The speaker of the Austrian parliament promises to help in the restoration of the Orthodox Cathedral in Vienna

The chairman of the Austria Parliament Andreas Kol promised to help in the restoration of the Russian St. Nicholas Cathedral in Vienna.

On the eve of the Austrian speaker, this cathedral visited, where restoration work has been underway since September 2003, the day before, the Interfax agency was told in the Press Service of the Russian Orthodox Church at European International Organizations.

The bishop of the Vienna and Austrian Hilarion told the head of the parliament that this temple, built in 1899, was the most magnificent Cathedral of the Moscow Patriarchate in Western Europe. Today, more than a hundred years after its consecration, the overhaul of the cathedral is carried out, including its complete restoration from the outside and from the inside.

"The golden dome has already sparkled, the domed towers are completely restored, the facade is in full swing," the bishop said. However, the main works, according to him, have yet to be done: they are scheduled for the present and future years.

In parallel, the restoration of the Holy Lazarevsky Church is carried out in the Central Cemetery of Vienna, where Russian soldiers who died during the liberation of the Austrian capital were buried.

The bishop called the fact that the temple was restored in the year of the sixtieth anniversary of the Great Victory and the fifty anniversary of the signing of the state agreement between Austria and the winning countries.

“It is thanks to this historical agreement,” Bishop Ilarion emphasized, “the relationship between the Austrians and Russians reached a new, qualitatively different level. The status of inter -church ties increased. It was no accident that the diocese of the Moscow Patriarchate was established in 1962, and the Holy Nicolaev Cathedral became its main spiritual center.”

According to the bishop, over the past fifteen years, the number of immigrants from the former Soviet Union in Austria has increased so much that it took the creation of Russian Orthodox communities in Graz, Linz, Clagenfurt and a number of other cities. The development of the Vienna and Austrian diocese of the Moscow Patriarchate occurs with the constant support of the state authorities of Austria, the Orthodox hierarch noted.

According to him, the diocese is developing in fraternal cooperation with other Orthodox jurisdictions, as well as representatives of other Christian faiths, primarily the Roman Catholic Church . "Catholic bishops in other cities of Austria provide diverse assistance to the parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate," said Bishop Ilarion.

In memory of the visit, he presented A. Kolya with the image of the Blessed Trinity.