An unsanctioned gay pride parade descended into violence Sunday as religious activists arrived to break up the demonstration and police detained protesters.
More than 10 people were arrested outside the Moscow City Duma Sunday, where gay rights activists had planned to hold to protest a new law being discussed that would ban “homosexual propaganda,” RIA-Novosti reported.
Three of those arrested were Orthodox Church activists who had come to disrupt the protest, while the other detained demonstrators were all participants of the gay rights protest, including event organizer Nikolai Alekseyev.
News media showed pictures and videos of physical altercations between the two groups in which a man holding a rainbow flag was being attacked as journalists stood by with cameras rolling.
Other pictures showed activists hold signs, including one anti-gay protester whose sign read “Moscow is not Sodom.”
After the arrests, the remaining activists were dispersed, and police stayed behind with several police buses to guard the area against further disturbances.
The organizers of the parade had planned for a crowd of several thousand to gather for a picket at the City Duma at 1 p.m. and to move to City Hall an hour later. Police had warned that demonstrators could face arrests and fines for holding an unsanctioned protest.
May 24 - Saints Cyril and Methodius Day (Orthodox churches).
Born in the 820s in Byzantine Thessaloniki, brothers Cyril and Methodius are two of the most famous and influential saints in the Orthodox Church. They were missionaries among the Slavic peoples, translated portions of the Bible into Old Church Slavonic so that people could read it, and are credited with inventing Glagolitic, the first Slavic alphabet.
Today they are widely remembered for their contribution in creating a literate public. May 24 is a public holiday in Bulgaria (where it is the Day of the Bulgarian Alphabet, Culture, and Education), Macedonia (where it is Slavonic Enlighteners Day), and in Russia (Slavonic Literature and Culture Day).
They are also saints in the Roman Catholic church, but their feast day - a public holiday in Slovakia and the Czech Republic - is in July.
Lighting candles in an Orthodox church in Lithuania.
In Sarajevo.
St. Nicholas Church. Kotor, Montenegro.
Jakab and Komor Square Synagogue. Subotica, Serbia.
May 6th is St. George’s Day on the Orthodox calendar! This is a big holiday in Orthodox countries, and heralds the beginning of spring.
In Bulgaria, Gergyovden is also the Day of the Bulgarian Army. All over the country, people honor the service and sacrifices of the army.
The interior Vilnius Cathedral.
The ruins of Tartu Cathedral stand on a prominent hill that in pre-Christian times had been a pagan stronghold. Invading Christians destroyed the stronghold in 1224 and built a church in its place. Over time the church was rebuilt and remodeled and eventually took the form of a Gothic cathedral.
In 1624, iconoclasts (remember the Reformation from history classes?) attacked the church, after which it fell into disrepair. Although there have been plans to rebuild it in the intervening time, not much ever came of them. Parts of the cathedral have been remodeled, and one tower contains part of the University of Tartu’s museum. Most of the cathedral, however, remains a (picturesque) ruin.
Pictures from here.
(Source: Wikipedia)
