Russian Orthodox Church raises money to ransom its bells sold to Harvard in 1930

Russian Orthodox Church asked Russian people to donate money for returning 18 bells from Harvard to Moscow St Danil monastery, Interfax news agensy reports.
"I think we all agree that it is necessary to return these historical sacred bells to the monastery, which needs its genuine voice", - said monastery senior priest Archimandrite Alexy at the press conference on December 15.
The bells were sold to American tycoon Charles Crane by the Soviet government in 1930.
Recently the negotiations between Moscow Patriarchy and Harvard University finished. The subject of the discussion was the scheme of returning the bells. Harvard University is going to use its own funds to plan technical and construction works and estimate the cost of replacing the bells. Then, if engineers come to positive conclusion, the negotiations will be renewed. The Russian party will cover the expenses for dismantling the bells, transporting them to Russia and installing other bells in Harvard.
Today Russian bells in Harvard ring 15 minutes every Sunday since 1 o’clock pm. They ring during football matches and on holidays as well. People recall that in 1945 a student of Harvard rang the bells 100 times in honor of ending the World War II.
Source: Lenta.ru