new Orthodox church outside the walls of the academy of the Federal Security Service Russia Federation
Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill has blessed the cornerstone of a new Orthodox church outside the walls of the academy of the Federal Security Service (FSB) in western Moscow. According to a press statement by the Patriarchate, the new church is being constructed "at the initiative of the leadership and students" of the academy. The patriarch's appearance highlights the increasingly close ties between the church and state, a relationship that has recently come under closer scrutiny and criticism from the opposition. At a ceremony on July 31, the patriarch noted that because of the communist-era destruction of churches -- often carried out by the FSB's predecessor agencies -- many districts of the capital have few or no places of worship. "We know what enormous losses were brought to the church life of Moscow by the years of revolution and the subsequent years of persecution," Kirill said. "Hundreds and hundre