Russian Orthodox Church to build ''collapsible churches''

Moscow, Mar 28 (UNI) Russia's Orthodox Church is planning to build ''collapsible light churches'' in city's outskirts and in other cities and towns across the country, expecting them to turn into ''the moderate-size outposts of Orthodoxy.'' Moscow Patriarchate has already approved the ''The Seven Churches in One Day project'' presented yesterday by the leaders of Russia's Orthodox Maecenas Club, Russian news agencies reported.

''Nowadays, there are no churches in quite a few bedroom communities. If the Khrushchevkas (five-storey apartment houses built in Khrushchev time) tackled the problem of housing demand, we intend to sort out the problem of church shortage,'' Club's Deputy Head Vladimir Mikov said.

According to the Orthodox rules, a church should be available per each thousand of Orthodox believers.

The project provides for building the required number, which was actually the practice in Russia in the Czar's time, before the Bolshevik Revolution.

For this purpose, the business will elaborate a special technology enabling construction of a church in 24 hours, Mr Mikov said.

''Our churches are made of timber impregnated with special solution preventing decay and fire,'' he said, adding the expenses would be met from the account of community members.

If the believers decided to construct a stone cathedral afterwards, the church could be easily moved to another place, a kilometer away, for instance, and there will be two churches in the district, he said, assuring the project was purely charitable and would yield no profits to arrangers.

The first light church is scheduled to be built by April 6,2008 in Kemerovo and then they will emerge in Moscow, Kiev and Minsk.

UNI XC SYU AS1739