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"Tserkovnyi vestnik" has received materials about the activity of Catholic structures in several regions of Russia and other countries of CIS. This document was presented to the Catholic participants in the session of the Joint Working Group on 5-6 May. We are publishing below excerpts from this document.
Russia
In Moscow the order of Verbists (Missionaries of the Word of God) has expanded its presence. Verbists acquired a building in the region of Liublino, which formerly belonged to a night club, which they plan to turn into a Catholic church. Historically, there never has been a Catholic church on this site and therefore there can be no talk about "restoration" of historic structures of the Catholic church. Despite the recommendation of the "Pro Russia" commission, the Catholic side did not even try to get the assent of the Russian Orthodox church for this project.
In addition, according to a report in the "Universe" Catholic newspaper (22 February 2004) the Verbist priest Yezhi Yagodzinsky permitted himself to declare about the Russian Orthodox church: "But one must ask what does it mean to be Orthodox? Last Easter Sunday only 1.2% of the population of Moscow attended church services. The patriarch can claim that this is an Orthodox country, but actually that is not so."
From these expressions one can draw the conclusion that the Catholic parish will have a missionary dimension.
In the suburban Moscow city of Lobnia there is a children's home called "Rodnichok," that belongs to the parish of St. Don Calabria. At the present time, twenty children live in the complex, who were taken from children's homes and indigent families from various regions of Russia. The children attend the state school, but they also receive religious Catholic education, although they are not from Catholic families.
In Novosibirsk there is a Catholic "Center of Mercy," comprising a children's shelter called the "House of St. Nicholas," and a convent of the Sisters of St. Elizabeth, who work in the shelter, and a "Caritas" academic center. According to reports coming from the rector of the Alexander Nevsky cathedral in Novosibirsk, Archpriest Alexander Novopashin, the children's shelter originally was organized as a home for the elderly but after registration it was turned into a children's institution. In the orphanage live 50 children ranging in age from two to eighteen years, who were taken from state children's homes. Among the children are many Orthodox, but they receive an exclusively Catholic education.
In Novosibirsk a Catholic television studio, "Cana," is operating that periodically boadcasts on regional television. In April 2004 "Cana" began broadcasting "Youth culture of Siberia," which regularly broadcasts a weekly sermon and catechesis. It is quite obvious that the activity of the Catholic television studio is not restricted to a Catholic youth audience but is sent to a very wide circle of viewers.
In Novosibirsk, invitations to a cycle of catechetical discussions are distributed, which contain an image of an Orthodox Mother of God icon without an indication of the confessional affiliation of those who will conduct the catechesis. To the discussions are invited "everyone seeking answers to eternal questions about faith and religion." The invitation contains the address of the Catholic cathedral church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, without indication that this is a Catholic church. The purpose of such secrecy by the Catholics and imitation of Orthodoxy is of a clearly proselytizing nature.
In Vladivostok, in August 1996 there began to function the Society of the Sisters of Mercy of St. Ann, whose director came to Russia from Spain. From the very beginning the Spanish nuns declared the missionary character of their activity. They said that they "wanted to give to the Russian people the joy of the knowledge of God and service to him in the spirit of their founders, Maria Rafols and Juan Bonal." One of the means they choose is the teaching of the Spanish language in the institute of Foreign Languages of Vladivostok, in tandem with religious proclamation among Russian youth.
In Yaroslavl province there are two Catholic charitable organizations, the "House of Mary" children's center in the village of Novoe and a society for the rehabilitation of drug-dependent persons, "Chenakolo," in the village of Gagarinka. Representatives of the "Triumph of the heart" foundation, which created these centers, established working contact with the leadersthip of Yaroslavl diocese of the Russian Orthodox church. However the Orthodox side still has many questions with regard to the activity of the centers. For example, life in the Chenakolo society is based on the model of Catholic institutions for a religious life (reading the breviary, rosary, adoration). Nevertheless, its leadership is inclined toward cooperation with the Russian Orthodox church in the spirit of the "Pro Russia" commission's document. The society requested an Orthodox priest to be sent for pastoring its Russian members and the Yaroslavl diocese is prepared to provide such a priest.
Ukraine
In Kiev the Catholic "Caritas-Spes" http://www.caritas-spes.org.ua/m2i1_e.html charitable foundation works with "children of the street." In the social and pastoral center children not only are cared for and dressed, but they also are taught the Catholic catechism. According to a report from the "Agnuz" Catholic information agency of 18 August 2003, the foundation has created "family-type homes" for orphans (the House of Saint Joseph in Bortnichi, and the house of Mary in Zhitomir) where they live and are educated in "a kind Christian family." Thus, the children from Orthodox regions of Ukraine are being educated in profoundly Catholic conditions.
