August 29, 2012 on the highway near resort village Divnomorskoye (this is in the Gelendzhik region of the Krasnodar Territory) Vitaly Savinykh, a fifth-year student of the Don State University, was hit by a car.

He was returning home from the village cemetery, where he visited his mother's grave. In a state of traumatic shock, the victim was taken to intensive care, where he fell into a coma. He was saved by a miracle. Vitaly's diagnosis: multiple fractures of the pelvis and chest, fracture of the scapula, contusion of the brain, extensive lacerations of the face and neck, multiple bruises of internal organs.

Golden hectares for respectable gentlemen

Two years ago, no one walked on this highway. First, it is far from the sea. Secondly, it is very narrow, winding, without sidewalks and, moreover, extremely busy - during the holiday season, cars rush through here one after another.

Well, and, thirdly, why risk your life if a wonderful pedestrian road is laid right along the coast, along which it is only five hundred meters to the local cemetery and the beloved Dzhankhotsky relic forest?

By the way, the road is famous: it was built more than a century ago by Fyodor Shcherbina, an outstanding Russian scientist, public figure and historian of the Kuban Cossacks. It was he who founded the neighboring village of Dzhanhot and had a dacha here. After the revolution of 1917, he left Russia, but his path faithfully served the people. More than a million tourists annually passed along its picturesque serpentine in the shade of centuries-old Pitsunda pines, it was included in the list of the best tourist routes THE USSR. They took care of the road, they were proud of it. No one could have imagined that it could be blocked and appropriated.

What seemed wild in Soviet time has become commonplace today. In 2005, the mayor of Gelendzhik Ozerov S.P. (later - State Duma deputy from
"United Russia") leased for 49 years 1.2 hectares of the coast of the resort
Divnomorskoye village together with the initial section of the Divnomorskoye-Dzhankhot road.

At the same time, the lease agreement for some reason did not contain an encumbrance, obligatory in such cases (Article 23 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation), in the form of the right of passage through the site for the population and vacationers (i.e., the right of public easement).

Formally, a certain Semyonova V.A. acted as a tenant, but her husband Semyonov V.Yu. became the true owner of a truly “golden hectare”. - owner transport company"OCHAKOVO-AUTO".

He immediately fenced off the public road and the coastal strip and began to blow them up (!), clearing the place. Soon, the Sea Club VIP-hotel with a park, a swimming pool and a private pier grew over the sea (see http://seaclubvip.ru/) From now on, anyone who wanted to go into the forest or to the cemetery had to make a kilometer-long detour around the Semenov VIP -enterprises. The municipality of Gelendzhik, of course, did not see or hear the ongoing lawlessness “point blank”.

But they were flowers. “Berries” ripened in the autumn of 2010, when Patriarch of All Russia Kirill completed his summer residence in Divnomorskoye, whose powerful fence, reminiscent of a fortress wall, became a direct continuation
the fence of Mr. Semyonov, according to our information - an old patriarchal acquaintance,
who sponsored half of the construction of his Divnomorsky palace.

Cyril's residence, which occupied the entire territory from the sea to the highway, not only “gnawed off” half a kilometer of the public coastline and road, but also blocked the last opportunity for people to safely access the forest and the cemetery. Now they had to make a detour no longer a kilometer, but three kilometers (!), One of which was along the highway.

By the way, initially, i.e. in 2004, a relatively modest 1.8 hectares were allocated for the patriarchal residence, on which it was planned to build a compact country house. There was no talk of blocking the coast and the pedestrian road then (for details, see here: “How the construction of the residence of the patriarch near Gelendzhik began” http://echo.msk.ru/blog/andrey_rudomakha/970108-echo/#comments

However, under Patriarch Kirill, who replaced Alexy II, who died in 2008, the area of ​​the residence increased 10 times (!), and 12.7 hectares of the State Forest Fund, covered with relic Pitsunda pine, were transferred for construction, felling and complete enclosure of the church, which are covered with relic Pitsunda pine, which are built up, cut down or fencing the law PROHIBITES IN PRINCIPLE.

The current head of Gelendzhik Khrestin V.A. I also did not see these lawlessness "at point blank range". Moreover, in response to citizens’ appeals regarding the blocking of the most popular resort road, the city administration mockingly replied that “the old pedestrian road to Dzhanhot has its significance as an object transport infrastructure lost” and recommended vacationers to use
for the movement of the highway (!).

Then people decided to turn to the patriarch. They believed that in Divnomorskoye there was a so-called. "excess of execution" - or, to put it simply, the servile desire of individual officials to please His Holiness at any cost, including in violation of the law. In early December 2010, the appeal was submitted (see Open letter to Patriarch Kirill on the website of the public movement "Open Bank" http://openbereg.ru/?p=204). Almost two months have passed, but the answer
it didn't follow. His Holiness considered the problem insignificant.

No law, no conscience

On February 5, 2011, the public movement "Open Bank" launched an all-Russian action "Modernization of Conscience", the purpose of which was to encourage the church to voluntarily unblock the public beach it had seized. Hundreds of citizens turned to Patriarch Kirill and other well-known figures of the Russian Orthodox Church demanding that they comply with moral and legal laws. Such correspondence, in particular, was conducted on the website of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation with V. Chaplin, chairman of the Department for Interaction between the Church and Society of the Moscow Patriarchate.

However, the society didn’t wait for anything other than streamlined phrases like “maybe it’s worth making it safe to pass along the highway or next to the highway” or “let’s hope that the problem is resolved” (see V. Chaplin on duty in the ward dated 09.03.11. http://www.oprf.ru/discussion/addquestion/122/?answer=&offset=3).

In April 2011, it turned out that the conscience of the hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church cannot be modernized. On the other hand, video cameras and security guards with the manners of special forces were quickly added to the concrete fences that fenced off the public coast and the road. Looking at these patriarchal “innovations”, people realized that the time had come to ask for protection from the state (See “The conscience of the patriarch: there was nothing to modernize” http://openbereg.ru/?p=1033).

In early May 2011, they turned to the guarantor of their constitutional rights -
President of the Russian Federation D.A. Medvedev From the presidential office, their appeals were
redirected to the prosecutor's office and Rosprirodnadzor. Already in June, his employees
we went to Divnomorskoye and confirmed the fact of blocking the coastline with fences of the Russian Orthodox Church (see “The Church breaks the law. And this is officially recognized” http://openbereg.ru/?p=1476). Based on the results of an on-site inspection, the Office of Rosprirodnadzor for Krasnodar Territory and Adygea were instructed to eliminate the identified violations.

Well, then - silence. The regional Department of Rosprirodnadzor simply spat on this order, i.e. they did not go to the place and the violations were not eliminated. That, in fact, ended the story of citizens' appeals to the President of the Russian Federation. But in Divnomorskoye, another holiday season has begun. Tens of thousands of vacationers came here and went for a walk in their favorite pine forest. And, of course, they stumbled upon a brand new concrete wall from the patriarch, bristling with steel spikes.

Someone, cursing the secular and spiritual authorities, went to look for another place for walking. Someone tried to take a detour along the highway, risking their lives. The strings of vacationers walking with children along the highway overloaded with transport quickly became a sad "attraction" of the Divnomorskoye resort.

"Holy place" behind a concrete fence

In March 2011, responding to citizens on the website of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation about the situation in Divnomorskoye, Archpriest V. Chaplin recommended that they "behave with dignity in a place that will become holy." He, of course, called the new residence of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Gelendzhik region the future "holy place" (see http://www.oprf.ru/discussion/addquestion/122/?answer=&offset=3).

Mr. Chaplin is not an idiot. It is unlikely that he believes that any place where the foot of Patriarch Kirill sets foot automatically acquires holiness. Rather, he meant something else. Namely, the fact that the great charitable deeds constantly performed within the walls of the patriarchal residence will, over time, surely shed grace both on the aforementioned object itself and on the “wild” space surrounding it.

We are forced to state that over the past two years, no charitable deeds, great or small, have been noted here. Never held
here the “spiritual and cultural” promised by the Patriarchate back in February 2010
activities such as “educational work with children and young people, meetings with the public and creative intelligentsia". The temple did not work, there were no divine services for the parishioners. But in the role of an island of earthly paradise, designed for a single VIP-person, the object functioned extremely intensively.

It is said that His Holiness greatly appreciates his new Black Sea residence. Happens here more and more often. With pleasure, she walks along the paths among the Pitsunda pines and breathes in the healing sea air for a long time in the rotunda arbor, installed above a high cliff.

In the evenings, he descends to their common pier with his neighbor Semyonov and sails to
sea ​​on a snow-white yacht, where she bathes and admires the sunset.

In general, leads a typical life Russian oligarch or a high-ranking civil servant on vacation, whose belonging to the clergy is reminded only by a cross over his luxurious palazzo.

The inhabitants of Divnomorskoye, by the way, treat him like that: as a powerful state official, and such, from the neighborhood with which there are only troubles. For them, the patriarch is now akin to the former Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Serdyukov A.E. (by the way, the owner of the Church Order of the Holy Right-believing Prince Daniel of Moscow), who last summer brought the peaceful and calm Divnomorsk residents to a riot.

The thing is that Mr. Serdyukov, while still a minister, "had his eye" on the best sanatorium in the village "Divnomorskoye", owned by the Ministry of Defense. Well, and, probably, he decided to steal it according to a run-in scheme: first, completely modernize it for budget money, and then declare it a “non-core asset” and sell it to himself at a bargain price through all sorts of shell companies. The minister personally supervised the modernization of the sanatorium. Employees of Divnomorskoye will never forget how Mr. Serdyukov, being in a fair
drunk, wandered around the huge sanatorium park and growled at everyone he met: “Everything is m-mine here! I'm r-firing everyone!" One of the main points of "modernization" in Serdyukov's style was the capture and fencing of the public embankment and beaches adjacent to the sanatorium.

When this happened, the villagers rebelled. They simply had no other choice: after all, the promenade and beaches are the heart of the resort, a guarantee of earnings. Last July, more than five hundred residents of Divnomorsk came to a rally against the Serdyukov fences. The authorities panicked: OMON was called to the village, and the coast was opened to avoid clashes. Immediately after the resignation of the scandalous minister in Divnomorskoye, there were festivities with music and fireworks.

So: during the visits of Patriarch Kirill to this cozy resort corner, he, like the former Minister Serdyukov, managed to turn almost all of its inhabitants against him.

It turned out, for example, that His Holiness, having powerfully wedged his residence between a residential area and a village cemetery, does not tolerate even the slightest reminder of this mournful place. He, in particular, is extremely annoyed by the funeral, accompanied by music and the lamentations of grief-stricken relatives. Therefore, during the entire stay of the patriarch in Divnomorskoye, a police cordon is set up in front of the cemetery, which does not allow funeral processions here. There have already been cases when people returned to the memorial tables with the deceased.

What is happening, of course, hits hard on the nerves of the Divnomorsk people, especially veterans. Not only did the patriarch deprive them of the opportunity to walk to the cemetery on foot and visit the graves of their loved ones when they needed it. Now they are anxiously thinking: with what attempt they will be buried in native land- first, second or third?

It also turned out that His Holiness cannot stand the music that sounds in local coastal cafes. A sure sign of the arrival of the patriarch in Divnomorskoye, in addition to cordoning off the cemetery and the nearest roads, is the police and the administration of the village bypassing all entertainment establishments with the demand “Remove the music!” Their owners are indignant: business suffers, incomes fall.

Local fishermen do not have good feelings for His Holiness either. During the visits of the patriarch, patrol boats tightly block the water area adjacent to the village. For fishing schooners and boats, they do not make exceptions. The fishermen stand idle for weeks and only pray to the Lord that His Holiness send them to Moscow as soon as possible.

These prayers became even more desperate after the incident in August, when the guards forbade the fishermen to pick up nets that had been thrown into the sea even before the arrival of the patriarch. After a couple of weeks of "patriarchal bathing" nets were chosen, they were filled with dead fish.

They say that His Holiness turned out to be an extremely difficult neighbor for the workers
the nearest sanatorium "Golubaya Dal" of the Ministry of Atomic Energy of the Russian Federation to his residence. Since the windows and balconies of one of the buildings of the sanatorium look at the patriarchal palace, the patriarch demanded that all the local vacationers be resettled during his visits to Divnomorskoye. Of course, the administration is not warned about the timing of visits, so the emergency shaking out of resort guests from their legal rooms, and at any time of the day or night, has become the norm. As a result, scandals, losses and a blow to the reputation of the sanatorium, until recently impeccable.

But the heaviest blow in the gut was inflicted by His Holiness on local merchants and landlords - that is, almost 90 percent of the population of the village. The economy here is seasonal, focused exclusively on vacationers. Divnomortsy live at the expense of funds earned from renting out housing and selling resort goods.

The amount of money in their pockets is directly proportional to the number of holidaymakers visiting the village. And just with the holidaymakers, things are getting worse and worse. The reason is clear: the main tourist "highlight" of Divnomorsky has always been the Dzhankhotsky botanical reserve with an area of ​​450 hectares and the road passing through it. It was on it that the patriarchal fence “cut” it, cutting off the village from its main attraction.

