On April 22, thousands of priests will come to Moscow on April 22

Thousands of clergymen of various dioceses of Russia will come to Moscow for the prayer and prayer standing of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior "for the enlightenment of the defilers of the shrines and the good name of the Church". According to ITAR-TASS, this was announced by the chairman of the information department of the Moscow Patriarchate Vladimir LEGUDA.

Prayer standing is scheduled for April 22 and will be held in all the cathedrals of Russia, but the Cathedral of Christ the Savior will become the main place of mass prayer. “There were a lot of applications from dioceses with requests to come together. There will be more than a hundred buses, maybe even more. We are trying to organize this now - we are working with the Moscow government to ensure that these buses can park somewhere,” Legorie said. In his opinion, "these will be thousands of people," so at some point the arrival of buses with clergymen "will need to be stopped."

Earlier, Patriarch Kirill reported that if large groups of believers gather for prayer standing, "sponsors will be attracted to help them get to the places of prayer." “We do not launch any special mechanisms,” said the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church.

"We call all the hierarchs, shepherds and laity on April 22, on the day of the memoirs of the assurances of the Apostle Thomas, to again reveal to the whole world the triumph of the truth of Christ, having committed a prayer and standing in defense of the faith, scolded shrines, the church and its good name. In the city of Moscow, they will be committed before the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and the Cross, who were injured from anchors and the cross. madmen, ”the address of the Supreme Church Council says.

At a meeting of the Council, Patriarch Kirill said that the Russian Orthodox Church should be prepared for public debate with his opponents, but not to be like those who "lie and slander." "We are all witnesses of powerful anti -church rhetoric, unfortunately, coincided with a great post in time. We hear a lot of attacks on the Church, starting with a notorious case in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Then three terrifying desecration of temples - all this was concentrated almost during the week - ten days, then after you know, my modest person was informational Attacks, ”said the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church. “Therefore, we are talking, of course, that we are dealing with a certain information strategy against the church,” he added.

In a passionate week, the circular of the Russian Orthodox Church began to read out in the Orthodox churches, in which “anti -church forces” and supporters of “aggressive liberalism” were declared enemies of faith. The head of the Patriarchal press service, Archpriest Vladimir Vigilyansk, confirmed that during a passionate week this appeal "will be read necessarily." "There is no order to this, but the Higher Church Council is a very authoritative organization, headed by the Patriarch and all the leaders of the synodal departments, bishops, and their statement is an important church document," Vigilyansky explained. "It is important that he reaches every parishioner."

The circular says that the Russian Orthodox Church "demonstrates an active position on many topical issues and is actively involved in resolving urgent social problems," takes care of the future of the people. But anti -church forces do not want and are afraid of the "revival of national identity and mass folk initiative." "Such people are a few, but some of them have influence and are ready to use their financial, information and administrative resources to discredit hierarchs and clergy, to generate split and rejection of people from temples."

“Those who promote the false values ​​of aggressive liberalism join these forces” - permissiveness and fornication, freedom of expression of all desires, uncontrollable consumerism, recognition of same -sex unions. "The attacks became especially noticeable in the election and post -icing period, which indicates their political background, including anti -Russian." Further, the appeal lists the "series of acts of vandalism and the desecration of temples", which began with the so-called "punk-spring" of the Pussy Riot women's group in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on February 21.

On March 24, Patriarch Kirill called the Pussy Riot campaign in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior "mocking over the great shrines" and expressed grief that some people, including those who call themselves Orthodox, are trying to justify or minimize the "blasphemy" of Pussy Riot.

“People appear who justify this blasphemy, minimize it, try to imagine as a kind of funny joke. And sadly, and from bitterness my heart breaks, that among these people there are those who call themselves Orthodox,” said the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. “Those people do not believe due to prayer. They believe due to propaganda and slander, by virtue of the Internet, by virtue weapons ".

He also stated that the people who perceive the Pussy Riot action as "a certain valor, as a kind of expression of political protest, as a kind of appropriate action or as a harmless joke," have no future. At the same time, he believes that this action is a mockery of the devil and testing to believers. "The devil laughed at all of us, introducing so many sorrows in those days when we must move away from the unrest of this world, immerse ourselves in prayer, limit ourselves to fasting, repent in our own sins. But maybe the Lord leads us through these trials on the Holy Days of the Great Lent in order for us to realize our responsibility for our land, for the Saint, for the faith of the Orthodox," said the patriarch.

The International Amnesty recognized Pussy Riot participants with the prisoners of conscience and called for their immediate and unconditional liberation.