ROC presents the exhibition "In memory of the fallen for the faith of Christ"

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the exhibition about the life of the Church in the years of atheistic persecution and the fate of the martyrs for the faith of Christ, the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate Metropolitan Hilarion greeted those assembled on behalf of the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church.

In the archpastoral word to those present Bishop Hilarion said: "The Cathedral of Christ the Savior indicates with its walls of a long and tragic history our Church has had. We know that this temple was built on public donations in memory of the heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812. And we know what the Bolshevik authority did to the cathedral – it was blown up, and in this place the Palace of Soviets with the Lenin statue at the top was to be built but nothing came out of this godless construction because unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. (Psalm 126: 1.), later there was a swimming pool there. We know how the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was resurrected, and now we are within its walls. These walls reflect everything that happened to the Motherland in the difficult XX century. Speaking of reconciliation, it is important to understand that this idea is very important for the stability of the society, it is necessary for people to live in peace, but reconciliation does not mean that we should delete from the history some names or "hush up" certain issues of history".

At the end of his speech, Metropolitan Hilarion said, "I wish events like those that took place a hundred years ago would never happen again in history. I wish God's help to all of us."

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