The director of the Institute of Religion and Law asks the leadership of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate of St. Petersburg to sort out the conflict around the ROAC community

On March 31, Director of the Institute of Religion and Law Roman Lunkin sent an appeal to the Central Internal Affairs Directorate for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region in connection with the violation of the rights of the community of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church (ROAC) in St. Petersburg.

On March 12, the rector of the church, Bishop Gregory (Lurie) was interrogated as a witness in a criminal case against unidentified persons. On March 16, a message appeared on the official website of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate about the detention of "false priests." After that, several TV channels aired offensive stories about this community.

"Employees of the Center "E" were not interested in the essence of the matter, and they tried in advance to declare the priests of the ROAC as fraudsters. Therefore, they were not interested in the fact that the chapel at the mortuary does not belong to the ROAC community, and services are performed in the church of St. Elizabeth, which is located nearby. More In addition, clerics of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate regularly perform services in the mortuary, and it was the statement of a citizen who suffered from the actions of these clerics that became the basis for initiating a criminal case. The clergy of the Moscow Patriarchate belong to a different Orthodox jurisdiction, and have nothing to do with the ROAC, " - says R. Lunkin in his appeal .

"With their actions, and then with their statements, the officers of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate disregarded the provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which states that Russia is a secular state and all religions are equal before the law (Articles 14, 28)," the document says.

The author of the appeal asks the leadership of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate "to sort out the conflict unleashed by the employees of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate between law enforcement agencies and believers and bring the perpetrators to justice."

Let us recall that have already come out in defense of the St. Petersburg community of the ROAC. some public figures

Sources

• DOCUMENT: Address of the Director of the Institute of Religion and Law, Ph.D. R.N. Lunkina in the Central Internal Affairs Directorate for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. in connection with the events around the community of the church of St. Elizabeth (ROAC) // Portal-Credo.ru. 2010. April 1st.