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7 January 2000 (Newsroom) -- Rising nationalism poses more of a threat to religious freedom in Russia than the surprise resignation of President Boris Yeltsin last month, according to experts who monitor events in the former Soviet Union. However, they caution, it is too early to predict the fate of religious freedom or of the thousands of churches and religious organizations that did not register by the December 31, 1999, deadline.
Few, if any, changes are likely to occur before presidential elections take place in March, these experts predict. The long-term prognosis is uncertain, however.
Mark Elliott, director of the Global Center at Beeson Divinity School at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, said he is encouraged by statements of acting President Vladmir Putin that Russia should protect civil liberties. "I was surprised he said it," Elliott said. "He singled out freedom of conscience."
At the same time, however, Putin’s statements that he intends to govern Russia with a strong hand could signal either more consistency among local governments in applying the country’s religious freedom law or more repression against non-Russian groups, according to Lauren Homer, an attorney in St. Louis, Missouri, who helps U.S.-based mission groups gain permission to operate in foreign countries. "My gut reaction is that it’s not particularly good news, although I think Putin as Yeltsin’s successor will continue many of his policies," she said. If the Russian economy deteriorates further or if the Russians do not prevail in Chechnya, a more repressive government could emerge, however, she added.
Paul Steeves, professor of history at Stetson University in De Land, Florida, said that "for some religious activity there could be bad days ahead," particularly for those organizations viewed as "not Russian." Evangelical Christians, especially those regarded as agents of the West, could be in for a difficult time, he said. "There is rising Russian nationalism, rising hostility toward the West and rising hostility toward non-Russian manifestation of religion. Nobody has made any clear threat, but forces are in place for a difficult road ahead for some religions," Steeves said.
Lawrence Uzzell, director of the Keston Institute in Oxford, England, feels that current trends toward a more authoritarian and repressive state will become more apparent by mid-year. "I expect Putin to consolidate a more repressive state than we have had," he predicted. "I fear he will combine the love of freedom of the KGB with the moral integrity of the new Russian business elite." Given the possibility that Putin could be in power for the next three decades, he said, "I don’t think Russia will be a pretty place."
Putin’s appearance in church on the Orthodox Christmas Eve and earlier statements about the importance of values espoused by the Russian Orthodox Church should not be given too much credence, Uzzell warns. In a country where only 1 percent of the population attends church and symbols of national pride with which people identify are tainted, religion has assumed the "badge of ethnic identity." Putin, Uzzell said, "is no dummy. He’s going to play that card, as would any politician."
It is clear, Homer and Elliott agree, that Yeltsin’s resignation is not good for radical Muslim groups, who under terms of the 1997 religious freedom law face dissolution if they are declared a danger to national security. That threat grows stronger in the wake of recent bombings attributed to Islamic militants and the war in Chechnya.
In November security police raided the Moscow apartment of the supreme mufti, Sheikh Nafigulla Ashira, chairman of the ecclesiastical board of Muslims of the Asiatic part of Russia. Agents investigating alleged terrorist bombings in Moscow seized papers and detained the cleric for three hours. "There is some legitimate fear at the present time because there have been lives lost over relations between Russians and Muslims, bombings in Moscow and Chechnya," Elliott explained. While that does not bode well for the future, he said, it does not necessarily mean an assault against religious freedom.
More than 10,000 of Russia’s churches and religious organizations -- including half of the Orthodox parishes -- are believed to remain unregistered despite the December 31 deadline, largely because the bureaucracy was overwhelmed with applications. The registration of dozens of groups was rejected in some regions as well. The 1997 Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations required all religious organizations to reregister by the end of 1999 or be liquidated.
The Duma had been expected to extend the deadline last month but did not, despite support from the Yeltsin administration, the Duma Committee on Public and Religious Organizations, and the Moscow Patriarchate. While Elliott, Homer, and Steeves expect that the Duma will act soon, Homer said she is concerned about rumors of a draft law that would extend the deadline until the end of this year, then require mandatory dissolution of religious organizations that are not registered.
