List of Russia's memorial dates adds the Day of Baptism of Rus

Moscow, June 1, Interfax - President Dmitry Medvedev signed into law amendments to Article 11 of the Federal Law on Military Glory Days and Memorable Dates of Russia adopted by the State Duma on May 21 and approved by the Council of Federation on May 26, the Kremlin press service reports.

Subject to this amendment, the Russia's list of memorable days added a new date - July 28, the Day of Baptism of Russia.

According to the Church calendar, June 28 (July 15 by Old Calendar) is the day of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince of Kiev, who baptized Rus in the 10th century.

The law aims at legal commemoration of such momentous historical event which has affected social, spiritual and cultural development of the peoples of Russia, as well as enhanced the Russian state system, head of state press service notes.

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=7327



Juvenile justice unacceptable interference in family matters - Moscow Patriarchate

Moscow, June 2, Interfax - The Russian Orthodox Church has resolutely opposed the introduction of the institution of juvenile justice in Russia.

"I am totally convinced that the juvenile justice system is an unacceptable interference by the state in a family's private life, its world vision and way of life," Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, head of the Synodal Department for Church and Society Relations, told a press conference at Interfax.

A child without a family is always unhappy, the priest said. "Even if he was showered with money, sweets and toys, if his family or adoptive parents are taken away from him, this will leave him traumatized for the rest of his life, and the government should not substitute the family or destroy it, but support it in every way, including financially and, of course, morally," the priest said.

Such support is the best remedy against child homelessness and child crime, "that is against all those social ills, which the juvenile justice is seemingly trying to defeat without actually being able to," he said.

Family counseling by religious communities, the public, parents' associations is quite capable of overcoming 80-90% of family conflicts, "which do not always need a surgical intervention by the authorities," the priest said.

While admitting that the problem of violence in certain families does exist, the Russian Church official pointed to more important problems for Russia such as pedophilia, child pornography, sexual violence against children, and violation of orphans' rights.

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=7329



Russian Church to help expand dialog between United Russia and western conservatives

Moscow, May 31, Interfax - The Russian Orthodox Church will help to establish a dialogue between United Russia party and the conservative forces of Europe and the USA, head of the Synodal Department for Church and Society Relations Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin said.

"Conservative ideology which is not blinkered, stagnant, and not keeping any worm-eaten habits without distinction, and focused on eternal things, rather than on outdated ones, such ideology will be always accepted by the Church with appreciation," Father Vsevolod said Monday at a meeting with deputies from United Russia.

Fr. Vsevolod reminded that "before, there was little dialogue with the right-winged Christian Protestant elite due to hackneyed anti-Communism," and "today, we need overcome that."

"We should show them (western conservatives - IF) religious life in this country," Fr. Vsevolod believes.

According to him, the anti-abortion movement is a good opportunity to expand communication. In particular, there is an idea to hold a global Pro-Life congress in Moscow.

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=7322



Kaliningrad Diocese receives 15 Lutheran churches, Roman Catholic church and several other religious property objects

Moscow, June 1, Interfax - The government of Russia has transferred title to 26 objects of religious purpose to the Kaliningrad Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.

According to the order published in the database of statutory regulations of the Russian government, Lutheran churches account for the most part of the transferred property (15). Half of them (7) are ruined and are subject to renovation.

The list of transferred property includes several parish houses, chapels, the Roman Catholic Church, the old church in Quednau and the monastery buildings Rossiten Castle in Rybachy village which also lie in ruins.

Last week, the Kaliningrad Diocese received title for two old churches intended "for primary functional use", as is the property transferred today.

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=7326



Russian Church gets 18 new parishes in Britain and Ireland

St. Petersburg, June 1, Interfax - The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church joined 18 new parishes to the Dioceses of Sourozh of Britain and Ireland at its meeting in St. Petersburg on Monday.

Four of the new parishes are in Scotland - in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Dundee.

Eleven others are in different parts of Britain, including North Humberside, Devon, Hampshire, Essex, Tyne and Wear, West Midlands, East Sussex and Dorset.

There is an Orthodox parish in Belfast and another in the Isle of Man.

Three more Orthodox parishes are in Ireland - in Watford, Galway and Cork.

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=7328



Interconfessional Center to open in Sochi Olympic village

Sochi, June 3, Interfax – According to international requirements and recommendations of the International Olympic Committee, an Interconfessional Center will be established in the Olympic village-2014 in Sochi, executive director of the Olimpstroy state corporation for Sochi Gennady Gubin said.

