MOSCOW, April 28 (UPI) -- Legislation is being drafted to return icons and other religious art seized after the Russian Revolution to churches and convents.
The proposal has the backing of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, The Moscow Times reports.
Many museum curators fear art works will not receive proper care in churches. Gennady Vdovin, head of the Ostankino Estate Museum in Moscow, also said smoke from candles can damage icons.
Last month, the Russian Orthodox Church regained control of the Novodevichy Convent, a 16th-century complex in Moscow that once housed the sister of Boris Godunov, a 16th century Russian regent, and the sister and estranged first wife of Peter the Great. Because the convent is a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage Site, Putin ordered the property to be managed by the church with the government retaining formal ownership.
Church leaders say religious property and art should not be state-controlled.
"A temple must be a temple, not a museum. An icon has its place -- not in a museum, but in a functioning temple," Archbishop Hilarion, who is in charge of external relations, told the Times.