If Archpriest Chaplin now met with the residents of Divnomorsk and asked if they felt the waves of holiness emanating from the residence of the Russian Orthodox Church, he would be extremely disappointed. People would honestly answer that they feel only waves of lies, hypocrisy and pathological shamelessness. And very many would admit that among themselves they have long called the “spiritual” object on the southern outskirts of Divnomorskoye “Gundyaevka” or “Chertyaevka”, and the highway in front of it - “Road of Death”.

However, church hierarchs local residents do not meet. Either because they are aware of their real attitude towards themselves, or simply considering it superfluous. But they willingly meet with the local authorities. For example, with the head of Gelendzhik, Khrestin V.A., who was awarded the Order of Sergius of Radonezh by His Holiness last summer. Nominally - for "assistance in the completion of the construction of the Patriarchal Spiritual-Administrative and cultural center ROC". In fact, for his connivance with the lawlessness committed by the church on the territory of one of the best resorts Russia.

Well, there is no doubt that such lawlessness will continue. Just at the time of awarding Mr. Khrestin with an order from the Russian Orthodox Church, the fences of the patriarchal residence were suddenly overgrown with formidable steel “horns” and gratings, through which an electric current was launched.

This was another signal from the "mother church" to all citizens of the country: do not expect mercy! Lawless fence on the public shore will stand. And the "Road of Death" of Patriarch Kirill will continue to collect its bloody harvest.

Palace on the cliff

It is a striking fact that for two years in a row people have been unsuccessfully trying to get from the first Christian of the country the manifestation of precisely those Christian qualities that he is obliged to possess in full measure - conscientiousness, love and mercy. And in response, they stumble only on a blank wall of lies, cruelty and the deepest contempt for their own flock. And, of course, they are trying to find the root cause of what is happening.

Today the authorities have declared war on corruption. The most famous and authoritative politicians in Russia are arguing how to overcome it. And they agree that the transcendental scale of this disaster is a reflection of the general corruption of the spirit, the loss of moral values ​​by tens of millions of people. The conclusion is this: the communist ideology and its moral regulators have sunk into oblivion, and on their
place a spiritual vacuum arose, which was filled with rampant theft and
iniquity.

However, for some reason, none of those arguing remembers that back in the early 90s, a truly grandiose national project was launched in the country, designed to replace the lost Soviet ideals in our minds and hearts and create the very “spiritual bonds” about which President Putin recently spoke . Such a project was the REVIVAL OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH as an institution rooted in a millennium Russian history and, as it seemed to many then, who carefully carried through all the storms of the 20th century the values ​​of Christian humanism.

Under the coming renaissance, the church was given enormous wealth, which included thousands of real estate objects - buildings, premises, land plots, as well as benefits and privileges for tens (if not hundreds!) of billions of dollars. These benefits, received at the expense of the people of Russia, have allowed it to become one of the most wealthy religious organizations in the world - which we observe daily and at every step.

But here's the problem: the years of the ROC's renaissance - that is, the rapid multiplication of its churches, courtyards, monasteries and other "spiritual" infrastructure - paradoxically coincided with a "renaissance" of a completely different kind, which experts call the period of RUSSIAN CRIMINAL AND
CORRUPTION. And this simply means that the church has failed to cope with its main function - to be the regulator of the moral state of society.

The church is a living organism. In the 1990s, a window of opportunity opened up before her, as well as before the whole society. She could, for example, choose the thorny path of a defender of gospel truths in the inhuman era of primitive accumulation. And in this case, she would have to strongly oppose the "new Russian" bandits, and the thieving oligarchy, and the extremely immoral government that gave birth to them. Her life would be full of worries and anxieties. But this path of spirit and conscience, no doubt, would make her truly strong and independent, and her authority among the people would be well-deserved. And then the history of Russia in recent decades would certainly have developed differently.

But she chose a different path, making her usual bet on a "cordial alliance" with the bureaucracy. Remember who were her most desirable friends and clients over the past twenty years, whom she rewarded and praised the most? Officials and their business partners are often outright thieves and bandits. Remember how the gates of temples, monasteries and other "God's" places opened wide before them. Remember the classic scenes of sprinkling "holy water" on official and gangster jeeps and limousines - as well as their yachts, apartments, offices, villas, etc.

Remember the no less classic slogan from Viktor Pelevin's cult novel "Generation P" - "A respectable Lord for respectable gentlemen!" - the most succinctly expressing the real essence of the social strategy of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 90s. Remember the leitmotif of most of the interviews given by its hierarchs in the 2000s: “Give us back what the Soviet government took away, and we will be happy!” Finally, remember how most new churches were built and still continue to be built in the country: either through the most severe administrative pressure on small and medium-sized businesses, or directly at the expense of the state budget - as, for example, this is happening now with the plans of the Moscow authorities to build in the city 200 typical temples within walking distance(!). The simple and obvious truth that true faith is not planted like potatoes does not occur to the leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church and their bureaucratic patrons. Hence the eternal conflicts with the townspeople protesting against the aggressive intrusion into their squares and parks by "highly spiritual" colossus of concrete and steel.

The Church wanted to be a power - and it became a power. More precisely, an organic part of the extremely inefficient and corrupt bureaucracy of the Russian Federation. Its main function today is a violent imitation of the "spiritual revival of Russia" at the expense of the budget. It has not been thinking about becoming a truly spiritual institution, truly useful to society, for a long time. She has other goals
priorities. She wants to continue to equip islands of earthly paradise for herself.
in the middle of a stagnating and dying country.

And in this sense, the situation around the patriarchal residence in Divnomorskoye is not an anomaly at all, no. It is, unfortunately, the norm of behavior for our shepherds, completely free from the opinion of their own flock. Of course, there are other people among the priests, but they do not determine the current face of the ROC. A typical portrait of a successful "father" is a symbiosis of an official and a businessman who rigidly builds his business on the use of administrative connections and leverage. Such quick-witted "priests", popularly referred to as "priests", somehow spontaneously grow mansions on the best public lands and "death roads" appear in front of their blank fences or under the wheels of their luxurious foreign cars. Suffice it to recall the recent sensational case of hieromonk Pavel Semin, who killed two people in his Mercedes-Gelendvagen in Moscow and disabled a third, and then cowardly fled the scene of the tragedy. As it turned out, the 26-year-old "humble monk", a petty clerk of the Patriarchate's manager, owned a whole fleet of exclusive cars with "thieves" numbers, plus several elite apartments.

And how many such “humble” monks and priests are now traveling around Russia,
warmed by the authorities different levels and confident in their "sacred" right to
special, exclusive life? What kind of spirituality can we talk about here, what kind of Christian attitude to the world and people?! So now we have another "department for spiritual affairs" instead of the church, and instead of a moral example for the nation - bureaucratic show, cynicism and shameless luxury elevated to virtue.

Doesn't history teach us anything? After all, the church had a similar experience of a "symphony" with the authorities - and it ended in tears. Collapsed in October 1917 Russian empire. One of its pillars was the Russian Orthodox Church with 80,000 churches and almost 117 million parishioners. Just like today, she sang praises to the authorities in exchange for generous maintenance and a comfortable life, assured her of people's love and support. And when, under the weight of mistakes and crimes, it crumbled into
dust, it suddenly became clear that there was no moral force in the country capable of
stop people at the precipice of mutual hatred and fratricide. All millennial
church power, all its authority and greatness, which seemed indestructible, “faded” in a second, and millions of “respectable” parishioners turned into the most furious persecutors of their own pastors and destroyers of their own churches. For the centuries-old profanation of the spirit and faith, the country paid a terrible price.

Do you know when was the last time the head of the Russian Orthodox Church personally spoke in defense of the lives and dignity of our compatriots? In August 1698. Then the young Tsar Peter decided, in addition to the one and a half hundred archers hanged for supporting his disgraced sister Sophia, to execute another thousand for "intimidation". The relatives of the condemned turned to Patriarch Adrian. He was so shocked
the sight of thousands of weeping women, children and old men who led their march to
Preobrazhenskoe. The procession stretched for several versts, the most
ancient and respected icons. People stood under the windows of the royal chambers and prayed,
asking for mercy. Seeing this, Peter became furious and ordered everyone to be expelled, including Adrian. The shooters were executed. The patriarch fell seriously ill and died. According to contemporaries - from grief that he could not protect people. Peter's lesson was learned hard. Our subsequent primates already thought and “compassionate” with the people differently from Adrian. They were closer to the peace of personal palaces and the contemplation of seagulls in beautiful pavilions over the sea. A chasm opened up between their speeches and deeds.

“In the modern information environment, any news related to the Church is viewed through a magnifying glass. Any unworthy act of a person associated with the Church causes a flurry of negative publications... The Church teaches people a righteous life, and we, its members, are called to be an example for unbelievers and unbelievers, not only in words, but also in deeds!” These words belong to today's head of the Russian Orthodox Church. They were pronounced by him on December 28 at a diocesan meeting in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, summing up the results of the patriarchal ministry for 2012. Interesting: did Patriarch Kirill ever address them to himself personally?

hope dies last

Recently, residents of the Divnomorskoye resort turned to the activists of the “OPEN SHORE” movement. After the incident with their countryman Vitaly Savinykh, who was hit by a car near the residence of the Russian Orthodox Church, they asked for our assistance in publishing their Open Letter to Patriarch Kirill. The motives of the residents of Divnomorsk are simple and understandable: “We love, honor, respect our native Orthodox Church, but we categorically refuse to be maimed and die because of its violation of the legislation of the Russian Federation!”

The letter was signed by 973 people.

"OPEN LETTER

residents of the village of Divnomorskoye, municipality of Gelendzhik, to His Holiness Patriarch of All Russia Kirill

Hello Your Holiness!

Most of us are Orthodox Christians. That is why we ask for your personal immediate intervention in a situation that directly threatens our lives and the lives of our children.

In autumn 2010, around the residence of the Russian Orthodox Church in the village of Divnomorskoye, a concrete fence was installed, which, following the same concrete fence of the mansion at 14 Golubodalskaya Street (and, in fact, being its continuation), completely blocked the 500-meter section of the coastal strip of our village and the pedestrian road passing through it.

We, Your Holiness, consider such a blockade completely unacceptable.

This section of the road is located within the administrative boundaries of the village of Divnomorskoye and, since the century before last, has served its population as the only convenient and safe way out into the forest and to the village cemetery, that is, according to the Law (clauses 9,10,12, article 85 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation), it is land of common use of the municipality and is not subject to any alienation and partitioning in principle.

At the same time, it is part of the coastal strip of the Divnomorskoye village, which the Law considers exclusively as a territory for the general use of all citizens Russian Federation and intends for their free and safe stay and movement (clauses 1,2,3,6,8 of article 6 of the Water Code of the Russian Federation).

The installation of a fence in this place not only grossly violates the Law, but also forces the residents of the village and vacationers to get to the forest and the local cemetery bypassing, walking a kilometer-long stretch of the Praskoveevsky highway - very narrow, winding and without sidewalks. Intensity car traffic is extremely high here. Pedestrians are separated from the roadway by a few centimeters, they are constantly at risk of being under the wheels of vehicles.

Tragic incidents on the highway adjacent to your residence are already happening. So, on August 29 last year, a student of the Don State Technical University Vitaly Savinykh was hit by a car here. He was returning from the village cemetery, where he visited his mother's grave. In a state of traumatic shock, he was taken to intensive care, where he fell into a coma. He was saved only by the selfless actions of doctors. The young man will have a long treatment, after which the issue of his disability will be decided. Obviously, such tragedies will be repeated here in the future.

Your Holiness!

In your speeches, you constantly emphasize the importance of observing moral and legal laws, and preach the highest value of every human life. However, in the situation with the blocking of the coast of the village of Divnomorskoye, these laws and principles were violated in the most rude and inhuman way.

We call on Your Holiness to restore our legal right to a peaceful and secure life in our home village. We look forward to a wise, far-sighted and merciful decision from you.”

There are 67 signature sheets in total.

Coordinator of the All-Russian Public Movement "Open Coast"

Sergey MENZHERITSKY.

Let me give you some facts from it.

This is Gundyaev's dacha in the village of Divnomorskoye

This is a fence around the dacha with formidable steel "horns" and gratings through which electric current is launched.

This is a pedestrian road in the Dzhankhotsky botanical reserve - once the main attraction of the Divnomorskoye resort. It was built more than a century ago by Fyodor Shcherbina, an outstanding Russian scientist, public figure and historian of the Kuban Cossacks. Now she is unavailable.

Now vacationers are forced to move along the highway, with a rick for life, because Gundiai usurped the pedestrian road in the pine forest and the coastal path, blocking them with barbed wire under current. The highway was nicknamed the "death road".

A few eloquent quotes from the article:

Since the windows and balconies of one of the buildings of the Golubaya Dal sanatorium of the Ministry of Atomic Energy of the Russian Federation look at the Patriarchal Palace, the patriarch demanded that all local vacationers be resettled during his visits to Divnomorskoye. Of course, the administration is not warned about the timing of visits, so the emergency shaking out of resort guests from their legal rooms, and at any time of the day or night, has become the norm.

