RPTs COMMENTS ON ATTACK ON PARISHIONERS OF ORTHODOX CHURCH IN GROZNY
An incident with an attempt to seize parishioners in the church of the Archangel Michael in Grozny is an attempt by extremists to set Orthodox against Muslims, the head of the synod's Department for Relations of Church and Society and News Media of the Moscow patriarchate, Vladimir Legoida, declared.
"Another attempt by pseudo-Islamic extremists to set Orthodox against Muslims," Legoida wrote on Saturday in his account on one of the messenger services.
A press release distributed by the synodal department notes that the attackers tried to intimidate Orthodox believers of Chechnya and sow inter-confessional strife, but they got a worthy rebuff.
"We mourn the parishioner of the church of the Archangel Michael who fell victim to the terrorist act, and also for law enforcement agents who showed themselves to be real heroes and perished in performing their duty of protecting worshipers," Legoida declared, as quoted in the report.
The head of the synodal department expressed confidence that "the act of terror will be unanimously condemned by representatives of world religions in Russia and abroad, as well as by all healthy-minded people."
"Orthodox and Muslims of Russia, as before, will be united in struggle with terrorists, supporting one another in the face of the common danger," Legoida added.
The head of the Chechen republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, reported to journalists earlier that four militants penetrated the church of the Archangel Michael in the center of Grozny and their goal was to seize parishioners. He said that as the result of an immediately mounted special operation, all four were wiped out, one policeman died from wounds, and one parishioner had an injury of moderate severity. According to information of the Investigative Committee of the RF, two policemen guarding the church perished, another two were wounded, and one civilian was killed. (tr. by PDS, posted 19 May 2018)
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