|
|
Article: Russian church addresses poverty.
- Article from:
- The Christian Century
- Article date:
- February 5, 1997
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 The Christian Century Foundation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Patriarch Alexsy II and the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church have taken the unusual step of issuing an official statement expressing their "deepest anxiety for the fate of Russia." It is necessary, they maintain, for the church to speak out in "defense of those who find themselves caught between life and death because of poverty and the lack of the necessities of life, and of even basic social welfare."
Adopted by the synod at its meeting on December 28, the statement vigorously criticizes the economic and social policies of Boris Yeltsin's government. The statement represents the first such high-level pronouncement by the church on social and ...