But His Holiness inflicted the heaviest blow in the gut to local merchants and landlords - that is, almost 90 percent of the population of the village. The economy here is seasonal, focused exclusively on vacationers. Divnomortsy live at the expense of funds earned from renting out housing and selling resort goods.
The amount of money in their pockets is directly proportional to the number of holidaymakers visiting the village. And just with the holidaymakers, things are getting worse and worse. The reason is clear: the main tourist "highlight" of Divnomorsky has always been the Dzhankhotsky botanical reserve with an area of ​​450 hectares and the road passing through it. It was on it that the patriarchal fence “cut” it, cutting off the village from its main attraction.

It also turned out that His Holiness cannot stand the music that sounds in local coastal cafes. A sure sign of the arrival of the patriarch in Divnomorskoye, in addition to cordoning off the cemetery and the nearest roads, is the police and the administration of the village bypassing all entertainment establishments with the demand “Remove the music!” Their owners are indignant: business suffers, incomes fall.

But this is not the most monstrous. After Gundiai built himself a palace on the territory of the reserve, the life of local residents became truly hellish.

During the visits of the patriarch, patrol boats tightly block the water area adjacent to the village. For fishing schooners and boats, they do not make exceptions. The fishermen stand idle for weeks and only pray to the Lord that His Holiness send them to Moscow as soon as possible.

These prayers became even more desperate after the incident in August, when the guards forbade the fishermen to pick up nets that had been thrown into the sea even before the arrival of the patriarch. After a couple of weeks of "patriarchal bathing" nets were chosen, they were filled with dead fish.

It turned out, for example, that His Holiness, having powerfully wedged his residence between a residential area and a village cemetery, does not tolerate even the slightest reminder of this mournful place. He, in particular, is extremely annoyed by the funeral, accompanied by music and the lamentations of grief-stricken relatives. Therefore, during the entire stay of the patriarch in Divnomorskoye, a police cordon is set up in front of the cemetery, which does not allow funeral processions here. There have already been cases when people returned to the memorial tables with the deceased.

What is happening, of course, hits hard on the nerves of the Divnomorsk people, especially veterans. Not only did the patriarch deprive them of the opportunity to walk to the cemetery on foot and visit the graves of their loved ones when they needed it. Now they are anxiously thinking: with what attempt will they be buried in their native land - the first, second or third?

On August 29, 2012, on the highway near the resort village of Divnomorskoye (this is in the Gelendzhik district of the Krasnodar Territory), a fifth-year student of the Don State University, Vitaly Savinykh, was hit by a car.

He was returning home from the village cemetery, where he visited his mother's grave. In a state of traumatic shock, the victim was taken to intensive care, where he fell into a coma. He was saved by a miracle. Vitaly's diagnosis: multiple fractures of the pelvis and chest, fracture of the scapula, contusion of the brain, extensive lacerations of the face and neck, multiple bruises of internal organs.

Golden hectares for respectable gentlemen

Two years ago, no one walked on this highway. First, it is far from the sea. Secondly, it is very narrow, winding, without sidewalks and, moreover, extremely busy - during the holiday season, cars rush through here one after another.

Well, and, thirdly, why risk your life if a wonderful pedestrian road is laid right along the coast, along which it is only five hundred meters to the local cemetery and the beloved Dzhankhotsky relic forest?

By the way, the road is famous: it was built more than a century ago by Fyodor Shcherbina, an outstanding Russian scientist, public figure and historian of the Kuban Cossacks. It was he who founded the neighboring village of Dzhanhot and had a dacha here. After the revolution of 1917, he left Russia, but his path faithfully served the people. Over a million vacationers passed along its picturesque serpentine in the shade of centuries-old Pitsunda pines every year; it was included in the list of the best tourist routes of the USSR. They took care of the road, they were proud of it. No one could have imagined that it could be blocked and appropriated.

What seemed savagery in Soviet times has become commonplace today. In 2005, the mayor of Gelendzhik Ozerov S.P. (later - State Duma deputy from
"United Russia") leased for 49 years 1.2 hectares of the coast of the resort
Divnomorskoye village together with the initial section of the Divnomorskoye-Dzhankhot road.

At the same time, the lease agreement for some reason did not contain an encumbrance, obligatory in such cases (Article 23 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation), in the form of the right of passage through the site for the population and vacationers (i.e., the right of public easement).

Formally, a certain Semyonova V.A. acted as a tenant, but her husband Semyonov V.Yu. became the true owner of a truly “golden hectare”. - the owner of the transport company "OCHAKOVO-AVTO".

He immediately fenced off the public road and the coastal strip and began to blow them up (!), clearing the place. Soon, the Sea Club VIP-hotel with a park, a swimming pool and a private pier grew over the sea (see http://seaclubvip.ru/) From now on, anyone who wanted to go into the forest or to the cemetery had to make a kilometer-long detour around the Semenov VIP -enterprises. The municipality of Gelendzhik, of course, did not see or hear the ongoing lawlessness “point blank”.

But they were flowers. “Berries” ripened in the autumn of 2010, when Patriarch of All Russia Kirill completed his summer residence in Divnomorskoye, whose powerful fence, reminiscent of a fortress wall, became a direct continuation
the fence of Mr. Semyonov, according to our information - an old patriarchal acquaintance,
who sponsored half of the construction of his Divnomorsky palace.

Cyril's residence, which occupied the entire territory from the sea to the highway, not only “gnawed off” half a kilometer of the public coastline and road, but also blocked the last opportunity for people to safely access the forest and the cemetery. Now they had to make a detour no longer a kilometer, but three kilometers (!), One of which was along the highway.

By the way, initially, i.e. in 2004, a relatively modest 1.8 hectares were allocated for the patriarchal residence, on which it was planned to build a compact country house. There was no talk of blocking the coast and the pedestrian road then (for details, see here: “How the construction of the residence of the patriarch near Gelendzhik began” http://echo.msk.ru/blog/andrey_rudomakha/970108-echo/#comments)

However, under Patriarch Kirill, who replaced Alexy II, who died in 2008, the area of ​​the residence increased 10 times (!), and 12.7 hectares of the State Forest Fund, covered with relic Pitsunda pine, were transferred for construction, felling and complete enclosure of the church, which are covered with relic Pitsunda pine, which are built up, cut down or fencing the law PROHIBITES IN PRINCIPLE.

The current head of Gelendzhik Khrestin V.A. I also did not see these lawlessness "at point blank range". Moreover, in response to citizens’ appeals regarding the blocking of the most popular resort road, the city administration mockingly replied that “the old pedestrian road to Dzhankhot has lost its significance as an object of transport infrastructure” and recommended that vacationers use
for the movement of the highway (!).

Then people decided to turn to the patriarch. They believed that in Divnomorskoye there was a so-called. "excess of execution" - or, to put it simply, the servile desire of individual officials to please His Holiness at any cost, including in violation of the law. In early December 2010, the appeal was handed over (see Open letter to Patriarch Kirill on the website of the public movement "Open Bank"). Almost two months have passed, but the answer
it didn't follow. His Holiness considered the problem insignificant.

No law, no conscience

On February 5, 2011, the public movement "Open Bank" launched an all-Russian action "Modernization of Conscience", the purpose of which was to encourage the church to voluntarily unblock the public beach it had seized. Hundreds of citizens turned to Patriarch Kirill and other well-known figures of the Russian Orthodox Church demanding that they comply with moral and legal laws. Such correspondence, in particular, was conducted on the website of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation with V. Chaplin, chairman of the Department for Interaction between the Church and Society of the Moscow Patriarchate.

However, the society didn’t wait for anything other than streamlined phrases like “maybe it’s worth making it safe to pass along the highway or next to the highway” or “let’s hope that the problem is resolved” (see V. Chaplin on duty in the ward dated 09.03.11. http://www.oprf.ru/discussion/addquestion/122/?answer=&offset=3).

In April 2011, it turned out that the conscience of the hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church cannot be modernized. On the other hand, video cameras and security guards with the manners of special forces were quickly added to the concrete fences that fenced off the public coast and the road. Looking at these patriarchal “innovations”, people realized that the time had come to ask for protection from the state (See “The conscience of the patriarch: there was nothing to modernize”).

In early May 2011, they turned to the guarantor of their constitutional rights -
President of the Russian Federation D.A. Medvedev From the presidential office, their appeals were
redirected to the prosecutor's office and Rosprirodnadzor. Already in June, his employees
we went to Divnomorskoye and confirmed the fact of blocking the coastline with fences of the Russian Orthodox Church (see “The Church breaks the law. And this is officially recognized”). Based on the results of the on-site inspection, the Office of Rosprirodnadzor for the Krasnodar Territory and Adygea was instructed to eliminate the identified violations.

Well, then - silence. The regional Department of Rosprirodnadzor simply spat on this order, i.e. they did not go to the place and the violations were not eliminated. That, in fact, ended the story of citizens' appeals to the President of the Russian Federation. But in Divnomorskoye, another holiday season has begun. Tens of thousands of vacationers came here and went for a walk in their favorite pine forest. And, of course, they stumbled upon a brand new concrete wall from the patriarch, bristling with steel spikes.

Someone, cursing the secular and spiritual authorities, went to look for another place for walking. Someone tried to take a detour along the highway, risking their lives. The strings of vacationers walking with children along the highway overloaded with transport quickly became a sad "attraction" of the Divnomorskoye resort.

"Holy place" behind a concrete fence

In March 2011, responding to citizens on the website of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation about the situation in Divnomorskoye, Archpriest V. Chaplin recommended that they "behave with dignity in a place that will become holy." He, of course, called the new residence of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Gelendzhik region the future "holy place" (see http://www.oprf.ru/discussion/addquestion/122/?answer=&offset=3).

Mr. Chaplin is not an idiot. It is unlikely that he believes that any place where the foot of Patriarch Kirill sets foot automatically acquires holiness. Rather, he meant something else. Namely, the fact that the great charitable deeds constantly performed within the walls of the patriarchal residence will, over time, surely shed grace both on the aforementioned object itself and on the “wild” space surrounding it.

We are forced to state that over the past two years, no charitable deeds, great or small, have been noted here. Never held
here the “spiritual and cultural” promised by the Patriarchate back in February 2010
activities such as "educational work with children and youth, meetings with the public and the creative intelligentsia." The temple did not work, there were no divine services for the parishioners. But in the role of an island of earthly paradise, designed for a single VIP-person, the object functioned extremely intensively.

It is said that His Holiness greatly appreciates his new Black Sea residence. Happens here more and more often. With pleasure, she walks along the paths among the Pitsunda pines and breathes in the healing sea air for a long time in the rotunda arbor, installed above a high cliff.

In the evenings, he descends to their common pier with his neighbor Semyonov and sails to
sea ​​on a snow-white yacht, where she bathes and admires the sunset.

In general, he leads a typical life of a Russian oligarch or a high-ranking civil servant on vacation, whose belonging to a spiritual rank is reminded only by a cross over his luxurious palazzo.

The inhabitants of Divnomorskoye, by the way, treat him like that: as a powerful state official, and such, from the neighborhood with which there are only troubles. For them, the patriarch is now akin to the former Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Serdyukov A.E. (by the way, the owner of the Church Order of the Holy Right-believing Prince Daniel of Moscow), who last summer brought the peaceful and calm Divnomorsk residents to a riot.

The thing is that Mr. Serdyukov, while still a minister, "had his eye" on the best sanatorium in the village "Divnomorskoye", owned by the Ministry of Defense. Well, and, probably, he decided to steal it according to a run-in scheme: first, completely modernize it for budget money, and then declare it a “non-core asset” and sell it to himself at a bargain price through all sorts of shell companies. The minister personally supervised the modernization of the sanatorium. Employees of Divnomorskoye will never forget how Mr. Serdyukov, being in a fair
drunk, wandered around the huge sanatorium park and growled at everyone he met: “Everything is m-mine here! I'm r-firing everyone!" One of the main points of "modernization" in Serdyukov's style was the capture and fencing of the public embankment and beaches adjacent to the sanatorium.

When this happened, the villagers rebelled. They simply had no other choice: after all, the promenade and beaches are the heart of the resort, a guarantee of earnings. Last July, more than five hundred residents of Divnomorsk came to a rally against the Serdyukov fences. The authorities panicked: OMON was called to the village, and the coast was opened to avoid clashes. Immediately after the resignation of the scandalous minister in Divnomorskoye, there were festivities with music and fireworks.

So: during the visits of Patriarch Kirill to this cozy resort corner, he, like the former Minister Serdyukov, managed to turn almost all of its inhabitants against him.

It turned out, for example, that His Holiness, having powerfully wedged his residence between a residential area and a village cemetery, does not tolerate even the slightest reminder of this mournful place. He, in particular, is extremely annoyed by the funeral, accompanied by music and the lamentations of grief-stricken relatives. Therefore, during the entire stay of the patriarch in Divnomorskoye, a police cordon is set up in front of the cemetery, which does not allow funeral processions here. There have already been cases when people returned to the memorial tables with the deceased.

