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Old Saint Basil's Cathedral in MoscowJohnson's Russia List title and scenes of Saint Petersburg
Excerpts from the JRL E-Mail Community :: Founded and Edited by David Johnson

#3 - JRL 8006
OVER 3,000,000 PEOPLE TOOK PART IN CHRISTMAS DIVINE SERVICES

MOSCOW, January 8 (RIA Novosti) - On January 7, the day Orthodox Christmas is celebrated in Russia, over 3,000,000 persons attended divine services in Russia, deputy interior minister Sergei Shadrin told a Thursday press conference.

The greatest number of believers were registered in churches of the Kursk, Ryazan, Kostroma and Smolensk regions (Central Russia), where 200,000-400,000 Russians attended liturgies and religious procession. In Moscow this number was around 120,000, Shadrin said.

Law enforcers paid special attention to ensuring security at divine services in churches of the Vladimir and Moscow regions, as well as in Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow, where the country's top representatives and Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexis II were present.

Shadrin also said about 5,000 people took part in Christmas celebrations in Vasilyevsky Spusk near the Kremlin.

No violations of public order were registered, he said.

In his words, starting from January 6, police officers examined cathedrals and churches and nearby places.