Patriarch Kirill, foreground, speaks with Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov while leading Russia's religious leaders just outside Moscow's Red Square, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009, during a procession to mark National Unity Day.
Email to a Friend
RSS Syndication
Posted on Wed Nov 25 2009
Interfax - A ceremony of the transfer of an Orthodox pilgrim center in Bari, Italy, to the Russian Orthodox Church's management took place at the Patriarch's residence in Moscow.
Moscow, November 25, Interfax - A ceremony of the transfer of an Orthodox pilgrim center in Bari, Italy, to the Russian Orthodox Church's management took place at the Patriarch's residence in Moscow.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia said before the ceremony that "property once belonging to the Russian Church is being transferred to its disposal with the Russian state's very important participation."
Vladimir Kozhin, the сhief of the Presidential Property Department, said at the ceremony that the Russian state is "only at the beginning of the way" and is taking first steps to return "shrines that are abroad of our homeland."
"I hope this process will gain momentum and we will make efforts so that such work be done more actively in the Kingdom of Jordan and in Israel," he said.
The transfer agreement was signed by Bishop Mark of Yegoryevsk, the Moscow Patriarchate Secretary for Institutions Abroad, and Yevgeny Polikarpov, the General Director of the federal unitary enterprise Goszagransobstvennost.
Bari is home to the Saint Nicholas Cathedral, which was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church following a decision taken by the Italian authorities when Russia's then President Vladimir Putin was visiting the country in March 2007.
In April 2008, the Italian government finalized all domestic procedures as part of the transfer of the Cathedral to Russia. A document confirming the hand-over was signed in Rome on November 13, 2008.
The religious center, which is located in an area of 8,000 square meters, was established at the initiative of Grand Duchess Yelizaveta Fyodorovna of Russia to accept Russian pilgrims coming to Bari to worship St. Nicholas. It was built under the design of Russian architect Alexey Schusev and with donations from religious people, including Russia's Tsar Nicolas II, in 1913-1917.
Work was not completed because of World War I. Russian emigrants, who were members of the Russian Palestinian Society, passed all church buildings to the municipality of Bari in 1937, because they lacked the funds to maintain the church.
Bari authorities gave some church buildings back to Russia in late 1990s; however, the church remained in control of the municipality.
|
Post a Message:
|