According to information from the press service of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic church of 23 April 2004, the Odessa-Crimean exarchate of UGKTs is conducting active work among children from indigent families of this primarily Orthodox region of Ukraine. Greek Catholics have created the "Center of Spiritual Rehabilitation" for drug addicts and HIV-infected persons. It is obvious that the spirituality, with the help of which they intend to "rehabilitate" those unfortunate people, will not be Orthodox, as traditional for the region, but Greek Catholic. Such charity is used by the Greek Catholics as an argument in favor of the necessity of constructing Uniate churches in the Orthodox south of Ukraine. The use of the difficult circumstances of sick and elderly people for expansion of their influence in the country is one of the most unworthy methods of proselytism.
In Odessa province there is an orphanage created by Greek Catholics, "Svetlyi dom." In it there live homeless children from the same district that never was a region where Uniates were distributed. They are pastored by the Uniate priest Alexander Chumakov.
In western Ukraine representatives of the Greek Catholic Order of Studites engage in catechesis of children from the Chernobyl zone, that is, from an Orrthodox region of eastern Ukraine. Every year the Studite home in Yaremchi (Carpathians) receives about 200 children (according to data of the official Greek Catholic web site).
On 24 April 2004 in the settlement of Nikitovka near yalta, the head of the schismatic grouping of the "Kievan patriarchate," Filaret Denisenko, participated in the "consecration" of a rest home for treatment of orphan children which, according to a report from the Mir religii internet site, was opened as a joint project of the Kievan patriarchate and Roman Catholic church. Contacts of the Catholic church in Ukraine, primarily Greek Catholics and the primate Cardinal L. Husar, with the Kievan patriarchate and similar schismatic groupings have long since become a sad reality that very much complicates Orthodox-Catholic relations. (tr. by PDS, posted 24 May 2004)
Posted on Russkaia liniia site, 24 May 2004
Russia Religion News Current News Items
Such was the assessment given to the joint seminar of representatives of the Russian Orthodox church and the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists by Father Vsevolod Chaplin, vice-chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow patriarchate in an interview with our correspondent.
--How do you assess the current state of relations between the two churches?
--I think that they now are quite normal. We need more contacts both between specialists in various areas and between students of the ecclesiastical educational institutions, and among youth. Of course, there are some misunderstandings in the provinces and we need to try to sort them out and review them separately. Because always, if there is a conflict situation, it is necessary to try to do something to resolve it. One of the most difficult topics is that of evangelism. From our point of view people baptized in the Orthodox church are members of our church and we cannot approve in any way their leaving our church and transferring to other churches and religious organizqations, and thus we should discuss all these conflict situations in the area of mission.
--Then how do you view the missionary expedition "The Gospel for the Peoples of Russia," which is now traveling through Russia?
--I know very little about this expedition, mainly from a few separate materials. In any case, if the missionary trip is not pursuing human goals, but the work of God, then it would be reasonable to ask folk which church they feel most at home with and send people to that church. It is possible that one of the models for correcting our conflicts in the area of mission lies in calling people to go to both the Baptist and Orthodox churches. Unfortunately, missionaries often act quite differently. Just recently western missionaries arrived, assembled people who signed up in exchange for a pamphlet, or pen, or food packet, and then it was said that everybody who signed was a member of a certain church and they were enrolled in the congregation. I do not think that the Lord blessed these efforts because we saw that these missionaries collected thousands of people and then actually only fifteen or twenty people attended the congregation. Now, when the religious situation has stabilized and attempts to convert people have ceased, we can think about how to arrange our relations with one another, particularly in the sphere of mission. In the Orthodox-protestant dialogue this question is most complex and it is no accident that it is a stumbling block in our relations with protestants. Nevertheless, we have much in common on the plane of ministry to society and we can preach the gospel together to the world where many consciously act against Christ and the church. We must talk about this more and more, because there already has developed in society a definite trend of moving people of faith to the background, on the margins of public life.
--Why has today's meeting begun specifically with the church of Evangelical Christians-Baptists; could such meetings be repeated with Pentecostals and other protestants?
