Moscow, February 20, 2012
New York City Housing officials issued a decree to demolish a wooden chapel on Brighton Beach, which belongs to the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.
They motivated their decision with the ban to build wooden constructions in the New York City because of the fire danger. Local residents' constant complaints aggravated the situation as they wanted the church to move to another place, the Lifenwes.ru reports on Monday.
"How can we move? My ten aides and I don't have a place to live in! So we'll stand our ground until the last moment and exist in our small church. We hope that local authorities will understand it and won't demolish it until we settle our financial problems," rector of the parish priest Vadim Arefyev said.
He has recently come to Moscow to fundraise. The priest needs $1,9 million to purchase a land lot for building a new church. The first sum for the lot - $500,000 - should be contributed in three months.
As was reported, Father Vadim is not only a spiritual pastor on Brighton Beach, but he is also a social worker. About nine years he supports people without permanent residence who came from the former USSR and established the House of Industry where a church and an orphanage for former tramps work.
