- Title: RUSSIA: Moscow's oldest monastery gets bells back from U.S.
- Date: 12th September 2007
- Summary: (BN10) MOSCOW, RUSSIA (SEPTEMBER 12, 2007) (REUTERS) WIDE OF SAINT DANILOV MONASTERY / PEOPLE OUTSIDE CUPOLA PEOPLE PRAYING OUTSIDE THE MONASTERY RELIGIOUS PROCESSION WITH PATRIARCH ALEXII II WALKING OUT OF THE CATHEDRAL BELL PATRIARCH BLESSING BELL OFFICIALS AND GUESTS AT BLESSING CEREMONY MOSCOW'S MAYOR YURI LUZHKOV AT CEREMONY (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN PATRIARCH ALEXII II SAYING: "The representative of the Harvard university has promised us today that within a year the other 17 bells of the ancient belfry of Danilov monastery will be returned." OFFICIALS AT CEREMONY (SOUNDBITE) (English) PETER RILEY, DIRECTOR OF THE BELL EXCHANGE PROGRAMME OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY, SAYING: "Harvard never fully understood I think, in recent years anyway, the history of the bells and the importance of the bells to the Russian people and the Orthodox church. This exchange has been an opportunity for us to learn more about the significance and importance of the bells. So, I think it's really sort of enriched the exchange." YURI LUZHKOV RINGING THE BELL PEOPLE WATCHING
- Embargoed: 27th September 2007 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: International Relations,Religion
- Reuters ID: LVAB1MU7CV0YSWEIHVNFNZQ8CTAY
- Story Text: The first of 18 church bells sold off as scrap nearly 80 years ago by Soviet authorities was returned to Moscow's oldest monastery by Harvard University on Wednesday( September 12).
The bells were stripped from the Danilovsky monastery as part of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's anti-religion campaign that also led thousands of Russian Orthodox priests to be executed or sent to prison camps.
For decades, the bells have hung in a tower at the prestigious American university and their return is a powerful symbol of Russia's drive under President Vladimir Putin to reconnect with traditions shattered by the Bolshevik revolution.
U.S. Ambassador William Burns, speaking in Russian, said "this first bell has made a very long journey and it took a lot of time before it arrived back home".
Patriarch Alexy II,the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, rang the bell three times, followed by the U.S. ambassador and the mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov.
"The representative of the Harvard university has promised us today that within a year the other 17 bells of the ancient belfry of Danilov monastery will be returned," Patriarch Alexy II told the audience.
The bells were saved from being melted down by U.S. industrialist Charles Crane who bought them in 1930 and donated them to Harvard where they had hung in Lowell House in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
After years of negotiation, the university has taken receipt of replica bells which were cast in Russia. These were consecrated at a ceremony in Moscow in July before being shipped to the United States.
Russian oil tycoon Viktor Vekselberg sponsored the operation to return the bells and cast replacements. His charitable foundation helps bring back to Russia cultural treasures moved abroad under communist rule.
Another high-profile intervention by Vekselberg's foundation was the purchase in the United States of a collection of Russian-made bejewelled Faberge eggs, which were then put on public display in Russia. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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