"Terrorists have declared war on all who live in Russia. Coming under the blow now is Moscow, whose diocesan see I have the honour to hold," the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church says in a telegram he forwarded to Mayor Yuri Luzhkov today. The Moscow Patriarchate Department of External Church Relations has offered the message to the public.
"I appeal to Muscovites to be on their guard, not succumb to panic, and not allow hatred to take root in their heart. We are to be at one in our resolution to repulse militant evil. Take courage! This city used to go through heinous times but always honourably emerged from trials and tribulations. Terrorism may seem an ineradicable evil, yet I firmly believe we shall vanquish it," says the Patriarch.
"May the Lord heal the injured! I am praying for the innocent who perished in the act. May their souls have eternal rest in Heaven!
"I am specially grateful to those who are now helping the injured and their families," says His Beatitude.
Terrorists seized a secondary school in Beslan, North Ossetia, today, to take pupils hostage. As soon as he received the blood-curdling news, Theophanes Bishop of Stavropol and Vladikavkaz appealed to the bandits to release the children. "God's innocent creatures were under sacred protection of all peoples in all times," he said in a statement forwarded to President Alexander Dzasokhov of North Ossetia/Alania, reports the diocesan press service.
"May my call reach those who have captured the innocents! I appeal to them in the name of the Lord: set the children free! Harm not their tender hearts and budding souls! No goal canjustify what you are doing. Reason will take the upper hand, is my firm belief," says the bishop.
Bishop Theophanes expresses heartfelt compassion for his Christian flock in North Ossetia. "I am at one with you in your plight, my kind and pious Osset people. I pray to God for the drama to come to a happy ending," he says.
