The Russian Orthodox Church has grown considerably in the ten years since the election of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the patriarch’s press secretary, Priest Alexander Volkov, said.
“Our Church now has over 38,000 parishes, which is approximately 10,000 more than in 2009. It can be said that some 1,000 parishes a year open, or approximately 2-3 parishes a day,” the priest said on Monday at a press conference in Moscow marking the 10th anniversary of the Local Assembly, where Patriarch Kirill was elected.
He said there is “undoubted demand” in society for church life and that society has become much more educated in Christian issues in the past ten years. One reason is that, according to the press secretary, about 40% of schoolchildren are now choosing the course Foundations of Orthodox Culture, which was introduced under Patriarch Kirill.
(Source: interfax-religion.com)