A monk adopts a girl

A very rare occurrence has taken place in Russia’s far-eastern Primorye Territory. Local monks seem to have voluntarily “descended from heaven to earth,” so to speak. This year, 3 monks at once quitted the Nikolayevski monastery. All three were unfrocked and married local women, according to Vsya Rossiya news agency. Celibate priest Seraphim, the monastery’s deputy superior, was among them. Not only got he married, he has also adopted a girl. All attempts to sober the defectors down have failed. They say they are extraordinarily happy being “at liberty.”