In other Russian news, a reformed Orthodox priest announced plans to open a gay church in Moscow.

Father Alexei left the Orthodox movement over its staunch anti-gay policy and took up with the more lenient – and loving – Renovated Church Federation.

Through the Federation, Alexei says, he hopes to live up to his end of the Biblical bargain:

A gay man came to me for advice. He told me his story. What was I to do? To order the cursed catamite out? I could not do it. I talked to him, others followed soon. An Orthodox priest listening to a gay man's story is uncommon. But all people have the right to pursue a spiritual life. The phrase that 'the Church is not an institution, but an organ of true love" appeals to me very much. I have come to understand that God is Love.

We're sure the gays will love you for it.

While Alexei will no doubt meet opposition in his homeland, the pious activist enlisted aid from Germany Pentecostals and Renovated Federations in the United States and other parts of Europe. Don't you love when people work together?