"As we respect representatives of all world religions, experts of the state corporation met with regional leaders of Christian, Buddhist, Muslim and Jewish confessions in order to consider all their wishes when creating such a center," Gubin told Interfax on Thursday.

The interviewee of the agency noted that representatives of these religions approved of the idea to set up the center and expressed confidence that it would help develop Olympic movement.

The future Interconfessional Center will have a separate entrance and isolated premises for adherents of each religious trend.

Chief Olympstroy architect Oleg Kharchenko has already started working out an original project of the Interconfessional Center.

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=7332



Patriarch Kirill would have been a gardener to participate in perfection of the world

Petrozavodsk, June 4, Interfax – Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia considers profession of a gardener noble and would have gladly devoted his life to it.

"Perhaps, I would have been a gardener. I like to plant flowers and cut lawns. I always take it painfully when it's not nice outside," the Patriarch said on Thursday speaking in the Petrozavodsk musical theatre.

According to the Patriarch, in such work a person "together with God directly participates in perfection of God's creation." The Primate also likes the profession of the forester as it gives a possibility "to control so that woods would not only be cut, but planted, the resources - not only wasted, but refilled, especially in such places as Karelia."

The Patriarch urged everyone, especially young people, choosing a profession, to focus on "reaching Divine objective of existence" in his or her work.

He confessed that he had never seen any happy person who coordinated his or her personal purposes with permissiveness and depravity.

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=7337



Patriarch Kirill to conduct requiem at site of the Polish president crash

Smolensk, June 4, Interfax – Pastoral trip of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia to the Smolensk Region will start with his visit to the Katyn memorial and the Resurrection Church constructed nearby.

"Clerical delegation will lay flowers in Russian and Polish sectors of the memorial," press service of the local administration told Interfax on Friday.

On Saturday, Patriarch Kirill plans to visit towns of Desnogorsk and Roslavl and then return to Smolensk to the Severny airdrome to conduct a requiem service at the site where the plane with federal Polish delegation tragically crashed.

[The Orthodox Church FORBIDS ecclesiasistical prayers for the heterodox departed.-R]

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=dujour&div=213



Polish religious activist to stand trial for pornography distribution in Byelorussia

Minsk, June 3, Interfax - The Byelorussian Prosecutor's General Office has forwarded to court a criminal case against a Polish national who is charged with distributing pornography in Belarus.

"Minsk law enforcement agencies opened in 2009 a criminal case on charges of producing and distributing pornography (Article 343 of the Byelorussian Criminal Code) against the Polish national who is a prominent religious activist of one of the confessions in Byelorussia," the Prosecutor's General Office told Interfax.

"The pre-trial investigation confirmed instances of distributing pornography among Byelorussians by this person," it said.

The name of the Polish national is not disclosed due to the secrecy of the investigation.

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=7334



Gay pride parade looks more like provocation than demonstration to protect human rights

LGBT activists' attempt to hold their pride parade in Moscow met with an adverse reaction of citizens yet another time. President of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia Alexander Boroda also spoke against such public events in an interview to Interfax-Religion.


- Members of LGBT community made another attempt to hold their pride parade in Moscow. Members of the Russian Orthodox Church and other religious organizations came out against this event. What does the Jewish community of Russia think about this initiative?

- The Jewish community of Russia has repeatedly stated clear its attitude to such events: any public event should be held with a clear view of its possible effects. Today, the Russian society does not seem ready to accept such parades; the participants' behavior may result in outbursts of violence in Moscow streets. Therefore, such gay parade looks more like a provocative action than the demonstration to protect human rights. The rights can be efficiently protected in courts. The conclusion is only obvious - the core motivation of organizers which makes them hold such events is their wish to get publicity in media gaining doubtful profile and promotion.

- Do you think that such bans may be an infringement on the right to freely express one's own opinion?

- I'd like to stress that the Jewish community is in no case willing to oppose any democratic rights, including the right to hold demonstrations. But the thing is that organizers and members of the so-called "sexual minorities" insist on public demonstration of their life style. However, normal people prefer to conceal their private and family lives from others.

When you hear that any person has the right to publicly express his/her opinion, I believe, there are exceptions to this rule, and some intimate issues should not be made public.