The process of the delivery of the official indictment against Metropolitan Valentin of Suzdal and Vladimir, the head of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church (RPATs), was completed on 5 September in the building of the Vladimir city prosecutor's office, "Blagovest-info" reports.
After the delivery of the indictment, the staff of the prosecutor's office applied to the metropolitan a measure of preventive restriction; he was forced to sign not to leave. As observers note, this is the first case in modern history in Russia of the application of such measures to a religious leader of such status.
The indictment of the primate of RPATs, who was summoned to the prosecutor's office by subpoena, was delivered by the investigator I. Egorov. Among the accusations lodged against Metropolitan Valentin is corruption of minors and enticement of them into actions of an antisocial nature (drinking alcoholic beverages).
At the Suzdal diocesan offices of RPATs this statement was called a lie from start to finish. The indictment, which is quoted in the text of the statement, bases its issuance on the evidence of the son of a former archpriest of RPATs, Andrei Osetrov, a friend of one of the daughters of former Archpriest Egor Derevianko, as well as the brothers Evgeny and Veniamin Kutsikov. The latter two, according to the diocesan administration, twice wrote to Metropolitan Valentin a letter of apology, telling him that they had slandered him under pressure from the investigators. (tr. by PDS, posted 7 September 2001)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
On 3 September the Ministry of Foreign Affairs [MID] of Russia for the first time in the past ten years refused the fourteenth dalai-lama the right to cross the border of the Russian federation. As a result the spiritual leader of Buddhists will not be able to make his trip to Mongolia. MID still has not made public the reason for its decision, but it bears a political character.
Dalai-Lama XIV fled from Tibet to India in 1959 after Chinese troops in Lhasa brutally put down a demonstration of proponents of independence. Since then the spiritual leader of Buddhists has been roaming the world, performing divine services and giving lectures in various forums. In this speeches the dalai-lama always talks not so much about religion as about politics. He often repeats that the prospects of Buddhism depend directly on the restoration of statehood to Tibet. It seems that this cannot help but irritate the Chinese leadership which views the dalai-lama's visit to any country as an unfriendly gesture on the part of the government of that state.
Dalai-Lama XIV was supposed to visit Mongolia this month. And he would visit it but there are only three routes to Ulan-Bator: through the territory of either China, Russia, or Kazakhstan. For understandable reasons China will not accommodate the dalai-lama and the air flights from Kazakhstan to Mongolia have been cancelled for this year. Russia remains the only corridor. Thus the dalai-lama applied to MID of Russia for a transit visa.
Russian diplomats rejected it, although they understood quite well that they were closing the Buddhist leader's last route.
It is remarkable that the information about the refusal to issue a visa came by another channel and not from MID RF. At MID they refused to confirm or deny the refusal to issue a visa to the dalai-lama. Although an employee of the department inadvertently let it slip that it was true in a sense: "We now are collecting official information and we are preparing a statement as to what and why it was refused." For comments from the other side "Gazeta.Ru" turned to the Tibet Center of Culture and Information, a kind of embassy of the Tibetan government in exile.
Naturally it is thought at the center that Russia has decided not to admit the dalai-lama so as not to harm relations with China. The more so since at this moment these relations seem to have reached a certain harmony.
"There cannot be another reason," the leader of the Tibet center, Ngavang Ngereg, said sadly to the reporter from "Gazeta.Ru," adding that he personally has no negative feelings towards Russian diplomats. "We take into account the Russian government's situation, for whom it is necessary to maintain good relations with China," Mr. Ngereg explained. In general, Moscow's Tibetans will not picket the building on Smolensk Square or express their protest in any other way. As Ngavang Ngereg stated, "Buddhists are peaceful people."
Besides, the Tibetans did not have occasion to raise an outcry. The issue is that the dalai-lama was supposed to make a visit to Russia also this year. He was expected in August. The invitation had been signed by leaders of three republics in which many Buddhists live, Buriatia, Tuva, and Kalmykia. But then Murtaza Rakhimov and Sherig-ool Oorzhak removed their signatures. This happened right on the eve of the visit to Moscow of the leader of China, Jiang Zemin. Only Kalmykian President Kirsah Iliumzhinov stood firm. In an interview of Radio Liberty he declared that he had to welcome the dalai-lama to his republic a second time (he had been in Kalmykia in 1992). (Incidentally, in this same interview Iliumzhinov promised that upon the expiration of his second presidential term he would enter a monastery, only he still has not decided whether a Budddhist or Orthodox one.) According to Ngavanga Ngereg's information, this year the dalai-lama would not visit Iliumzhinov even if MID for some reason decided to grant him a visa. "He could hardly go this year; it's already September and it's too cold." (tr. by PDS, posted 3 September 2001)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
The Georgian authorities are indulging and abetting mob violence against non-Orthodox Christian worshippers, Human Rights Watch said today.
