The Fifth Anniversary of the Orthodox Businessmen Club

THE FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ORTHODOX BUSINESSMEN CLUB

A meeting of the Orthodox Businessmen Club devoted to its fifth anniversary took place in the conference hall of the Danilovsky hotel complex on December 20, 2001. His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia attended the meeting.

In his address to the representatives of the Russian business community His Holiness the Patriarch noted that charity was always a distinctive feature of the Russians. “Before the 1917 Revolution the rich helped the Church in its social activity, and there are still houses preserved in Moscow that were built by benefactors for people who lived below the poverty line. The revival of charity in Russia today shows that the traditions that used to keep Russia alive have been restored.

Mr. Poltavchenko, Presidential Representative to the Central Federal Region, promised to assist businessmen in carrying out the programs aimed at developing spirituality and supporting the Russian Orthodox Church.

In the nearest future, the Orthodox Businessmen Club plans to restore churches, chapels and monasteries, including the Church of Our Lady “The Helper of Sinners” in the women’s reformatory in Mozhaisk, to publish prayer books for convicts and Orthodox books for children and to conduct the Days of Russian Culture abroad and other events.