Bringing a bell home
Diana Eck organized the return of bells to a Russian Orthodox monastery bringing together a decidedly diverse collection of people and resources.
Who would have imagined that Diana Eck, a preeminent American scholar of religion and also an outspoken supporter of gay rights—and herself married to a female minister in this church—who would have imagined that such a figure would mastermind the return of these bells to the great monastery of the Russian Orthodox patriarch, who has publicly denounced gay marriage and whose church does not ordain women? And who would have imagined that the same patriarch would share public stages…before massive television audiences with Diana Eck? Furthermore, who would have imagined that when the patriarch called publicly for a philanthropist to finance the repatriation of the bells, his call would be answered by Viktor Vekselberg, a Russian Jew, whose foundation is run by a Russian Muslim?”
Harvard Magazine: A Peal before Leaving
