St.Petersburg residents rally against and for handover of landmark museum to church

Record ID: 216769

  • Title: St.Petersburg residents rally against and for handover of landmark museum to church
  • Date: 12th February 2017
  • Summary: ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA (FEBRUARY 12, 2017) (REUTERS) PEOPLE PROTESTING AGAINST DECISION TO HANDOVER ST. ISAAC'S CATHEDRAL TO RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH GATHERED AROUND CATHEDRAL LINE OF PROTESTERS HOLDING HANDS HAND IN HAND (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) ACTIVIST PROTESTING AGAINST DECISION TO HANDOVER ST. ISAAC'S CATHEDRAL TO RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH, IVAN KORNEYEV, SAYING: "Behind us
  • Embargoed: 26th February 2017 19:10
  • Keywords: Russia St Isaac's Cathedral Russian Orthodox church rally protest
  • Location: ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA
  • City: ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Religion/Belief,Society/Social Issues
  • Reuters ID: LVA001637SRBB
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Residents of Russia's St. Petersburg staged two separate rallies on Saturday (February 12) at the landmark St. Isaacs' Cathedral, one to protest against the decision of the local authorities' to handover the museum to the Orthodox church and the other - to support it.
    The 19th century cathedral, a famous tourist attraction, is a world-renowned museum visited by over 3 million people each year.
    After the morning service held in the cathedral, around 1, 5 thousand people - according to the numbers provided to the media by the police - staged a religious procession around the site, holding icons and gonfalons.
    Deputy of St. Petersburg legislative assembly, Vitaly Milonov, who was among the front-runners of the march said a religious institution should belong to the church.
    "Every church dedicated to God should be a church dedicated to God, not a place to earn a lot of money by some managers. Because then they operate (the church) to feed themselves, they do not operate to provide some money to the state. No. They just earn money," he said.
    The cathedral, which is periodically used for church services, currently uses its earnings to pay around $1 million towards its own upkeep, the museum director Nikolay Burov told Reuters.
    The museum spends over $3 million annually on restoration and maintenance. Urgent restoration works are needed, according to Burov.
    Takeover by the church would lead to a significant drop in revenue, he said.
    Later hundreds of city residents dissatisfied with the move by the authorities also gathered at the steps of the cathedral to show their discontent.
    Protesters lined at the fence of the site holding hands and forming a live chain.
    "Behind us is a huge famous museum, where religious services, perhaps, were held, but it is a municipal museum that must belong to the people, but not to the concrete commercial institution called Russian Orthodox church. For this reason people who do not want the cathedral to be handed over to the church gathered today and decided to encircle it," said Ivan Korneyev, one of the activists.
    The two rallies proceeded peacefully without detentions.
    The Russian Orthodox Church asked St. Petersburg's governor to hand over St. Isaac's Cathedral last year. The request was initially denied. The city authorities feared maintenance costs would fall solely on the municipal budget if the museum is handed over to the church.
    But in the beginning of January local government backtracked on their initial decision without giving explanations.
    In the times of atheist Soviet Union many churches and cathedrals have been destroyed or turned into warehouses or industrial sites. Since the USSR's collapse many sites have been returned to the church.
    St. Isaac's Cathedral is St. Petersburg's third most-visited cultural site and is listed as a UNESCO cultural asset.
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