The main theme of the exhibition is relations between the Church and the State with the aim of reviving spirituality and traditional culture, preserving morals, organizing social work and conducting a peacemaking activity, a spokesman for the exhibition's organizing committee, Bishop Mark of Yegoryevsk, told RIA Novosti.
"The exhibition, which will be opened by Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and All Russia, will for the first time display the wonder-working Icon of Our Lady of Don. The demonstration of this icon is a symbol of the favorable cooperation between the Church and the State, in particular, cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and the Tretyakov Picture Gallery (in which the icon is kept)," pointed out Bishop Mark.
According to him, more than 200 organizations take part in the exhibition. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Belarussian Exarchate, over 30 dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church, 34 monasteries, religious educational establishments, pilgrimage services, artistic and icon-painting studios, bell foundries and jewelry firms have their own stands at the exhibition.
A conference devoted to temple architecture, modern town-building and restoration will be held in the context of the exhibition.
On Wednesday, clergymen and representatives of different branches of authority will meet to discuss the theme: "The Church, Politics and Morals." The discussion will be attended by Vice Speaker of the State Duma (the lower house of the parliament) Lyubov Sliska, plenipotentiary representative of the Russian President in the Volga Federal District, Sergei Kiriyenko, Chairman of the Russian Constitutional Court Vladimir Zorkin, well-known politician and leader of the Homeland bloc Sergei Glazyev and other politicians and public leaders. Patriarch Peter VII of Alexandria and All Africa, who arrived in Moscow yesterday, will be an honorary guest of the Orthodox Rus exhibition.
