Protests against church construction same as killing of Russia’s royal family – top priest
Heated protests against plans to build a church instead of a park in Yekaterinburg have divided society. Now, a top cleric says it was as bad as the killing of the Russian royal family, which happened in the city in 1918.
There were clashes with police and almost 100 arrests during the protests, which began outside the construction site of the Church of St. Catherine on May 13 and went on for a week. The church was demolished in 1930 and replaced by a park, which the protesters now want to keep.
“Today the [Orthodox] Church is facing a challenge. This challenge came from Yekaterinburg,” Metropolitan of Ekaterinburg and Verkhoturye Kirill commented on the tense events in the largest city in Russia’s Urals.
It’s just like 100 years ago when the shots were fired and the blood of the Royal martyrs was spilled.
The Metropolitan expressed belief that the killing of the last Russian Emperor, Nicholas II, and his family by the Bolsheviks in Yekaterinburg in July 1918 marked the beginning of the genocide of the Russian people.
However, he pointed out that those who protest the construction of church and “deride the Orthodox values” were still “our brothers, our children, who got loss due to their lack of faith.”
“God grant that with time – by experiencing some personal growth – they’ll understand that the existence of our Fatherland is impossible without Orthodoxy because it is the very ‘blood’ of Russian people.”
Any living creature will die if the blood in its veins gets cold and the same goes for a country left without a “source of spiritual power… and moral basis,” Kirill explained.
The construction of the church of St. Catherine in central Yekaterinburg was eventually put on hold, while Vladimir Putin suggested that a poll should be carried out to find out what the population really thinks about the project.
“There’s a simple solution – hold an opinion poll and the minority should follow the majority. That’s how democracy works. Yet, of course, the minority opinion must be noted as well,” the president said.
Also on rt.com Firecrackers, scuffles & arrests: Church construction protesters face off with riot police (VIDEOS)Yekaterinburg authorities are currently deciding on how to carry out the survey so that it would be the most inclusive and representative. They’re also accepting ideas for an alternative location where the church could be built and have already received more than 8,000 suggestions.
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