The historical Saviour Church in Usovo was closed and rebuilt into a government summer residence in 1932. The church has been restored and is now located on the territory of the prime minister's residence. On May 30, 2009 Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia laid the foundation stone for the new Holy Saviour's Image Church.
In his address at the ceremony Vladimir Putin stressed that relations between the government and the Russian Orthodox Church were going through a special period: "The Russian Orthodox Church and all traditional confessions in Russia together with the government are building new and restoring previously lost shrines the way we are restoring together our common home, our Motherland - Russia. The Church plays an immense role in this process." He added that the creation of the entire church complex was the result of big joint work.
"The Church, more than any other institution, provides support for every individual and the entire state at difficult moments," the prime minister said and thanked Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia for the invitation to the ceremony.
After the festive service Mr Putin presented the church with the icon of the Holy Saviour's Image Not Made by Hand and toured the Orthodox spiritual and education centre in the church complex, which includes classrooms, rooms for seminars, a library and a concert hall. During the visit, actors, wearing historical costumes, were rehearsing the play "Tsar Fyodor" in the concert hall. On their request, Mr Putin went up on the stage and watched them rehearse. After that, the prime minister was shown the sports club for the parochial school's students, which includes a gym and a hall for martial arts training. "The parishioners have many activities to choose from," the prime minister noted after his tour. "This is good for the youth, especially for the boys, since girls are mainly busy with needlework," Patriarch Kirill agreed with the prime minister.
Vladimir Putin's opening remarks:
Your Holiness, primates of the Russian Orthodox Church, ladies and gentlemen, parishioners,
To begin with, I would like to thank you, Your Holiness, for supporting this project, the construction of this church.
The relations between the government and the Russian Orthodox Church are going through a special period and stand out for their special warmth. We do not just return to the Church what it was illegally deprived of after 1917, but we also build new churches. However, this concerns the material side of our relations. Of much greater importance are the relations between the Church and the government in the spiritual sphere. The Russian Orthodox Church and all traditional confessions in Russia together with the government are building new and restoring previously lost shrines the way we are restoring together our common home, our Motherland - Russia. The Church, more than any other institution, provides support for every individual and the entire state at difficult moments, and it is the Church that shares our joys and successes.
We laid the foundation stone for this church only a year ago. And this is not just a church. It is a large complex where people will be able to pray to God for help and forgiveness in hard times. This will also be the place where people will come to rejoice and thank God for happy outcomes, joys, new successes and new victories.
I would like to thank everyone who was involved in the construction of this church. Best wishes to you all.