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20 May 2010, 13:56The Church to receive title to Soviet buildings constructed in monasteries and cinema theaters turned into churches
Moscow, May 20, Interfax - The government committee of the Russian Federation has signed into law a new bill on transfer of property intended for religious use to religious organizations. The law will allow parishes that function in former cinemas and shops to obtain title for such buildings.
"Organizations may receive title to such real property, though it has no religious purpose. Where a cinema was transformed into a church, the title to it may be passed free of charge, if such transformation came about before passing of this law," Moscow Patriarchate legal expert Xenia Chernega said Thursday in an interview to Moscow journalists.
She said, the bill provided for the transfer without compensation of real estate, such as buildings constructed during the Soviet time on the territory of monasteries, because such "Soviet" property formed a "whole complex" with other monastery's assets.
Head of the Russian Church Information Department Vladimir Legoyda, in his turn, stressed that the bill provides for the transfer of property intended for religious use to religious organizations for disposal or holding free of charge. According to him, however, this option has no binding or mandatory nature, and will be left at the discretion of communities.
Mentioning the necessity to pass such law, head of the Synodal Department for Church and Society Relations Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin said, "if we all followed the logic of "let us wait another five or more years" we would still live in the USSR and enjoyed socialist property."
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