The head of the Palestinian Imperial Orthodox Society, Sergei Stepashin, said that the decision to transfer the Church of the Ascension of the Lord and the monastery of Mary Magdalene in Jerusalem to the ownership of Russia is the business and responsibility of the Israeli judiciary.
Stepashin said, answering the question about the stage at which the work on the transfer of ownership of property to Russian property is currently underway: “So far, the issue of transferring ownership has not been raised. The material is now being submitted to the court, and this will be the decision of the Israeli judicial authorities.”
Previously informed sources confirmed that Russia intends to restore 3 historically associated areas in Jerusalem, and that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s approval has been received to begin the procedure.
The head of the Council of the Palestinian Imperial Orthodox Society in Israel, Igor Ashurbeyli, stated: “The districts include the Church of the Ascension and the Monastery of Mary Magdalene on the Mount of Olives… All these institutions are located on the Mount of Olives in Gethsemane… The first location is (Vera of Galilee), and the second location is the most important.” For Orthodoxy and Russia, this is the Church of the Ascension of the Lord, which is popularly called Svechnaya, and the third place is the monastery of Mary Magdalene.
Ashurbeyli explained that “these three sites are in perpetual possession” while the Israeli authorities for the first time began surveying all land and sites whose owner has not been identified, including the aforementioned sites, noting that Russia is seizing a historic opportunity. Farida to change this status on the property of the Russian Federation. He said: “If we do not have time to do this now, all property that has not passed the determination of the owner will become the property of Israel, and we will never get it.”
It is noteworthy that the Palestinian Orthodox Imperial Society is a reliable international public organization that occupies a special place in Russian culture, working to strengthen Russia’s position in the Middle East and in the history of the presence of Russian Orthodoxy in the world.
Source: TASS