Mothers to save Russia from extinction

It would not be an exaggeration to say that Russia becomes extinct slowly but surely. According to the UN, Russia is ranked fourth on the list of depopulating countries. To struggle with the crisis, authorities and public organizations elaborate many different programs. One of them is called "The Holiness of Motherhood."

UN specialists created the "map of extinction," on which Russia was ranked fourth among other fast-depopulating countries. The company, which Russia has on this list, includes Macao, Hong Kong, Bosnia, Malta, Slovakia, Singapore, Romania, Hungary and Ukraine. If nothing changes for the better, the native population of these countries will disappear by 3200. Russia will become an empty place 350 years earlier than that. To put it in a nutshell, in 800 years, the Russian population (in the modern sense of this word) will become extinct without any wars and cataclysms.

Specialists from the Berlin University delivered a report at the Moscow Carnegie Center not so long ago. The report was titled "The Disappearing World Superpower." According to the report, Russia will naturally lose as many as 35 million people by 2050. The demographic situation in Russia leaves much to be desired indeed. The percentage of large families in the country is small. However, the number of abortions in Moscow alone makes up nearly 50,000 a year (1.5 million in Russia on the whole).

The Russian authorities, the Church and public organization try to do something to struggle with the demographic crisis. The National Glory Center organization, for instance, developed a special program five years ago titled "The Holiness of Motherhood." The basic goal of the program is to form people's attitude to family, motherhood, fatherhood and childhood as life's greatest values by recreating the spiritual and moral potential of the Russian family.

The program works in many Russian cities. One of them is Nizhny Novgorod. The activists of the program have recently conducted a meeting with the students of the Nizhny Novgorod Medical Academy.

The meeting was conducted in a very warm atmosphere. "We have been running the program for five years already, and we have been working with Nizhny Novgorod for a long time too. In May of this year, we signed an agreement with the municipal administration about the implementation of the program in all directions," Natalia Yakunina, a senior spokeswoman for "The Holiness of Motherhood" said.

According to the website of the Nizhny Novgorod Eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church, the cooperation with the city and the region will continue. Representatives of the Fund of Apostle Andrei the First Called plan to attend the opening of the shelter for pregnant women. The shelter is being established by the department of the Nizhny Novgorod Eparchy for cooperation with medical and social institutions.

"Last year, we conducted the first forum of "The Holiness of Motherhood" program. The forum gathered state and church officials, as well as representatives of public organizations from all over the country. Next year, we are going to hold the forum for the second time, and we have a suggestion to hold it in Nizhny Novgorod," Natalia Yakunina said.

This year, the events within the scope of "The Holiness of Motherhood" program are held in the cities where they take the Belt of Virgin Mary. The arc with the belt visited Nizhny Novgorod on November 4-6. As many as 160,000 people came to worship the sanctuary.

Ksenia Obraztsova

Pravda.Ru

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