The Russian Orthodox Church began discussions on the issue of mosaics with Stalin in the main military temple

The Russian Orthodox Church divided opinion on the admissibility of the image Stalin in the main temple of the Armed Forces in the Patriot park near Moscow.

On May 3, 2020 it became known about the publication open letter to Patriarch Kirill, the authors of which ask "to take measures to overcome the grave temptation and prevent the image of Stalin in the Church of the Resurrection of Christ - the main temple of the Armed forces of Russia.

"Despite the fact that this image is not is an icon, the very appearance of the portrait of I.V. Stalin in the temple of God, in positive and glorifying context, will be a heavy temptation for many believers in Russia and other countries, the text says. - Stalin was the leader a political party that professed militant atheism and deployed mass anti-church repressions. During the years of his reign - and from his undoubted permission - many innocent people were betrayed to torment and death people, including bishops, priests and laity of the Russian Orthodox Church, and most of the temples and monasteries were either destroyed or closed. Many of victims of Stalinist persecution were canonized and revered as new martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church. Consequently, the appearance of a portrait of Stalin in Orthodox church would be a manifestation of gross disregard for the Orthodox Christians who testified their fidelity to Christ and endured for Him severe pain and death. “You can be sure that the image of Stalin in the main temple of the Russian Armed Forces will allow the opponents of the Russian the Orthodox Church to accuse her of apostasy from the Christian faith and inevitably undermine its position in dialogue with other local churches" .

Among the signatories of the letter is the writer Elena Chudinov, publicist Yegor Kholmogorov, poet Yuri Kublanovskiy and other church and public figures holding conservative views.

Formerly the head of the expert council of the Russian Orthodox Church on church Art, Architecture and Restoration Archpriest Leonid Kalinin spoke against the dismantling of the mosaic image of Stalin.

“Victory is not interesting to anyone, one thing is interesting - will Stalin or not. Will. Will! And they will say to remove - let them remove, but I'm such I will not issue commands. I do not have the rights and authority to tear pages out of a book history ,” he said.

May 4 Chairman Synodal Department of the Moscow Patriarchate for Charity Bishop Orekhovo-Zuevsky Panteleimon (Shatov) announced the need to take the issue of the design of the main military church for a wide discussion, since the image of Stalin in an Orthodox church raises questions for many.

This man has done a lot evil. Executions, deportations, terrible exhausting work, for which innocent people are doomed. He was the organizer of the repressions against the Church” , the bishop said.

On May 16, 2020, it became known that the head of the ROC’s expert council on church art, architecture and restorations of Leonid Kalinin told reporters that the mosaic with Stalin would not be placed in temple of the Patriot Park, and in the museum on the territory of the same park. “ We nevertheless decided that in the museum more appropriate than in a temple , he said. - Why give rise to some kind of confrontation and strife among the people? We should be together, we are citizens of one country and one Orthodox faith, peace and love is the most important thing for us. And in a situation where really passions flared up and frank rejection arose, - well, it means that this is not necessary .

Recall that the mosaic in the temple ready for consecration contains images of current and deceased political figures . Stalin depicted there on the panel dedicated to the Victory Parade of 1945: a Red Army soldier carries leader's portrait. The image of Putin was dismantled .

Sources

• Clericals and monarchists ask the patriarch to remove Stalin from the temple // NG-Religions. May 3, 2020
• The head of the Russian Orthodox Church Expert Council on Church Art does not agree with the removal of the mosaic with Stalin from the decoration of the main military temple of Russia // Interfax-religion. May 2, 2020
• The Bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church called for the issue of designing the Church of the Armed Forces to be discussed // RIA News. May 4, 2020
• The Russian Orthodox Church spoke about the fate of the mosaic with Stalin from the Temple of the Armed Forces // RIA News. May 16, 2020