," "Narodnaia zashchita,"
The Association of Orthodox Patriotic News Media, the League of
Conservative Journalists, and so on. The goal of the headquarters is
"intensive defense of the spiritual bases of our civilization from a
campaign to discredit Christianity and traditional values in Russia,
led by anti-Russian forces."
"In the depths of the Ministry of Education and radical public circles
there is a clear dislike of Orthodoxy as a core element of our
patriotic culture. Within this sphere there has arisen a firm intention
not to permit the introduction of Christian principles into the system
of education," the open letter to the Russian president says.
The authors of the document note that the latest attempt in this
direction was an attempt by the Ministry of Education to get through
the State Duma amendments to the law "On Education." "Under the
guise of unification of educational standards these amendments promote
the idea of abolishing the 'regional competence' in education, which
permits Russian regions to introduce independently in their area the
teaching of 'Foundations of Orthodox culture,'" the representatives of
public Orthodox and patriotic movements think.
The authors of the letter are sure that "instead of the study of a
purely cultural, secular subject of 'Foundations of Orthodox culture'
in our schools they are trying to impose the study of an extremely
dubious and half-thought-out course in 'History of world religions.' In
it our cultural-forming confession, Orthodoxy, is portrayed as 'one of
the many' religious denominations that exist in Russia. Meanwhile, the
course of OPK was created long ago and has been well approved in a
multitude of high schools of Russia."
"Orthodox people of our country view all these actions as a coordinated
and planned campaign aimed against the future of Russia. It facilitates
the incitement of interconfessional strife and destabilization of
society. It is especially alarming that in this campaign governmental
bureaucrats of ministerial rank are participating alongside politicians
who are vying for power," the document says.
In connection with this the headquarters of public movements calls for
Vladimir Putin "to intervene and stop the 'terrorists of education,'
who are trampling on our constitutional rights and strategic state
interests of Russia, which include the education of a spiritually
healthy generation. (tr. by PDS, posted 19 June 2007)
Russian original posted on
Portal-credo.ru,
19 June 2007
Ongoing criticism of patriarchate within Orthodox
church (continued)
YET ANOTHER 'CALL FOR REASON' FROM ANADYR
Patriarch Alexis receives a new letter from Anadyr-Chukotka diocese
By Denis Kolchin
Nakanune.ru, 18 June 2007
A new letter has arrived for Patriarch Alexis II from Anadyr-Chukotka
diocese. In their letter the brothers try to persuade His Holiness
"more decisively" to condemn "defects of political and social life. . .
. " [see
article]
Nakanune.ru contacted the Andyr-Chukotka diocese and in a convesation
with the publication Hegumen Feofil clarified somewhat the situation.
"The decision to send the letter to His Holiness the patriarch was made
by a meeting of the diocese. What kind of reaction will there be? I do
not know. Everything depends on how he feels about this. Today
our church has taken a course toward ecumenism, to unity with all
nonchristians. It has lost its purity by uniting with them, pursing a
false love for the sake of unity, which requires renouncing one's faith
and dogmatic truths. This still has not been required of us. But then
they will say, renounce the veneration of saints in order to be united
with the Baptists, for example. It would be sinful for our church to
act that way. And it would be incorrect. At the World Summit of
Religious Leaders our church agreed that all confessions would have a
single Almighty. What kind of single Almighty could we have with
Muslims and Hindus? Orthodox have a triune Almighty. It turns out that
to please other confessions we abolish our own understanding of God. I
am an Orthodox person; I studied dogmatics, and I know that this is the
most genuine heresy.
"The church will be forced to decide questions that are raised, if
people maintain the importance of their resolution. Or it will turn out
that the Synod led by the patriarch will be left without a flock. They
must consider these problems and raise them to a state level. RPTs must
go to meet the people. After all, our people are being ignored and they
do not participate in church affairs. They even appealed to the
president for help. But today it turns out that our church, actually,
is a handmaiden for globalism and antichristian policies.