What is happening, of course, hits hard on the nerves of the Divnomorsk people, especially veterans. Not only did the patriarch deprive them of the opportunity to walk to the cemetery on foot and visit the graves of their loved ones when they needed it. Now they are anxiously thinking: with what attempt will they be buried in their native land - the first, second or third?

It also turned out that His Holiness cannot stand the music that sounds in local coastal cafes. A sure sign of the arrival of the patriarch in Divnomorskoye, in addition to cordoning off the cemetery and the nearest roads, is the police and the administration of the village bypassing all entertainment establishments with the demand “Remove the music!” Their owners are indignant: business suffers, incomes fall.

Local fishermen do not have good feelings for His Holiness either. During the visits of the patriarch, patrol boats tightly block the water area adjacent to the village. For fishing schooners and boats, they do not make exceptions. The fishermen stand idle for weeks and only pray to the Lord that His Holiness send them to Moscow as soon as possible.

These prayers became even more desperate after the incident in August, when the guards forbade the fishermen to pick up nets that had been thrown into the sea even before the arrival of the patriarch. After a couple of weeks of "patriarchal bathing" nets were chosen, they were filled with dead fish.

They say that His Holiness turned out to be an extremely difficult neighbor for the workers
the nearest sanatorium "Golubaya Dal" of the Ministry of Atomic Energy of the Russian Federation to his residence. Since the windows and balconies of one of the buildings of the sanatorium look at the patriarchal palace, the patriarch demanded that all the local vacationers be resettled during his visits to Divnomorskoye. Of course, the administration is not warned about the timing of visits, so the emergency shaking out of resort guests from their legal rooms, and at any time of the day or night, has become the norm. As a result, scandals, losses and a blow to the reputation of the sanatorium, until recently impeccable.

But the heaviest blow in the gut was inflicted by His Holiness on local merchants and landlords - that is, almost 90 percent of the population of the village. The economy here is seasonal, focused exclusively on vacationers. Divnomortsy live at the expense of funds earned from renting out housing and selling resort goods.

The amount of money in their pockets is directly proportional to the number of holidaymakers visiting the village. And just with the holidaymakers, things are getting worse and worse. The reason is clear: the main tourist "highlight" of Divnomorsky has always been the Dzhankhotsky botanical reserve with an area of ​​450 hectares and the road passing through it. It was on it that the patriarchal fence “cut” it, cutting off the village from its main attraction.

If Archpriest Chaplin now met with the residents of Divnomorsk and asked if they felt the waves of holiness emanating from the residence of the Russian Orthodox Church, he would be extremely disappointed. People would honestly answer that they feel only waves of lies, hypocrisy and pathological shamelessness. And very many would admit that among themselves they have long called the “spiritual” object on the southern outskirts of Divnomorskoye “Gundyaevka” or “Chertyaevka”, and the highway in front of it - “Road of Death”.

However, church hierarchs do not meet with local residents. Either because they are aware of their real attitude towards themselves, or simply considering it superfluous. But they willingly meet with the local authorities. For example, with the head of Gelendzhik, Khrestin V.A., who was awarded the Order of Sergius of Radonezh by His Holiness last summer. Nominally - for "assistance in the completion of the construction of the Patriarchal Spiritual, Administrative and Cultural Center of the Russian Orthodox Church." In fact, for his connivance with the lawlessness perpetrated by the church on the territory of one of the best resorts in Russia.

Well, there is no doubt that such lawlessness will continue. Just at the time of awarding Mr. Khrestin with an order from the Russian Orthodox Church, the fences of the patriarchal residence were suddenly overgrown with formidable steel “horns” and gratings, through which an electric current was launched.

This was another signal from the "mother church" to all citizens of the country: do not expect mercy! Lawless fence on the public shore will stand. And the "Road of Death" of Patriarch Kirill will continue to collect its bloody harvest.

Palace on the cliff

It is a striking fact that for two years in a row people have been unsuccessfully trying to get from the first Christian of the country the manifestation of precisely those Christian qualities that he is obliged to possess in full measure - conscientiousness, love and mercy. And in response, they stumble only on a blank wall of lies, cruelty and the deepest contempt for their own flock. And, of course, they are trying to find the root cause of what is happening.

Today the authorities have declared war on corruption. The most famous and authoritative politicians in Russia are arguing how to overcome it. And they agree that the transcendental scale of this disaster is a reflection of the general corruption of the spirit, the loss of moral values ​​by tens of millions of people. The conclusion is this: the communist ideology and its moral regulators have sunk into oblivion, and on their
place a spiritual vacuum arose, which was filled with rampant theft and
iniquity.

However, for some reason, none of those arguing remembers that back in the early 90s, a truly grandiose national project was launched in the country, designed to replace the lost Soviet ideals in our minds and hearts and create the very “spiritual bonds” about which President Putin recently spoke . Such a project was the REVIVAL OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH as an institution rooted in a thousand-year Russian history and, as it seemed to many then, that carefully carried through all the storms of the 20th century the values ​​of Christian humanism.

Under the coming renaissance, the church was given enormous wealth, which included thousands of real estate objects - buildings, premises, land plots, as well as benefits and privileges for tens (if not hundreds!) of billions of dollars. These benefits, received at the expense of the people of Russia, have allowed it to become one of the most wealthy religious organizations in the world - which we observe daily and at every step.

But here's the problem: the years of the ROC's renaissance - that is, the rapid multiplication of its churches, courtyards, monasteries and other "spiritual" infrastructure - paradoxically coincided with a "renaissance" of a completely different kind, which experts call the period of RUSSIAN CRIMINAL AND
CORRUPTION. And this simply means that the church has failed to cope with its main function - to be the regulator of the moral state of society.

The church is a living organism. In the 1990s, a window of opportunity opened up before her, as well as before the whole society. She could, for example, choose the thorny path of a defender of gospel truths in the inhuman era of primitive accumulation. And in this case, she would have to strongly oppose the "new Russian" bandits, and the thieving oligarchy, and the extremely immoral government that gave birth to them. Her life would be full of worries and anxieties. But this path of spirit and conscience, no doubt, would make her truly strong and independent, and her authority among the people would be well-deserved. And then the history of Russia in recent decades would certainly have developed differently.

But she chose a different path, making her usual bet on a "cordial alliance" with the bureaucracy. Remember who were her most desirable friends and clients over the past twenty years, whom she rewarded and praised the most? Officials and their business partners are often outright thieves and bandits. Remember how the gates of temples, monasteries and other "God's" places opened wide before them. Remember the classic scenes of sprinkling "holy water" on official and gangster jeeps and limousines - as well as their yachts, apartments, offices, villas, etc.

Remember the no less classic slogan from Viktor Pelevin's cult novel "Generation P" - "A respectable Lord for respectable gentlemen!" - the most succinctly expressing the real essence of the social strategy of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 90s. Remember the leitmotif of most of the interviews given by its hierarchs in the 2000s: “Give us back what the Soviet government took away, and we will be happy!” Finally, remember how most new churches were built and still continue to be built in the country: either through the most severe administrative pressure on small and medium-sized businesses, or directly at the expense of the state budget - as, for example, this is happening now with the plans of the Moscow authorities to build in the city 200 typical temples within walking distance(!). The simple and obvious truth that true faith is not planted like potatoes does not occur to the leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church and their bureaucratic patrons. Hence the eternal conflicts with the townspeople protesting against the aggressive intrusion into their squares and parks by "highly spiritual" colossus of concrete and steel.

The Church wanted to be a power - and it became a power. More precisely, an organic part of the extremely inefficient and corrupt bureaucracy of the Russian Federation. Its main function today is a violent imitation of the "spiritual revival of Russia" at the expense of the budget. It has not been thinking about becoming a truly spiritual institution, truly useful to society, for a long time. She has other goals
priorities. She wants to continue to equip islands of earthly paradise for herself.
in the middle of a stagnating and dying country.

And in this sense, the situation around the patriarchal residence in Divnomorskoye is not an anomaly at all, no. It is, unfortunately, the norm of behavior for our shepherds, completely free from the opinion of their own flock. Of course, there are other people among the priests, but they do not determine the current face of the ROC. A typical portrait of a successful "father" is a symbiosis of an official and a businessman who rigidly builds his business on the use of administrative connections and leverage. Such quick-witted "priests", popularly referred to as "priests", somehow spontaneously grow mansions on the best public lands and "death roads" appear in front of their blank fences or under the wheels of their luxurious foreign cars. Suffice it to recall the recent sensational case of hieromonk Pavel Semin, who killed two people in his Mercedes-Gelendvagen in Moscow and disabled a third, and then cowardly fled the scene of the tragedy. As it turned out, the 26-year-old "humble monk", a petty clerk of the Patriarchate's manager, owned a whole fleet of exclusive cars with "thieves" numbers, plus several elite apartments.

And how many such “humble” monks and priests are now traveling around Russia,
warmed by the authorities of different levels and confident in their "sacred" right to
special, exclusive life? What kind of spirituality can we talk about here, what kind of Christian attitude to the world and people?! So now we have another "department for spiritual affairs" instead of the church, and instead of a moral example for the nation - bureaucratic show, cynicism and shameless luxury elevated to virtue.

Doesn't history teach us anything? After all, the church had a similar experience of a "symphony" with the authorities - and it ended in tears. In October 1917, the Russian Empire collapsed. One of its pillars was the Russian Orthodox Church with 80,000 churches and almost 117 million parishioners. Just like today, she sang praises to the authorities in exchange for generous maintenance and a comfortable life, assured her of people's love and support. And when, under the weight of mistakes and crimes, it crumbled into
dust, it suddenly became clear that there was no moral force in the country capable of
stop people at the precipice of mutual hatred and fratricide. All millennial
church power, all its authority and greatness, which seemed indestructible, “faded” in a second, and millions of “respectable” parishioners turned into the most furious persecutors of their own pastors and destroyers of their own churches. For the centuries-old profanation of the spirit and faith, the country paid a terrible price.

Do you know when was the last time the head of the Russian Orthodox Church personally spoke in defense of the lives and dignity of our compatriots? In August 1698. Then the young Tsar Peter decided, in addition to the one and a half hundred archers hanged for supporting his disgraced sister Sophia, to execute another thousand for "intimidation". The relatives of the condemned turned to Patriarch Adrian. He was so shocked
the sight of thousands of weeping women, children and old men who led their march to
Preobrazhenskoe. The procession stretched for several versts, the most
ancient and respected icons. People stood under the windows of the royal chambers and prayed,
asking for mercy. Seeing this, Peter became furious and ordered everyone to be expelled, including Adrian. The shooters were executed. The patriarch fell seriously ill and died. According to contemporaries - from grief that he could not protect people. Peter's lesson was learned hard. Our subsequent primates already thought and “compassionate” with the people differently from Adrian. They were closer to the peace of personal palaces and the contemplation of seagulls in beautiful pavilions over the sea. A chasm opened up between their speeches and deeds.

“In the modern information environment, any news related to the Church is viewed through a magnifying glass. Any unworthy act of a person associated with the Church causes a flurry of negative publications... The Church teaches people a righteous life, and we, its members, are called to be an example for unbelievers and unbelievers, not only in words, but also in deeds!” These words belong to today's head of the Russian Orthodox Church. They were pronounced by him on December 28 at a diocesan meeting in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, summing up the results of the patriarchal ministry for 2012. Interesting: did Patriarch Kirill ever address them to himself personally?

hope dies last

Recently, residents of the Divnomorskoye resort turned to the activists of the “OPEN SHORE” movement. After the incident with their countryman Vitaly Savinykh, who was hit by a car near the residence of the Russian Orthodox Church, they asked for our assistance in publishing their Open Letter to Patriarch Kirill. The motives of the residents of Divnomorsk are simple and understandable: “We love, honor, respect our native Orthodox Church, but we categorically refuse to be maimed and die because of its violation of the legislation of the Russian Federation!”

The letter was signed by 973 people.

"OPEN LETTER

residents of the village of Divnomorskoye, Gelendzhik municipalityHis Holiness Patriarch of All Russia Kirill

Hello Your Holiness!

Most of us are Orthodox Christians. That is why we ask for your personal immediate intervention in a situation that directly threatens our lives and the lives of our children.

In the autumn of 2010, a concrete fence was installed around the residence of the Russian Orthodox Church in the village of Divnomorskoye, which, following the same concrete fence of the mansion at 14 Golubodalskaya Street (and, in fact, being its continuation), completely blocked the 500-meter section of the coastal strip of our village and the pedestrian road that runs through it.

We, Your Holiness, consider such a blockade completely unacceptable.

This section of the road is located within the administrative boundaries of the village of Divnomorskoye and, since the century before last, has served its population as the only convenient and safe way out into the forest and to the village cemetery, that is, according to the Law (clauses 9,10,12, article 85 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation), it is land of common use of the municipality and is not subject to any alienation and partitioning in principle.

At the same time, it is part of the coastal strip of the Divnomorskoye village, which the Law considers exclusively as a territory for the general use of all citizens of the Russian Federation and intends for their free and safe stay and movement (clauses 1,2,3,6,8 of article 6 Water Code of the Russian Federation).

