"There will be no delay or
hindrance" to the project for another 200 Orthodox churches in Moscow,
the mayor of the capital, Sergei Sobianin, assured the Russian Orthodox
Patriarchate, after the many controversies that
followed the go-ahead for the construction of new places of worship .
"Now we have to move on to the practical phase, of designing and
building new churches," said the Mayor, laying the foundations of the
first churches to be built, near the infamous Dubrovka theater.
Here in
2002 a siege by Chechen rebels ended in bloodshed with the involvement
of Russian security forces.
So far the municipality has given the Church 15 plots of land
and will soon deliver another five. Work is already underway in 80 other
sites, added the mayor.
"By year's end - said Sobianin - work will be
initiated for eight or nine churches. For its part, the Patriarch of
Moscow and All Russia Kirill said that "200 churches are not sufficient
to completely solve the problem, but the situation will radically
change, because we will have the opportunity to work among people with
churches within walking distance away from homes. "
For the State of the Church's support is very helpful in the
context of combating social ills such as alcoholism, ethnic violence and
abortion.
For this Sobianin has urged church leaders to make the
churches not only a place of prayer but also a place of encounter and
support for the young and needy.
According to Kirill, Moscow will serve
as an example to other regions and "if we succeed in implementing this
program the entire religious image of Russia will change."
According to
data from the Patriarchate, the proportion between the number of
churches and Orthodox believers in Moscow is one church for every 35
thousand inhabitants and in some districts even every 150 thousand or
200 thousand inhabitants.