Moscow, 30 January 2008 (Interfax):
Fr Vsevolod Chaplin, the Deputy Head of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, believes that Russia cannot survive if it does not win the struggle against nationalist and religious extremists. At the 16th annual Christmas Reading in Moscow on Wednesday, Fr Vsevolod stated, “It is extremely important to oppose radicalism in all its forms so that the many attempts from all quarters to drive Russians apart and separate us are unsuccessful”. In his view, the attempts [by the West] to weaken Russia by using economic, military, intelligence, and diplomatic methods have failed. “They attempt to use ‘divide and conquer’ tactics against us, so, they try to sow strife between our peoples. In the past, some of these manoeuvres have succeeded”, Fr Vsevolod noted.
“We must keep radical forces from gaining any popular support. We must mark all who make provocative racist remarks and who slanderously accuse state and church figures with false charges of crime and sin as provocateurs and liars”, he said. Fr Vsevolod said emphatically that this was a pressing duty of public authorities, legislators, and the media. He thought that contemporary society was “too blasé concerning radicalism, it did not see it as the dangerous illness it is, and all too often, it just lets people ‘have it out’ with one another”. Fr Vsevolod believes that this torpidity can lead us “into a state of near death”. He warned that the present public stability in Russia is not a “given certainty”, and he urged everyone to make all possible efforts to counteract the development of radical forces in society.
Interfax-Religion
