PUTIN
REFUSES TO
ATTEND CONSECRATION OF "CHIEF CHURCH" OF RUSSIAN ARMED FORCES
Russian
President
Vladimir Putin will not arrive on 14 June for the consecration
of the cathedral
in the Patriot Park near Moscow, which has the controversial
status, from a
legal point of view, as the "chief church" of the Russian Armed
Forces.
Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, told TASS about this on
11 June.
"He is
also not
planning on 14 June," Peskov responded to a question of whether
Putin was
planning to attend this event, which was suddenly and without
explanation moved
from 22 June to 14 June.
It is
worth noting
that, for the sake of participating in the consecration,
Patriarch Kirill has,
"on the recommendation of doctors," abstained from all public
services over the course of two weeks preceding this event. In
particular, a
correspondent of the portal Credo.Press notes, even on the feast
of the Holy
Trinity he served in effect in a house church without the
participation of any
other clergy. Observers do not rule out that this was done in
the context of a
two-week quarantine, which is a necessary condition for meeting
with Vladimir
Putin, with whom the patriarch was planning to meet for the
consecration.
The cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in the Patriot recreational park was supposed to be opened on 6 May, with the participation of the Russian president, but this was prevented by the coronavirus pandemic. Later the Ministry of Defense scheduled the consecration for 22 June, the Day of Memorial and Sorrow, but on 10 June, as a source in the Moscow patriarchate reported, the "great consecration of the chief church of the Armed Forces was rescheduled" once again. (tr. by PDS, posted 12 June 2020)
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