Orthodox priest urges to carry out missionary work among immigrants in Russia

Rector of Sts Peter and Paul parish in Hong Kong Archpriest Dionisy Pozdnyayev believes the Orthodox Church can start adapting migrants in Russia. "There is so much talking about problems of immigration, about "attacking Islam", but why don't we establish a system of adapting migrants in Russia? It's evident that the country can't cope without workforce: migration is a normal process, we only need to control it and direct it," Fr. Dionisy told an Interfax-Religion correspondent on Wednesday.

The priest believes Russia has never been ethnically unified, according to him, it can rather be called "a kind of matrix" that "accepted and adapted various ethnic groups" on bases of faith, language and life style.

"It can probably do the same now. If the Church manages to create such a system with teaching the language, teaching the Orthodox culture, legal support of migrants, system of their social adaptation, who knows, perhaps, people feeling real love and care will turn to Christ?" Fr. Dionisy wonders.

As a model of such work carried out by Christian Churches abroad, Fr. Dionisy pointed out to the experience of France, England, Italy and Germany where there are several Catholic parishes for migrants from China.

Besides, Protestants in Germany opened the world biggest Chinese library abroad. Catholic nuns in Poland teach Chinese the Polish language free of charge and provide legal support for them, though there are only about two thousand Chinese in the country, the priest said.

Source: Interfax religion