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North Korea has opened its first-ever Russian Orthodox church -- in a move which seems to have more to do with politics rather than human rights.

An inaugural mass has been held at The Trinity Church in Pyongyang, attended by Russian delegates and senior North Korean officials, including Vice Premier Kwak Pom Gi.

The chairman of the Korean Orthodox Church Committee, Ho Il Jin, said that the North Korean government would 'successfully manage and operate the church'. He added that the church would build bridges between Russia and North Korea. AsiaNews reported in 2004 that North Korea was footing most of the bill for construction work.

Pyongyang has also had one Catholic and two Protestant churches since 1988 -- but these are considered to be empty showcases tightly controlled by the authorities. 7x7 reported on January 31 that work on a church for foreigners, the International Harvest Church, has been on hold for more than a year, as the Pyongyang regime stalls on giving the go-ahead.

• Pray for the congregation of this new Russian Orthodox church. Pray that they would be able to worship freely, despite the inevitable attempts by officialdom to infiltrate teaching with doctrine and politics.
• Continue to pray that construction work on the International Harvest Church would resume quickly -- and the church would live up to its name.

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