RPTs ASKS NOT TO PUNISH SEVERELY VANDALS WHO DAMAGED BAS-RELIEF
"It is possible to understand the culprit as a believing person," the Moscow patriarchate affirms
by Roksana Avasitian
Izvestia, 27 August 2015
In the event of the start of judicial proceedings regarding the "case about Mephistopheles," the Russian Orthodox Church (RPTs) may petition the court for mitigating the punishment for the perpetrators of the destruction of the bas-relief of a demon on the house of Alexander Lvovich Lishnefsky in St. Petersburg. The church will ask for consideration of the good motive of the perpetrators of the crime: priests suggest that the cossack who decided upon the illegal act wanted to rid the Northern Capital of evil. Izvestia was told this by the vice-chairman of the synod's Department for Relations of Church and Society of RPTs, Roman Bagdasarov. He noted that any symbols bear a certain energy load and the figure of a demon influences the spiritual atmosphere of the city.
"It is possible to understand the culprit as a believing person. The images of a demon were disgusting for him. Mephistopheles is the personification of evil in this world, and a person who decided to act wanted to kill the evil, judging by everything," Bagdasarov said.
He also added that even actors who assume the masks of dark forces often wind up badly, or mystical and sometimes tragic things happen in their life.
--There is a spiritual, symbolic load, both positive and negative. The coat of arms of the city, the sign of the subculture, conveys information that influences the 'spiritual environment.' Things connected with the veneration of dark forces and the representation of monsters and dragons that do not exist in nature—these are not only a cultural aspect but also a spiritual one."
The priest emphasized that a crime should be punished, although not with full severity.
--"In the USA recently someone tried to erect a monument to Satan in one of the cities; whom would this please? Of course the representation of a demon in St. Petersburg was historical. But who in Russia at the present time would want for such negative images to appear today in the Northern Capital?" the priest asked.
We recall that on 26 August in St. Petersburg, unidentified persons beat with a hammer a sculpture of Mephistopheles from the facade of a historic building in St. Petersburg. It graced the front of a building in modernist style on Lakhtinskoi Street from the time of its construction in 1910. In 2013 the sculptural image was recognized as an object of the cultural heritage, representing a special historical value. The prosecutor's office of St Petersburg opened a criminal case for damage to an object of the cultural heritage. An anonymous organization, "Cossacks of Peterburg," has already taken upon itself the responsibility for the "stolen" demon. (tr. by PDS, posted 31 August 2015)
Russian original posted on Portal-credo.ru site on 31 August 2015
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