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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)

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Catholic-Orthodox relations warming?

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.

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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

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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

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Ongoing criticism of patriarchate within Orthodox church

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

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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)

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If material is quoted, please give credit to the publication from which it came.
It is not necessary to credit this Web page. If material is transmitted electronically, please include reference to the URL, http://www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/.