In a 14-page memorandum released today, Human Rights Watch urged the Bush administration to challenge the Georgian government's failure to address the violence, and called for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom to visit Georgia and investigate. In early September the administration is due to release its annual report on global religious freedom.
"People should be entitled to worship without fear," said Elizabeth Andersen, executive director of the Europe and Central Asia division of Human Rights Watch. "For two years now these groups have had carte blanche for violence. It's time for the Georgian authorities to start investigating, arresting, charging, and detaining them."
More than 40 attacks have taken place this year; more than 80 violent incidents have been reported since 1999. The memorandum, based on first hand interviews with victims, documents ten of the attacks that have taken place in 2001. The assailants, civilian militants who are sometimes led by Orthodox priests, have meted out beatings, ransacked homes, and destroyed religious literature. The mobs target Jehovah's Witnesses, Pentacostalists, Baptists, and followers of other Christian faiths non-native to Georgia, attempting to intimidate them into abandoning their faith. Encouraged by government and police inaction, the frequency of attacks is on the rise.
President Eduard Shevardnadze has spoken out against the attacks and ordered police and prosecutors to "identify and punish" perpetrators, but the authorities have failed to investigate seriously or make arrests. The leader of the majority of the attacks, Vasili Mkalavishvili, a defrocked Orthodox priest, openly claims to receive help from the police and security services. Police officers have failed to intervene to protect the victims and in some cases the police themselves have violently broken up prayer gatherings.
Since last year, mob attacks have spread from Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, to other towns and rural areas. In March of this year an Orthodox priest on horseback led a crowd of 150 in breaking into a private house in the town of Sachkhere, where Jehovah's Witnesses were holding a prayer meeting, and beating worshippers inside. In February, Mkalavishvili and his followers rushed into the courtyard of a private home in Tbilisi and beat Jehovah's Witnesses there with clubs, large crosses and Bibles after police forced open the gate for them. On April 30, Mkalavishvili's supporters broke up another Jehovah's Witnesses prayer meeting in Tbilisi, attacking worshippers with sticks spiked with nails and putting three of them in hospital.
Human Rights Watch said that leading Georgian institutions bear heavy responsibility for creating the atmosphere of hostility and intolerance towards non-Orthodox Christian faiths in which these violent attacks have flourished. Law enforcement agencies' failure to prosecute the perpetrators of such attacks has given a green light for further violence and hostility. The Georgian Orthodox Church has failed to condemn the violence explicitly. Since 1998 it has lobbied for laws to gain special status and to have restrictions placed on other faiths. In February the Supreme Court ruled to deregister the Jehovah's Witnesses as a legal entity in Georgia.
The Supreme Court decision prompted a new surge of violent attacks. Local level police, customs officers and Orthodox priests leapt to interpret the decision as a ban on Jehovah's Witnesses' activities. They have used it variously to disperse prayer meetings, confiscate literature, and to issue new threatening ultimatums.
"The rule of law is giving way to mob law on this in Georgia," said Andersen. "The Georgian authorities and their international partners need to put a stop to it." (posted 3 September 2001)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and all-Rus declared the necessity of continuing the cooperation of the church with the state in the regeneration of the spiritual foundations of Russia, ITAR-TASS reports.
In an interview the primate of RPTs granted a correspondent of that agency on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of his ministry as a bishop, Alexis II stated that the church has undertaken steps in order that such mutual activity will be successful. Thus, he said, newly formed dioceses now correspond to the administrative division of the Russian federation and the near abroad. That means that in every federal region there is a bishop who resolves church problems in cooperation with secular authorities. "But in contrast to earlier years the government does not regulate the activity of the church and does not interfere in its internal affairs; our relations are of a partnership nature," the patriarch stressed.
"We have many common tasks--the moral health of society, strengthening civil peace and harmony, solution of social problems, and preservation of historic monuments," the head of RPTs declared. He thinks that it is possible jointly to overcome such horrible illnesses of the century as drug addiction and alcoholism. "Their cause must be sought in the loss of a spiritual core which helps people to avoid many mistakes and experiences," the patriarch noted.
