Satan is back. Get away!

Another vandalism act was committed at the Orthodox temple of Saint Prophet Iliya in the Israeli town of Haifa Sunday night. This is already the second act of vandalism over the past week.

The first act of vandalism was committed on June 9; PRAVDA.Ru already reported on the incident when unknown people desecrated the gate of Prophet Ilya Temple in Haifa and an icon of the saint in the northern part of the temple. Then, the leader of Russian spiritual mission to Jerusalem, Archimandrite Yelisei (Ganaba) appealed to the Israeli Ministry of Religions; Russia’s Embassy in Israel sent a note of protest to the Israeli Foreign Ministry; an unidentified man called to claim responsibility for the crime; and, as a result, the Haifa mayor promised to investigate the incident.

The criminal said over the telephone that acts of that kind toward the temple of the Russian spiritual mission will continue. This second act of vandalism resembles the first one very much: the walls are covered with Satanic symbols of inverted crosses and stars, inscriptions, and drawings that are insulting to Christians. The words “Satan was here” and “Get away!” are written in English and Hebrew; the icon of the Saint Prophet Ilya was seriously damaged, as it was covered with paint. Archimandrite Yelisei believes that it will be hard to find out now who is really behind the vandalism acts. He worries about the security of the family that is living on the temple’s territory.

Earlier, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Alexey II, strictly criticized the sacrilege toward the Orthodox temple in Haifa. The Patriarch says that only by joining efforts will it be possible to resist the evil forces to whom people desecrating the temple serve. The Patriarch says that satanists emerge here and there, even in Russia. “These are all manifestations of the ideological choice made by our contemporaries; the majority of them deliberately prefer to service to the evil, not good,” said the Patriarch.

Followers of destructive evil cults always act together; they are united. Unfortunately, the same can seldom be said about the Orthodox parish (in Russia, at least). Nowadays, temples are being reconstructed and decorated; however, everyday parish life in the majority of them is still very much inactive. It is time for those who prefer to service good to become united in order to resist evil.

Pyotr Bely PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Maria Gousseva

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2002/07/15/44155.html

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