--We will think about that. Nevertheless, Evangelical Christians-Baptists are our traditional partner from soviet times. We had contacts both on the level of church leadership and there are good relations and personal friendship with a number of leaders and figures in the Baptist churches, and there were contacts among youth. And this meeting is not the first; there were meetings even at the level of His Holiness the patriarch, who met with the leadership of the Baptist union. But actually this was the first meeting which was especially devoted to a review of theological, social, and religious problems.
--Tell me, when, do you think, will relations go from the plane of negotiations to the plane of action?
--To do something together is simple. The main thing is that these actions not provoke a negative reaction from believers of either church. Thus it is necessary to develop joint work in such a way that it does not evoke offense or a negative attitude from anybody. I can say that, with all our respect for the traditions of the protestant confessions, it is impossible for us to participate in joint prayers when representatives of a number of confessions are present whose views clearly contradict the Orthodox faith and biblical theology. By analogy, if we were to invite Baptists to an event where there was wine on the tables, this would evoke protests among Baptists. Thus it is necessary to approach the organization of joint actions very carefully so that they not be viewed negatively by our own believers.
--If we understand you correctly, you expect further joint steps of the two churches?
--Of course. It is necessary to develop joint communication and by its help to try to fix conflict situations.
--It seems that Baptists now clearly have friendly relations with Orthodox believers. But couldn't it happen that tomorrow they will again start persecuting them?
--I think that Metropolitan Kirill clearly acknowledged in his speech our attitude not only to churches of Evangelical Christians-Baptists but also to the Consultative Council of Heads of Protestant Confessions and to the Russian Evangelical Alliance. We are prepared to develop good relations with all participants in these associations. The more so since our good relations now number many years and this allows us to count on a continuation in the future, too. (tr. by PDS, posted 24 May 2004)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
On 23 May the missionary expedition "The Gospel for the Peoples of Russia," organized by the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, arrived in Omsk, according to a "DO-info" report.
The expedition began with its departure from Moscow on 21 December 2003. It has already covered more than half of its itinerary of 40,000 kilometers, at first across the north of Russia to Magadan, then through the far east along the south border of Russia to Briansk. The end of the expedition is planned for 28 July at an all-Russian "Transfiguration" congress in the city of Briansk. More than 150 persons have participated in the expedition, including the leadership of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, musical ensembles, and others.
The pastOR of the Omsk EKhB church, Viktor Sipko, traveled with the expedition from Vladivostok to Irkutsk and now is preparing to welcome it to Omsk. According to Omsk organizers, the mayor's office suggested several places for conducting the event. But soon after the Zelenyi [green] Island was selected the person in charge of religious relations with the mayor's office, Alexander Remizov, advised them "to select some other place since we do not let even Feodosy [RPTs archbishop of Omsk and Tarsk] use Zelenyi Island."
Since the organizers had already distributed announcements about the event and posted advertisements, it was already too late to change anything, in their view. When they refused to move to another place, the organizers heard from the lips of a bureaucrat: "Then we shall find food poisoning there especially for you." (tr. by PDS, posted 24 May 2004)
The press service of the missionary expedition of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists reports that Evangelical Christians-Baptists began an unprecedented eight-month missionary marathon.
On 21 December "The Gospel for the Peoples of Russia" missionary expedition of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists began from Moscow. Three vehicles with large, clear signs on the cabs, "The Gospel for the Peoples of Russia" departed from the building of the Second Baptist church on Varshavskoe highway. In all the trip will last almost eight months, 221 days.
It is planned to cover more than 40,000 kilometers, along the Arctic Ocean to Magadan, with stops in Kamchatka and Sakhalin. Then they will go through the far eastern cities of Vladivostok and Khabarovsk, across the south of the country, with stops in the Siberian industrial centers of Krasnoiarsk, Tiumen, and Novosibirsk, and return to the central part of Russia. The missionaries of the gospel will be in Muslim regions, Bashkortostan, Dagestan, the Chechen republic, and the so-called "rust belt" of Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, and Volgograd. Passing through Samara and Nizhny Novgorod, the team will wind up in July of this year in Briansk.
In this time in particular the missionaries will visit fifteen nationalities, Karelians, Nentsy, Selkupy, Evenki, Yakuts, Buriats, Tuvintsy, and many others.
