Moscow Patriarchate says yes to USSR anthem. Is Church service to begin at comrade Aleksandrov’s music?

The Moscow Patriarchate hails the state symbolism chosen by the State Council. “I think the President has taken a very decent decision which will smooth away a public standoff over the issue,” Father Vsevolod Chaplin, Russian Orthodox Church spokesman, is quoted as saying by Interfax. In his words, “it is important that the country’s entire symbolism is considered as a complex, that is, you take pre-revolution flag and emblem showing the continuity of the pre-revolution times and, at the same time, you take Aleksandrov’s music showing the continuity of the Soviet period which saw both terrible tragedies and good times. In this way, the continuity of the entire Russian history is being demonstrated and restored,” Father Chaplin emphasized. The Church spokesman has refuted the information of Patriarch Alexiy II having categorically opposed Mr. Aleksandrov’s music. “His Holiness has never ruled out the return of the Soviet anthem. But he only said the theme of state symbolism should unite the society, not divide it,” Father Vsevolod added.