Patriarch Kirill celebrates Orthodox Easter at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, 7 April 2018. Photo: EPA-EFE/SERGEI ILNITSKY
Pregnant women in 16 Russian regions and republics are to receive letters with well wishes from Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, state-owned news agency RIA Novosti wrote on Saturday.
The Hello Mum! campaign has been organised by Natalia Moskvitina, the founder of the Women for Life Foundation, an organisation that helps mothers and children, RIA Novosti said.
Newly pregnant women in Russia are currently issued with an “aid folder” at their first appointment in a public clinic. The folder contains a letter of congratulations from the head of the region and the local capital, in addition to advertisements and practical information pamphlets.
In the coming month, that folder will also contain a personal letter from Patriarch Kirill, which reads, “I offer you my heartfelt congratulations on this momentous occasion in your life. The anticipation of the birth of a child is always filled with both anxiety and joy. But as our Lord Jesus Christ said, do not let your heart be troubled and do not let it be afraid. … I hope that … the baby will soon join Christ in the sacrament of baptism.”
It is not clear whether women who profess religions other than Orthodox Christianity or none at all will also receive the letters. The project is currently being rolled out across the country, though the St. Alexis Church Hospital is currently the only clinic in Moscow to have signed up to the project.
Moskvitina says the project aims to prevent abortions and to make women “feel supported and make the right choice in favour of life”.
Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, approved the first reading of a bill banning “propaganda of the child-free movement” on Thursday, which would impose fines of up to 400,000 rubles (€4,000) for individuals found guilty of spreading what the authorities deem to be “child-free propaganda”.
