Parishioners of a Moscow church tried to disrupt a concert for the anniversary of the Silver Rain radio station.

Parishioners of a Moscow church, led by the chairman of the Patriarchal Commission for Family Issues, Protection of Motherhood and Childhood, Archpriest Dimitry Smirnov, broke onto the stage during a concert for the anniversary of the Silver Rain radio station and demanded that the volume be turned down.

On July 4, 2015, parishioners of the Annunciation Church in Petrovsky Park in Moscow tried to disrupt a concert dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Silver Rain radio station.

During the concert, a group of believers led by the rector of the church, Archpriest Dimitry Smirnov, staged a small scuffle with security and dropped the frame of the metal detector, broke through to the stage.

O. Dimitry and several other people climbed onto the stage, knocking down presenter Mikhail Kozyrev along the way, and, interrupting the performance of the Pompeya group, demanded to reduce the volume of the music, because she prevents them from praying.

The Orthodox invasion lasted about half an hour. As journalist Alexander Plyushchev said in his blog, “apparently, the believers were shown some kind of permitting papers from the authorities, and they left in the same orderly manner as they came.” After this the concert continued. At first, the organizers turned down the volume a little, but then returned to the previous volume.

The temple is located a kilometer from the stage. According to eyewitnesses, already at a distance of about a hundred meters the music was barely audible.

“I don’t believe for a second that the action was spontaneous, it was too well organized, from the breakthrough at the beginning to the retreat at the end. Well, Dmitry Smirnov, how can I say this more tolerantly, likes to appear in the press. The example of Enteo shows that absolutely nothing will happen for such antics. Unlike the opposite example with Pussy Riot. Therefore, you can promote yourself in such a simple and completely safe way to the “indignant Orthodox public” at any social party,” wrote A. Pluschev.

Sources

• In Moscow, believers interrupted the “Silver Rain” concert, which “interfered with prayer” // Newsru.com. 2015. July 4.
• Clowns in Cassocks // A. Plushev’s Blog. 2015. July 4.