Orthodox priests used as campaign tool
In Volgograd local United Russia officials are asking pastors to convince the faithful to vote for them in parliament in December. The allegation of a priest on his blog.
Moscow (AsiaNews) - Orthodox priests used in campaigning. In Volgograd, formerly Stalingrad in the south of Moscow, the pastor of the church of Peter and Paul reported on his blog - taken from the site Newsru.ru - the pressures of some officials of the ruling party United Russia to help in campaigning in their favour among the faithful.
Fr. Alexei Pluzhnikov writes that he was invited to a meeting with the regional government and quotes part of their conversation: "You understand well ...you have a psychological influence ... you could invite people to vote for United Russia", the priest was told.
As far as the pastor reports, the meeting was also attended by other priests. Fr. Alexei underlines that in the "Social Doctrine of the Russian Church," there are areas in which the ecclesiastical structures "can not provide assistance to the State, or cooperate with it." One of the areas, said the priest, is "electoral propaganda in favour of a certain party or leader."
Fr. Alexei Pluzhnikov writes that he was invited to a meeting with the regional government and quotes part of their conversation: "You understand well ...you have a psychological influence ... you could invite people to vote for United Russia", the priest was told.
As far as the pastor reports, the meeting was also attended by other priests. Fr. Alexei underlines that in the "Social Doctrine of the Russian Church," there are areas in which the ecclesiastical structures "can not provide assistance to the State, or cooperate with it." One of the areas, said the priest, is "electoral propaganda in favour of a certain party or leader."
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