"Indeed, we have advocated for monarchy. A tsar must be the father of
the nation. He is God's anointed. This is the value of his ministry.
But so far we have swindlers in power and it is impossible even to
speak about any kind of regenerationÑneither political nor economic.
And the people are perishing. We curse Ivan the Terrible because he
martyred so many people, but the maximum in all the time of his regime
were 5,000 persons martyred. But beginning with Yeltsin, up to a
million have died each year. Really isn't that the genocide of the
Russian people? Genocide.
The people are perishing and the church is silent. We will depopulate
our territory and the Chinese will settle it. Everybody is sitting
quietly in the capital because their Russia ends at the boundaries of
Moscow. It's not the hinterland. When you live at the hinterland you
feel the woes of the problems and the danger. But in Moscow everything
is fine. There they don't think about the problems or comprehend the
processes we mentioned. We recall that this is not the first letter
Chukotka priests sent to Moscow. In February 2007 a scandal erupted
associated with an appeal by Bishop of Anadyr and Chutkotka Diomid 'to
the full plenitude of the Russian church' calling for repentance for
apostasy from the faith. The bishop accused RPTs of the sins of 'the
heretical doctrine of ecumenism' and 'spiritual compromise and
subordination of church authority to secular authority.' They managed
to hush up the affair. However, Diomid himself said that the text had
been intended not for the press but for a book by one of his
subordinates."
The Moscow patriarchate refused to comment on the repeat of the winter
"events." Deacon Andrei Kuraev spoke for the patriarchate, saying in an
interview with Nakanune.ru: 'The situation testifies that on the
church 'map' there is a problem to which it is impossible to close
one's eyes. I have in view the impermissibly low level of education in
a theological sense of some bishops. In our timeÑthe era of the
Internet and globalizationÑit is impossible to think that if an
uneducated bishop is shipped off to Chukotka then the problem will
cease to exist for the church. I would think that the main things are
not those problems that the letter specifies, but defects in church
personnel policy at the highest level. . . .' [see
article]
Whatever the case may be, the conflict within RPTs has come out.
Against the background of the unification processes of the churches it
is not the most important thing. Afterward the church higherups
discredited themselves by their studied silence, at least, and by the
absence of news about an answer or its complete 'nonexistence.' Far-off
Chukotka diocese has become a kind of stronghold of justice in the
church's conception. It is possible there still will be another
letter. But if the neighboring "subdivisions" do not support their
Andyr brothers, then the latter, in time, will, at best, acquire a
status of "courageous," at worst, of "outsider." (tr. by PDS, posted 19
June 2007)
Russian original posted on
Portal-credo.ru,
19 June 2007
SECOND LETTER OF BISHOP DIOMID TESTIFIES TO LOW
EDUCATIONAL LEVEL OF
SOME BISHOPSÑCHURCH REPRESENTATIVE
Religiia i SMI, 18
June 2007
A representative of the Russian Orthodox church thinks that the second
letter by Bishop Diomid gives evidence of the low educational level of
a portion of the episcopacy.
Deacon Andrei Kuraev commented on the continuation of the "Chutkotka
scandal": "The situation testifies that on the church 'map' there
is a problem to which it is impossible to close one's eyes. I have in
view the impermissibly low level of education in a theological sense of
some bishops. In our timeÑthe era of the Internet and globalizationÑit
is impossible to think that if an uneducated bishop is shipped off to
Chukota then the problem will cease to exist for the church. I would
think that the main things are not those problems that the letter
specifies, but defects in church personnel policy at the highest level.
"To a great extent, this is a question of dialogue among bishops within
the church. Our church has long ago given authoritative and substantial
answers to all the questions mentioned in the letter. I think that
Moscow bishops would be able to devote a day to their Chukotka
colleague and explain to him some things that seminarians are supposed
to know.
