Russian Orthodox Church to Promote Environmental Conservation

The Moscow Patriarchate, the All-Russian Society of Nature Protection, and the World Russian People's Council have signed an agreement to work together to promote the conservation and protection of the environment. Commenting on the agreement, Fr. Vsevolod Chaplin, a spokesman for the Moscow Patriarchate, noted that over the last twenty years conservation efforts hadn't been a priority for the Russian Orthodox Church due to the assortment of political and economic challenges facing its members, but that the Church needed to encourage its clergy and laity to become more actively involved in protecting the environment.

The signatories have yet to agree to concrete steps on environmental issues that they can take together, but plan to discuss (among other possible plans of action) programs to encourage churches and monasteries to take an interest in the physical state of the areas around them to encourage a greater overall awareness of the state of environment being a community responsibility. More in Russian here.

Moscow Patriarchate Spokesman Calls for Patience in Considering Lenin's Burial

Fr. Vsevolod Chaplin, a spokesman of the Moscow Patriarchate, has called on the Russian government not to make any unconsidered decisions regarding the disposal of Vladimir Lenin's body, which despite efforts at preserving it incorrupt continues to rot in its Soviet-era mausoleum on Moscow's Red Square. Although the Russian Orthodox Church supports the removal of Lenin's body from Red Square, Fr. Vsevolod urged the government not to hastily make any decisions that would offend large segments of Russian society. More here.

Immodesty Leads to Rape - Accept It or Cover Up?

In a recent discussion of church dress codes and modesty in Russian life the head of the Moscow Patriarchate's department for relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and Russian society, Fr. Vsevolod Chaplin, stated that a woman who dressed immodestly and was later raped could not be surprised at the result. Fr. Vsevolod also spoke against men's immodesty in dress, but failed to note that Russian society does not give women leeway to rape improperly dressed men, only (apparently) women. Neither Fr. Vsevolod nor the Patriarchate have apologized for his remarks despite protests from members of the Church in Russia. More here.