Ministry adviser Tamara Gudima says to newspaper Pravda Severa that she hopes the visit will help end “the very unhealthy situation in the archipelago”. -This is the property of the people, irrespective of confession, she said, For years, the Russian Orthodox Church has struggled to make of the historically unique and holy archipelago church property. That has triggered major protests from local authorities, the local museum and the tourism industry. The islands has centuries of rich church history, unique nature and was the site of a cruel labor camp in the Stalin-period. I Ms. Gudima argues that the Solovki Museum has invested major sums of federal money in the area and that big sums still need to be invested in local cultural sites and infrastructure. The Church will be unable to follow up this, she maintains. -The Patriarch is a smart man, he understands all of this, therefore I hope that he will make a wise decision on Solovki after his visit, the ministry representative stesses. The recently instated Patriach Kirill visited Arkhangelsk Oblast and Solovki early this week.
