Prosecutor's office decides there is no extremism in comparing atheists with circus bears

The administrative of the Penza diocese will not be held accountable for comparing atheists with circus bears, said Svetlana Artamonova, senior assistant to the regional prosecutor's office.

Local lawyer Evgeniy Moiseyev had turned to the office with a request that the administration of the diocese be charged with discrimination in light of a transcript of a meeting between the head of the Patriarchal Commission for Family Affairs and the Protection of Motherhood and Childhood Archpriest Dimitry Smirnov and priests of the diocese.

During the meeting, Smirnov said: "Being married to an atheist is essentially the same thing as being married to a bear in a circus. The bear is a type of animal that becomes [defective] within three years. Therefore, it is dangerous to marry such [a person].

An investigation by the Penza prosecutor's office, however, decided that Smirnov was not guilty of extremism. A case, has, therefore, not been initiated against the administration of the local diocese.