At the same time he stressed that "spiritual regeneration is a long and difficult process and it cannot be achieved spontaneously. Every person must consciously come to faith in God." (tr. by PDS, posted 3 September 2001)
VLADIMIR PUTIN CONGRATULATES PATRIARCH ALEXIS II
Mir religii, 3
September 2001
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and all-Rus on the fortieth anniversary of his episcopal consecration and installation. This was reported by the press service of the head of state in a communicatin sent Monday to RIA Novosti. The congratulatory letter said: "In the years of the absence of religious freedom, the decision to dedicate one's life to God required extraordinary personal courage, great spirituality, and self-assurance. These qualities you have displayed in full measure in your pastoral ministry."
"Your efforts for the development of church life, education of the young generation, and preservation of moral structures have brought you universal love and respect. They have facilitated the elevation of the authority of the Russian Orthodox church in our country and abroad and the establishment of peace and harmony in society," the head of state noted in his congratulation. (tr. by PDS, posted 3 September 2001)
PATRIARCH'S TIME
Mir religii,
3 September 2001
On 1 September the ORT channel aired the premier of the documentary film, "Patriarch's Time," devoted to the fortieth anniversary of episcopal ministry of Patriarch Alexis II of Moscoe and all-Rus. The film used a unique chronicle and fragments of an exclusive interview granted by the primate of RPTs to the ORT channel especially for this film.
When Patriarch Alexis II was a boy he "played church," and sage elders of Valaam asked the parents of the boy not to prevent this. The seeds of faith, sown in the child's soul, produced fruitful results; the patriarch's life has been dedicated to service to God and neighbor without break. He became a priest in the years when the church was persecuted and the person who chose the way of faith knew that trials awaited him. In his first episcopal see in Tallin the patriarch scaled the heights of the vicious persecution known at the time as the "Khrushchev persecution." He defended priests from social discrimination and saved parishes and monasteries from being closed. For the patriarch who treasured love and faith in his heart, the years of trials were years of hope. (tr. by PDS, posted 3 September 2001)
Patriarch Alexis marks 40th anniversary as bishop
INTERVIEW WITH PATRIARCH ALEXIS II
Mir religii, 3 September 2001
http://www.religio.ru/news/1975_print.html
Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and all-Rus declared the necessity of
continuing the cooperation of the church with the state in the regeneration
of the spiritual foundations of Russia, ITAR-TASS reports.
In an interview the primate of RPTs granted a correspondent of that agency on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of his ministry as a bishop, Alexis II stated that the church has undertaken steps in order that such mutual activity will be successful. Thus, he said, newly formed dioceses now correspond to the administrative division of the Russian federation and the near abroad. That means that in every federal region there is a bishop who resolves church problems in cooperation with secular authorities. "But in contrast to earlier years the government does not regulate the activity of the church and does not interfere in its internal affairs; our relations are of a partnership nature," the patriarch stressed.
"We have many common tasks--the moral health of society, strengthening civil peace and harmony, solution of social problems, and preservation of historic monuments," the head of RPTs declared. He thinks that it is possible jointly to overcome such horrible illnesses of the century as drug addiction and alcoholism. "Their cause must be sought in the loss of a spiritual core which helps people to avoid many mistakes and experiences," the patriarch noted.
At the same time he stressed that "spiritual regeneration is a long and difficult process and it cannot be achieved spontaneously. Every person must consciously come to faith in God." (tr. by PDS, posted 3 September 2001)
VLADIMIR PUTIN CONGRATULATES PATRIARCH ALEXIS II
Mir religii, 3 September 2001
http://www.religio.ru/news/1977_print.html
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Patriarch Alexis II
of Moscow and all-Rus on the fortieth anniversary of his episcopal consecration
and installation. This was reported by the press service of the head of
state in a communicatin sent Monday to RIA Novosti. The congratulatory
letter said: "In the years of the absence of religious freedom, the decision
to dedicate one's life to God required extraordinary personal courage,
great spirituality, and self-assurance. These qualities you have displayed
in full measure in your pastoral ministry."
