Some 100 old-rite orthodox families plan to move to Russia from Latin America

About 100 Orthodox families from Latin America who profess ancient worship want to move to Russia, reported the Primate of the Metropolitan Kornily of Moscow and All Russia of Old-Rite Russian Orthodox Church.

“At the moment, about a hundred families expressed their desire to move to Russia from Latin America, from the U.S., 50 people want to move, Old Believers are ready to move not only to the Primorsky Territory, but also to other regions of Russia,” said the ecclesiastical primate in a video posted on the staroobryadci.ru portal.

Last September, the website of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Old Rite reported that Primorye in the near future plans to grant permanent residency to more than 50 people from the United States. Some 46 families already live in that region and are engaged in agriculture.

The Orthodox Church of the Old Rite holds a council in Moscow from October 18-20.

In October 2019, it emerged that the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, decided to grant Russian citizenship to the heads of eight communities of the so-called Old Believers, currently residing in Brazil and the U.S., who planned to move to Primorye.

The Old Believers are a Christian current of Orthodox tradition, which arose as a result of a schism within the Russian Orthodox Church.

In 1654, the Russian patriarch Nikon decided to carry out a reform of that Church, during which the supporters of the old ecclesiastical canons suffered severe persecution, and some of these communities later managed to emigrate to Latin America.

Most families traveling to South America first arrived in Brazil. Later, some stayed there and others went on to other countries on the continent, such as Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Bolivia.

The Russian Government approved a plan for the Russian Far East until 2025 in which it is expected to encourage the resettlement of compatriots living abroad, including adherents of the Old Orthodox Rite, to whom they grant subsidies and give free land to condition of the creation of farms.

The region is also implementing a series of measures to support these farmers from the Americas. They can request more than 2,000 hectares of land, as well as subsidies aimed at supporting agricultural production, they have help to acquire agricultural machinery and legal advice.

With information from Sputnik