The installation of a fence in this place not only grossly violates the Law, but also forces the residents of the village and vacationers to get to the forest and the local cemetery bypassing, walking a kilometer-long stretch of the Praskoveevsky highway - very narrow, winding and without sidewalks. The intensity of car traffic here is extremely high. Pedestrians are separated from the roadway by a few centimeters, they are constantly at risk of being under the wheels of vehicles.

Tragic incidents on the highway adjacent to your residence are already happening. So, on August 29 last year, a student of the Don State Technical University Vitaly Savinykh was hit by a car here. He was returning from the village cemetery, where he visited his mother's grave. In a state of traumatic shock, he was taken to intensive care, where he fell into a coma. He was saved only by the selfless actions of doctors. The young man will have a long treatment, after which the issue of his disability will be decided. Obviously, such tragedies will be repeated here in the future.

Your Holiness!

In your speeches, you constantly emphasize the importance of observing moral and legal laws, and preach the highest value of every human life. However, in the situation with the blocking of the coast of the village of Divnomorskoye, these laws and principles were violated in the most rude and inhuman way.

We call on Your Holiness to restore our legal right to a peaceful and secure life in our home village. We are very much looking forward to You a wise, far-sighted and merciful decision.

There are 67 signature sheets in total.

Coordinator of the All-Russian public movement "Open
coast "Sergey MENZHERITSKY.

Please support this issue on the Democrat:

Much has been written and talked about this road for more than one year. So what kind of road is this and what does “patriarch” Kirill have to do with it? Has anything changed since then, because there are not only numerous protests, but also victims of this inadequate situation…

First a video, then an article, photos and scanned documents.

On August 29, 2012, on the highway near the resort village of Divnomorskoye (this is in the Gelendzhik district of the Krasnodar Territory), a fifth-year student of the Don State University, Vitaly Savinykh, was hit by a car.

He was returning home from the village cemetery, where he visited his mother's grave. In a state of traumatic shock, the victim was taken to intensive care, where he fell into a coma. He was saved by a miracle. Vitaly's diagnosis: multiple fractures of the pelvis and chest, fracture of the scapula, contusion of the brain, extensive lacerations of the face and neck, multiple bruises of internal organs.

Golden hectares for respectable gentlemen

Two years ago, no one walked on this highway. First, it is far from the sea. Secondly, it is very narrow, winding, without sidewalks and, moreover, extremely busy - during the holiday season, cars rush through here one after another.

Well, and, thirdly, why risk your life if a wonderful pedestrian road is laid right along the coast, along which it is only five hundred meters to the local cemetery and the beloved Dzhankhotsky relic forest?

By the way, the road is famous: it was built more than a century ago by Fyodor Shcherbina, an outstanding Russian scientist, public figure and historian of the Kuban Cossacks. It was he who founded the neighboring village of Dzhanhot and had a dacha here. After the revolution of 1917, he left Russia, but his path faithfully served the people. More than a million vacationers passed along its picturesque serpentine in the shade of centuries-old Pitsunda pines, it was included in the list of the best tourist routes of the USSR. They took care of the road, they were proud of it. No one could have imagined that it could be blocked and appropriated.

What seemed savagery in Soviet times has become commonplace today. In 2005, the mayor of Gelendzhik Ozerov S.P. (later - State Duma deputy from"United Russia") leased for 49 years 1.2 hectares of the coast of the resortDivnomorskoye village together with the initial section of the Divnomorskoye-Dzhankhot road.

At the same time, the lease agreement for some reason did not contain an encumbrance, obligatory in such cases (Article 23 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation), in the form of the right of passage through the site for the population and vacationers (i.e., the right of public easement).

Formally, a certain Semyonova V.A. acted as a tenant, but her husband Semyonov V.Yu. became the true owner of a truly “golden hectare”. - the owner of the transport company "OCHAKOVO-AVTO".

He immediately fenced off the public road and the coastal strip and began to blow them up (!), clearing the place. Soon, the Sea Club VIP-hotel with a park, a swimming pool and a private pier grew over the sea (see http://seaclubvip.ru/) From now on, anyone who wanted to go into the forest or to the cemetery had to make a kilometer-long detour around the Semenov VIP -enterprises. The municipality of Gelendzhik, of course, did not see or hear the ongoing lawlessness “point blank”.

But they were flowers. “Berries” ripened in the autumn of 2010, when Patriarch of All Russia Kirill completed his summer residence in Divnomorskoye, whose powerful fence, reminiscent of a fortress wall, became a direct continuationthe fence of Mr. Semyonov, according to our information - an old patriarchal acquaintance,who sponsored half of the construction of his Divnomorsky palace.

Cyril's residence, which occupied the entire territory from the sea to the highway, not only “gnawed off” half a kilometer of the public coastline and road, but also blocked the last opportunity for people to safely access the forest and the cemetery. Now they had to make a detour no longer a kilometer, but three kilometers (!), One of which was along the highway.

By the way, initially, i.e. in 2004, a relatively modest 1.8 hectares were allocated for the patriarchal residence, on which it was planned to build a compact country house. There was no talk of blocking the coast and the pedestrian road then (for details, see here: “How the construction of the residence of the patriarch near Gelendzhik began” http://echo.msk.ru/blog/andrey_rudomakha/970108-echo/#comments)

However, under Patriarch Kirill, who replaced Alexy II, who died in 2008, the area of ​​the residence increased 10 times (!), and 12.7 hectares of the State Forest Fund, covered with relic Pitsunda pine, were transferred for construction, felling and complete enclosure of the church, which are covered with relic Pitsunda pine, which are built up, cut down or fencing the law PROHIBITES IN PRINCIPLE.

The current head of Gelendzhik Khrestin V.A. I also did not see these lawlessness "at point blank range". Moreover, in response to citizens’ appeals regarding the blocking of the most popular resort road, the city administration mockingly replied that “the old pedestrian road to Dzhankhot has lost its significance as an object of transport infrastructure” and recommended that vacationers usefor the movement of the highway (!).

Then people decided to turn to the patriarch. They believed that in Divnomorskoye there was a so-called. "excess of execution" - or, to put it simply, the servile desire of individual officials to please His Holiness at any cost, including in violation of the law. In early December 2010, the appeal was submitted (see Open letter to Patriarch Kirill on the website of the public movement "Open Bank" http://openbereg.ru/?p=204). Almost two months have passed, but the answerit didn't follow. His Holiness considered the problem insignificant.

No law, no conscience

On February 5, 2011, the public movement "Open Bank" launched an all-Russian action "Modernization of Conscience", the purpose of which was to encourage the church to voluntarily unblock the public beach it had seized. Hundreds of citizens turned to Patriarch Kirill and other well-known figures of the Russian Orthodox Church demanding that they comply with moral and legal laws. Such correspondence, in particular, was conducted on the website of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation with V. Chaplin, chairman of the Department for Interaction between the Church and Society of the Moscow Patriarchate.

However, the society didn’t wait for anything other than streamlined phrases like “maybe it’s worth making it safe to pass along the highway or next to the highway” or “let’s hope that the problem is resolved” (see V. Chaplin on duty in the ward dated 09.03.11. http://www.oprf.ru/discussion/addquestion/122/?answer=&offset=3).

In April 2011, it turned out that the conscience of the hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church cannot be modernized. On the other hand, video cameras and security guards with the manners of special forces were quickly added to the concrete fences that fenced off the public coast and the road. Looking at these patriarchal “innovations”, people realized that the time had come to ask for protection from the state (See “The conscience of the patriarch: there was nothing to modernize” http://openbereg.ru/?p=1033).

In early May 2011, they turned to the guarantor of their constitutional rights -President of the Russian Federation D.A. Medvedev From the presidential office, their appeals wereredirected to the prosecutor's office and Rosprirodnadzor. Already in June, his employeeswe went to Divnomorskoye and confirmed the fact of blocking the coastline with fences of the Russian Orthodox Church (see “The Church breaks the law. And this is officially recognized” http://openbereg.ru/?p=1476). Based on the results of the on-site inspection, the Office of Rosprirodnadzor for the Krasnodar Territory and Adygea was instructed to eliminate the identified violations.

Well, then - silence. The regional Department of Rosprirodnadzor simply spat on this order, i.e. they did not go to the place and the violations were not eliminated. That, in fact, ended the story of citizens' appeals to the President of the Russian Federation. But in Divnomorskoye, another holiday season has begun. Tens of thousands of vacationers came here and went for a walk in their favorite pine forest. And, of course, they stumbled upon a brand new concrete wall from the patriarch, bristling with steel spikes.

Someone, cursing the secular and spiritual authorities, went to look for another place for walking. Someone tried to take a detour along the highway, risking their lives. The strings of vacationers walking with children along the highway overloaded with transport quickly became a sad "attraction" of the Divnomorskoye resort.

"Holy place" behind a concrete fence

In March 2011, responding to citizens on the website of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation about the situation in Divnomorskoye, Archpriest V. Chaplin recommended that they "behave with dignity in a place that will become holy." He, of course, called the new residence of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Gelendzhik region the future "holy place" (see http://www.oprf.ru/discussion/addquestion/122/?answer=&offset=3).

Mr. Chaplin is not an idiot. It is unlikely that he believes that any place where the foot of Patriarch Kirill sets foot automatically acquires holiness. He probably meant something else. Namely, the fact that the great charitable deeds constantly performed within the walls of the patriarchal residence will, over time, surely shed grace both on the aforementioned object itself and on the “wild” space surrounding it.

We are forced to state that over the past two years, no charitable deeds, great or small, have been noted here. Never heldhere the “spiritual and cultural” promised by the Patriarchate back in February 2010activities such as "educational work with children and youth, meetings with the public and the creative intelligentsia." The temple did not work, there were no divine services for the parishioners. But in the role of an island of earthly paradise, designed for a single VIP-person, the object functioned extremely intensively.

They say that the patriarch highly appreciates his new Black Sea residence. Happens here more and more often. With pleasure, she walks along the paths among the Pitsunda pines and breathes in the healing sea air for a long time in the rotunda arbor, installed above a high cliff.

In the evenings, he descends to their common pier with his neighbor Semyonov and sails tosea ​​on a snow-white yacht, where she bathes and admires the sunset.

In general, he leads a typical life of a Russian oligarch or a high-ranking civil servant on vacation, whose belonging to a spiritual rank is reminded only by a cross over his luxurious palazzo.

The inhabitants of Divnomorskoye, by the way, treat him like that: as a powerful state official, and such, from the neighborhood with which there are only troubles. For them, the patriarch is now akin to the former Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Serdyukov A.E. (by the way, the owner of the Church Order of the Holy Right-believing Prince Daniel of Moscow), who last summer brought the peaceful and calm Divnomorsk residents to a riot.

The thing is that Mr. Serdyukov, while still a minister, "had his eye" on the best sanatorium in the village "Divnomorskoye", owned by the Ministry of Defense. Well, and, probably, he decided to steal it according to a run-in scheme: first, completely modernize it for budget money, and then declare it a “non-core asset” and sell it to himself at a bargain price through all sorts of shell companies. The minister personally supervised the modernization of the sanatorium. Employees of Divnomorskoye will never forget how Mr. Serdyukov, being in a fairdrunk, wandered around the huge sanatorium park and growled at everyone he met: “Everything is m-mine here! I'm r-firing everyone!" One of the main points of "modernization" in Serdyukov's style was the capture and fencing of the public embankment and beaches adjacent to the sanatorium.

When this happened, the villagers rebelled. They simply had no other choice: after all, the promenade and beaches are the heart of the resort, a guarantee of earnings. Last July, more than five hundred residents of Divnomorsk came to a rally against the Serdyukov fences. The authorities panicked: OMON was called to the village, and the coast was opened to avoid clashes. Immediately after the resignation of the scandalous minister in Divnomorskoye, there were festivities with music and fireworks.

So: during the visits of Patriarch Kirill to this cozy resort corner, he, like the former Minister Serdyukov, managed to turn almost all of its inhabitants against him.

It turned out, for example, that His Holiness, having powerfully wedged his residence between a residential area and a village cemetery, does not tolerate even the slightest reminder of this mournful place. He, in particular, is extremely annoyed by the funeral, accompanied by music and the lamentations of grief-stricken relatives. Therefore, during the entire stay of the patriarch in Divnomorskoye, a police cordon is set up in front of the cemetery, which does not allow funeral processions here. There have already been cases when people returned to the memorial tables with the deceased.

What is happening, of course, hits hard on the nerves of the Divnomorsk people, especially veterans. Not only did the patriarch deprive them of the opportunity to walk to the cemetery on foot and visit the graves of their loved ones when they needed it. Now they are anxiously thinking: with what attempt will they be buried in their native land - the first, second or third?

It also turned out that His Holiness cannot stand the music that sounds in local coastal cafes. A sure sign of the arrival of the patriarch in Divnomorskoye, in addition to cordoning off the cemetery and the nearest roads, is the police and the administration of the village bypassing all entertainment establishments with the demand “Remove the music!” Their owners are indignant: business suffers, incomes fall.

