Penza, 6 January 2013. PenzaNews. Russian Orthodox Church is a serious counterweight to the forces that are going to “finish off” the people weakened by the cult of permissiveness, rampant alcoholism and mass barbarism. This opinion was expressed by the rural dean of Luninsky and Issinsky areas of the Penza region, priest Pavel Kurganov on the eve of Christmas.

“2012 taught us a lot. We have seen with what fury the enemy of the human race tried to stagger the church of Christ with the help of its henchmen who are among us. But the Orthodox Church truly raised its voice and stood up. A lot of new churches are being built across our country, and the church carries out active missionary and social activities,” he said.

According to Pavel Kurganov, the Orthodox Church is trying to “sober up” the society, which perceives as normal what was previously considered bad.

“Today the society must unite. The state, the clergy, and the people should stop being “Ivans, who do not remember their kinship.” We finally have to realize that the level of our decency and honesty influences the country our children will live in tomorrow,” the priest emphasized.

“More than two thousand years have passed since the Savior’s coming into the world, but each year the Bethlehem star light again and again lights our hearts with the unique joy and trembling. Dear brothers and sisters, I congratulate you on the upcoming Nativity of Christ,” newspaper “Surskaya Pravda” quotes Pavel Kurganov.