"Your efforts for the development of church life, education of the young generation, and preservation of moral structures have brought you universal love and respect. They have facilitated the elevation of the authority of the Russian Orthodox church in our country and abroad and the establishment of peace and harmony in society," the head of state noted in his congratulation. (tr. by PDS, posted 3 September 2001)
PATRIARCH'S TIME
Mir religii, 3 September 2001
http://www.religio.ru/mediamirrow/237_print.html
On 1 September the ORT channel aired the premier of the documentary
film, "Patriarch's Time," devoted to the fortieth anniversary of episcopal
ministry of Patriarch Alexis II of Moscoe and all-Rus. The film used a
unique chronicle and fragments of an exclusive interview granted by the
primate of RPTs to the ORT channel especially for this film.
When Patriarch Alexis II was a boy he "played church," and sage elders of Valaam asked the parents of the boy not to prevent this. The seeds of faith, sown in the child's soul, produced fruitful results; the patriarch's life has been dedicated to service to God and neighbor without break. He became a priest in the years when the church was persecuted and the person who chose the way of faith knew that trials awaited him. In his first episcopal see in Tallin the patriarch scaled the heights of the vicious persecution known at the time as the "Khrushchev persecution." He defended priests from social discrimination and saved parishes and monasteries from being closed. For the patriarch who treasured love and faith in his heart, the years of trials were years of hope. (tr. by PDS, posted 3 September 2001)
ALEXIS II: "IN ELEVEN YEARS I HAVE COME TO KNOW ALL THE WEIGHT OF THE
PATRIARCHAL CROSS"
RIA Novosti,
3 September 2001
Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and all-Rus was awarded the order of Metropolitan Makary on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of his episcopal ministry on Monday. The award was made after the divine liturgy and prayer service in the church of Christ the Savior.
The medal was given to the patriarch in the name of the Holy Synod by Metropolitan Yuvenaly of Krutitsy and Kolomna. The metropolitan said that His Holiness the patriarch was the first to receive this medal since the order was established in April 2001 by the Holy Synod. According to the metropolitan, in the forty years of his episcopal ministry the patriarch made "an enormous contribution to the work of enlightenment."
The primate of the Russian Orthodox church thanked the pastors and archpastors of the church and the whole Orthodox people for their prayers. He said that "the years of episcopal ministry, especially the first ones, were not easy." The patriarch recalled that in those times there was persecution of religion and churches and monasteries were closed. But Alexis II got still more difficulty ministry after his election in 1990 to the throne of patriarch of Moscow and all-Rus. If we speak of the burden of the episcopal cross, "then in the eleven years I have come to know all the weight of the patriarchal cross," His Holiness said. In the conclusion of his speech he thanked all who "now are zealously working for the rebirth of the holy church and our fatherland."
In the name of the Holy Synod, the head of RPTs was presented the Tikhvin icon of the Mother of God. It was before this icon that His Holiness prayed after his election to the throne of patriarch. The Muscovite clergy presented Alexis II a cross made of very hard fossilized wood. They explained that "the patriarchal cross itself is millions of other crosses compressed." A crack is visible on the cross they gave him which "will remind His Holiness of the sorrows of millions of people." He also was presented two panagias with views of the cave of Bethlehem and the resurrection of Christ.
On Monday there will be a reception at the church of Christ the Savior in honor of the fortieth anniversary of the patriarch's episcopal ministry. (tr. by PDS, posted 3 September 2001)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
Final celebrations of the 950th anniversary of the Kievan caves lavra--one of the chief Orthodox shrines--were marred by one unpleasant event. Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and all-Rus did not arrive as many Ukrainian believers longed for. The head of the Russian Orthodox church did not consider it possible for himself to appear in Kiev because of disagreements with the unrecognized Ukrainian churches, the Ukrainian Orthodox church of the Kiev patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox church. The schismatics, as they are called in Russia, are striving to unite in a unified local Ukrainian Orthodox church, which Moscow actively opposes, apparently because it sees in a future unified church a strong competitor.
Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad
--Why did the patriarch not go to the celebrations in the Kievan caves lavra? You know it is no secret that Ukraine did not simply expect a delegation from the Moscow patriarchate, but specifically him.
--I know how much His Holiness the patriarch wishes to visit Ukraine and Kiev. Undoubtedly, he will come here. But his arrival must be used to the fullest extent for overcoming those church problems which exist today. And knowing what is happening in Ukraine, we can raise the question: Is Ukraine ready to use optimally the potential of the patriarchal visit for healing the situation? We have very great doubts.
--At what stage now are the negotiations with the unrecognized churches?
