Category: Orthodox Church

A Russian museum director has fallen foul of both church and state by organising a controversial exhibition that has been accused of offending Orthodox beliefs. The director of the Sakharov museum, named after the Soviet-era dissident Andrei Sakharov, has been charged with inciting religious hatred for staging the exhibition entitled Look out, Religion!. If found guilty, Yuri Samodurov faces up to five years in jail or a fine of up to 500,000 roubles (£9,369), and could be moved out of his job for five years. “I realised it was a contentious topic, but I thought we could discuss it openly,”

MOSCOW, Nov. 17 — The Russian Orthodox Church announced Monday that it is suspending ties with the U.S. Episcopal Church over its consecration of an openly gay bishop, saying that homosexuality is a sin and that it ”cannot condone the perversion of human nature.” ”Homosexual sexual contact has always been considered a grave sin by the Christian Church,” the Russian Orthodox Church’s Moscow Patriarchate said in a statement posted on its Web site. ”Biblical passages that condemn homosexuality are clear and unequivocal.” The statement said the consecration of Episcopal Church’s first openly gay bishop, the Rev. V. Gene Robinson, had

Vladivostok News (Russia), Oct. 16, 2002 http://vlad.tribnet.com/ By Anna Malpas A 1970s evangelical film, shown free in nine Vladivostok cinemas, has caused controversy, with the