XIANGGANG (Hong Kong), November 22—RIA Novosti, Mark Zavadsky. The Orthodox Church will conduct missionary activity among the Chinese coming/emigrating to Russia to facilitate their assimilation. This was reported in an interview with RIA Novosti by an official of the Department of External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, priest Dionisy Pozdnyaev, who oversees Orthodox communities in China and Hong Kong.
"I think, the Chinese will be better received in Russia if they will accept the Orthodox Faith and openly declare this. It would be desirable, of course, to avoid creating purely Chinese communities on the territory of Russia because the Church is formed not on a national, but on a territorial principle", said Pozdnyaev.
"Moreover the Chinese should be served in the Chinese language, which will necessitate preparing a team (of instructors)", he added.
According to the priest, about ten persons in Russian seminaries are studying the Chinese language; these had undergone training at the Fu Jen Catholic University in Taiwan .
Pozdnyaev also did not rule out the possibility that some of the Chinese seminarians will decide to not return to the People's Republic of China and will remain to serve in Russia.
"If one of our Chinese seminarians decides to remain in Russia, we, of course, shall support this decision", he noted.
11 students from the People's Republic of China are currently studying in Russian theological seminaries.
"I do not exclude possibility that Chinese students from secular high schools will want to be baptized and study in seminary; we shall not hinder this; it will be their decision in which Chinese authorities have no the right to interfere", declared Pozdnyaev.
According to the priest, there have already been cases of conversion to the Orthodox faith of Chinese who have come to Russia to study or to engage in business. "It not a mass phenomenon, but such cases exist", concluded the agency's interlocutor.