Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow (Creative Commons/Flickr)

The Russian Orthodox Church forgave the feminist punk rock band Pussy Riot on Saturday after they were convicted of hooliganism and sentenced to two years in prison for their "punk prayer" at Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow.

USA Today reported:

• "The church has been sometimes accused of not forgiving them," Tikhon Shevkunov, who heads Moscow's Sretensky Monastery and is widely believed to be the Russian president's spiritual counselor, said on state television Saturday. "We did forgive them from the very start. But such actions should be cut short by society and authorities."
• Archpriest Maxim Kozlov agreed, but he also said on state TV that his church hopes the young women and their supporters change their ways.
• "We are simply praying and hoping that these young women and all these people shouting in front of the court building, committing sacrilegious acts not only in Russia but in other countries, realize that their acts are awful," he said. "And despite this the church is asking for mercy within the limits of law."

Despite granting forgiveness, both Russian clerics supported the decision to prosecute Pussy Riot even though other countries, including the U.S., Britain, France and Germany, have called the sentences unfair.

Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, whose cathedral performance was done in protest of President Vladimir Putin in February, remained calm and even smiled while their two year sentence was read. The women faced a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.

According to an opinion poll of Russians released Friday by Levada, an independent research group, only 6 percent had sympathy for the band, 51 percent said they found nothing good about them or felt irritation or hostility, and the rest were unable to say or were indifferent.

Find more Neon Tommy coverage of Pussy Riot here.

Reach Executive Producer Paige Brettingen here.