Orthodox Christians in Moscow Protests Against School

About 100 people, including Russsian Orthodox activists, picketed a municipal assembly building in protest against the planned campus of the privately-run Russian-American Christian University in Moscow.

According to the Associated Press, some Russian Orthodox Christians view faiths deemed foreign, including other branches of Christianity, an encroaching presence.

“The Baptist educational institution is completely out of place in an area where the majority of the population is Orthodox,” said Orthodox Citizens Union spokesman Kirill Fedotov in an interview with the Interfax news agency.

According to the University's founder and president, John Bernbaum, the university is not affiliated with any church, and that its faculty includes Protestants, Catholics, and Russian Orthodox - reports the Associated Press.

The picketers wanted construction of the university to halt, and that more Orthodox churches be built in the district.

“Today there are no Orthodox churches in the residential areas, and the existing ones are microscopic,” Fedotov said.

Last year, tensions between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church were one of the main reasons why Pope John Paul II never made an official trip to Russia despite his intention to do so.

Leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church have continually alleged that Catholics were overstepping their bounds by establishing dioceses there.

In 2003, the Russian-American Christian University received full accreditation for five years from the Russian Ministry of Education.