"I can explain the silence of the patriarchate by the fact that a
culture of reaction, explanation, and foresight has still not been
created in our church policy to a sufficient extent. Frankly speaking,
I do not know what kind of reaction one should expect. It will be very
interesting to me.
"However, Patriarch Alexis' position is well known. Back in the 90s he
said relative to priests: 'I do not want to make any martyrs.'
We'll see how things develop.
"But still, it is one thing when such a theological disease infects one
priest. When a bishop falls ill, that becomes a churchwide
problem." (tr. by PDS, posted 18 June 2007)
FATHER GEORGY KOCHETKOV: BISHOP DIOMID EVOKES SYMPATHY BECAUSE HE IS
NOT AFRAID TO SAY WHAT HE THINKS
Interview with rector of St. Filaret's Institute
Portal-credo.ru,
18 June 2007 (extracts)
--Bishop Diomid develops his position more fully with citations from
holy scriptures.
--Besides. In general there are very traditional things for certain
positions. Its rather conservative, of course. This has been discussed
a great deal in the news media. But there are very good things there,
especially pertaining to decisions on a conciliar basis and greater
independence of the church, particularly from state influence. On the
other hand, there are very controversial things; this is such a narrow
view concerning interconfessional cooperation. Something he
underestimates the significance of social, cultural, and historical
processes for the life of the whole church. And so forth. I have
nothing new to say; but are general matters.
Of course, he will stand by his positions, however narrow or however
incorrect, but what evokes sympathy with regard to Bishop Diomid is
that he is not afraid to say with full force what he thinks, and it is
not stylized; he speaks boldly and confidently. Of course, he needs to
be, or could be, more dialogical, perhaps, more attentive to sincerely
offered criticism and not simply official responses, which have been
directed to him. I think that such a dialogue would be beneficial to
everybody.
--Aren't you afraid in your heartÑnow the hierarchy is so far being
silent and up to now there has been practically no official reaction to
his statementÑthat their toleration is not unlimited and they may take
administrative measures with respect to bishop Diomid, we,, let's say,
to deprive him of his diocese and send him to a monastery?
Everything could be. Of course, such things happen. He is going
somewhat against the official position of the church leadership of the
Russian Orthodox church of the Moscow patriarchate. I understand that
this will evoke a clear reaction, because other people hold to a
different position. It is important what that reaction will be like. If
it is dialogical, that is one thing. If it is administrative and,
speaking crudely, illegal, then it is necessary to respond to this in a
different way. (tr. by PDS, posted 18 June 2007)
CHUKOTKA PRIESTS DEMAND A FIRM HAND
by Pavel Korobov
Kommersant, 14 June 2007
The clergy of the Anadyr and Chukotka diocese have turned to Patriarch
Alexis II with an open letter in which they called the head of the
Russian Orthodox church to condemn "more decisively" the "defects in
political and social life." The clergy includes among them gay parades,
permission of abortion, alcoholism, and drug addiction. The Moscow
patriarchate considers the letter a political matter and says that
standing behind the Chukotka diocese are lobbyists who wish to bring
disorder to the Russian Orthodox church.
The clergy of the most distant diocese of RPTs wrote the open letter to
the patriarch at a diocesan meeting (the supreme local church
authority). In the letter, the Chukotka fathers demand of the patriarch
"not to welcome democracy as a political system because it contradicts
church teachings about legal and divinely ordained authority," having
in view that only monarchy can be a state pleasing to God. In addition,
the priests ask Alexis II "to criticize more decisively and concretely
the defects and shortcomings of modern governmental, political, and
social life." Under the category of defects the fathers include "gay
parades by sodomites, permission for abortions and euthanasia,
vaccinations, alcoholism, and drug addiction." The Chukotka diocese
calls for people who are sinning in accordance with any point of this
list to be "excluded from the church." Besides this the clerics called
the patriarch to condemn ecumenism ("attempts to unite all faiths in
one religion," according to the letter) and globalization, in
particular the adoption of the Individual Identification Number, which
contains, in their opinion, "the number of the beast."