--The Moscow and Constantinople patriarchates have made the joint decision to cooperate in overcoming the schism in Ukraine. There was a meeting in Zurich where we wanted to hear how representatives of the uncanonical churches understand the path to overcoming the schism, which they properly desire, and how they intend to achieve their desires. We went to Zurich with an open heart. But what happened after this session grieved me very much. Soon in Kiev one of the participants in the negotiations, a representative of the so-called Kievan patriarchate, declared that the Zurich meeting was a recognition of the canonical validity of the bishops representing the schismatic groupings.
--And what now?
--If we are convinced that these men do not wish to overcome the schism, then I think all conversations will end. Because in a certain sense the Orthodox church would concede to violations of canonical procedure if it joins a conversation with them in order to change the situation. And in response to this constructive step we have a whole wave of propaganda directed at compromising the negotiations and representatives of the Moscow patriarchate. To be sure, I cannot extend this criticism to representatives of the so-called autocephalous church. They took a more realistic position at the negotiations in Zurich and they now are displaying moderation and interest in the continuation of the dialogue. We are open to such talk. But we stand on a principled position: it is impossible to do anything on repairing in Ukraine outside of the canonical field.
--Do you think that autocephaly is needed by the Ukrainian church?
--The Moscow patriarchate has gone along the path of granting more and more independence to the Ukrainian Orthodox church. In effect the canonical UPTs today is autocephalous. At the last council of UPTs it was even removed from the charter of RPTs. It was said that this church lives according to its own charter, in contrast with, let's say, the self-administered church of Estonia or the self-administered church of Moldova.
--What's the difference from true autocephaly?
--Bishops of UPTs say to us today that it is not only impossible to speak of autocephaly but even the very use of the word evokes in believers a negative reaction. So that this is the conscious choice of the majority of Ukrainian Orthodox people.
--But in Kiev they say the opposite.
--In western regions of Ukraine there really is a very strong autocephalist mood. And the absolute majority of Orthodox there think that UPTs should be autocephalous.
--Representatives of the Kievan patriarchate say that Constantinople supports them and that Patriarch Bartholomew can himself decide the question of canonical recognition. Is this really so?
--That's a bluff from start to finish, because in Constantinople they know canon law and they know that it is impossible to grant autocephaly without the participation of the mother church, that is, without the agreement of the Moscow patriarchate. It is impossible to decide such questions unilaterally without violating the unity of Orthodoxy as a whole. Constantinople, as the first among equals, bears very great responsibility for the unity of Orthodoxy as a whole. Can it violate this unity with its own hands? I do not believe that.
Archbishop Igor of Kharkov and Poltava
--How is yours different from other Orthodox churches?
--The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox church was forced to leave Ukraine at the time of the arrival of the Red Army in 1944 and it continued its ministry in countries of the free world, USA, France, Germany, South America, and Australia. Existing in the diaspora gave the autocephalous church many characteristics that are very important for the contemporary age, the ability to respect the individual person and the ability to conduct open dialogue with other churches. This implies a rejection of a policy of state protectionism and mastering a new language for proclamation.
--Are you advocating the modernization of the church?
--The end of the twentieth century unexpectedly displayed to us the growth of fundamentalism in both Orthodoxy and Catholicism and protestantism. It seems that the old medieval model of church-state relations will again be revived. Analysis shows that this is nothing but an anachronism. Most important for us today is not to fear the modern world and not to drive ourselves into voluntary catacombs. We will not be modernists if we try to conduct conversations with our parishioners through the web pages of our parishes and not just from the pulpit when people submissively listen to us, unable to pose a question or somehow call us to task in response to our stupidity or faulty argumentation.
--It seems that this brings you close to the Vatican's position?
--It is the insufficient energy of Orthodoxy and the flight from the modern world that directly creates the basis for Catholic proselytism. We church people should not forget that the most contemporary institution in the world is the church since it alone is constantly leading us to the future and teaching us to think about the future and not about the past.
--Is there a real need for unification with the Kievan patriarchate?
--Our church treats very cautiously the idea of unification with the Kievan patriarchate. We stress all the time that unification of the two churches that are still not recognized as canonical will not get us one step closer to the solution of the problems in Ukraine, will disrupt the dialogue with the Moscow patriarchate, and will lead to the departure of some of the believers.
--Then why are you uniting?
--Church canons really require that on the territory of a single state there can be only one local church. Today, thinking about the prospects of Orthodoxy, we are obliged to talk about joint efforts for creating a united Orthodox church in Ukraine, canonically recognized by other churches and uniting the greatest number of believers possible. We are transferring to a world without borders. I think that this is our future and not just on the legalized dimension. Canonical recognition and unification are not the final goals for the church. They are just the means for a fuller accomplishment of its vocation in this world.
