MOSCOW, April 6 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Orthodox Church in southern Siberia has demanded that a local company halt sales of bottled water advertised as "blessed," the Novye Izvestiya newspaper said on Monday.
The Triyera company, based in the Altai Territory city of Biisk, has been selling its "Mountain Spring - Baptismal" water since early March. Adverts for the water, which is more expensive than its rivals, claim that it was bottled from a spring in the Altai mountains on Epiphany and blessed in line with Church traditions. Epiphany is celebrated in Russia on January 19.
According to Russian Orthodox Church tradition, water blessed at Epiphany becomes especially holy and has healing properties. The water is often stored by believers for long periods. Many people also consider that any water poured or bottled by believers on Epiphany, even from ordinary kitchen sink taps, becomes holy.
"January has long gone and there are long queues at the church," the advert for the water read. "What can you do if you couldn't lay in a supply of healing water? You could wait for next year - or you could simply go to the shop. We care about people who need baptismal water the whole year round."
"This is a blatant case of sacrilege," Bishop Maxim of Barnaul and Altai said in a letter to the company, quoted by the paper. "The water in question has not been blessed and besides it is unacceptable to distribute sacraments in this manner."
The bishop also said that Church authorities could take the company to court.
The Triyera company has also forwarded a video clip of the blessing of the spring to a priest charged by Bishop Maxim with investigating the water. The unnamed priest has since turned his attention to the blessing printed on the label.
"Is God Save You a wish or a blessing? If a blessing, then this is an infringement of all Church rules, because only we have the right to bless," the priest was quoted as saying by the paper.
"I understand the reaction of the Church," the paper quoted the company's general director, Nikolai Polkin, as saying. "Everything connected to Church brands must belong to the Church. Everything that happens today is done for business purposes. We just didn't make a deal."
Altapress.ru reported on Monday that a number of regional supermarkets were considering removing the water from their shelves after receiving letters from Church authorities.
