Moscow, Russia, Dec 18, 2007 / 09:42 am
The vice president of the Department of Foreign Ecclesial Affairs of the Patriarchate of Moscow, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, welcomed the personal prelature of Opus Dei, which recently opened a community in Russia, and said its energy and fidelity “to Christian ideals are worthy of great respect.”
“Opus Dei has as its mission strengthening Christian values in today’s society, which moves us to sympathy,” the archpriest said in recent statements. The vicar for Opus Dei in Moscow, Father Jose Antonio Senovilla Garcia, said his community has gone to Russia “to encourage the people to be good orthodox believers, to find God in their daily lives and to help others.”
Father Senovilla noted that the Russian Orthodox Church has welcomed the presence of Opus Dei in the country, and he said he was “very happy to be here” and that he “has not had any problems.”
The new Opus Dei center in Moscow was inaugurated on June 26, the feast of its founder, St. Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer.