Restoration of churches in Russia and abroad

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

It is known that the 20th century brought down on the Russian Orthodox Church innumerable troubles caused by the coming to power of the Bolshevik Party. Making it their goal to turn people away from religion and make them forget the name of God, the atheists-Leninists undertook repressive actions, unprecedented in their scale, against priests and parishioners. Over the decades of their stay in power, they closed and destroyed tens of thousands of monasteries and churches, the restoration of which became the primary task of the citizens of a revived Russia.

Patriarchal Appeal to the Believers

Having visited Paris in 2016, Patriarch Kirill served a liturgy within the walls of the Holy Trinity Cathedral and, upon its completion, addressed the audience with a sermon. In it, he succinctly, but at the same time, extremely convincingly spoke about the importance of the common work being done in Russia - the restoration of churches.

His Holiness stressed that over the past period of history, our compatriots have experienced such trials that no one else had to endure, and it was possible to maintain national unity only thanks to the Orthodox faith. Exactlytherefore, without the restoration of temples, it is impossible for the people to return to their spiritual roots.

Dispassionate statistics

Statistical data eloquently testify to the pace at which the work related to the revival of previously trampled shrines was carried out. According to available information, at the end of December 1991, when the official collapse of the Soviet Union took place, there were less than 7,000 functioning churches in Russia, and by February 2013 there were already 39,676. The number of foreign parishes belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate also increased significantly.

Legal and financial aspects of the problem

It should be noted that the restoration of temples is a complex and lengthy process that requires not only significant capital investments, but also the active participation of a large number of believers. The fact is that construction and restoration work cannot begin before a parish of at least 20 people is created and officially registered.

In addition, starting to restore the temple, the premises of which were previously used for economic purposes, it is necessary to resolve a number of legal issues, such as removing it from the balance of the previous owners and transferring it to the ownership of the Russian Orthodox Church, determining the status of the land on which it located, etc.

And of course, the main problem was the financing of the planned work, but as a rule, it found its solution. The whole history of the national templearchitecture is associated with the names of voluntary donors who considered it their duty to provide material support to a charitable cause. The Russian land has not been depleted of them even today. Millions of rubles were transferred to the accounts of the newly formed parishes by private entrepreneurs and ordinary citizens, who sometimes gave away their last savings.

Revival of the main temple of the country

A striking example of such "public funding" was the restoration of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, destroyed in 1931 and completely rebuilt by 2000. Funds for its construction were collected thanks to the activities of activists founded for this purpose "Fund for Financial Support". Among them were prominent Russian entrepreneurs, as well as figures of science, culture and art.

The state also provided significant assistance to the builders. Despite the fact that it was initially decided to do without budget investments, the head of the government, B. N. Yeltsin, issued a decree on tax incentives for all organizations that took part in the restoration work. The necessary funds began to come from both domestic and foreign companies, as a result of which the restoration of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was completed on schedule.

Exploded shrines of Egypt

The problem of restoring destroyed shrines is very acute all over the world and faces followers of different religions. In recent years, a lot of work in this direction has been done in Egypt, where a significant number of temples were blown up by the hands of extremists,belonging to the Coptic Christian Church. Their restoration was largely facilitated by fellow believers from other countries, who sent financial donations and necessary building materials to communities affected by terrorists. The government of the country also provided all possible assistance. A photo of one of these temples is shown below.

Destruction of the First Jerusalem Temple

However, there are examples in the modern world of how the revival of a destroyed shrine stretches for many centuries, and the restoration of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem can serve as confirmation of this. To understand the reason for such a unique "long-term construction", you should take a short excursion into the history of this amazing building.

The Temple of Solomon, the restoration of which is the centuries-old dream of the Jewish people, will be the third religious center built on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, where two of its predecessors, destroyed by the conquerors, used to be. The first of them was built in 950 BC. e. and became a symbol of national unity achieved by the Jews during the reign of King Solomon. Having become the main center of the religious life of the country, it existed for a little more than three and a half centuries, after which in 597 BC. e. was destroyed by the soldiers of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II, who captured most of the inhabitants of the country. The spiritual leaders of Jewish society presented this tragedy as a manifestation of God's wrath caused by numerous transgressions.

Repeated tragedy

The Babylonian captivity ended in 539 BC. e. due to the fact that the Persian king Cyrus, having defeated the army of Nebuchadnezzar II, granted freedom to all his slaves. Returning home, the Jews first of all set about rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem, since they could not imagine their future life without God's protection. So, in 516 BC. e. in the midst of the city still lying in ruins, the Second Temple of Solomon was erected, which also became a spiritual center and served to strengthen the unity of the nation.

Unlike his predecessor, he stood for 586 years, but his fate was very tragic. In the year 70, according to the prophecy that sounded from the mouth of Jesus Christ, the Temple was destroyed, and with it turned into ruins and great Jerusalem. More than 4,000 of its inhabitants were crucified on crosses erected along the city walls.

This time, the Roman legions, sent to pacify the rebellious citizens, became an instrument in the hands of God's wrath. And this tragedy, which became one of the episodes of the First Jewish War, was described by the rabbis as another punishment for violating the Commandments received by Moses on Mount Sinai.

Since then, for almost two millennia, the Jews have not ceased to mourn the destroyed Temple. The western part of its foundation, which has survived to this day, became the main shrine of the Jews of the whole world and received a very symbolic name - the Wailing Wall.

Construction spanning centuries

But what about the Third Temple, the construction of whichdragged on for an unprecedentedly long time? The Jews believe that someday it will be built, as the prophet Ezekiel testified to them. But the trouble is that there is no unity between them in their views on exactly how this greatest event will happen.

Followers of the medieval spiritual leader Rashai (1040-1105), who became famous for his comments on the Talmud and Torah, believe that at some point this will happen supernaturally without the participation of people. The majestic building weaves itself out of thin air.

Their opponents, who tend to trust the Jewish philosopher Rambam (1135-1204), believe that they will have to build the Temple themselves, but this can be done only after the Messiah promised by the prophets appears in the world (Jesus Christ, they are not such recognize), otherwise it will suffer the same fate as the first two. There are also many other points of view, the supporters of which are trying to combine both theories outlined above. The disputes between them have been going on for many centuries, which is why the restoration of the temple in Jerusalem is constantly postponed indefinitely.