Russian parish in Strasbourg lacks money to continue building the church

Natalya Mihailova | 03 December 2014
Strasbourg, December 3, Interfax - The Parish of All Saints, which builds a church complex, faces financial difficulties.

“Builders have almost finished the erection of the concrete construction for the parochial house. There are only some details left. Now, in order not to let abundant Alsace rains fill with water all the premises, it is necessary to make a roof. We expected the works on erecting wooden construction of the attic floor and the roof to start any day,” the parochial website reports.

Besides, it is necessary to make isolation of the roof. The works will cost € 250,000. The means are needed urgently to pay the performers of the works. Besides, according to the safety standards it is necessary to set up scaffold and to pay the rent of €14,000 for six months.

At the same time the building of the church is under construction. Its subterranean floor was made earlier. Its altar apse has been recently been completed. Today there is a task to collect at least certain amount of the total price of the church concrete construction that is evaluated in €1,6 million.

The idea of building the church appeared after establishing the Parish of All Saints in 2003 and the Representation of the Russian Church at the European Council in 2004. It took several years to negotiate with the city authorities on allotting land, to work out the project of the church, to register all necessary administrative and engineering documents.

In 2011, Strasbourg authorities allotted land on the bank of the Marne Canal flowing into the Rhine River where the Orangerie city park and European International institutions such as the European Council, the European Court of Human Rights, and the European Parliament are located. The permission for building was gained in 2012, and the agreement on renting land for 99 years was signed in 2013. Alongside with it, private persons and commercial structures were urged to fundraise to start building works.

The community has rented a former garage for celebrating liturgies since 2007. Today, the garage premises do not answer demands of the parish, as the number of its parishioners grows every year.

Besides the church, a parochial house is being built at the land lot, that is to become the Russian Cultural Center.

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