On August 12, 2026, Metropolitan Philip of Syktyvkar and Komi-Zyryansky consecrated the cross of worship to St. Stephen of Perm on the shore of the Vychegda.
His Eminence was assisted by the clergy of Syktyvkar diocese.
The installation of the cross was carried out within the framework of the republican project "On the way of Stephen of Perm", dedicated to the 630th anniversary of the repose of St. Stephen. The project provides for the installation of worship crosses in Ust-Kulomsky, Kortkerossky, Syktyvkar, Ust-Vymsky districts and Syktyvkar.
The first worship cross in the village of Kortkeros was made and donated by the Spas TV channel with the support of Boris Korchevnikov, General Director of the TV channel, and Maria Butina, deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. The initiative to install the cross belonged to the public organization Komi Roch, which took over all the organizational work on the installation. The project is supported by the Spas TV channel.
The event was attended by the crew of the TV channel working on the documentary "St. Stephen. The Apostle of the Permian land."
The worship cross is made of larch, its height is 4 meters. The installation site was not chosen by chance: according to legend, it was here that St. Stephen of Perm showed the power of faith by pacifying the pagan priest Kurt Haike. This coast is also a historical resting place for the ancestors and the point of sending soldiers to the front during the Great Patriotic War.
The inscription on the cross is in Komi and Russian: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world" (Matthew 28, verses 19-20). The cross was made by craftsmen from the Komi Republic.
Maria Butina, the head of the Kortkerossky municipal district Konstantin Sazhin, the head of the Kortkeros rural settlement Artyom Ivanov, and Orthodox residents of the village and district attended the consecration.