Secret Entertainment Today: ROC wished for Isaac

Thursday, July 23, 2015

ROC wished for Isaac – BBC

In St. Petersburg, scandal erupted around the largest Orthodox church of St. Petersburg – St. Isaac’s Cathedral, which is now a museum. St. Petersburg diocese ROC appealed to the city authorities with a request to transfer her to the building of the cathedral. In the mayor’s office cautiously noted that the issue requires “a comprehensive study.” Meanwhile, in St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly condemned the idea, and the director of the museum said that the ROC “increased appetite».

The existence of the letter head of the St. Petersburg diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Varsonofy, city governor Georgy Poltavchenko reported, citing its sources Maxim Reznik – Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on Education, Culture and Science of the Legislative Assembly. Later confirmed the fact of appeal to the City Hall.

«Letter to the St. Petersburg diocese asking for possible transfer to the jurisdiction of the cathedral church of the government of St. Petersburg produced – wrote in his Twitter spokesman for the governor of the city Andrei KIBIT. – At the time of writing it is under consideration in the department for relations with religious organizations, the administration of the governor. ”

KIBIT noted that while no decision on this issue is not accepted, and the Cathedral remains on the balance sheet of the city.

In the St. Petersburg diocese declined to comment. However, the museum’s director, Nikolai Burov appeared aware of the situation, but said “Gazeta.ru” that his letter nobody introduced, and is now a museum “may quarrel with the Russian Orthodox Church.”

«We have the church have always been brilliant relationship, they were built for decades – said the director of the museum. –

But with the advent of the new leadership (in March 2014 Metropolitan Varsonofy headed the St. Petersburg diocese. – “Times”) obviously increased appetite. I am afraid that now can quarrel.

The Church will not pay those taxes to the state, who are now paying the museum, and the state will have to deal with the employment of 400 museum employees. ”

Friends, is now a little more about St. Isaac’s Cathedral and the claims on him by the St. Petersburg diocese ROC ….

Posted by Boris Vishnevsky on 23rd июля 2015 г.

Now the museum and the church coexist on the same territory: St. Isaac’s Cathedral is open to visitors except when several times a year there are solemn services.

«St. Isaac’s Cathedral – not a warehouse, not a factory, and the object of cultural heritage. It can not belong to one, albeit an influential department – supports the museum director Maxim Reznik. –

If Isaac’s Cathedral will become a cult institution in the first place there will be limitations in terms of visits. It is not a question of culture, but a question of the transfer of ownership and redistribution of financial flows ».

If the museum will be transferred to the ownership of the church, the Russian Orthodox Church will not only maintain and restore the monument, but also control the flow of tourists.

«This is a huge financial and organizational burden, – said Alexander Kononov, a representative of the Russian Organization for the Protection of Monuments. – ROC – less effective manager than a museum.

I have no doubt that the Church will not be able to maintain the state of the means of the monument that is initially a question of public money ».

The question of the transfer of St. Isaac’s Cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church has already arisen in 2011, when the head of the Committee for State Control, Use and Protection of Monuments of History and Culture of St. Petersburg (KGIOP) Alexander Makarov suggested using the temple for its intended purpose. However, his initiative did not receive support.

This year, the possession of the Russian Orthodox Church was transferred to Smolny Cathedral in St. Petersburg. It is still unclear the fate of the building of the Museum of the Arctic and Antarctic, which is claimed by the Russian Orthodox Church.