Brothers and sisters, for more than a year we have been praying for peace to come and for the enmity between the peoples to stop. Today we also invoke God to keep peace in our country and to prevent discord which can split our society and bring suffering into people’s lives. As the Church which builds its teaching on the basis of Holy Scripture, we reject any illegal ways of solving problems. Therefore, I call upon everybody to join together in prayer for Russia, our common home. May the Lord give us wisdom as we overcome all the hardships, diligence as we build harmonious society which unites people of different cultures and ethnicities, and fill our hearts with a sincere desire, according to the Apostle Paul, to live peaceably with all. (Rom. 12:18, ESV)