Monday, August 27, 2012

Vandals Ruin 4 Crosses in Russia with Chainsaws; Believed to Be Work of Pussy Riot Band Followers

The Russian Orthodox Church is warning of an organized anti-religious campaign under way against Christians in Russia, after vandals in two widely separated regions took chainsaws to four large wooden crosses over the weekend, the Christian Science Monitor website reports today (August 27, 2012).

Church spokespeople maintain the damage was done by people who are either in sympathy or in league with the Pussy Riot collective -- three of whose members were sentenced to two years in a penal colony earlier this month for profaning an Orthodox altar with an obscenity-laced "punk prayer" -- that called upon the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of Vladimir Putin.

The four crosses were chopped down by unknown persons who left police no clues to their motives or identity.

One was a large wooden crucifix erected to the memory of Soviet-era political prisoners in the far northern region of Archangelsk. Russian media reported three more wooden crosses were destroyed in Chelyabinsk region over the weekend, which is thousands of miles away in western Siberia.

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