Statement by the Council of Orthodox Public Associations regarding the Pussy Riot action

On March 16, 2012, a statement was published by the Council of Orthodox Public Associations under the Synodal Department for Relations between Church and Society regarding the action of the Pussy Riot group.

The authors of the document consider the action “a crime that must be condemned to the fullest extent of the law.” The performance of the punk group, in their opinion, was insulted not only by the patriarch and parishioners, but also by the temple and the shrines located in it. Therefore, the statement says, it is necessary to “identify not only the direct participants in the action, but also its organizers and possible customers.”

Members of the Council of Orthodox Public Associations do not share the position of the authors of the letter of believers,who previously appealed to Patriarch Kirill with a request for assistance in closing the criminal case against the girls. The authors of the statement consider their position to be “ pseudo-religious.” “If the Primate of the Church forgives them today, won’t this tomorrow lead to a tenfold increase in blasphemous “actions”, to the fact that the Orthodox will be forced out of public space, and the sacred space of churches will be made a platform for mockery and the rudeness of the atheists? - they are afraid.

“Today our church environment, especially the neophyte one, must pass the test of maturity. The ability to follow the Gospel, and not its “humanistic” reductions. To be ready to defend the shrines given to us by God, to defend the right of Christians to live in society according to their faith. To be faithful to the truth of the Orthodox tradition, which opposes compromise with evil and sin, which presupposes the fight against them by all legal and fair means, including public action.

We hope that this exam will not end in the spiritual fall of our brothers and sisters. If they are not with the militant Church, which is also the image of the triumphant Church, then they are not with Christ. In general, the current situation is a test of the viability of our people. If Russia tolerates what happened, it means that it can be taken with bare hands, which means that the people will no longer stand up for the faith and the Fatherland. Let it not be like that!” - the statement says.

Sources

• Statement by the Council of Orthodox Public Associations regarding the blasphemous action in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior // Patriarchia.ru. 2012. March 16.