This is the first time such a grand spiritual marathon, in terms of distance and number of participants, has been undertaken in Russia. In all, more than 150 persons will minister to the peoples of Russia, talking about God through the spoken and written word and leaving behind themselves the Bible, translated into local dialects and languages. They will relieve one another at various stages. In some cities they will conduct special services for children from orphanages and rehabilitation centers. It is symbolic that the missionary expedition, beginning in the year 2003 which was declared by UNESCO as the year of the Bible, has in a unique way carried it into the coming year. So that the real year of the Bible in Russia will be 2004, thanks to the Baptists.
By 7 January, Christmas, the missionaries of the gospel had already covered 6,000 kilometers of the journey. Evangelical Christians-Baptists were in Tver, Great Novgorod, St. Petersburg, Cherepovets, Kotlas, Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, Severodvinsk, and other northern Russian cities. Ahead, they are awaited by Syktyvkar, Noiabrsk, and other barely accessible cities. (tr. by PDS, posted 24 May 2004)
TO BEAR THE GOSPEL TO THE PEOPLES OF RUSSIA
by I. Mikhovich
Severnyi
luch, 13 February 2004
On 25 January of this year there appeared on the streets of Tarko-Sale an unusual vehicle with the strange sign "The Gospel for the Peoples of Russia." For some this was a very important event but for many, unfortunately, it remained unnoticed. What kind of people visited the district center? We were being visited by the all-Russian expedition for whom a greeting was arranged in the "Yubileinyi" House of Culture. Since our people treat any religious denomination with great caution, we asked them to explain what they were trying to do.
To this question they responded thus: "First of all, we are Christians, believers in God and in the holy gospel of Jesus Christ. All of our faith and practice is based exclusively on the Bible. We believe that Jesus Christ, who was God, died for the sins of people and he is the only mediator between God and humankind. We are called Evangelical Christians-Baptists. Recently the word "Baptist," however sadly, has become for people nearly a curse word. We are treated as most fearsome sectarians. Here I would like to give a little clarification. The very word 'Baptist' comes from the Greek word 'baptidzo,' which literally means 'immersion in water.' Incidentally, in Orthodox churches the place for baptizing is called the 'baptistery,' which is the very same word. So one can call us literally 'Evangelical Christians baptized upon faith through immersion in water.' The goal of our expedition is to fulfill the command of Jesus Christ, written in the Gospel of St. Mathew 28.19 'So go and teach all peoples. . . .' We first of all want to turn attention to the gospel of Jesus Christ and tell again to the peoples of Russia the most joyous news for them, about Jesus Christ, about salvation through faith in him, and about hope for every person and the country as a whole. Our expedition plans to travel around 180 cities of Russia. Tarko-Sale is the thirteenth stop and we still have six and a half months ahead of us. The spiritual warmth of the people of the north has pleasantly delighted us and we will pray for your settlement."
The visitors to Tarko-Sale presented to us and many in attendance two hours of marvelous fellowship. Young people from the "Nebesa" [Heaven] Christian musical ensemble sang beautiful songs about God, faith, and hope, and they could not help but touch the very deepest recesses of our hearts. At the conclusion the president of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, Bishop Yu.K. Sipko, delivered a sermon. It was based on the gospel and stated important truths of the gospel that are necessary for Russia and for every person. Through it God will regenerate our people, our district, and our country. This is the path for Russia.
In conclusion I would like to thank the expedition's participants and wish them future success in their good work. (tr. by PDS, posted 24 May 2004)
BAPTIST MISSIONARY EXPEDITION COMPLETES THIRD OF PLANNED TRIP
Blagovest-info, 26 February 2004
"The Gospel for the Peoples of Russia" missionary expedition, organized
by the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists (RSEKhB) that began
on 21 December 2003 following an itinerary of Moscow to Kamchatka to Moscow,
has covered in the first 60 days (out of 221) more than 20,000 kilometers,
which constitutes a third of the planned route, the Moscow headquarters
of the expedition announced. In the membership of the missionary group,
which is periodically replaced, already more than 50 representatives of
Russian EKhB churches have participated, in addition to missionaries from
Ukraine, Belarus, and the Baltics. Contributions have come to the "Gospel
for the Peoples of Russia" bank account from all over the world, which
has allowed things to go as planned. As the headquarters reported, expedition
participants have conducted evangelistic events in more than 50 cities
and settlements. They are using various forms of evangelism. Leaders of
the project think that hundreds of residents of distant regions of the
country have already "turned in repentance and prayer to God and thousands
have heard the gospel." They report that information about the missionary
expedition has been broadcast by local secular television stations and
newspapers. (tr. by PDS, posted 24 May 2004)
Posted on Russkaia
liniia site
EXPEDITION
Moscow Central Church of Evangelical
Christians-Baptists, 12-13 April 2004
In Blagoveshchensk the expedition was joined by the deputy senior presbyter of EKhB churches in the Far East, Yakov Pavlovich Franchuk. Along the way he related that before the war there were large congregations in the Amur province, which numbered hundreds and thousands of persons. At that time Amur province was a prosperous territory. There were rich collective farms here. But the stalinist repression machine began to destroy all believers. Some of them crossed the Amur into China and then went to various countries of Europe and also Australia and America. But a multitude of Christians were transported to the north of Khabarovsk territory and Chukotka. It was a horrible time. Many perished and only scattered ones remained among the living.
