Murmansk, March 1, 2012
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The ancient monastery is located in the village of Luostari, Murmansk province. It was founded in the early fourteenth century by St. Triphon of Pechenga, enlightener of the far north, and has been razed several times in its history by armies and fires. The only remaining church burned down six years ago. Now the monastery is being rebuilt once again by homeless people who have gathered there from all over the region. The planned shelter and rehabilitation center will serve those who remain homeless and jobless.
One of the workers, Oleg Nikolaenko, found both shelter and work at the monastery’s metochion. Like many of the workers there, he has neither a home, nor a domestic passport—the identification document needed to obtain these basic needs. The Orthodox Church has promised to help him reestablish his passport documentation.
The priests at the monastery emphasize that simply washing, feeding, and clothing the homeless is not enough. Those who have been wandering homeless require help on various levels, and this takes time.
Abbot the St. Triphon of Pechenga metochion in Murmansk, Hieromonk Geronty (Chudnevich) talked about their intentions to help the homeless. “We will give them a temporary registration at the shelter, so that they can receive their documents. It is a small social assistance package.” In Russia, a person must be registered at a specific address in order to obtain ID documents.
The regional authorities have also chipped in with financial aid amounting to 43 million rubles (nearly 1.5 million USD) as a first step. The shelter is projected to have three buildings—an administrative building and two residential buildings with space for 120 people.
