An Island of Orthodoxy in the Capital of Ireland

Ireland gives the impression of being a peaceful and blessed country, particularly to a traveler who sets foot on its soil for the first time. Smooth landscapes with green grass and grazing sheep bring back memories of the Britain I am familiar with and rather attached to. However, Ireland does not know the rush and bustle which sometimes sweep away English splendor like a whirlwind. The Irish land, enlightened and blessed by St. Patrick, produced hundreds of saints in the period when Rome still had unity with the Church of Christ.

Irish spirituality, which has not yet become extinct completely and has not yet been eradicated across the country, fills local residents with compassion and kindness, and helps them remain self-sacrificing and not indifferent to the problems of others. True, only fragments remain of the once-pious nation which is even more divided because of the spirit of secularism and the passage of anti-Christian laws, including the legalization of so-called “same-sex marriages”. But even under these circumstances the Good News of Christ is still being spread here, for the Orthodox faith exists in modern-day Ireland.

Orthodox presence in Ireland is gradually growing: according to the 2016 population census, 62,00 Orthodox Christians currently live in the country, which is thirty-seven per cent higher than in 2011. Now parishes of five Orthodox jurisdictions are active here: the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Churches of Romania, Serbia, Antioch and the Patriarchate of Moscow. The Russian parishes are not numerous—there are only seven of them across the island, but a Russian Orthodox community acquired ownership of the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul at Harold’s Cross Road, Dublin. This parish was re-established in the early 2000s by Priest Michael (Mikhail) Gogolev from England. The church building was found by his efforts as well. At first the church was leased, and in 2013 it was purchased with the funds raised by the parishioners and with partial support of the Diocese of Sourozh.

The current rector of the St. Peter and St. Paul’s Church, Priest Michael Nasonov, has served in Dublin since 2011. Born in Sevastopol, he later graduated from the St. Petersburg School of Religion and Philosophy and the St. Sergius Theological Orthodox Institute in Paris. He was ordained a priest in March 2002. Fr. Michael worked as Vice-Rector of the Kostroma Theological Seminary and as a teacher at the St. Tikhon Orthodox University of Humanities in Moscow.

I took the opportunity to talk to Fr. Michael in Dublin during my short trip to Ireland.

Source: Pravoslavie.ru