Birobidzhan. The name of the city comes from a combination of the names of two rivers, the Bira and Bidzhan.
Along the road a truck with a "Inflammable" sign was stalled and the drivers waved us down. The missionaries attached a cable from their truck to the other and, with difficulty, got the motor to start. After that they presented the gospel to the drivers and drove on. Approximately fifty kilometers from Birobidzhan the right, rear tire of the third jeep was punctured. The brothers at first did not understand what was wrong, but when they stopped they saw that the tire was flat. Praise God that it did not catch fire. The spare was quickly mounted and they went on their way.
At Birobidzhan the expedition was awaited by the Christians at the entrance to the EKhB prayer house. The singing of the choir in the Hebrew language cheered the missionaries' hearts. After all that, the expedition was in the Jewish autonomous province. During the sermon Alexander Petrovich Biriukov noted this and asked those in the choir who were native Jews to raise their hands. Three persons raised their hands and the others said that they were all Jews in spirit. Alexander Petrovich spoke about sanctification and holiness. The people listened attentively to his lively sermon and shook their heads in agreement. Alexander Kozynko described the expedition for the church. At the end of the service the pastor of the church described how preparations for the evangelization along with the expedition participants were made. Every day for two weeks announcements were made every half hour in the market. Posters inviting people to the service were hung up.
On 13 April the workers in the children's correctional institution in Birobidzhan treated the expedition's participants hospitably. And although the director of educational work for the institution does not believe in God, he greeted the Christians warmly so that they could have a positive effect upon the youth. He said that here the boys under twenty are serving time for a great variety of crimes. A large proportion have been convicted of murder and assault.
Approximatly 350 convicts gathered in the gymnasium in order to meet the participants of the expedition and to hear what the Good News is that they are bringing. Alexander Petrovich Kozynko was in charge as usual. The "Maiak" duet sang a song about mothers. Tears glistened in the eyes of the youth. They also sang about the Lighthouse ["maiak"] whose name is Christ, and how all people on earth need God and only in him alone is salvation and happiness. After the singing the boys all together applauded loudly and warmly as a sign of thanks.
Vasily Trubchik spoke to the boys about the salvation that the Lord Jesus Christ offers to all people. "You cannot be saved from sin by drugs, or education, or even this institution. There is salvation from sin! And this salvation is in Jesus Christ," he said. In conclusion he suggested that the boys receive Jesus into their hearts. The preacher gave a prayer of repentance and whoever wanted to repeated it. At the end everybody said "Amen" loudly. In the end the supervisor of each brigade took New Testaments for their boys. Alexander Kozynko asked the boys: "Never exchange this book for anything, no matter how hard it is."
After the correctional institutions the missionaries went to the "Kudesnik" puppet theatre. Evgeny Georgievich Kuropatkin had earlier set up a picture gallery about Christ. People were interested in viewing the reproductions about the life of Jesus Christ. There were about 150 people in the room. Gennady Abramov, the bishop of EKhB churches of the Far East region, gave a word of welcome. He greeted all on the resurrection of Christ and called the people who had come to such a service for the first time not to let slip the opportunity to be reconciled with the Lord Jesus Christ. The children sang "Jesus' resurrection has wiped out fear." It was so beautiful to see children with such joyful faces praising God, especially after being at the children's correctional institution.
Viktor German gave his testimony and sang a song. After that the "Maiak" group sang, Alexander Biriukov preached, and V. Trubchik gave the concluding sermon and invitation. Nobody responded to the invitation. But after the service two persons repented. But the main thing is that the seed was sown.
The Jewish autonomous province came to an end and Khabarovsk territory began. (tr. by PDS, posted 24 May 2004)
Russia Religion News Current News Items