An Orthodox orphanage is being liquidated in Murmansk

The Education Committee of Murmansk decided to liquidate from September 1, 2009 the orphanage No. 4, which is under the care of the Orthodox parish of the Entry into the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos. Since January 2009, the process of transferring orphanages from the city balance to the regional one has been going on in the region. The pupils of Orphanage No. 4 will be transferred to other orphanages, and the building will become municipal property.

This decision caused indignation among parishioners. According to the site "Orthodoxy in the Northern Land" , the children are being relocated because of commercial gain, tk. "commercial structures are showing interest in the premises of the children's institution."

The parishioners sent a request to the mayor of Murmansk not to liquidate the Orthodox orphanage. "Under these conditions, we consider it our duty to assume these parental rights in order to protect the rights of children to their own home and family, which the orphanage has become for them, by all legal means," the document says.

Sources

• Murmansk officials seize building from Orthodox orphanage // Orthodoxy in the Northern Land. 2009. June 17.