Religion

News

Pussy Riot performance at Christ the Savior Cathedral cannot be ignored - Patriarch

Moscow, April 9, Interfax - A blasphemy of a scale such as the performance staged by the Pussy Riot band cannot be left unnoticed, said Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

The liturgy held at the Christ the Savior Cathedral on Sunday was followed by a ceremony of bringing the ark and part of Christ's chasuble and a nail from the Jesus' Cross out to the middle of the church for worshipping.

"We know that not long ago it was in front of these relics of the world Christianity that an act of blasphemy and spiritual villainy was committed. The relics were not hurt by it but people were. It is not our duty to judge those who were hurt, but a blasphemy of such a scale cannot pass unnoticed and indifferent for those who committed it," the Patriarch said.

The public indignation over this stunt was enormous, he said.

"I know how the soul of our people has been suffering, with thousands and thousands of letters sent to the patriarch. And to assert the greatness of these relics, the relics that touched the Life-giving Body of the Savior Himself, the relics that were physically present during the offering of a bloody sacrifices for the sins of all - we are solemnly taking these relics out from the alter to middle of the Cathedral," the Primate said.

Both relics will stay here for a week, until the end of the first day of the Orthodox Easter, said Patriarch Kirill, urging people pray for the Church, for the preservation of the Orthodox Christianity, for the homeland, and for "the abandonment of a wave of blasphemies that dealt a painful blow to the pious hearts," he said.

"I believe that with the force of Christ and His sufferings God will save our homeland. All we have to do is kneel before these great relics and pray fervently, professing our faith and our belief in the force of God's disposition," the patriarch said.

It was reported that on February 21 several members of the Pussy Riot punk band, wearing masks covering their faces, staged an anti-Putin performance at the Christ the Savior Cathedral. After that, the authorities arrested Mariya Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova on March 4, and Yekaterina Samutsevich on March 15, claiming it was them hiding behind the masks. The Pussy Riot stunt prompted an enormous public outcry. On April 3 Amnesty International named the arrested Pussy Riot members the prisoners of conscience and called for their immediate and unconditional release.

Print this page

Home

News

.	Customize latest news

• Discussions of interfaith problems must be intensified in UN, intl organizations - Lavrov 21 May 2013, 17:04
• Russian patriarch concerned about violence against Christians in Africa 21 May 2013, 17:01
• Tajik president calls on Islamic Development Bank to invest in regional infrastructure 21 May 2013, 15:53
• Patriarch Kirill tells CoE's secretary general same-sex marriage sinful 21 May 2013, 13:38
• Most Russians support non-intervention of church in state affairs - poll 21 May 2013, 10:12
• Suspected militants killed near Moscow may have belonged to Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan - source 21 May 2013, 10:00
• Hizb ut-Tahrir activist from Kyrgyzstan detained in Alma-Ata 20 May 2013, 11:43
• Anti-homophobia demo held in Kiev 20 May 2013, 10:05
• Georgian patriarch calls on supporters, opponents of gay movement to pray for each other 20 May 2013, 10:04
• 28 injured in Tbilisi in attack on rally in defense of gays 20 May 2013, 10:03
• Head of Consumer Right Protection Society fined 100,000 rubles for slandering Cathedral of Christ the Savior Fund 17 May 2013, 16:58
• LGBT rally in St. Petersburg draws 60 supporters, 200 opponents 17 May 2013, 16:55
• Georgian ombudsman fails to protect gay parade in Tbilisi 17 May 2013, 16:16
• Seventeen people injured amid gay parade in Tbilisi 17 May 2013, 16:08
• Orthodox Church, NGO of Moldova ask Chisinau mayor to cancel gay parade 17 May 2013, 15:06
• Police, special task forces save gay parade participants from outraged citizens in Tbilisi 17 May 2013, 14:23
• Three-fourths of Russians insist govt. should ban public display of homosexuality 17 May 2013, 13:14
• Suspected leader of Hizb ut-Tahrir Sakhalin unit detained 17 May 2013, 11:54
• Hezbollah's interests are in Lebanon, it just protects Shiite shrines in Syria - Lavrov 17 May 2013, 10:11
• Leader of Hizb ut-Tahrir unit detained in Bishkek 16 May 2013, 15:48
• Priests should return to Chinese Orthodox churches - Moscow Patriarchate 16 May 2013, 14:08
• Sexual minority event removed from Moscow park's plan 16 May 2013, 10:06
• Patriarch Kirill says optimistic about future of Orthodoxy in China 16 May 2013, 10:00
• Moscow Mayor's Office says no gay pride parade 15 May 2013, 18:34
• Patriarch Kirill holds first in 50 years divine liturgy in Shanghai 15 May 2013, 11:58
• Russian analysts: immigrants, guest workers fertile ground for radical Islamism 15 May 2013, 10:16
• Still no hajj warning from Saudi Arabia over SARS-like virus 14 May 2013, 15:07
• Monument to Sts Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra unveiled in St. Petersburg 14 May 2013, 15:05
• Ivanishvili says will protect gays, refuses to discuss possibility of same-sex "marriages" 14 May 2013, 14:07
• Mayor's Office says no gay parade in Moscow 14 May 2013, 11:53

Other news