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Published by Stetson University Russia Religion News, September 15, 2004

Religious groups respond to victims of massacre

MOSCOW ORTHODOX DIOCESE ORGANIZES VISITATION OF VICTIMS FROM BESLAN IN MOSCOW HOSPITALS

Portal-credo.ru, 15 September 2004 - With the blessing of Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and all-Rus, the diocesan Commission for Church Social Activity of the city of Moscow arranged visitations of hospitals to which victims from Beslan had been sent. "Blagovest-info" reports, citing the "Miloserdia.ru" web site, that the overwhelming majority of victims are Orthodox Christians. In talking with priests, many of the wounded and their relatives expressed a desire to make confession and receive communion.

Not only spiritual consolation but also material aid has been provided the victims in the name of the Orthodox church. Priests and laity have drawn up lists of necessary items for each person in order to alleviate their situation as much as possible. On 13 September financial aid was given to victims in accordance with their condition, ten thousand rubles per person, and everyday items were purchased. The total amount of material and financial aid exceeds one million rubles.

In particular, priests visited the Russian Children's Clinic, where eight persons, including five children, received the sacrament of baptism. Spiritual and material help was also given to the wounded who are in the Semashko Central Clinic, the Hematology Center, the Institute of Pediatrics and Children's Surgery, the Burdenko Institute of Neurosurgery, and the Vishnevsky Institute of Surgery. A monastic priest from the Valaam annex visited the Speransky State Children's Clinic, who was requested by the victims themselves. A priest of the church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in Tushino visited the wounded located in State Clinic No. 67.

Five children are in the Morozov Children's Hospital, two of whom are in resuscitation. They were visited by an Orthodox priest who is of Ossetian nationality and by priests of the St. Dimitry Nursing School. One girl was baptized and two received communion.

The commission continues to follow the fate of the victims and is trying to help all who have needs. (tr. by PDS, posted 15 September 2004)

Mir religii, 14 September 2004 - Medical equipment valued at 200,000 Euros was sent by plane from Germany to the Republican Children's Clinic in Vladikavkaz where physicians are fighting for the lives of more than 100 Beslan children. This is the first step in a project of aid to victims of the terrorist act in Northern Ossetia that is being conducted by the German "Foundation for Children's Aid" and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR). This was reported today to an ITAR-TASS correspondent at the ROCOR diocese of Berlin and Germany.

"We grieve for the victims. We especially suffer for the children who are wounded and sick. Emergency and practical aid is needed for the bodily and spiritual welfare of these children," said Archbishop of Berlin and Germany Mark.

According to the president of administration of the "Foundation for Children's Aid," Dr. Tizbonenkamp, it was also decided to provide support for creating in Beslan a parish therapeutic center. "Here severely traumatized children will receive help from clergy, teachers, and physicians, which will help them to survive the horrible memories of these days and to acquire new life perspectives," he stressed. The diocese of Stavropol and Vladikavkaz of RPTs is acting as a partner of ROCOR in this project. (tr. by PDS, posted 15 September 2004)



Volume 6 Number 39 - Tuesday, September 28th, 2004	A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY