July 6, 2012
Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin.
“Abortions are the most terrible Holocaust in humanity’s life,” said Fr. Chaplin, during a pro-life and pro-family rally on Moscow’s Gogolevsky Boulevard on Sunday, according to the Russian news service RIA Novosti.
Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church.
“Abortions have killed more people than all world wars. So, I hope they will be morally unacceptable in Russia,” Fr. Chaplin added.
“I am glad that there are representatives of different generations, social strata and spiritually ready to stand up for Holy Russia. Orthodoxy - not only prayer but also a civil action, as mentioned by Patriarch Kirill - we need to pray, think and act, to live in [a] Russia where abortion is morally unacceptable,” Fr. Chaplin said.
The rally, which attracted approximately 70 people, was reportedly also held to denounce the illegal “gay parades” organized by homosexual activists in recent years in Moscow and St. Petersburg. City authorities have repeatedly refused to issue permits for such events, which in other countries have been characterized by lewd gestures and signs, and even public sex acts.
Rally participants held icons and signs saying “Stop killing children,” “Abortion - the brutal murder of a child,” “Thou shalt not kill,” and “Moscow is not Sodom.”
One individual held a sign noting the link between communism and abortion: “Lenin - Infanticide number one. World’s first abortion was legalized in Soviet Russia by decree 19 November 1920.” Another held a poster with an angel pointing at the viewer and asking: “Do you keep her virginity until marriage?”
According to Russia Today, a similar rally was held simultaneously in Kazan, the capital of the Russian Republic of Tatarstan.