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MOSCOW, July 29 (Itar-Tass) —— The construction of a church in memory of victims of the Moscow theatre tragedy begins near the theatre in Dubrovka. The future temple of Saints Cyril and Methodius will be the first Orthodox church to be built of ready-made modules under the program of the construction of 200 churches in Moscow’s residential districts, sources in the External Church Relations Department of the Moscow Patriarchate said on Friday.
According to the program the churches will be built under standard projects. It will take about six months to build such a church.
The building organizations determined the cite for earth-moving operations, ecologists took soil samples. The construction is under personal supervision of first deputy mayor of Moscow Vladimir Resin.
The temple to be built in Moscow’s south western administrative district will be the Patriarch’s town residence. With the blessing of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, Bishop Savva of Voskresensk, the father superior of Moscow’s New Monastery of the Savior, is the curator of the district.
The corner stone of the church was laid on April 29. Patriarch Kirill and Mayor of Moscow Sergei Sobyanin participated in the ceremony. The mayor described this as “a good start to the program of the construction of temples in Moscow” and said that “the city must do all to assist this excellent initiative of the Moscow Patriarchate.” He said the new temples can be “not only religious centers but can also provide social and moral assistance to city people and be centers for upbringing of youth.”
The tragedy in the Moscow theatre in Dubrovka took place in the autumn of 2002. A group of 40 armed bandits broke into the theatre where the popular musical Nord-Ost was running. They seized the building, taking hostage 912 people, including women and children. The building was stormed in about three days. The terrorists were destroyed and the hostages remaining alive were freed. The terrorist act resulted in the death of 130 hostages.