Local fishermen do not have good feelings for His Holiness either. During the visits of the patriarch, patrol boats tightly block the water area adjacent to the village. For fishing schooners and boats, they do not make exceptions. The fishermen stand idle for weeks and only pray to the Lord that He would send His Holiness to Moscow as soon as possible.

These prayers became even more desperate after the incident in August, when the guards forbade the fishermen to pick up nets that had been thrown into the sea even before the arrival of the patriarch. After a couple of weeks of "patriarchal bathing" nets were chosen, they were filled with dead fish.

They say that His Holiness turned out to be an extremely difficult neighbor for the workersthe nearest sanatorium "Golubaya Dal" of the Ministry of Atomic Energy of the Russian Federation to his residence. Since the windows and balconies of one of the buildings of the sanatorium look at the patriarchal palace, the patriarch demanded that all the local vacationers be resettled during his visits to Divnomorskoye. Of course, the administration is not warned about the timing of visits, so the emergency shaking out of resort guests from their legal rooms, and at any time of the day or night, has become the norm. As a result, scandals, losses and a blow to the reputation of the sanatorium, until recently impeccable.

But the heaviest blow in the gut was inflicted by His Holiness on local merchants and landlords - that is, almost 90 percent of the population of the village. The economy here is seasonal, focused exclusively on vacationers. Divnomortsy live at the expense of funds earned from renting out housing and selling resort goods.

The amount of money in their pockets is directly proportional to the number of holidaymakers visiting the village. And just with the holidaymakers, things are getting worse and worse. The reason is clear: the main tourist "highlight" of Divnomorsky has always been the Dzhankhotsky botanical reserve with an area of ​​450 hectares and the road passing through it. It was on it that the patriarchal fence “cut” it, cutting off the village from its main attraction.

If Archpriest Chaplin now met with the residents of Divnomorsk and asked if they felt the waves of holiness emanating from the residence of the Russian Orthodox Church, he would be extremely disappointed. People would honestly answer that they feel only waves of lies, hypocrisy and pathological shamelessness. And very many would admit that among themselves they have long called the “spiritual” object on the southern outskirts of Divnomorskoye “Gundyaevka” or “Chertyaevka”, and the highway in front of it - “Road of Death”.

However, church hierarchs do not meet with local residents. Either because they are aware of their real attitude towards themselves, or simply considering it superfluous. But they willingly meet with the local authorities. For example, with the head of Gelendzhik, Khrestin V.A., who was awarded the Order of Sergius of Radonezh by His Holiness last summer. Nominally - for "assistance in the completion of the construction of the Patriarchal Spiritual, Administrative and Cultural Center of the Russian Orthodox Church." In fact, for his connivance with the lawlessness perpetrated by the church on the territory of one of the best resorts in Russia.

Well, there is no doubt that such lawlessness will continue. Just at the time of awarding Mr. Khrestin with an order from the Russian Orthodox Church, the fences of the patriarchal residence were suddenly overgrown with formidable steel “horns” and gratings, through which an electric current was launched.

This was another signal from the "mother church" to all citizens of the country: do not expect mercy! Lawless fence on the public shore will stand. And the "Road of Death" of Patriarch Kirill will continue to collect its bloody harvest.

Palace on the cliff

It is a striking fact that for two years in a row people have been unsuccessfully trying to get from the first Christian of the country the manifestation of precisely those Christian qualities that he is obliged to possess in full measure - conscientiousness, love and mercy. And in response, they stumble only on a blank wall of lies, cruelty and the deepest contempt for their own flock. And, of course, they are trying to find the root cause of what is happening.

Today the authorities have declared war on corruption. The most famous and authoritative politicians in Russia are arguing how to overcome it. And they agree that the transcendental scale of this disaster is a reflection of the general corruption of the spirit, the loss of moral values ​​by tens of millions of people. The conclusion is this: the communist ideology and its moral regulators have sunk into oblivion, and on theirplace a spiritual vacuum arose, which was filled with rampant theft and iniquity.

However, for some reason, none of those arguing remembers that back in the early 90s, a truly grandiose national project was launched in the country, designed to replace the lost Soviet ideals in our minds and hearts and create the very “spiritual bonds” about which President Putin recently spoke . Such a project was the REVIVAL OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH as an institution rooted in a thousand-year Russian history and, as it seemed to many then, that carefully carried through all the storms of the 20th century the values ​​of Christian humanism.

Under the coming renaissance, the church was given enormous wealth, which included thousands of real estate objects - buildings, premises, land plots, as well as benefits and privileges for tens (if not hundreds!) of billions of dollars. These benefits, received at the expense of the people of Russia, have allowed it to become one of the most wealthy religious organizations in the world - which we observe daily and at every step.

But here's the problem: the years of the ROC's renaissance - that is, the rapid multiplication of its churches, courtyards, monasteries and other "spiritual" infrastructure - paradoxically coincided with a "renaissance" of a completely different kind, which experts call the period of RUSSIAN CRIMINAL ANDCORRUPTION. And this simply means that the church has failed to cope with its main function - to be the regulator of the moral state of society.

The church is a living organism. In the 1990s, a window of opportunity opened up before her, as well as before the whole society. She could, for example, choose the thorny path of a defender of gospel truths in the inhuman era of primitive accumulation. And in this case, she would have to strongly oppose the "new Russian" bandits, and the thieving oligarchy, and the extremely immoral government that gave birth to them. Her life would be full of worries and anxieties. But this path of spirit and conscience, no doubt, would make her truly strong and independent, and her authority among the people would be well-deserved. And then the history of Russia in recent decades would certainly have developed differently.

But she chose a different path, making her usual bet on a "cordial alliance" with the bureaucracy. Remember who were her most desirable friends and clients over the past twenty years, whom she rewarded and praised the most? Officials and their business partners are often outright thieves and bandits. Remember how the gates of temples, monasteries and other "God's" places opened wide before them. Remember the classic scenes of sprinkling "holy water" on official and gangster jeeps and limousines - as well as their yachts, apartments, offices, villas, etc.

Remember the no less classic slogan from Viktor Pelevin's cult novel "Generation P" - "A respectable Lord for respectable gentlemen!" - the most succinctly expressing the real essence of the social strategy of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 90s. Remember the leitmotif of most of the interviews given by its hierarchs in the 2000s: “Give us back what the Soviet government took away, and we will be happy!” Finally, remember how most new churches were built and still continue to be built in the country: either through the most severe administrative pressure on small and medium-sized businesses, or directly at the expense of the state budget - as, for example, this is happening now with the plans of the Moscow authorities to build in the city 200 typical temples within walking distance(!). The simple and obvious truth that true faith is not planted like potatoes does not occur to the leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church and their bureaucratic patrons. Hence the eternal conflicts with the townspeople protesting against the aggressive intrusion into their squares and parks by "highly spiritual" colossus of concrete and steel.

The Church wanted to be a power - and it became a power. More precisely, an organic part of the extremely inefficient and corrupt bureaucracy of the Russian Federation. Its main function today is a violent imitation of the "spiritual revival of Russia" at the expense of the budget. It has not been thinking about becoming a truly spiritual institution, truly useful to society, for a long time. She has other goalspriorities. She wants to continue to equip islands of earthly paradise for herself.in the middle of a stagnating and dying country.

And in this sense, the situation around the patriarchal residence in Divnomorskoye is not an anomaly at all, no. It is, unfortunately, the norm of behavior for our shepherds, completely free from the opinion of their own flock. Of course, there are other people among the priests, but they do not determine the current face of the ROC. A typical portrait of a successful "father" is a symbiosis of an official and a businessman who rigidly builds his business on the use of administrative connections and leverage. Such quick-witted "priests", popularly referred to as "priests", somehow spontaneously grow mansions on the best public lands and "death roads" appear in front of their blank fences or under the wheels of their luxurious foreign cars. Suffice it to recall the recent sensational case of hieromonk Pavel Semin, who killed two people in his Mercedes-Gelendvagen in Moscow and disabled a third, and then cowardly fled the scene of the tragedy. As it turned out, the 26-year-old "humble monk", a petty clerk of the Patriarchate's manager, owned a whole fleet of exclusive cars with "thieves" numbers, plus several elite apartments.

And how many such “humble” monks and priests are now traveling around Russia,warmed by the authorities of different levels and confident in their "sacred" right tospecial, exclusive life? What kind of spirituality can we talk about here, what kind of Christian attitude to the world and people?! So now we have another "department for spiritual affairs" instead of the church, and instead of a moral example for the nation - bureaucratic show, cynicism and shameless luxury elevated to virtue.

Doesn't history teach us anything? After all, the church had a similar experience of a "symphony" with the authorities - and it ended in tears. In October 1917, the Russian Empire collapsed. One of its pillars was the Russian Orthodox Church with 80,000 churches and almost 117 million parishioners. Just like today, she sang praises to the authorities in exchange for generous maintenance and a comfortable life, assured her of people's love and support. And when, under the weight of mistakes and crimes, it crumbled intodust, it suddenly became clear that there was no moral force in the country capable ofstop people at the precipice of mutual hatred and fratricide. All millennialchurch power, all its authority and greatness, which seemed indestructible, “faded” in a second, and millions of “respectable” parishioners turned into the most furious persecutors of their own pastors and destroyers of their own churches. For the centuries-old profanation of the spirit and faith, the country paid a terrible price.

Do you know when was the last time the head of the Russian Orthodox Church personally spoke in defense of the lives and dignity of our compatriots? In August 1698. Then the young Tsar Peter decided, in addition to the one and a half hundred archers hanged for supporting his disgraced sister Sophia, to execute another thousand for "intimidation". The relatives of the condemned turned to Patriarch Adrian. He was so shocked by the sight of thousands of sobbing women, children and old people that he led their campaign to Preobrazhenskoye. The procession stretched for several versts, the most ancient and beloved icons were carried in front. People stood under the windows of the royal chambers and prayed, asking for mercy. Seeing this, Peter became furious and ordered everyone to be expelled, including Adrian. The shooters were executed. The patriarch fell seriously ill and died. According to contemporaries - from grief that he could not protect people. Peter's lesson was learned hard. Our subsequent primates already thought and “compassionate” with the people differently from Adrian. They were closer to the peace of personal palaces and the contemplation of seagulls in beautiful pavilions over the sea. A chasm opened up between their speeches and deeds.

“In the modern information environment, any news related to the Church is viewed through a magnifying glass. Any unworthy act of a person associated with the Church causes a flurry of negative publications... The Church teaches people a righteous life, and we, its members, are called to be an example for unbelievers and unbelievers, not only in words, but also in deeds!” These words belong to today's head of the Russian Orthodox Church. They were pronounced by him on December 28 at a diocesan meeting in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, summing up the results of the patriarchal ministry for 2012. Interesting: did Patriarch Kirill ever address them to himself personally?

hope dies last

Recently, residents of the Divnomorskoye resort turned to the activists of the “OPEN SHORE” movement. After the incident with their countryman Vitaly Savinykh, who was hit by a car near the residence of the Russian Orthodox Church, they asked for our assistance in publishing their Open Letter to Patriarch Kirill. The motives of the residents of Divnomorsk are simple and understandable: “We love, honor, respect our native Orthodox Church, but we categorically refuse to be maimed and die because of its violation of the legislation of the Russian Federation!”

The letter was signed by 973 people.

"OPEN LETTER

residents of the village of Divnomorskoye, Gelendzhik municipalityHis Holiness Patriarch Kirill of All Russia:

Hello Your Holiness!

Most of us are Orthodox Christians. That is why we ask for your personal immediate intervention in a situation that directly threatens our lives and the lives of our children.

In the autumn of 2010, a concrete fence was installed around the residence of the Russian Orthodox Church in the village of Divnomorskoye, which, following the same concrete fence of the mansion at 14 Golubodalskaya Street (and, in fact, being its continuation), completely blocked the 500-meter section of the coastal strip of our village and the pedestrian road that runs through it.

We, Your Holiness, consider such a blockade completely unacceptable.

This section of the road is located within the administrative boundaries of the village of Divnomorskoye and, since the century before last, has served its population as the only convenient and safe way out into the forest and to the village cemetery, that is, according to the Law (clauses 9,10,12, article 85 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation), it is land of common use of the municipality and is not subject to any alienation and partitioning in principle.

At the same time, it is part of the coastal strip of the Divnomorskoye village, which the Law considers exclusively as a territory for the general use of all citizens of the Russian Federation and intends for their free and safe stay and movement (clauses 1,2,3,6,8 of article 6 Water Code of the Russian Federation).

The installation of a fence in this place not only grossly violates the Law, but also forces the residents of the village and vacationers to get to the forest and the local cemetery bypassing, walking a kilometer-long stretch of the Praskoveevsky highway - very narrow, winding and without sidewalks. The intensity of car traffic here is extremely high. Pedestrians are separated from the roadway by a few centimeters, they are constantly at risk of being under the wheels of vehicles.

