Church leaders in Russia say church at school site should embrace all

Published: 2004-09-20

BESLAN, Russia (CNS) -- Church leaders in Russia said any proposed church or religious memorial to be built at the site of a school massacre in Beslan should encompass all faiths affected by the Sept. 3 tragedy. Shortly after the massacre, a Russian Orthodox bishop called for an Orthodox church to be built at the site of Middle School No. 1, where a siege by pro-Chechen guerrillas killed more than 330 people, nearly half of them children. Father Janusz Blaut, whose parish includes Beslan, said people of many faiths suffered in the school siege, including the local Protestant pastor, who had four of his five children killed. "This is a delicate issue, and it needs more thought," Father Blaut told Catholic News Service. "Many Muslim children died here, too, and now lie alongside Christian classmates in the cemetery, united in death. If a chapel is built here, it should be open to other faiths too," he said.

Copyright (c) 2004 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .