Believers of Christian denominations ask the Patriarch to petition for the closure of the Pussy Riot case

March 6, 2012 was An open letter from believers to Patriarch Kirill has been published with a request apply for closure criminal case against the Pussy Riot group.

We , the authors of this letter , - believing people, - it is said in the text. - Majority of us consider such behavior in the temple unacceptable. But even more We consider it unacceptable to react to an event that happened - a criminal harassment and imprisonment, as well as harsh reviews of the participants "Punk Prayer" from members of the Orthodox Church . <…> Your Holiness, we ask you to show a Christian attitude towards the members of Pussy Riot and petition the court to close this criminal case .”

The letter was written by the manager of the children's program of the Vera Hospice Assistance Fund, a parishioner of the Moscow church, Lidia Moniava. In two days, the letter was signed by more than one and a half thousand people, including Orthodox Christians, Catholics, Protestants.

March 7, 2012 Vladimir Legoyda commented letter. In his opinion, this text " testifies about the fact that a part of society develops a false opinion that , supposedly , naughty girls are being held in custody at the insistence of the Church .”

He is convinced that the actions of "Pussy Riot's XXC's are not innocent pranks and have nothing to do with freedom words, neither to human rights, nor to other democratic values .”

March 12, 2012 The letter was submitted to the office of the Moscow Patriarchate. By this time it has been signed by 5 739 people, of which about 2,000 Orthodox (23 clerics, choristers church choirs, icon painters, restorers, regents and other believers).

Sources

• Lida Moniava, parishioner: Letter to the Patriarch about Pussy Riot // Echo of Moscow. 2012. March 7.
• Blog of Lydia Moniava. 2012. March 6.
• Church spokesman: reaction to 'Pussy Riot' stunt is a test of civil society maturity // Official website of the Synodal Information Department of the Russian Orthodox Church. 2012. March 7.
• Blog of Lydia Moniava. 2012. March 12. //