Churches in St. Petersburg allowed to violate the law on silence on weekends

The Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg in the first reading adopted the law on the right to worship on weekends and holidays. Now Orthodox churches can ring the bells and not pay fines for violating the silence regime. This was reported on November 19 in the Telegram channel of the legislative body.

"It is proposed to exclude the possibility of prosecution for violations of silence on holidays and weekends from 8:00 to 12:00 Moscow time during religious ceremonies of traditional faiths," the publication says.

According to the RBC news agency, such a rule is formally present in the city law on administrative offenses and religious organizations could violate peace and quiet at night — from 22:00 to 8:00, however, on weekends, rituals are allowed only from 12:00 and, violating the "law on silence", temples could get a fine of up to 200 thousand rubles.

Symbolic protection: the law will prohibit the image of temples without crosses

An exception will be made for floor mats and seats in transport to prevent desecration of religious signs.

Earlier, on July 8, the Russian Orthodox Church explained the mechanism of the planned ban on worship in high-rise buildings. The amendments, in particular, propose to allow religious organizations to hold worship services and other rituals in apartment buildings only with the participation of their residents and a priest. The presence of an indefinite circle of people is also not allowed. It is also proposed to ban the registration of religious organizations if they are located and conduct worship services in residential and non-residential buildings.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.