Russia Now Has Over 30,000 Orthodox Churches; 23,000 Churches Restored in Russia Since 1990

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7 responses to “Russia Now Has Over 30,000 Orthodox Churches; 23,000 Churches Restored in Russia Since 1990”

1. Greg

   December 8, 2010

   The phrase “restored” is a bit vague. In Kaliningrad it seems to included the MP take-over of buildings once owned by Catholics and Lutherans.

   Granted that Orthodoxy is the major religion in Russia, but what of the approximately 5% Muslim presence there? I wonder what kind of international incident the Russian government will have on its hands if this “restoration” covers any buildings once owned by Muslims?

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   1. Linda

      January 2, 2011

      Please note that in “Kaliningrad”, which only became a part of the former USSR and not Russia anfter World War 2, the native population of Germans, and minority Poles and Lithuanians left or were forced to leave. It is not as if the Russian Orthodox Church forced the German Lutherans out of their cathedral that was recently opened as an Orthodox Churchs. The German Lutherans (the majoirty religion before WW2) left for germany.

      Reply
2. George Patsourakos

   December 8, 2010

   In answer to Greg’s question of the meaning of the word “restored,” I would say it refers to the plethora of Russian Orthodox Churches that had to be vacated as a result of the godless communist Russian government that was in power from 1917 until 1991. During the communist years, Orthodox and other Christians were afraid to worship in churches, because doing so could result in severe persecution by the government. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, 23,000 of these buildings — in which the communist government would not allow Christians to worship — were renovated and are now being used for Orthodox Christian worship.

   True, a few of these buildings were Catholic or Protestant Churches before 1917 — none were mosques — but the Russian government decided to turn them all over to the Moscow Patriarchate, because Orthodoxy is the prevailing religion in Russia. In fact, 65 percent of Russians consider themselves to be Orthodox Christians.

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   1. Nick Katich

      December 9, 2010

      George is right, in part. I have been to Russia several times. The first was 2000 and the last was 2008. There were numerous churches which not only stood empty but the insides were gutted or in partial states of desecration. Vandals destroyed much of the interiors. In many cases, the windows were broken and not boarded up. Graffiti was all over the exterior. Now they have been restored, which basically means brought to the level of where they were befor. Imagine a gutted boarded up inner city apartment that is now totally renovated, moderninzed with new mechanical systems, etc. and fully occupied. When I first saw the St. John the Baptist Church in Yaroslavl, it was a slum building in a modern town. Now it is magnificently restored in a short 10 years. Here is a recent picture.

      http://wapedia.mobi/en/St._John_the_Baptist_Church,_Yaroslavl

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3. Greg

   December 9, 2010

   RE … none were mosques…

   None… yet (perhaps). It would be interesting to know how this plays out along the Kazakhstan-Russian border.

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4. Maxim

   December 9, 2010

   To me it matters not if some of the structures were once mosques. To turn something heretical into a Holy place is a glorious thing. May the Lord bless and strengthen the Orthodox Church in Russia.

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5. George Michalopulos

   December 10, 2010

   Maxim, amen!

   Reply