Tragic incidents on the highway adjacent to your residence are already happening. So, on August 29 last year, a student of the Don State Technical University Vitaly Savinykh was hit by a car here. He was returning from the village cemetery, where he visited his mother's grave. In a state of traumatic shock, he was taken to intensive care, where he fell into a coma. He was saved only by the selfless actions of doctors. The young man will have a long treatment, after which the issue of his disability will be decided. Obviously, such tragedies will be repeated here in the future.

Your Holiness!

In your speeches, you constantly emphasize the importance of observing moral and legal laws, and preach the highest value of every human life. However, in the situation with the blocking of the coast of the village of Divnomorskoye, these laws and principles were violated in the most rude and inhuman way.

We call on Your Holiness to restore our legal right to a peaceful and secure life in our home village. We are very much looking forward to You a wise, far-sighted and merciful decision.

There are 67 signature sheets in total.

Coordinator of the All-Russian public movement "Open shore"

Sergey MENZHERITSKY

Please support this issue on the Democrat:

On August 29, 2012, on the highway near the resort village of Divnomorskoye (this is in the Gelendzhik district of the Krasnodar Territory), a fifth-year student of the Don State University, Vitaly Savinykh, was hit by a car.

He was returning home from the village cemetery, where he visited his mother's grave. In a state of traumatic shock, the victim was taken to intensive care, where he fell into a coma. He was saved by a miracle. Vitaly's diagnosis: multiple fractures of the pelvis and chest, fracture of the scapula, contusion of the brain, extensive lacerations of the face and neck, multiple bruises of internal organs.

Golden hectares for respectable gentlemen

Two years ago, no one walked on this highway. First, it is far from the sea. Secondly, it is very narrow, winding, without sidewalks and, moreover, extremely busy - during the holiday season, cars rush through here one after another.

Well, and, thirdly, why risk your life if a wonderful pedestrian road is laid right along the coast, along which it is only five hundred meters to the local cemetery and the beloved Dzhankhotsky relic forest?

By the way, the road is famous: it was built more than a century ago by Fyodor Shcherbina, an outstanding Russian scientist, public figure and historian of the Kuban Cossacks. It was he who founded the neighboring village of Dzhanhot and had a dacha here. After the revolution of 1917, he left Russia, but his path faithfully served the people. Over a million vacationers passed along its picturesque serpentine in the shade of centuries-old Pitsunda pines every year; it was included in the list of the best tourist routes of the USSR. They took care of the road, they were proud of it. No one could have imagined that it could be blocked and appropriated.

What seemed savagery in Soviet times has become commonplace today. In 2005, the mayor of Gelendzhik Ozerov S.P. (later - State Duma deputy from
"United Russia") leased for 49 years 1.2 hectares of the coast of the resort
Divnomorskoye village together with the initial section of the Divnomorskoye-Dzhankhot road.

At the same time, the lease agreement for some reason did not contain an encumbrance, obligatory in such cases (Article 23 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation), in the form of the right of passage through the site for the population and vacationers (i.e., the right of public easement).

Formally, a certain Semyonova V.A. acted as a tenant, but her husband Semyonov V.Yu. became the true owner of a truly “golden hectare”. - the owner of the transport company "OCHAKOVO-AVTO".

He immediately fenced off the public road and the coastal strip and began to blow them up (!), clearing the place. Soon, the Sea Club VIP-hotel with a park, a swimming pool and a private pier grew over the sea (see http://seaclubvip.ru/) From now on, anyone who wanted to go into the forest or to the cemetery had to make a kilometer-long detour around the Semenov VIP -enterprises. The municipality of Gelendzhik, of course, did not see or hear the ongoing lawlessness “point blank”.

But they were flowers. “Berries” ripened in the autumn of 2010, when Patriarch of All Russia Kirill completed his summer residence in Divnomorskoye, whose powerful fence, reminiscent of a fortress wall, became a direct continuation
the fence of Mr. Semyonov, according to our information - an old patriarchal acquaintance,
who sponsored half of the construction of his Divnomorsky palace.

Cyril's residence, which occupied the entire territory from the sea to the highway, not only “gnawed off” half a kilometer of the public coastline and road, but also blocked the last opportunity for people to safely access the forest and the cemetery. Now they had to make a detour no longer a kilometer, but three kilometers (!), One of which was along the highway.

By the way, initially, i.e. in 2004, a relatively modest 1.8 hectares were allocated for the patriarchal residence, on which it was planned to build a compact country house. There was no talk of blocking the coast and the pedestrian road then (for details, see here: “How the construction of the residence of the patriarch near Gelendzhik began” http://echo.msk.ru/blog/andrey_rudomakha/970108-echo/#comments)

However, under Patriarch Kirill, who replaced Alexy II, who died in 2008, the area of ​​the residence increased 10 times (!), and 12.7 hectares of the State Forest Fund, covered with relic Pitsunda pine, were transferred for construction, felling and complete enclosure of the church, which are covered with relic Pitsunda pine, which are built up, cut down or fencing the law PROHIBITES IN PRINCIPLE.

The current head of Gelendzhik Khrestin V.A. I also did not see these lawlessness "at point blank range". Moreover, in response to citizens’ appeals regarding the blocking of the most popular resort road, the city administration mockingly replied that “the old pedestrian road to Dzhankhot has lost its significance as an object of transport infrastructure” and recommended that vacationers use
for the movement of the highway (!).

Then people decided to turn to the patriarch. They believed that in Divnomorskoye there was a so-called. "excess of execution" - or, to put it simply, the servile desire of individual officials to please His Holiness at any cost, including in violation of the law. In early December 2010, the appeal was submitted (see Open letter to Patriarch Kirill on the website of the public movement "Open Bank" http://openbereg.ru/?p=204). Almost two months have passed, but the answer
it didn't follow. His Holiness considered the problem insignificant.

No law, no conscience

On February 5, 2011, the public movement "Open Bank" launched an all-Russian action "Modernization of Conscience", the purpose of which was to encourage the church to voluntarily unblock the public beach it had seized. Hundreds of citizens turned to Patriarch Kirill and other well-known figures of the Russian Orthodox Church demanding that they comply with moral and legal laws. Such correspondence, in particular, was conducted on the website of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation with V. Chaplin, chairman of the Department for Interaction between the Church and Society of the Moscow Patriarchate.

However, the society didn’t wait for anything other than streamlined phrases like “maybe it’s worth making it safe to pass along the highway or next to the highway” or “let’s hope that the problem is resolved” (see V. Chaplin on duty in the ward dated 09.03.11. http://www.oprf.ru/discussion/addquestion/122/?answer=&offset=3).

In April 2011, it turned out that the conscience of the hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church cannot be modernized. On the other hand, video cameras and security guards with the manners of special forces were quickly added to the concrete fences that fenced off the public coast and the road. Looking at these patriarchal “innovations”, people realized that the time had come to ask for protection from the state (See “The conscience of the patriarch: there was nothing to modernize” http://openbereg.ru/?p=1033).

In early May 2011, they turned to the guarantor of their constitutional rights -
President of the Russian Federation D.A. Medvedev From the presidential office, their appeals were
redirected to the prosecutor's office and Rosprirodnadzor. Already in June, his employees
we went to Divnomorskoye and confirmed the fact of blocking the coastline with fences of the Russian Orthodox Church (see “The Church breaks the law. And this is officially recognized” http://openbereg.ru/?p=1476). Based on the results of the on-site inspection, the Office of Rosprirodnadzor for the Krasnodar Territory and Adygea was instructed to eliminate the identified violations.

Well, then - silence. The regional Department of Rosprirodnadzor simply spat on this order, i.e. they did not go to the place and the violations were not eliminated. That, in fact, ended the story of citizens' appeals to the President of the Russian Federation. But in Divnomorskoye, another holiday season has begun. Tens of thousands of vacationers came here and went for a walk in their favorite pine forest. And, of course, they stumbled upon a brand new concrete wall from the patriarch, bristling with steel spikes.

Someone, cursing the secular and spiritual authorities, went to look for another place for walking. Someone tried to take a detour along the highway, risking their lives. The strings of vacationers walking with children along the highway overloaded with transport quickly became a sad "attraction" of the Divnomorskoye resort.

"Holy place" behind a concrete fence

In March 2011, responding to citizens on the website of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation about the situation in Divnomorskoye, Archpriest V. Chaplin recommended that they "behave with dignity in a place that will become holy." He, of course, called the new residence of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Gelendzhik region the future "holy place" (see http://www.oprf.ru/discussion/addquestion/122/?answer=&offset=3).

Mr. Chaplin is not an idiot. It is unlikely that he believes that any place where the foot of Patriarch Kirill sets foot automatically acquires holiness. Rather, he meant something else. Namely, the fact that the great charitable deeds constantly performed within the walls of the patriarchal residence will, over time, surely shed grace both on the aforementioned object itself and on the “wild” space surrounding it.

We are forced to state that over the past two years, no charitable deeds, great or small, have been noted here. Never held
here the “spiritual and cultural” promised by the Patriarchate back in February 2010
activities such as "educational work with children and youth, meetings with the public and the creative intelligentsia." The temple did not work, there were no divine services for the parishioners. But in the role of an island of earthly paradise, designed for a single VIP-person, the object functioned extremely intensively.

It is said that His Holiness greatly appreciates his new Black Sea residence. Happens here more and more often. With pleasure, she walks along the paths among the Pitsunda pines and breathes in the healing sea air for a long time in the rotunda arbor, installed above a high cliff.

In the evenings, he descends to their common pier with his neighbor Semyonov and sails to
sea ​​on a snow-white yacht, where she bathes and admires the sunset.

In general, he leads a typical life of a Russian oligarch or a high-ranking civil servant on vacation, whose belonging to a spiritual rank is reminded only by a cross over his luxurious palazzo.

The inhabitants of Divnomorskoye, by the way, treat him like that: as a powerful state official, and such, from the neighborhood with which there are only troubles. For them, the patriarch is now akin to the former Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Serdyukov A.E. (by the way, the owner of the Church Order of the Holy Right-believing Prince Daniel of Moscow), who last summer brought the peaceful and calm Divnomorsk residents to a riot.

The thing is that Mr. Serdyukov, while still a minister, "had his eye" on the best sanatorium in the village "Divnomorskoye", owned by the Ministry of Defense. Well, and, probably, he decided to steal it according to a run-in scheme: first, completely modernize it for budget money, and then declare it a “non-core asset” and sell it to himself at a bargain price through all sorts of shell companies. The minister personally supervised the modernization of the sanatorium. Employees of Divnomorskoye will never forget how Mr. Serdyukov, being in a fair
drunk, wandered around the huge sanatorium park and growled at everyone he met: “Everything is m-mine here! I'm r-firing everyone!" One of the main points of "modernization" in Serdyukov's style was the capture and fencing of the public embankment and beaches adjacent to the sanatorium.

When this happened, the villagers rebelled. They simply had no other choice: after all, the promenade and beaches are the heart of the resort, a guarantee of earnings. Last July, more than five hundred residents of Divnomorsk came to a rally against the Serdyukov fences. The authorities panicked: OMON was called to the village, and the coast was opened to avoid clashes. Immediately after the resignation of the scandalous minister in Divnomorskoye, there were festivities with music and fireworks.

So: during the visits of Patriarch Kirill to this cozy resort corner, he, like the former Minister Serdyukov, managed to turn almost all of its inhabitants against him.

It turned out, for example, that His Holiness, having powerfully wedged his residence between a residential area and a village cemetery, does not tolerate even the slightest reminder of this mournful place. He, in particular, is extremely annoyed by the funeral, accompanied by music and the lamentations of grief-stricken relatives. Therefore, during the entire stay of the patriarch in Divnomorskoye, a police cordon is set up in front of the cemetery, which does not allow funeral processions here. There have already been cases when people returned to the memorial tables with the deceased.

What is happening, of course, hits hard on the nerves of the Divnomorsk people, especially veterans. Not only did the patriarch deprive them of the opportunity to walk to the cemetery on foot and visit the graves of their loved ones when they needed it. Now they are anxiously thinking: with what attempt will they be buried in their native land - the first, second or third?

It also turned out that His Holiness cannot stand the music that sounds in local coastal cafes. A sure sign of the arrival of the patriarch in Divnomorskoye, in addition to cordoning off the cemetery and the nearest roads, is the police and the administration of the village bypassing all entertainment establishments with the demand “Remove the music!” Their owners are indignant: business suffers, incomes fall.

Local fishermen do not have good feelings for His Holiness either. During the visits of the patriarch, patrol boats tightly block the water area adjacent to the village. For fishing schooners and boats, they do not make exceptions. The fishermen stand idle for weeks and only pray to the Lord that His Holiness send them to Moscow as soon as possible.

These prayers became even more desperate after the incident in August, when the guards forbade the fishermen to pick up nets that had been thrown into the sea even before the arrival of the patriarch. After a couple of weeks of "patriarchal bathing" nets were chosen, they were filled with dead fish.

