Spiritual Uplift Just a Cellphone Call Away
By Kevin O'Flynn
Staff Writer
Until this summer, cellphone users could only download erotic pictures, catch up on the latest stock prices and see tomorrow's weather forecast. But as of July, they can deal with matters more spiritual by listening to religious services pitched at the Orthodox believer.
With a simple punch of three buttons, you can listen to a priest give the church's point of view on thorny theological problems or find out where the nearest monastery is. Press a few more numbers and for about 40 cents you can find out whether you should eat meat or fish on a certain day or remain on a fast.
Vimpelcom's Beeline and Mobile TeleSystems both introduced Orthodox channels earlier this month. They were soon followed by No. 3 cellphone provider Megafon.
"It's for those who regularly go to church and those who know little," said Vimpelcom spokesman Artyom Minayev. "How long is the fast? What saint's day is it?"
The Russian Orthodox Church has no complaint about the new cellphone services.
"We only welcome anything that helps people get to know Orthodox culture better," said Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, deputy head of the Moscow Patriarchate's external relations department.
He added that there are lots of charlatans giving false advice on Orthodox beliefs and practices.
At least one telecoms analyst doubted whether the services would pay off, saying Orthodox believers tend to be suspicious of mobile phones.
"Many Orthodox Christians don't like mobile phones and see them as something from the devil," Yevgeny Itsikhon, general director of the telecom analyst firm Sotovik, was quoted by Dow Jones as saying.
Chaplin laughed when he heard this. He said he and most of the other priests in the Moscow Patriarchate have and use cellphones.
Chaplin said he had heard of a priest who was warning of the evils of the Internet and cellphones, but this was not church policy.
All the cellphone Orthodox services have been blessed.
The Beeline service was blessed by Archpriest Dmitry of the St. Mitrofan Cathedral of Voronezh in Moscow; Megafon's was blessed by Metropolitan Vladimir of St. Petersburg.
Telecoms analysts said the introduction of Orthodox services was more likely motivated by public relations than any hope of financial gains and that the cellphone providers were following in the footsteps of their European counterparts.
In Italy, cellphone users can receive a spiritual thought of the day from Pope John Paul II for 15 cents or for 4.50 euros a month.
Megafon is the only provider that offers callers both the option of receiving erotic pictures -- through its Strawberry multimedia messaging service -- or information on matters more holy.
"Among our subscribers are different categories of people, and they all have different interests," a Megafon spokesman said.
"We are aiming to provide varied services that will satisfy the interests of all subscribers."
