By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : The number of priests in Russia’s armed forces will soon triple to more than 60, a top defence ministry official has said.
The armed forces currently have 19 chaplains, and at least 45 priests are ready for appointment.
“Work to expand the corps of priests in the armed forces will be continued. First of all chaplains will be appointed to the posts of aides to commanders in closed, foreign-based and top combat readiness units,” said Maj. Gen. Sergei Chvarkov, head of the defence ministry’s department for personnel development.
Two-thirds of Russian servicemen consider themselves religious, with more than 80 percent of them Orthodox Christians and some eight percent Muslims.
In July 2009, after a meeting with the heads of Russia’s main faiths, President Dmitry Medvedev supported a project to restore full-scale military priesthood, which existed from the 18th century to the start of the Soviet era.