They say that His Holiness turned out to be an extremely difficult neighbor for the workers
the nearest sanatorium "Golubaya Dal" of the Ministry of Atomic Energy of the Russian Federation to his residence. Since the windows and balconies of one of the buildings of the sanatorium look at the patriarchal palace, the patriarch demanded that all the local vacationers be resettled during his visits to Divnomorskoye. Of course, the administration is not warned about the timing of visits, so the emergency shaking out of resort guests from their legal rooms, and at any time of the day or night, has become the norm. As a result, scandals, losses and a blow to the reputation of the sanatorium, until recently impeccable.

But the heaviest blow in the gut was inflicted by His Holiness on local merchants and landlords - that is, almost 90 percent of the population of the village. The economy here is seasonal, focused exclusively on vacationers. Divnomortsy live at the expense of funds earned from renting out housing and selling resort goods.

The amount of money in their pockets is directly proportional to the number of holidaymakers visiting the village. And just with the holidaymakers, things are getting worse and worse. The reason is clear: the main tourist "highlight" of Divnomorsky has always been the Dzhankhotsky botanical reserve with an area of ​​450 hectares and the road passing through it. It was on it that the patriarchal fence “cut” it, cutting off the village from its main attraction.

If Archpriest Chaplin now met with the residents of Divnomorsk and asked if they felt the waves of holiness emanating from the residence of the Russian Orthodox Church, he would be extremely disappointed. People would honestly answer that they feel only waves of lies, hypocrisy and pathological shamelessness. And very many would admit that among themselves they have long called the “spiritual” object on the southern outskirts of Divnomorskoye “Gundyaevka” or “Chertyaevka”, and the highway in front of it - “Road of Death”.

However, church hierarchs do not meet with local residents. Either because they are aware of their real attitude towards themselves, or simply considering it superfluous. But they willingly meet with the local authorities. For example, with the head of Gelendzhik, Khrestin V.A., who was awarded the Order of Sergius of Radonezh by His Holiness last summer. Nominally - for "assistance in the completion of the construction of the Patriarchal Spiritual, Administrative and Cultural Center of the Russian Orthodox Church." In fact, for his connivance with the lawlessness perpetrated by the church on the territory of one of the best resorts in Russia.

Well, there is no doubt that such lawlessness will continue. Just at the time of awarding Mr. Khrestin with an order from the Russian Orthodox Church, the fences of the patriarchal residence were suddenly overgrown with formidable steel “horns” and gratings, through which an electric current was launched.

This was another signal from the "mother church" to all citizens of the country: do not expect mercy! Lawless fence on the public shore will stand. And the "Road of Death" of Patriarch Kirill will continue to collect its bloody harvest.

Palace on the cliff

It is a striking fact that for two years in a row people have been unsuccessfully trying to get from the first Christian of the country the manifestation of precisely those Christian qualities that he is obliged to possess in full measure - conscientiousness, love and mercy. And in response, they stumble only on a blank wall of lies, cruelty and the deepest contempt for their own flock. And, of course, they are trying to find the root cause of what is happening.

Today the authorities have declared war on corruption. The most famous and authoritative politicians in Russia are arguing how to overcome it. And they agree that the transcendental scale of this disaster is a reflection of the general corruption of the spirit, the loss of moral values ​​by tens of millions of people. The conclusion is this: the communist ideology and its moral regulators have sunk into oblivion, and on their
place a spiritual vacuum arose, which was filled with rampant theft and
iniquity.

However, for some reason, none of those arguing remembers that back in the early 90s, a truly grandiose national project was launched in the country, designed to replace the lost Soviet ideals in our minds and hearts and create the very “spiritual bonds” about which President Putin recently spoke . Such a project was the REVIVAL OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH as an institution rooted in a thousand-year Russian history and, as it seemed to many then, that carefully carried through all the storms of the 20th century the values ​​of Christian humanism.

Under the coming renaissance, the church was given enormous wealth, which included thousands of real estate objects - buildings, premises, land plots, as well as benefits and privileges for tens (if not hundreds!) of billions of dollars. These benefits, received at the expense of the people of Russia, have allowed it to become one of the most wealthy religious organizations in the world - which we observe daily and at every step.

But here's the problem: the years of the ROC's renaissance - that is, the rapid multiplication of its churches, courtyards, monasteries and other "spiritual" infrastructure - paradoxically coincided with a "renaissance" of a completely different kind, which experts call the period of RUSSIAN CRIMINAL AND
CORRUPTION. And this simply means that the church has failed to cope with its main function - to be the regulator of the moral state of society.

The church is a living organism. In the 1990s, a window of opportunity opened up before her, as well as before the whole society. She could, for example, choose the thorny path of a defender of gospel truths in the inhuman era of primitive accumulation. And in this case, she would have to strongly oppose the "new Russian" bandits, and the thieving oligarchy, and the extremely immoral government that gave birth to them. Her life would be full of worries and anxieties. But this path of spirit and conscience, no doubt, would make her truly strong and independent, and her authority among the people would be well-deserved. And then the history of Russia in recent decades would certainly have developed differently.

But she chose a different path, making her usual bet on a "cordial alliance" with the bureaucracy. Remember who were her most desirable friends and clients over the past twenty years, whom she rewarded and praised the most? Officials and their business partners are often outright thieves and bandits. Remember how the gates of temples, monasteries and other "God's" places opened wide before them. Remember the classic scenes of sprinkling "holy water" on official and gangster jeeps and limousines - as well as their yachts, apartments, offices, villas, etc.

Remember the no less classic slogan from Viktor Pelevin's cult novel "Generation P" - "A respectable Lord for respectable gentlemen!" - the most succinctly expressing the real essence of the social strategy of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 90s. Remember the leitmotif of most of the interviews given by its hierarchs in the 2000s: “Give us back what the Soviet government took away, and we will be happy!” Finally, remember how most new churches were built and still continue to be built in the country: either through the most severe administrative pressure on small and medium-sized businesses, or directly at the expense of the state budget - as, for example, this is happening now with the plans of the Moscow authorities to build in the city 200 typical temples within walking distance(!). The simple and obvious truth that true faith is not planted like potatoes does not occur to the leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church and their bureaucratic patrons. Hence the eternal conflicts with the townspeople protesting against the aggressive intrusion into their squares and parks by "highly spiritual" colossus of concrete and steel.

The Church wanted to be a power - and it became a power. More precisely, an organic part of the extremely inefficient and corrupt bureaucracy of the Russian Federation. Its main function today is a violent imitation of the "spiritual revival of Russia" at the expense of the budget. It has not been thinking about becoming a truly spiritual institution, truly useful to society, for a long time. She has other goals
priorities. She wants to continue to equip islands of earthly paradise for herself.
in the middle of a stagnating and dying country.

And in this sense, the situation around the patriarchal residence in Divnomorskoye is not an anomaly at all, no. It is, unfortunately, the norm of behavior for our shepherds, completely free from the opinion of their own flock. Of course, there are other people among the priests, but they do not determine the current face of the ROC. A typical portrait of a successful "father" is a symbiosis of an official and a businessman who rigidly builds his business on the use of administrative connections and leverage. Such quick-witted "priests", popularly referred to as "priests", somehow spontaneously grow mansions on the best public lands and "death roads" appear in front of their blank fences or under the wheels of their luxurious foreign cars. Suffice it to recall the recent sensational case of hieromonk Pavel Semin, who killed two people in his Mercedes-Gelendvagen in Moscow and disabled a third, and then cowardly fled the scene of the tragedy. As it turned out, the 26-year-old "humble monk", a petty clerk of the Patriarchate's manager, owned a whole fleet of exclusive cars with "thieves" numbers, plus several elite apartments.

And how many such “humble” monks and priests are now traveling around Russia,
warmed by the authorities of different levels and confident in their "sacred" right to
special, exclusive life? What kind of spirituality can we talk about here, what kind of Christian attitude to the world and people?! So now we have another "department for spiritual affairs" instead of the church, and instead of a moral example for the nation - bureaucratic show, cynicism and shameless luxury elevated to virtue.

Doesn't history teach us anything? After all, the church had a similar experience of a "symphony" with the authorities - and it ended in tears. In October 1917, the Russian Empire collapsed. One of its pillars was the Russian Orthodox Church with 80,000 churches and almost 117 million parishioners. Just like today, she sang praises to the authorities in exchange for generous maintenance and a comfortable life, assured her of people's love and support. And when, under the weight of mistakes and crimes, it crumbled into
dust, it suddenly became clear that there was no moral force in the country capable of
stop people at the precipice of mutual hatred and fratricide. All millennial
church power, all its authority and greatness, which seemed indestructible, “faded” in a second, and millions of “respectable” parishioners turned into the most furious persecutors of their own pastors and destroyers of their own churches. For the centuries-old profanation of the spirit and faith, the country paid a terrible price.

Do you know when was the last time the head of the Russian Orthodox Church personally spoke in defense of the lives and dignity of our compatriots? In August 1698. Then the young Tsar Peter decided, in addition to the one and a half hundred archers hanged for supporting his disgraced sister Sophia, to execute another thousand for "intimidation". The relatives of the condemned turned to Patriarch Adrian. He was so shocked
the sight of thousands of weeping women, children and old men who led their march to
Preobrazhenskoe. The procession stretched for several versts, the most
ancient and respected icons. People stood under the windows of the royal chambers and prayed,
asking for mercy. Seeing this, Peter became furious and ordered everyone to be expelled, including Adrian. The shooters were executed. The patriarch fell seriously ill and died. According to contemporaries - from grief that he could not protect people. Peter's lesson was learned hard. Our subsequent primates already thought and “compassionate” with the people differently from Adrian. They were closer to the peace of personal palaces and the contemplation of seagulls in beautiful pavilions over the sea. A chasm opened up between their speeches and deeds.

“In the modern information environment, any news related to the Church is viewed through a magnifying glass. Any unworthy act of a person associated with the Church causes a flurry of negative publications... The Church teaches people a righteous life, and we, its members, are called to be an example for unbelievers and unbelievers, not only in words, but also in deeds!” These words belong to today's head of the Russian Orthodox Church. They were pronounced by him on December 28 at a diocesan meeting in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, summing up the results of the patriarchal ministry for 2012. Interesting: did Patriarch Kirill ever address them to himself personally?

hope dies last

Recently, residents of the Divnomorskoye resort turned to the activists of the “OPEN SHORE” movement. After the incident with their countryman Vitaly Savinykh, who was hit by a car near the residence of the Russian Orthodox Church, they asked for our assistance in publishing their Open Letter to Patriarch Kirill. The motives of the residents of Divnomorsk are simple and understandable: “We love, honor, respect our native Orthodox Church, but we categorically refuse to be maimed and die because of its violation of the legislation of the Russian Federation!”

The letter was signed by 973 people.

"OPEN LETTER

residents of the village of Divnomorskoye, Gelendzhik municipalityHis Holiness Patriarch of All Russia Kirill

Hello Your Holiness!

Most of us are Orthodox Christians. That is why we ask for your personal immediate intervention in a situation that directly threatens our lives and the lives of our children.

In the autumn of 2010, a concrete fence was installed around the residence of the Russian Orthodox Church in the village of Divnomorskoye, which, following the same concrete fence of the mansion at 14 Golubodalskaya Street (and, in fact, being its continuation), completely blocked the 500-meter section of the coastal strip of our village and the pedestrian road that runs through it.

We, Your Holiness, consider such a blockade completely unacceptable.

This section of the road is located within the administrative boundaries of the village of Divnomorskoye and, since the century before last, has served its population as the only convenient and safe way out into the forest and to the village cemetery, that is, according to the Law (clauses 9,10,12, article 85 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation), it is land of common use of the municipality and is not subject to any alienation and partitioning in principle.

At the same time, it is part of the coastal strip of the Divnomorskoye village, which the Law considers exclusively as a territory for the general use of all citizens of the Russian Federation and intends for their free and safe stay and movement (clauses 1,2,3,6,8 of article 6 Water Code of the Russian Federation).

The installation of a fence in this place not only grossly violates the Law, but also forces the residents of the village and vacationers to get to the forest and the local cemetery bypassing, walking a kilometer-long stretch of the Praskoveevsky highway - very narrow, winding and without sidewalks. The intensity of car traffic here is extremely high. Pedestrians are separated from the roadway by a few centimeters, they are constantly at risk of being under the wheels of vehicles.

Tragic incidents on the highway adjacent to your residence are already happening. So, on August 29 last year, a student of the Don State Technical University Vitaly Savinykh was hit by a car here. He was returning from the village cemetery, where he visited his mother's grave. In a state of traumatic shock, he was taken to intensive care, where he fell into a coma. He was saved only by the selfless actions of doctors. The young man will have a long treatment, after which the issue of his disability will be decided. Obviously, such tragedies will be repeated here in the future.

Your Holiness!

In your speeches, you constantly emphasize the importance of observing moral and legal laws, and preach the highest value of every human life. However, in the situation with the blocking of the coast of the village of Divnomorskoye, these laws and principles were violated in the most rude and inhuman way.

We call on Your Holiness to restore our legal right to a peaceful and secure life in our home village. We are very much looking forward to You a wise, far-sighted and merciful decision.

There are 67 signature sheets in total.

Coordinator of the All-Russian public movement "Open
coast "Sergey MENZHERITSKY.

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