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Russian Church Launches 'Christian Mobile Network'

Viktor Beryozkin / TASS

Devout Russian Christians will soon be able to sign up to the country’s very own Orthodox mobile operator.

As well as deals on mobile internet and calls, Blagovest will let users sign up for added bonuses such as text alerts from the Russian Patriarch, Russia’s Vedomosti newspaper reported Tuesday.

The company’s website also contains a special page to help users connect to their local monastery or congregation, claiming “that multiple Moscow parishes” were already using the service.

Blagovest’s parent company Pravoslavnie Prikhody (Orthodox Parishes) has been the official mobile provider for Orthodox clergy since 2010. Its website claims that its tariffs were designed by the Russian Orthodox Church and Vympelcom, one of Russia’s three leading mobile operators.

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