A Church few steps from Home

Moscow Time
4/8/2011

Moscow has started building Orthodox churches of a new, easy-to-build, model. In total, 200 such churches are planed in Moscow.

The first one will appear near the ill-famous Dubrovka Theater Center, which suffered a terrorist attack in October 2002. 130 people were killed then. Besides the church, which will have 9 cupolas, it is also planned to build a Sunday school and a cultural center there.

The church will be named after Saints Cyril and Methodius, two brothers from Byzantium, who, in the 9th century A.D., preached Christianity in Slavic countries and created a special alphabet for the Slavic language.

“It is symbolic that this church will be named after the saint brothers,” says Archbishop Savva, the curator of the project of this network of easy-to-build churches.

“The church, the school and the cultural center will carry on the spiritual enlightenment which Cyril and Methodius started. On the other hand, the church will be a monument to the victims of the terrorist attack. At the site of a tragedy, now, people’s prayers will ascend to God.”

“Before the Bolshevik revolution, there were very many churches in Moscow,” the Archbishop continues. “After the revolution, many of them were destroyed, and living houses were built on their places. Let this new church stand for centuries and help the spiritual revival of Russians!”

The first stone of this church was laid down by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill.

The project of this network of easy-to-build churches was suggested by the Russian Orthodox Church one year ago. It will give an opportunity to many Muscovites to have a church in just several steps from their houses. At present, there are quite many churches in Moscow’s historic center, but rather few in the city’s new regions. Statistics says that now, there is one church per 40 thousand people in Moscow. However, recent polls have shown that two thirds of Muscovites consider themselves Orthodox Christians.

All churches will be built by the same technology, but the project’s authors assure that each of them will have its special look, both from the outside and the inside.

This is a non-government project, and the churches will be built on donations from private sponsors.

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