This is not the first case when Chutkotka clergy have appealed in such
a manner to the leadership of RPTs. In February 2007 a scandal erupted
associated with an appeal by Bishop of Anadyr and Chutkotka Diomid "to
the full plenitude of the Russian church" calling for repentance for
apostasy from the faith. At that time the bishop accused RPTs of the
sins of "the heretical doctrine of ecumenism" and "spiritual compromise
and subordination of church authority to secular authority." There was
then no move to discipline the bishop because it was thought that it
was not he who stood behind the letter but certain lobbyists who wanted
to interrupt the signing of a canonical act between the Moscow
patriarchate and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, which the
churches signed on 17 May.
The press secretary of the Moscow patriarchate, Fr Vladimir
Vigiliansky, commented on the new letter of the Chukotka priests with
the statement: "This is a political affair which contradicts the
canonical rules of the church." He associated the new letter of the
Chutkotka priests with the upcoming elections. "The letter is a
political game, backed by certain people who wish to bring disorder
into the church community," he said. Fr Vladimir refused to give the
names of these people.
"In essence much in the letter is correctly stated, but one must decide
these question by ecclesiastical, not political, methods such as open
letters," said Leonid Simonovich, the head of the Union of Orthodox
Standardbearers, which is close to RPTs. In his opinion, the Chutkotka
priests "may be supported by a small portion of believers, but this is
not leading to a great schism in RPTs."
The Moscow patriarchate promised Kommersant an "official church
assessment of the letter" in the "near future." (tr. by PDS,
posted 18 June 2007)
Russian original posted on
Portal-credo.ru,
14 June 2007
Russia
Religion News Current News Items
Russian government claims ownership of Orthodox
church in France
CONSTANTINOPLE PATRIARCHATE LIKENS CURRENT RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT TO
BOLSHEVIKS
Portal-credo.ru,
18 June 2007
The secretary of the Council of the exarchate of Russian western
European parishes (Constantinople patriarchate) Mikhail Sologub
compared the contemporary Russian government to Bolshevik Russia,
"Interfax-Religiia" reports.
Referring to the recently published report on the question whether
Russia is the legal successor of USSR he emphasized that "the Soviet
Union was born out of the Bolshevik revolution, the leaders of which
issued the decision regarding the murder of the tsar and his family."
In connection with this Sologub designated as "dishonest" the suit
filed by the Russian embassy in France for the purpose of showing that
the owner of the Russian church in Nice, which to a substantial degree
was built on the patronage of the tsarist family, is the Russian state,
and not the parish of the exarchate that is now using the church.
At the same time the secretary of the Council of the exarchate
acknowledged that from a juridical point of view the question is still
far from settled.
Meanwhile, as reported earlier, a representative of the House of
Romanov, Nikolai Romanovich Romanov, supported the Russian authorities
in their attempt to return the Russian church in Nice to their
ownership.
"It is possible," N. Romanov noted, "that my words will shake somebody
up. But Russia is not the Soviet Union. If the keys to the cathedral
were turned over to me, I would present them to the Russian government."
The church of St. Nicholas in Nice was built in 1903-1912 according to
a design by architect M. Preobrazhensky in the style of the cathedral
of Vasily the Blessed in Moscow and the church of the Savior on the
Blood in St. Petersburg. It is located on Tsarevich street, named in
memory of the son of Alexander II, Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, who
died here.
At the beginning of the twentieth century the Ministry of the Court of
the Russian empire transferred the church to the parish organization on
a 99-year lease. In the 1920s the parish passed under the jurisdiction
of the Constantinople patriarchate. The lease will expire at the
beginning of 2008 and French attorneys for the Russian federation
intend to prove that the owner of the immovable and movable property of
the church in Russias. (tr. by PDS, posted 18 June 2007)
Russia
Religion News Current News Items
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