The Russian Orthodox Church has helped the poor in the Tajik capital, organizing free meals for them.
“Every Sunday, up to 250 vulnerable gather at the St. Nicholas Cathedral in Dushanbe, where they receive free hot meals,” Feodora Vlasova, the head of the social department at the St. Nicholas Cathedral, told Asia-Plus in an interview.
“We accept everyone,” said Vlasova. “People who found themselves in a difficult life situation can turn to us. We do not ask either religious affiliation or ethnicity. We will accept absolutely any person.”
Local resident Yormahmad cooks food and the menu is different every week.
Besides, vulnerable and homeless people receive a set of products once a month.
The funds are mostly reportedly allocated by Synodal Department for Church Charity. “Local residents also provide assistance, bringing vegetable oil, sugar, canned goods, cereals,” Vlasova added.
The St. Nicholas Cathedral is a Russian Orthodox church in Dushanbe. It is the Cathedral church of the Russian Orthodox Eparchy of Dushanbe and Tajikistan.
The cathedral was completed at the end of 1943 due to a certain softening that occurred in the USSR in relation to the Patriarchal Church that year.
After the collapse of the USSR, a large number of Orthodox families to left the country, leaving the cathedral with no visitors. In the spring of 2005, the St. Nicholas Cathedral began its first major reconstruction, which continued until 2011.