Unlike the 1990 religious freedom law, the 1997 version gives preferred legal status to Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Judaism as Russia's traditional faiths, Homer said. The 1997 law also repealed a portion of the 1990 act that banned the Council of Religious Affairs that operated under the former Soviet system. Uzzell expects that some form of religious council, such as a ministry of religion will reappear, perhaps with some of the same officials who operated the repressive Soviet body.
Ambiguities in the law and delays in its implementation have minimized its impact for Russia's minority faiths, Elliott contends. Western influence also has had a major effect, he said, particularly with "the growing use of e-mail, which appears to have made it difficult for local Russian authorities to engage in blatant religious discrimination without rapid public scrutiny."
Much of the pressure to enforce the new law comes from the Russian Orthodox Church, which regards itself as the only legal and legitimate interpreter of Christianity for the Russian nation. In the Siberian region of Altai, the Orthodox Church was among the religious and political groups that called on the government to block the construction of a Roman Catholic Church and prohibit "non-traditional religious propaganda." Catholic missionaries, the protesters said, would "ignore public protests and keep brainwashing the local population." Local officials, citing the new religious law, said they would not allow the Catholic church to be built.
That kind of face-off between local officials and minority religions has been repeated across Russia's 11 times zones. "There's an understanding between the Orthodox church and government apparatus, that because of the years of government persecution, that now they kind of owe them one," said Sharon Linzey, a former Fulbright professor at Moscow State University who has produced two major research works on churches of the former Soviet Union.
While the Moscow Patriarchate publicly declares a commitment to the principle of separation and non-interference between church and state, a close relationship between Orthodox leadership and the Russian government has existed, to varying degrees, for centuries. For Orthodox leaders -- who had a crucial role in drafting the law -- the 1997 legislation may not eradicate foreign religions, but, in the words of Patriarch Alexy II, it has helped the nation to "protect itself against attempts to impose an alien will on it."
There was a positive development in November, say Elliott, Homer, and Steeves, when Russia’s Constitutional Court ruled that all new and nontraditional religious organizations in Russia have full legal rights if they registered under the 1990 law or if they join a centralized religious organization. Homer said the finding is a significant departure from previous interpretations by the government.
The Duma elections last month were not so positive, however. Although more than half of the vote supported the Putin alliance, whose ideology remains unclear, the legislative body’s most prominent advocate of religious freedom, Valery Borshov, was not re-elected, Homer said. Borshov, a Russian Orthodox, was deputy chairman of the Duma Committee on Public and Religious Organizations. "If we don’t have Borshov, I don’t know who will be on the committee to deal with religious freedom," Homer said.
Uzzell said one indicator to watch could occur at the end of the month when a decision on extending the registration deadline is expected. He and Elliott said it will be important to monitor the status of missionary visas and what happens to local congregations of Pentecostals and Jehovah’s Witnesses, who among Christians have born the brunt of repressive activity. "It always pays to watch the Jehovah’s Witnesses" because they are rapidly growing and the authorities dislike them, Uzzell said. "They serve as an early warning signal."
The U.S. government considers religious freedom a bellwether of the future of Russia, Homer said. "If they take a repressive view on religious freedom, that’s a negative for all aspects of Russia."
(posted 11 January 2000)
In connection with the expiration of the period for reregistration of religious associations, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian federation has assured that no difficulties will arise for the activity of those associations which have not managed to complete it. This was stated to a reporter for ITAR-TASS on 31 December by deputy minister of justice of the Russian federation Evgeny Sidorenko.
