Society and church: Alexander Nevsky Cathedral returns to Church?

Representatives of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra are convinced that the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and other valuables will be returned to the Church.

"We are a hundred percent positive that the government will approve the question of valuables transition. It’s not even the Church but the people who wish it with all their hearts. We to some extent try to control them otherwise a serious conflict is unavoidable", - said Sergey Sharov, head of the Lavra’s department for relations with non-church organizations in his interview to "Interfax".

He added that by then there was no response from the authorities on a request to return valuables. However, he stated that the initiative to return relics was supported by many residents of St. - Petersburg, among them were veterans’ organizations.

"Veterans turn to us, they are very annoyed. Many of them even declared that if the problem wasn’t tackled by May, 9, they would organize mass pickets instead of the military parade", - remarked Sergey Sharov.

Representatives of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra and non-religious community have directed a petition to the authorities for return of cathedrals and valuables, transferred to the possession of Soviet government, back to the Church. The list includes the Alexander Nevsky cathedral, the Cathedral of the Annunciation, and also the cathedrals at the Tikhvin and Lazarev cemeteries in St. -Petersburg.

Moreover, the petition signers ask to return to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra the shrine of Alexander Nevsky, which had been produced specially for keeping relics of the prince. Today it is one of the State Hermitage’s exhibits.