South Ossetian President Leonid Tibilov met with representatives of the chaplains of the Southern Military District of Russia, arrived in the Republic to take part in the methodological and training sessions for officials to work with the faithful servicemen.
The Head of State welcomed the chaplains headed by the chief of the Department to work with the faithful servicemen of the Southern Military District of Russia Gennady Ochkin.
"Faith has a special place in our life; Ossetian people have suffered difficult years of war. We were praying to God, to all the saints. In 2008, residents of Tskhinval more than once saw the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who defended our town,"- said the president.
He has stressed that Orthodoxy is the foundation of the spiritual consciousness of the South Ossetians since the time of Alania State.
Leonid Tibilov has also noted the high level of relations with Russia, including in matters of religion.
"It so happened that the Alan Diocese was in the Greek synod. But we hope for assistance of the Russian Orthodox Church. I can confidently say this, because during my meeting with Patriarch Kirill we tried to find solutions to this issue. In the near future will be held other scheduled meetings with representatives of the Alan and Vladikavkaz dioceses, where also will be discussed this issue. We are waiting and striving for it. The meeting with Patriarch showed that there is an understanding of our position,"- said Tibilov.
Russian priests expressed their readiness to provide all possible assistance in this good deed.
"We know that the Orthodox people of South and North Ossetia have long been allied. Virgin Mary unites us under its cover, "- said archpriest Father Timothy (Ostaev).
Gennady Ochkin has noted that assistants of commanders to work with the faithful servicemen provide a lot of help to them by their personal example and spiritual support.
"Faith is a great thing. It saved our state more than once, contributed to strengthening of our power. I very much value my work and we do our best to improve it. The pride in Russia and in its Armed Forces is growing from year to year, the evidence of this is the events in the Crimea ", - he stressed.
During the meeting Leonid Tibilov has said that the Ministry of Defence of the Republic is also planning to introduce the post of a priest in order to strengthen the spiritual state and military support.
The meeting was attended by the State Adviser of the President Konstantin Kochiev, Presidential Commissioner for Religious Affairs Sonia Khubaeva and the First Deputy Head of the Executive Office of the President of the RSO Konstantin Pukhaev.
