- 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...

In general, in Ossetia, his Christian word is now on the scales against anger and some local traditions.27

- Who needs to draw the main organizational conclusion from the events that took place?

- Of course, Moscow itself. It is necessary to change the consciousness of the authorities, the press and society. The capitulatory policy and life according to the principle - "if only there is no war" - in the current conditions leads to a dead end. We must realize that today Russia is simply returning to the normal course of its history. War was a sad routine for her. In our thousand-year history, the average interval between wars was no more than three or four years. This means that every man should at least potentially feel like a warrior, and every mother should understand that when she raises her sons, she does not do it so that they always stay by her side. Without such awareness and education, we will very soon become slaves.

- What concrete steps do the clergy and the Orthodox community now expect from the authorities?

- Try to look at our television through the eyes of Muslims: preaching paganism (endless horoscopes, healers, magicians), showing debauchery, thoughtless cult of wealth and entertainment. A believing Muslim does not find what is dear to his heart on federal TV channels. And, therefore, he will do his best to protect his children from what pours from our TV screens. And the source of such television broadcasting – Ostankino and Moscow – will be an enemy in his mind.

- And what about the Orthodox?

- The Orthodox have nowhere to go. Stupefied or not, this is still our Motherland. Muslims do not have such an identification of their paths with Moscow and Russia. Moscow television provokes a burning desire in a believing Muslim to disconnect from him as from some kind of enemy who penetrates into the house and steals the souls of his children. Hence the desire to fence himself off from Moscow.