Priests , rabbis , kosher food and churches and chapels at the Winter Games , which open February 7 on the Black Sea. Patriarch Kirill consecrates Orthodox church near the Olympic Village .
Moscow (AsiaNews ) – More than 100 religious from the five major world religions will be working during the Winter Olympics , which start on 7 February in Sochi. They will be ‘deployed ‘ at the two main areas where the sporting events will take place: the “coastal” centre at Adler and the “mountain” centre in Krasnaya Polyana . “Over 100 people are on duty to provide psychological and spiritual help to the participants, guests and spectators of the Games ( February 7 to 23 ) and Paralympic Games (7-16 March)”, the Sochi press office stated.
For the Jewish community 12 rabbis will available from all over the world who speak Spanish , French, English and Hebrew. The Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia has also ensured that kosher food will be served in the Olympic Village.
There are three inter-religious centers in the coastal area while there are some prayer rooms in the mountain area. However, Interfax reports “there will not be regular services”.
Meanwhile, on February 5, the Patriarch of Moscow, Kirill is expected in Sochi to bless the athletes of the Russian national team. As RIA Novosti reports, the primate of the Orthodox will celebrate a Moleben (liturgy of intercession) in the “most Olympic” church in the region , that of the Holy Image of Christ the Saviour “made without hands”, in the Imeretinsky valley. The building was built specifically for the Winter Games, although local historians claim that there already was an ancient Byzantine temple on the place where this church is located, between the ninth and tenth centuries – before the baptism of Rus’. The church was consecrated on 2 February by Metropolitan Isidore of Kuban.
For Catholics there is the central parish of Sochi, dedicated to the Holy Apostles Simon and Jude, and opened in 1997. Before there was only a small chapel in the city, at the Polish national cultural center. ( N.A.)
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RUSSIA Over 100 religious at Sochi Olympics. Kirill blesses the athletes – Asia News
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