The head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill has called the action of the person who committed a terror act in Domodedovo Airport in Moscow this Monday, “corruption of human nature”.
On Tuesday, in St. Tatiana’s church in Moscow’s center, the Patriarch prayed for those who were killed in the terror act.
“Killing innocent people is something which has always been sharply condemned, even if this happens in wartime,” His Holiness said. “However, today, for some people, it has become a form of protest against something. One may say: “Doesn’t this prove that people are really no better than animals?” Or, one may say: “Those people are like animals, but I, I am good,” like the Pharisee in the Gospel parable. But we must remember: we are all to blame for things like that, if we live without God’s laws. Today, living according to God’s commandments is not a matter of personal choice – “If I want to, I believe, and if I don’t want to, I don’t”. Today, it is a matter of surviving for the whole humankind.”
The heads of all traditional confessions of Russia have also condemned the act of terror. The Russian Council of Muftis stress that it is wrong to associate Islam and Muslims with terrorism. The muftis also call on the state to strictly punish the organizers of the terror act.
Several hours after the tragedy, representatives of diverse denominations came to the Domodedovo Airport to help the victims and their relatives. The Moscow Patriarchy sent priests who had undergone special training in the Ministry of Emergencies and know how to work in similar situations.
Press secretary of the Russian Orthodox Church’s Synod Vasily Rulinskiy says:
“On the night of the tragedy, priests and sisters of charity visited the victims in 11 hospitals of Moscow and the Moscow region. They’ll keep visiting them for some days, to give them spiritual support, probably, to offer the Communion or receive confessions from those who want to confess. The priests have left their phone numbers to the victims so they could phone them anytime. On the night of the tragedy, a service was performed in the church of the Domodedovo Airport, to commemorate all those who were killed.”
Metropolitan Juvenalius, who is the head of all parishes in the Moscow Region, has ordered to all the churches in his diocese to pray for the killed to find rest in God and for the injured to recover.
Источник: The Voice of Russia