The federal law "On freedom of conscience and religious associations," which went into effect more than two years ago, provided that all religious organizations active on the territory of Russia had to undergo reregistration by 31 December 1999. However, according to data of the ministry, only half of the 16,850 religious organizations had completed this judicial procedure. As Evgeny Sidorenko explained, in September the government took the initiative to extend the period an additional year. The State Duma must approve this decree which had to be adopted as an amendment to the law in connection to the change of the date of the completion of registration. "Unfortunaely, the State Duma did not manage to review this question before the end of its term," Evgeny Sidorenko noted. "However the deputies adopted a report to the new convocation of the federal assembly requesting a decision at the next session." He said that agreement on the question has been reached at all levels. According to the standards of the law, organizations that have not been reregistered may be liquidated only through judicial procedure. However Evgeny Sidorenko noted that all local offices of justice have received letters requesting that they not instigate legal suits for this purpose. (tr. by PDS)
(posted 7 January 2000)
MOSCOW. Jan 6 (Interfax) - Acting President Vladimir Putin issued Christmas greetings on Thursday to Orthodox Russians, who celebrate the festival on January 7.
"Orthodoxy has traditionally played a special role in Russian history," Putin said in an address published by his press service.
"It has been not only a moral touchstone for every believer but also an unbending spiritual core of the entire people and state. Based on the idea of love for one's neighbor and on the commandments of good, mercy and justice, Orthodoxy has largely determined the character of Russian civilization. Its eternal truths, which have become the indisputable laws of life, have throughout the centuries supported people both in sorrow and in joy, returning hope to them and helping them acquire faith."
"The transcendental values of Christianity, formulated two millennia ago, have not lost their deep meaning to this day. It is my firm belief as we are entering the third millennium today that its ideals will make it possible to strengthen mutual understanding and consensus in our society and will contribute to the spiritual and moral rebirth of the Fatherland."
from Johnson's Russia List
(posted 7 January 2000)
The capital's "Mountain Jews" finally will be able to worship in accordance with their own ritual. Moscow's first Sephardic synagogue will be opened on Monday in Bolshoi Spasoglinishchev lane. As MK was told at the Moscow Jewish congregation, until recently the number of Mountain Jews or Sephardim was very small. But in recent years many migrants from the former central Asian republics have arrived in the capital, including a large quantity of Sephardim. Although Mountain Jews, like the Ashkenazim (European Jews) in the main profess traditional Judaism, there exist several differences in the religious rituals themselves. For example, at the time of prayer Ashkenazim sit in the synagogue on the German principle; the platform on which the preacher stands is located at the end of the room and the parishioners themselves are seated in front of him on benches like pupils in a classroom. In the Sephardic synagogue the cantor sings the prayers in the center of the room and the flock is very closely arranged around him. Among the Ashkenazim the Torah is kept in a soft covering and at the time of reading is unrolled partially on the table where it is placed during the service. Sephardim have a prayer book in hard cover and during the service they place it upright on the table. Mountain Jews, whose numbers in the capital continue to grow, can fully observe the religious canons only in their own synagogue. Its building is located on the grounds of the complex of the Moscow choral synagogue and it is the most beautiful of the capital's synagogues. (tr. by PDS)
(posted 6 january 2000)
The leader of the Fatherland movement, Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov, called agencies of state authority, public political organizations, and representatives of all confessions to reject decisively religious extremism. Speaking on Tuesday at the fourth Congress of Jewish Religious Organizations and Associations of Russia, Luzhkov noted that religious fanaticism can break up the unity among nationalities and religions and set apart representatives of Russia's fascism and extremism. He noted that at the present time "the Russian federation is combatting such phenomena," and he called governmental powers "to distance themselves from extremist organizations not only in word but in deed."
After noting that the activity of the "Russian National Unity" movement had been prohibited in Moscow Luzhkov expressed amazement that such measures had not been taken in other Russian regions. In his words, Moscow "is a multinational and multiconfessional city," in which more than 150 nationalities and representatives of practically all confessions exist. For city authorities and all Muscovites, the mayor affirmed, "separatism, nationalism, and antisemitism are alien." According to Luzhkov, the government of Moscow will continue to promote the development of national and interconfessional dialogue. (tr. by PDS)
(posted 6 January 2000)
On 9 November at seven a.m. twenty agents of the FSB [Federal Security Service] broke into the apartment of the supreme mufti Sheikh Nafigulla Ashira, chairman of the ecclesiastical board of Muslims of the Asiatic part of Russia, Some of the agents were armed and wearing masks. The sheikh was not at home. He was at the mosque for common prayers and the traditional morning tea in connection with the start of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. After the threat that "if you will not open we will break down the door and will shoot," a young relative who was visiting the supreme mufti opened the apartment to the FSB agents. They forced the youth to the floor, pressed an automatic weapon against him and rushed about to see whether anyone else was in the house. This is how the first day of Ramadan began for Sheikh Hafigulla and his relative.
--Sheikh Nafigulla, what was the reason that agencies of the security service carried out an intrusion into your apartment?
--When I returned home at 10:30 I was met by ten agents of FSB. They displayed a search warrant signed by acting procurator of the Russian federation Yury Chaika. They told me that the apartment was being searched to determine whether there were any explosive materials and weapons. "I don't have such things; you can do your duties," I said.
The apartment was divided into sectors and gradually they began to carry out the search a section at a time. But I was amazed that in searching for weapons and explosives for some reason they opened up all my personal things, documents, and letters, and looked through personal albums and family photographs. FSB agents seized some of the calling cards and informational material that included addresses and telephone numbers of our regional departments of the ecclesiastical boards of Muslims of the Russian federation.
When someone called me during the time of the search, they increased the volume of noise and demanded that I talk only in Russian. Among us it is not convenient to talk with older folk in Russian since the older parishioners do not have much command of it.
Around 3:30 they took me and a student who dropped in to help with mailing letters to Lefortovo, the Central Investigative Department of FSB. They detained us there three hours. They questioned me about acquaintance with people who, in the official version, were suspected of bombing buildings in Moscow. To the question why it was I that they were questioning about this, agents of the investigative department responded: "Your address is in the lists." While no documents or any lists were presented. I said that I know those suspected of terrorist acts just as well as all Russians know them, that is, I saw their photographs on television and at the airport. How could one entertain the thought that the co-chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia could be involved in terrorist acts?
Members of the Council of Muftis of Russia, including me, were among the first to protest about those terrorist acts that were committed. When aggression was committed against Dagestan, we immediately condemned the actions. I consider that the search in my apartment and interrogation in Lefortovo were deliberate actions with a broader prospect and definite goal. If today in RF the official Muslim clergy is being subjected to such repression, a kind of execution, then what can be said about simple Muslims. You know any of them could fall under suspicion and be arrested.
--Was the search conducted only in your home or also in the homes of other representatives of the Muslim clergy?
--At Lefortovo I saw people with whom I worked at one time and regularly met in the mosque. These were workers of the Islamic Congress, a public organization which is engaged in educational activity. On 10 November I learned that a search had been conducted at the Muslim organization "Society of Social Reforms." From them they even seized computers with word processors. Upon presentation of the warrants they also were told that they were looking for explosives and weapons. Then they declared that their address was on some lists and some pagers. Before this, we know, the information and publishing center "Badr" also was subjected to search. From them were seized copies of books in Russian, "Fundamentals of Monotheism," "Namaz," and others.
--It is known that you support the "Unity" block of minister Sergei Shoigu. What was his reaction to the search?
--As a religious leader I do not participate in political parties. But, using Vladimir Putin's words, we "as citizens and as people" who are striving for the unity of Russia and for its national stability and concord support the Unity bloc and its leader, minister Sergei Shoigu, which is close to our ideals. Also we consider that in supporting the state, and in general the Russian government, we thereby support its integrity, upon which our fate depends, the fate of the national minorities of Russia, especially the Tatars. If, God forbid, something happened in Russia then the Tatars would suffer the fate of the Kurds. They would be spread about several small states and would lose their unity within the boundaries of a single state. Thus we have a special vision of the unity of Russia, a special interest. I think that Mr. Shoigu is on target with regard to what has been happening. Many people have called me. I think that they have made corresponding declarations.
I received calls from the Fund for the Development of Muslim Nations, the embassy of Saudi Arabia, the Islamic Committee, the staff of Gaidar Dzhemal, the "Votan" party, and various public organizations. Today I talked with Ravil Gainutdin, chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia and the mufti of the European part of Russia, after prayers for half an hour on this matter. He noted that this is a very sad symptom which could have an effect on the future life of Russian Muslims. This event gives practically unlimited right for the persecution of any Muslim. If religious leaders of the official clergy (at the level of mufti there are perhaps 5 or 6 in all of Russia) are subjected to search and interrogation then what is left to do to our defenseless Azerbaijanis who always are extremist on all national questions?
--Have only representatives of Muslim organizations reacted, or have there also been reactions from members of governmental, public, and religious organizations of Russia?
--You are the first reporter to visit me. And that not at my request. People have found out, been interested, and asked me about whether this material can be published. I consented. I think when information goes onto the Internet, the reaction will be what is required. We have good relations with many Russian patriotic organizations and all political leaders. In the course of six months we have met with the head of the communist party of Russia, with the head of Our Home Russia and leaders of other movements. Also we continually work with public organizations. For example, with Memorial and the Organization for Human Rights. As regards the Russian Orthodox church, we have constant contacts. At the beginning of November of this year I, for the Muslims, and Father Feofan, for RPTs, participated in a delegation of public organizations in the Russian-Arab meeting in Cairo. At all international meetings we Muslims of Russia have always advocated that Russia have mutually beneficial relations with the Islamic world and with Muslim countries.
--What, in your opinion, was the real reason for the actions of the FSB agents?
--It is hard for me to answer. If one takes the political aspect, then we have completely, even extremely, supported all actions of the state authority with respect to terrorism and extremism. Regarding the first Chechen war we took a principled position, that is, a patriotic, governmental, and pro-Russian position. As citizens, as patriots, and as clergy, like the Russian Orthodox church, we always have maintained the same position. But apparently there is some kind of pathological distrust for Muslims which even the most diligent service for the fatherland cannot overcome. Two days before the search I spoke on the program "Mir" declaring on air that acts of terrorism caused enormous harm to relations among nationalities and to Islam itself.
Before this on the program "Dezhurnaia chast" I also gave an interview condemning all extremist criminal acts. Two weeks ago I met with the minister of internal affairs Rushailo and stated my position. I can interpret the actions of FSB only as a provocation. Perhaps I will be punished for this but I have spoken very zealously against crime and extremism. Perhaps "they" now have enough power that they can even get to the FSB? I am lost in the puzzles.
--Whom do you suspect in the word "they"?
--Those whom we have condemned, the criminals. As spiritual leader of Muslims, I always have felt a respectful attitude toward me. Now I feel completely disgraced. What will my Russian neighbors come to think if they tell them that they searched Sheikh Nafigulla's apartment for weapons and explosives? Today I am subjected to repression; tomorrow, someone else, and next day Ravil Gainutdin will be dragged out of the mosque. There can be absolutely no guarantees.
We must not forget Russian history. The mosque on Zamoskvoreche district of Moscow, where I worship, was built on orders of Tsar Alexander I as a sign of gratitude to the Tatar Bashkir cavalry, which was the first to enter Paris in pursuit of Napoleon. The mosque on Poklonnaia Gora was built in memory of those Muslims who died on the battle field in World War II. In our time, wherever the interests of the Russian federation are engaged, both Orthodox and Muslims represent them. When we work for the good of the Motherland, we are united. But when tragedy happens, for some reason the special services unfortunately devote special attention to the Muslims. Such an approach leads to the situation that in our Motherland we feel ourselves to be outside of our country. Naturally this will affect future generations of Muslims. If we are not Russians with full rights, Muslims can lose interest in Russia. Patriotism must be continually supported by good relations. (tr. by PDS)
(posted 5 Januaryh 2000)
The basic celebrations on the occasion of the new year 2000 and of Orthodox Christmas will take place in the next few days in Israel. One of the main guests expected in the Promised Land is the president of Russia, Boris Yeltsin. He previously had received in all three invitations to participate in the holidays: one from the president of Palestinian autonomy, Yasir Arafat, the second from Patriarch Diodorus I of the Jerusalem Greek Orthodox church, and the third from the president of Israel, Ezer Weitzman. All invitations were accepted unconditionally.
On the morning of the sixth of January Yeltsin will fly into the Tel Aviv airport. The schedule for the visit is little more than a day long; the president will be back in the homeland on the seventh. At the time of his meeting with Patriarch Diodorus I it is planned for him to receive the medal of the "Knight of the holy sepulchre of the Lord." Meetings are planned for Yeltsin with his Israeli counterpart Weitzman and possibly also with Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Besides this the head of the Russian state will conduct conversations with the leader of Palestinian autonomy Arafat.
In addition to Yeltsin, as head of the largest Orthodox state in the world, to the celebrations have been invited leaders of other states of this religious confession. At the festivities are expected the presidents of Belarus, Greece, Georgia, Cyprus, Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine: Alexander Lukashenko, Konstantinos Stephanopolus, Eduard Shevardnadze, Glafkos Kliridis, Peter Luchinsky, Emil Constantinescu, and Leonid Kuchma. The presidents of Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, Slobodan Milosevic and Peter Stoianov, will be represented by Prime Minister Mimir Bulatovic and parliamentary president Iordan Sokolov respectively. Initiatives for meeting with the Russian leader have already been made by Peter Luchinsky and Alexander Lukashinko.
The visit of Boris Yeltsin will be the first trip by the head of the Russian state to the Holy Land in all of history. For Yeltsin it will be a really significant event which could by no means be passed up. It will be a kind of shining hour for Boris Nikolaevich on the international arena. In the twilight of his political career before all the world he will represent not just Russia (however great in his conception). Behind Yeltsin will be standing the whole Orthodox world. Indeed it (the world) is disunited as never before. Many of the "brethren" in faith do not remember Russia in spirit. But Yeltsin will manage to appear in the role about which all Russian emperors dreamed in vain for a long time. After all it is well known how much our president loves to associate himself with the leaders of the past even in the least manifestation. It is understood that the local authorities will enjoy with satisfaction a trip to Israel by such a number of high ranking guests. This creates some inconvenience for simple mortals. Imagine how each of these high ranking pilgrims will bring along a large delegation and a still larger security detail which in trying to protect their bosses must prevent anyone's shooting them. Besides there are local security forces and law enforcement agencies. . . . (tr. by PDS)
YELSTIN TRIP TO ISREAL STILL ON.
REFRL, 3 January 2000
Despite having resigned, former President Yeltsin still plans to go to Bethlehem, presidential spokesman Dmitrii Yakushkin announced. Putin will remain in Moscow. Yakushkin told TV-6 that Yeltsin will not travel to Israel as Russia's "former" president but as its "first president." Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Aleksii II is scheduled to leave for Bethlehem on 2 January in order to celebrate the 2,000th anniversary of Orthodox Christianity. According to ITAR-TASS, Aleksii will lead a delegation of more than 70 church officials. JAC
YELTSIN TO VISIT HOLY LAND WITHOUT PUTIN
Reuters, 1 January 2000
MOSCOW, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Former Russian president Boris Yeltsin will travel to the Holy Land next week without Vladimir Putin, the new acting head of state, Yeltsin's spokesman said on Saturday.
Officials had suggested on Friday that Putin, propelled into the Kremlin by Yeltsin's shock resignation on the last day of 1999, might also attend Orthodox Christmas celebrations in Jerusalem and in Bethlehem on January 6-7.
"Vladimir Vladimirovich (Putin), as far as I know, stays in Moscow. Boris Nikolayevich (Yeltsin) is going alone,'' Yeltsin's spokesman Dmitry Yakushkin told Russia's TV Six channel.
Yakushkin, who has served Yeltsin for more than a year, followed his boss out of the Kremlin and intends to go with him to the Holy Land, although his plans beyond that are unknown.
Keen to stress Yeltsin's historic role, he told reporters: ``He will go as the first president of Russia, not as a former or ex-president.''
"(The Holy Land trip) will be a very solemn event. The president will take part in a solemn Christmas liturgy,'' Yakushkin added.
Yeltsin became Russia's first democratically elected head of state in 1991, months before the dissolution of the Soviet Union of which it had been the biggest constituent state.
The 68-year-old Yeltsin is expected to fly to Israel on January 5 for a three-day visit which is expected to include talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
Yakushkin said Patriarch Alexiy, head of Russia's Orthodox Church, would also travel to the Holy Land for the Christmas festivities as planned.
The presidents of two other former Soviet republics, Ukraine and Belarus, are due to attend the celebrations. . . .
ARAFAT, YELTSIN SHARE HOLIDAY CHEER
Associated Press, 3 January 2000
BETHLEHEM, West Bank -- Russian former President Boris Yeltsin and six Eastern European leaders will celebrate Orthodox Christmas in Bethlehem this week as guests of Yasser Arafat in what the Palestinians said was a strong show of support for their statehood aspirations.
In addition to Yeltsin, the leaders of Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria plan to attend Midnight Mass on Thursday in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Jesus' traditional birthplace.
"They are guests of Palestine and its president," Nabil Amr, an adviser to Arafat, said Monday. "This is a strong affirmation that we are already a state."
It was not clear whether Yeltsin, who resigned on New Year's Eve, would be accompanied by acting Russian President Vladimir Putin. Palestinian officials said they expected Putin to travel with Yeltsin, but Israeli Foreign Ministry officials said they had no word Putin was coming.
In addition to the heads of state, dignitaries from the European Union, Ethiopia, Holland and Armenia also will take part in Thursday's Midnight Mass, along with 12 archbishops, including the Serbian Archbishop of Australia.
The leaders and their spouses are to dine with Arafat and his wife, Soha, before attending Mass.
The Russian and other eastern Orthodox churches adhere to the Julian
calendar in which Christmas coincides with Jan. 6 and 7 of the commonly
used Western calendar.
(posted 4 January 2000)
Moscow, 31 December. The authority of the president of Russia was trasferred to Vladimir Putin by Boris Yeltsin yesterday in the presence of the patriarch of Moscow and all-Rus, Alexis II. The primate of the Russian Orthodox church reported this yesterday at the time of the ceremony of the consecration of the church of Christ the Savior. Patriarch Alexis II blessed Vladimir Putin in his new career. The patriarch expressed the hope that the period of Putin's performance of the duties of the president will be a "time of creation."
RUSSIA'S PUTIN SEEKS ORTHODOX PATRIARCH'S BLESSING
Moscow, 31 December (Reuters). Vladimir Putin, thrust into the daunting job of Russia's acting president, on Friday sought the blessing of Russia's Orthodox Church Patriarch to help him run the country.
Itar-Tass news agency quoted Patriarch Alexiy II as saying that Putin, prime minister since August, had asked for the blessing after being invested with the powers of head of state by outgoing President Boris Yeltsin in the Kremlin.
Russia's Orthodox Church, cowed into a subservient role under Soviet rule, has become an integral element in post-communist affairs of state, with the patriarch or senior clerics present at all major events.
The Church has also become closely identified with many public causes, backing Moscow's military campaign in Chechnya or offering its good offices in other post-communist disputes.
"Putin asked the patriarch for a blessing for the forthcoming period in carrying out his presidential duties,'' Tass said, quoting Alexiy.
Putin, his wife and two daughters were escorted by the patriarch in recent weeks on a tour of the church's seat at Sergiyev Posad, north of Moscow.
Alexiy spoke to Tass after a ceremony outside the vast, unfinished Christ the Saviour cathedral, being rebuilt on the site of a cathedral dynamited by Josef Stalin in the 1930s.
The patriarch said he had no idea in advance why he had been summoned to the Kremlin meeting.
He offered wishes of "peace and concord'' to all politicians and expressed concern that bias and dirty tricks in the media in recent weeks had undermined the authority of the state.
