As the website of the Moscow Business School (MBS), Sergey Shmakov was born in 1968, graduated from the College Instrument, and then founded a construction company. At age 24, became vice-governor of Chukotka, then converted to Orthodoxy and the father of six children. Perhaps, in addition to business and religion Shmakov Kirill motor sport brought them together - the future patriarch once confessed that he loves racing and fast driving, Shmakov same - absolute champion of Russia in rally-raids.

Studying the site Knyazhego lake, which describes all the charms of a peaceful and prosperous lives of the countryside, you know: "a unique church is proposed to the client as part of the" extra, all-inclusive. "We have all the best" - solid site. This applies to the religious life of "Lake of the princes, too well-fed, successful and prosperous. Spiritual nourishment residents? He carries an old man Eli, confessor Optina and it is rumored that the patriarch himself. Great dedication of the temple? Come, here's the patriarch himself. Shrine? Ancient wonder-working icon.

In the list of infrastructure Knyazhego Lake Temple took 11 th place. After the journalists interested in the availability of this facility for ordinary believers and representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate began to claim that the temple is open not only for residents of the village elite, but also for the people of neighboring villages. However, the official site Knyazhego Lake argues the opposite. It says that "in order to ensure a high level of security" all the infrastructure included in the "multi-level control system", including "Continuous monitoring of territory, patrolling the streets and detour, electronic control of the village perimeter.

The inaccessibility of the shrine in such a place for ordinary believers was one of the arguments against the museum staff transfer nouveau riche. Russian Museum offered to put the miraculous icon to the church of St. Archangel Michael at the museum, but neither the patriarch nor the ministry had not responded to this. However, if this whole story made the temple a little more than elite public, can only rejoice. However, the mass pilgrimage there still is not expected.

"Obviously, if you go to the temple tough citizens have great power and money, then consecrate their wealth to be a sacred relic, the corresponding business class - believes director of the Institute of Religion and Law Roman Lunkin. - It is not only part of the company's image, which shows that it really can be all inclusive, but also attract new customers during the economic crisis. " The reaction of museum staff and the general cultural circles of Russia, for the most part Orthodox, could become a good illustration of a healthy civil society, which cares for both President Medvedev.

Could be, but it did not - in the Russian Museum, whose staff in those days wrote a lot of open letters, ringing all the bells, goes Commission Ministry of Culture, which will detect the violation of the department of ancient Russian art - the main bastion of resistance devout nouveau riche. Although the icons in the museum is no longer (and probably never will), though the power of the law trampled on the museum collections, guilty of resisting the masters of life will still be punished.

An effective manager

But on the far Solovki conflict between the museum and the monastery was resolved without the noise and dust. Will soon be 20 years of trench warfare, so characteristic for other historical places in Russia, where the ROC MP wants all at once. Since 1991, the monastery gradually displacing the museum from its premises in the territory of the Solovetsky monastery, but museum workers delayed the restoration of historic buildings, it is technically complicated the design of their transmission. In fact, a remote archipelago, which is not always a message, it is difficult to regularly deliver materials and equipment, so that any work they are slower than on the mainland.

In the late patriarch of Alexy II on several occasions raised the question of attribution Solovki as a place of mass pilgrimage of the same status as in neighboring Karelia Balaam. With Ladoga archipelago forcibly evicted "worldly" people, and now you can get there only with the consent of the monastery. President Yeltsin at the time signed a decree on the transfer of only one island of the archipelago Solovetsky - Anzer - in his own church for 49 years. Now once a week for a couple of hours there run by organized groups of pilgrims. Samuel Solovetsky monastery continued to besiege the summer crowds of tourists, including foreigners, from which the monastery is almost nothing gets (at Solovki are several secular hotels and places for camps). When the patriarch Cyril announced his intention to be among the first to visit it Solovetsky monastery, it became clear: the top is a plan to remedy the situation.

In late August, had flown to Solovki Cyril is accompanied by a retinue - the ministers, governors and various benefactors, members of the board of trustees of the monastery. The Patriarch then uttered the mysterious words: "Solovki will occupy a special place in the life of the country and the whole of European civilization ... There will be church research center. A little over a month, and 11 October, one day, there were two crucial for Solovkov events. Museum Director Michael Lopatkin working on Solovki since 1976, was elected head of the local municipality, as a former treasurer of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Archimandrite Porfiri appointed governor Solovetsky monastery. Management Skills extensive Lavra economy and finances are very useful to the new governor, who became more and museum director. Obviously, on the basis of the museum and will create a certain ecclesiastical and scientific center of European importance (indeed, European tourists, especially Scandinavians, love to be at Solovki).

Museum staff, including the former director, refused to comment, but his official website has not been updated since the date of publication of the ministerial decree on Porphyry (Decree on the site, incidentally, is also no). At the same time the residents have already begun Solovkov problem: they were warned about the possible closure of schools and kindergarten, and a fuel tanker, after standing for some time in the Solovetsky harbor, so unloaded and returned to Archangel. Complete the story of a local resident's blog "Solovki» (http://community.livejournal.com/solovki/): «In the offices of the hospital hung icons. Around novice performing the role of nurses. On the children receive adult uncles come in cassocks and running around with their noses ... for my life in Solovki (which is 19 years old) never situation on the island did not cause such a sad, melancholy and a sense of utter hopelessness, it is now. And, even more so, never raised the question that our, so to speak, "payer" enterprises manage people from the church. "

* * *

Recent developments, especially the story of the Toropetzkaya icon, significantly aggravated "systemic conflict" between the museums and the cultural sphere in general, on the one hand, and the leadership of the Moscow Patriarchate - the other. Last, with varying degrees of sharpness, makes it clear that the causes of conflict - in "nevotserkovlennosti" museum community. Now these arguments convince very few people. It is hard to find in Russia today, museum curator, who hated to Orthodox shrines and hidden from the people, including believers.

But a genuine restitution of church property can not speak up until it becomes clear that at the helm of the ship of the church is the elect people of the Church, and not corrupt protege nomenclature. Meanwhile, these "gifts" patriarchy nouveau riche and the assignment of entire museum collections, whose fate is often vague, they look like some kind of re-looting of church property and shrines. Now the hands of individuals, dressed in robes and received from the power of high-profile religious titles.

Alexander Soldatov
Solovki - Moscow
http://www.novayagazeta.ru/data/2009/137/12.html