Harvard to return collection of historic bells to Russian Orthodox

Published: 2007-03-22

MOSCOW (CNS) -- Harvard University will return a collection of historic bells to the Russian Orthodox Church more than seven decades after they were seized and sold by the regime of Josef Stalin. "These bells are not only a witness, but also a victim of history, a symbol of the independence, greatness and identity of the people," Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow said March 21. "I'm happy our guests from Harvard University could feel this part of the Russian soul, conveyed through the tolling of church bells." Orthodox and Harvard representatives signed an agreement to return the 18 bells to Moscow's Danilov Monastery, which has housed the Moscow Patriarchate since being reopened in 1988. Charles Crane, a U.S. diplomat, purchased the 17th-century bells, embossed with icons and verses, for about $17,700 in 1930, when most of Moscow's estimated 5,000 church bells had been confiscated and melted down. He donated them to Harvard University.

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