{"id":26687,"date":"2020-06-09T10:53:42","date_gmt":"2020-06-09T01:53:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?p=26687"},"modified":"2020-09-11T15:08:24","modified_gmt":"2020-09-11T06:08:24","slug":"vomk-report-104","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2020\/06\/09\/vomk-report-104\/","title":{"rendered":"90 YEARS AFTER STALIN TEARS DOWN CATHEDRAL, NEW CATHEDRAL SEEKS TO HONOR HIM"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”26676″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”Controversy surrounds the opening of the new Resurrection of Christ Church in Kubinka near Moscow. The cathedral, designed as the Armed Forces\u2019 main church, is designed to hold 6,000 worshipers and features a military green color and missile-like towers. It was built at a cost of around 6 billion Rubles (roughly 100 billion Korean Won), which church representatives say is the most expensive church building project in modern Russian history. Official opening of the cathedral, Russia\u2019s third largest, was scheduled for May 9 in recognition of the 75th anniversary of Russia\u2019s victory in the World War II but has been delayed due to the Coronavirus.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:1.2em|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” el_class=”headline”][vc_column_text]But according to Voice of the Martyrs Korea representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>it was what was not on display during a special\u00a0<\/span><\/span>inaugural\u00a0<\/span><\/span>prayer service\u00a0<\/span><\/span>that drew the most attention.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Representative Foley says that two controversial\u00a0<\/span><\/span>mosaics<\/span><\/span>\u00a0originally planned for inclusion in the cathedral<\/span><\/span>\u2014one depicting former Russian leader Joseph Stalin and another depicting\u00a0<\/span><\/span>current Russia President Vladimir Putin and other officials\u2014were\u00a0<\/span><\/span>displayed in a highly altered form that removed the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>controversial elements<\/span><\/span>. Representative Foley says\u00a0<\/span><\/span>public concerns<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>may have\u00a0<\/span><\/span>been the reason for the alterations<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span><\/span>The banner showing Stalin\u2019s face was changed to one with a victory slogan on it,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cThe mosaic showing\u00a0<\/span><\/span>President\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Putin\u2019s face<\/span><\/span>\u00a0was changed to a more traditional icon, reportedly in\u00a0<\/span><\/span>consultation with President Putin.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Representative Foley says that though the mosaics have been changed, the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>reported\u00a0<\/span><\/span>comments of officials who attended the prayer service remain concerning. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span><\/span>Archpriest Leonid Kalinin<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>the head of the Experts\u2019 Council for Church Art, Architecture and Restoration of the Russian Orthodox Church,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>is reported to have spoken in favor of keeping\u00a0<\/span><\/span>the images of Stalin and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>President\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Putin<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>in the church.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>In conjunction with the inaugural prayer service,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Deputy Defen<\/span><\/span>s<\/span><\/span>e Minister General Andrey\u00a0<\/span>Kartapolov<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>is reported to have commented, \u2018<\/span><\/span>Stalin restored religion in Russia<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0But\u00a0<\/span><\/span>nearly 90 years ago, in December\u00a0<\/span><\/span>1931,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>it was Stalin\u00a0<\/span><\/span>who ordered the demolition of the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Cathedral of Christ the\u00a0<\/span>Saviour<\/span><\/span>\u00a0in Moscow, not far from the dedication of this new cathedral.<\/span><\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”26684″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”Resurrection of Christ Church in Kubinka near Moscow. It is designed as the Armed Forces\u2019 main church. It features a military green color and missile-like towers. Creative Commons photo.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0a0a|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal” el_class=”headline”][vc_single_image image=”26683″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”The Resurrection of Christ Church in Kubinka near Moscow. Construction costs are estimated at 6 billion Rubles (more than 100 billion Korean Won). Creative Commons photo.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0a0a|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal” el_class=”headline”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Representative Foley notes that\u00a0<\/span><\/span>the total number of Christian victims under the Soviet regime has been estimated to range around 12 to 20 million.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Representative Foley says<\/span><\/span>, \u201c<\/span><\/span>Buildings are often used to keep\u00a0<\/span><\/span>the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>history\u00a0<\/span><\/span>of military victories\u00a0<\/span><\/span>alive. But Christians around the world need\u00a0<\/span><\/span>to raise our voice to ensure that\u00a0<\/span><\/span>each new generation\u00a0<\/span><\/span>of Christians\u00a0<\/span><\/span>learns of\u00a0<\/span><\/span>the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>victory\u00a0<\/span><\/span>of Christian martyrs\u00a0<\/span><\/span>over\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Stalin and Communism<\/span><\/span>. Rev. Richard\u00a0<\/span>Wurmbrand<\/span>, the global founder of Voice of the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>M<\/span><\/span>artyrs, spent 14 years in a Communist prison in Romania.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>When Communism collapsed in Russia,\u00a0<\/span>Wurmbrand<\/span>\u00a0declared, \u2018By love we have conquered.\u2019<\/span><\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”26682″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”A view of the sanctuary of Resurrection of Christ Church in Kubinka near Moscow. Creative Commons photo.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0a0a|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal” el_class=”headline”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”26681″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”This icon including the Stalin banner was originally planned for inclusion in the Resurrection of Christ Church in Kubinka but was not installed amidst controversy. Creative Commons photo.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0a0a|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal” el_class=”headline”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Representative Foley says th<\/span><\/span>e\u00a0<\/span><\/span>victory of the Christian martyrs can best be remembered\u00a0<\/span><\/span>not in buildings but\u00a0<\/span><\/span>through books like\u00a0<\/span>Wurmbrand\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Tortured for Christ,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>which\u00a0<\/span><\/span>tells the story of\u00a0<\/span>Wurmbrand<\/span>\u00a0and other Christian prisoners under Communism. The book<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>has been a bestseller in more than 60 languages<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0Representative Foley says that Voice of the Martyrs Korea\u2019s bestselling book is\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Marx and Satan<\/span><\/span>, in which Rev.\u00a0<\/span>Wurmbrand<\/span>\u00a0documents the historical connections between Communism and Satanism.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Both books are available through the Voice of the Martyrs Korea website,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>www.vomkorea.com\/store<\/span><\/span><\/a>, or by calling Voice of the Martyrs Korea at 02-2065-0703<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Representative Foley says that though Rev.\u00a0<\/span>Wurmbrand<\/span>\u00a0died in 2001,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>were he alive today he would express strong concern\u00a0<\/span><\/span>but not surprise\u00a0<\/span><\/span>about\u00a0<\/span><\/span>the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>cathedral\u2019s efforts to honor Stalin. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe would remind us to overcome through love,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cHe would\u00a0<\/span><\/span>have sent\u00a0<\/span><\/span>General\u00a0<\/span>Kartapolov<\/span><\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Archpriest Kalinin<\/span><\/span>\u00a0a\u00a0<\/span><\/span>warm,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>friendly letter<\/span><\/span>\u00a0and offer<\/span><\/span>ed<\/span><\/span>\u00a0to publicly debate\u00a0<\/span><\/span>the General\u2019s claim that \u2018<\/span><\/span>Stalin restored religion in Russia<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span>\u201d Foley says. \u201cAnd\u00a0<\/span><\/span>he would have enclosed copies of\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Tortured for Christ<\/span><\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Marx and Satan<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>and insisted that they read them<\/span><\/span>\u00a0and give out free copies\u00a0<\/span><\/span>of the books\u00a0<\/span><\/span>at the new cathedral<\/span><\/span>, in remembrance of the millions of Christians who were martyred under Stalin and Communism<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”26680″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”This icon including the figures of Russian President Vladimir Putin and other top officials was originally planned for inclusion in the Resurrection of Christ Church in Kubinka but was not installed amidst controversy. Creative Commons photo.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0a0a|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal” el_class=”headline”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”26679″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”1931 photo of the destruction of the original Church of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. Public domain photo.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0a0a|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal” el_class=”headline”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”26676″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”Controversy surrounds the opening of the new Resurrection of Christ Church in Kubinka near Moscow. The cathedral, designed as the Armed Forces\u2019 main church, is designed to …","protected":false},"author":659,"featured_media":26675,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[857,235,869,140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-russian-special","category-special-column","category-china-special","category-vomk-report"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["ko","en","zh","ru"],"languages":{"ko":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"zh":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"ru":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/659"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}