The guest of the "Tribune" is Professor of the Moscow Theological Academy, Deacon Andrei Kuraev

- The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, the head of the Church of England, said the tragedy in Beslan made him "momentarily doubt the existence of God." I remember that the same thoughts were expressed by the witnesses of the Spitak tragedy in Armenia. It is impossible to accept the suffering and death of innocent children.

- This statement should not be so shocking to people who know at least a little about the history of Christian thought and mysticism. In the Old Testament, the prophets often dare to God: "Lord, where are You? Thou hast fallen asleep, wake up, O Lord!" And Christian saints – for example, St. Gregory the Theologian, and then St. Theodore the Studite – in the moments of the most difficult ecclesiastical and national crises quoted the words of the Gospel: "Christ is asleep" (the Gospel indeed tells us that during a storm on the Lake of Gennesaret Christ slept and the frightened apostles woke Him). So if a person looks around in fright and suddenly exclaims: "Where are You, Lord!" then this is not some kind of anti-Christian or atheistic intonation. A cry to God, a feeling of horror from the fact that you do not feel the Lord next to you is, on the contrary, an expression of a living relationship with God.

As for faith in God in a moment of suffering... You know, if such a tragedy had occurred in a Muslim school, it would have been more difficult for Muslim theologians to explain. And when this happens to our children, then to the question – "Lord, where were You when they suffered in Beslan?", we say: "Our Christ was also there." Because for Christians, Christ is not just an all-good spirit hovering somewhere beyond the cosmos. This is the God who became man and took the full measure of human sorrow even before we do. He himself went through betrayal and crucifixion.

- In this case, can we see in these tragic events some kind of God's Providence?

- One of the hostages said that when the bandit pressed a cross into his body with the muzzle of a machine gun and demanded to glorify Allah, the boy shouted "Christ is risen!" According to him, at that moment these terrible explosions occurred, the wall next to them collapsed, the terrorist was thrown back by the blast wave, and Sasha was the first of all to jump out of the window and ran, followed by the rest of the children. Perhaps if it were not for these explosions, everything would have ended much worse.

I understand the incredible situation in which our President found himself, who was already spat on and pecked after the situation in Moscow, at Dubrovka, was resolved by force and with victims. Therefore, in the event of a second crisis, there was a greater risk that the Russian authorities could follow the lead of the bandits and capitulate. Which, in fact, is what Aushev promised the terrorists during negotiations with them. I am convinced that this would be the worst of all outcomes, with the subsequent collapse of the country and even greater casualties. Because those who declared war on us are predators. When you make concessions to them, they, feeling weak, increase their pressure. It is possible to demand concessions from those who yield indefinitely.

So the mysterious explosions that set Sasha free at the same time saved us from capitulation. For me, this is also God's Providence.

However, I speak a language that is too old. To understand who came to Beslan, it is enough to recall one word that has recently entered our language. These are orcs. It is impossible to negotiate with the orcs.

- The calculation of those who sent this beast to Ossetia was clear: to sow ethnic and interreligious hatred, to blow up the North Caucasus. Do you think their goal has been achieved?

-You never can tell. On the one hand, Ossetians are not today's Russians. These are Caucasians. Children were killed in front of their fathers. After that, convincing Ossetian men not to take up arms and not to take revenge on the bandits and their relatives according to the laws of the Caucasian blood feud is, of course, a super task. On the other hand, they are Christians. What will prevail?

And in addition to this, there is a certain complexity of local church life. In the North Caucasus there is now a wonderful bishop – Theophanes. He is a man who has the richest experience in our Church of work and life in Muslim countries. Before heading the Stavropol diocese, he was for several decades the representative of the Patriarch of Moscow to the Orthodox Patriarchs in the Middle East and Africa. But still, he has been in the Caucasus for only a year. He inherited a huge, complex, multi-structured diocese. And I don't even know if Vladyka Feofan had been to Beslan before these events. How trusting is his relationship with the local flock? Will the Ossetians listen to the voice of the Russian bishop, whom they may not yet have time to know and love? Vladyka Feofan's epistle to the Ossetian flock regarding the events in Beslan begins as follows: "My dear, beloved Ossetian flock." The fact that he treats the Ossetian Christians with love is beyond doubt for me, but is there reciprocal love? Has it formed? Is there a readiness to listen to the voice of the Russian archpastor in these conditions? I hope that in three days of grief there appeared something that could not grow even in a year. Vladyka Theophan was in Beslan in those days. I saw photos where he gives his car to transport an injured boy...