Interior Minister Vladimir Rushailo told Tass that those attending the transfer of powers at the Kremlin had been deeply moved by the "very important and serious'' ceremony.
"Emotions took over and many had tears in their eyes,'' Rushailo was quoted as saying.
(posted 3 January 2000)
PATRIARCH MEETS WITH GENERAL
by Dmitry Belov
Moskovskii komsomolets, 29 December 1999
On 27 December a meeting was held between Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and all-Rus and hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel General Boris Gromov. At the residence of the head of the Russian Orthodox church they discussed problems of controling the situation in Chechnia and other critical matters of the political and public life of Russia.
Boris Gromov told his holiness about the work that is being conducted by the "Military Brotherhood" movement of veterans of local forces and armed conflicts and aid to families of military personnel who have been killed, veterans, children's homes, and orphanages. The patriarch of Moscow and all-Rus noted the importance for the spiritual regeneration of the state and people of selfless good deeds and he blessed Boris Gromov for the continuation of his noble activity.
His Holiness and Boris Gromov exchanged holiday greetings on the threshhold of the New Year and the Birth of Christ accompanied by commemorative gifts. Last Thursday at the Novodevichy monastery Boris Gromov received the blessing of Metropolitan Yuvenaly for his future service to the people. (tr. by PDS)
BORIS GROMOV: WE WILL STAY TOGETHER AND WE WILL WIN
By Viktor Vybornov
Argumenty i fakty, 29 December 1999 (excerpts)
--Boris Vsevolodovicy, the new year 2000 is approaching, the great date of the celebration of the third millennium since the birth of Christ. What would you like to wish for your political constituents and all readers of our newspaper on the even of the celebrations?
--With all my heart I wish everyone who reads this report the best for the coming holidays! The boundary between centuries and millennia really is fateful for Russia. Everything we do today is a choice for the future which already is knocking at the doors of each home. May it be good for each of us, our children and grandchildren as well as for those who still have not been born. Our duty is to preserve for them the national heritage and to transmit to our successors that gift which we received for temporary use, our nature and culture. I hope that our world will become secure for the present generation. May the division of our one nation into "us and them" be a thing of the past along with turmoil and poverty and endless wars, great and local. Even the "smallest" war bring too much sorrow. Of course, all wars end in peace, but not all soldiers return home.
--By the will of the voters of the Moscow district, you have become one of the two leaders in the election campaign for the post of governor of Moscow province. It is quite possible that the fate of the province will be in your hands.
--I thank everyone who expressed this wish and decided to vote. That already is an achievement. I am grateful to everyone who supported me as well as those who supported my opponents and even those who voted against all. . .
--His holiness the patriarch said once that at the watershed of the millennia we are obliged to recognize the real threat of turning the boundary of the millennia into a war front, a line of fire, dividing peoples and states. Surely as a military general you especially understand these words. How do you see the union of state authority with the church in the country's approach and guarantee of the security of its citizens?
--In choosing a new strategy for the development of Russia in conditions that are more than tense we must recall not our mutual offenses and disagreements but what unites us, both Russians and citizens of other states. Here I especially permit myself to appeal to the words of Patriarch Alexis II: the main thing that unites us is the ability to distinguish good from evil. All questions connected with the choice of specific forms of cooperation with the church will become high priorities for Moscow district inasmuch as the Moscow province lies within the personal jurisdiction of the patriarch of Moscow and all-Rus. I recognize well not only the significance of Moscow territory in strengthening the spiritual bases of the Russian state but also the peacemaking role of the church in the restoration of international harmony in the trouble spots of Russia and the planet. The result of the joint peacemaking efforts of the Russian Orthodox church and representatives of Islam is the inadmissibility of a religious war which the enemies of Russia want so much to ignite in the northern Caucasus at the threshold of the third millennium. I hope that with the support of the church peace will triumph both in the consciousness of our citizens and in what they should hear and see at the time of the elections. . . . (tr. by PDS)
(posted 3 January 2000)
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