South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1922-03-30
new SOVIET ORDER
OPENS ALADDIN'S
CAVE OF TREASURE
Churches of Russia Have
Wonderful Jewels Which
Will Be COnfiscated.

MOSCOW. March 4.-By Mall
An Aladdin's cave of jewels has
been opened by the decision Of the
Soviet authorities to conhscate
some Of the treasures Of the Rus
sian churches and sell them 10 feed
the famine sufferers.
CThe Soviet decree issued FEB 26
directs the seizure Of all precious
M etaIs and stones which would not
interfere with the Interests Of the
various cults l. has been an
nounced that the All-Russian Cen
trail Committee will determine what
articles are absolutely necessary for
religious purposes and exempt from
requisition)
Most famous Of the church treas
ures. described by the Moscow
newspaper Izvestia. is the bejoweued
ikon, Our Lady OF Kazan" at the
| kazan Cathedral in Petrograd. 1t
| is a representation Of the Virgin
| done in beaten sold we Ching 10
pounds and decorated with 1853
larger and 1882 lesser diamonds
pearls and 155 other jewels and
hung about the neck of the Birgin
is a diamond necklace Of huge first
water stones.
At Peter Pauls cathedral, also in
! Petrograd. there is another famous
! ikon. known as the Jerusalem Holy
Lady in solid gold 1t is about
I two feet square. and contains IS
I carats Of large diamonds. Is carats
OF middle-sized diamonds and Il
/ and One-quarter carats of smaller
stones Altogether, in this church,
says the Izvestia there are "a al
most equally valuable ikons.
To St Isaac's Cathedral. Petro-
/ grad. were presented on the DAY il
was opened. a total Of 2I5 articles
containing 81 pounds of gold and
Ass pounds OF silver and later a
Shrine was built of solid silver
weighing 46S pounds St. Isaac's
also has one ikon. 81 inches wide by
IS inches high. done in gold over'ay
and bearing a wreath i'm larger
diamonds. There are dozen o.he-
ikons of tremendous value NJ st.
Isaac's alone.
While these big PetroErad cathed-
rails, which were long favored 10y
/ royalty. probably contain the most
valuable treasures of the Greek
Orthodox church in Russia nearly
every one of the estimated $1,000
other cathedrals. monasteries con-
vents and churches contains OBJECTS
in gold and silver and jewelled
ikons are not at all rare. even in
the smaller edifices
Royal gifts. donations by pious
Pensioners and church taxes for
centuries went largely into orna
menting the churches Kazan cath
edral was the holy Of holes 10 the
Cossacks. The Cossacks Of the Don
once sent to il 1 .440 pounds of sill
YER. asking that it he made into
ikons Of four Of the Apostles.
Beyond their value in precious
metal and jewels. some Of the OBJ
jects might be extremely sought af-
ter by collectors The Byzantine
magnihcence of the jewelled ikons
: however. might impress the West
ern world as more ornate than ar
tistic
with a few scattered exceptions
wherein some footing Of churches
May have occurred during the early
days Of the revolution. church
| treasures have been left practically
intact
Patriarch Tikhon the head of the
Russian church is understood &C
contend that since the church and
the state have been separated. the
title TO the treasures rests In the
hands Of the Pensioners of each
church and that. therefore. il is for
each parish TO decide what treas
ures it wishes TO surrender for the
famine sufferers.
He advises charity in this respect
but it is believed in Moscow that
the church. as a whole viii siren
uously oppose general confsca ton
while willing to surrender those OBJ
jects which il does not consider
particularly holy or Of essential use
i'm sacramento Observance