The first and only Russian Orthodox Church will soon open doors in Strasbourg, France.
The
Church of All Saints, to appear on 1.2 acres of picturesque land
overlooking a local Rhine-bound canal, will be just a few short minutes’
walk from the city’s central Orangerie Park and the headquarters of the
Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
The
design of the would-be temple, by a St. Petersburg-based architect Yuri
Kirs, has already received a nod from Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
Kirill. Yuri says that will temple combine elements of traditional
Russian and West European architecture.
I hope that
even though this is going to be a 100-percent Russian Orthodox church,
it will serve a connecting link between Russian and European culture.
Russians living abroad see a church as part of their native country,
that’s why they are going for the traditional Russian design.
The new
church, to accommodate some 400 worshippers, will become a meeting place
for members of the city’s Russian expat community.
Yuri
Kirs has already designed about a dozen churches, both in Russia and
beyond. One is as far away as in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Patriarch
Kirill consecrated it four years ago, before he became Patriarch, Yuri
continues.
Dedicated to St. Sergius of Radonezh, it features the
traditional, five-dome, Russian pattern.
The Russian
Orthodox parish in Strasbourg has been around since 2004. Even though
the local Russian community numbers just a few thousand, the existing
temple is too small to accommodate all those willing to say their
prayers there.
During big Orthodox holidays they even had to lease local
Roman Catholic and Protestant temples to cunduct joint liturgies.
During
Patriarch Alexy II’s visit to Strasbourg in 2007 the local Russian
priests asked City Hall to allot them a plot of land for a Russian
church.
They argued that, being a city of many religions with a
veritable galaxy of Protestant and Catholic churches, mosques and
synagogues, Strasbourg does not have a single Russian Orthodox temple
there.
Father Superior of the local Russian parish,
Hegumen Filaret, who is also a representative of the Moscow Patriarchate
at the Council of Europe, is confident that a Russian church and a
religious and cultural center that comes with it, will add luster to the
old European city and serve an impressive testament to the rich
cultural traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church in Western Europe.
SIC: VOR/EU