--But the testament of one of the patriarchs of UPTs, Dimitry, says that it is necessary to achieve canonical unification with the ecumenical patriarchate and not with Moscow.
--The cautious attitude toward Russian Orthodoxy of a portion of Ukrainians was engendered not by political motives but by a fear of introducing politics into the church. Today for Ukrainians the Russian church is the church of the Holy Synod, the church of Joseph Stalin. Today RPTs in Ukraine is engaged in very many instances in the propaganda of monarchism and the restoration of the Soviet Union and supports the communists in the elections. Naturally, these are sick manifestations of a falsely understood Russian patriotism in separate parishes. But it is necessary to break up this stereotype and to prove that Ukrainian Orthodoxy is not an attempt of separatists to tear away a portion of the Orthodox believers from the mother Russian church. We are submissive children of the ecumenical patriarchate and we have turned the solution of our problems over to the Constantinople patriarch. We will be prepared to join any canonically proper union when it has the blessing of the ecumenical patriarch. I think that if His Holiness Patriarch Alexis II were now to follow a wise and very authoritative church policy, perhaps making a hard step for him and recognizing the priority of Constantinople in solving the Ukrainian problem, then he would thereby gain the sympathies of Ukrainian society. And he would gain for the Russian church a very powerful ally.
Patriarch Filaret, head of the Ukrainian Orthodox church of the Kiev patriarchate
--The Russian Orthodox church accuses you of schism. . . .
--As regards the Ukrainian church, there is neither heresy nor schism here in the classical understanding but there is simply a separation of the Ukrainian church from the Moscow patriarchate. The same think happened when in 1448 the Russian church separated itself from the Constantinople patriarchate, and Constantinople did not recognize the part that broke away.
--In Moscow's opinion, baptisms, weddings, communion, and other sacraments performed in churches of the Kievan patriarchate are sacrilege.
--The Russian Orthodox church even recognizes the sacraments of Catholics. There is no basis not to recognize a sacrament of an Orthodox church which has no disagreement in doctrine. The faith is the same and the canons are the same. Christians are the same and they appeal in prayer in the same way to the same God. I do not think that the Lord hears the prayers from Moscow but not the prayers from Kiev. That's absurd. That's politics.
--What is the current status of the process of the unification of the Orthodox churches?
--In effect there already exists in Ukraine a local Ukrainian church: the Kievan patriarchate along with the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox church. We have conducted negotiations with the autocephalists and have already signed documents to the effect that nothing actually divides us and that we are moving toward unification. We need recognition on the part of other local Orthodox churches. The ecumenical patriarch is actively involved in this process.
--Was a turning point really reached at the negotiations in Zurich and did the Moscow patriarchate succeed in drawing the Constantinople patriarchate onto its side?
--The delegation of the Moscow patriarchate takes the wish for reality. The patriarch of Constantinople insists as before that the Ukrainian church be autocephalous but he wants for this question to be decided in a way that is pleasing to Moscow since the Kievan metropolia has been under the Moscow patriarchate more than 300 years.
--Is this possible?
--Impossible. Moscow's position harms Russian Orthodoxy in the first place. It divides Orthodoxy into two parts at a time when Christianity as a whole is losing its moral influence in society. Moscow has made an ultimatum to Constantinople which will divide all Orthodoxy into two parts if it recognizes the local Ukrainian church, like when the united church of Christ was divided in 1054 into eastern and western parts.
--But the Moscow patriarchate declares that it will grant autocephaly to the Ukrainian church if a majority of Orthodox believers in Ukraine vote for it.
--Indeed, such a decision already has been made. The local council of 1991, which was attended by the entire episcopate and representatives of the clergy of all dioceses of Ukraine and of ecclesiastical educational institutions and all monasteries unanimously voted for autocephaly of the Ukrainian church. According to sociological surveys, of 25 million Orthodox believers in Ukraine, 9.5 million support autocephaly. The position of the Moscow patriarchate is shared by 4.5 million, and 10 million are undecided.
--What will happen with the parishes of the Moscow patriarchate after the creation of the united church?
--I think that after the formation of a recognized autocephalous Ukrainian church the overwhelming majority of parishes of the Moscow patriarchate will come over to the Kievan patriarchate by their own choice. The Ukrainian church is the second largest Orthodox church after the Russian church. It is gaining strength. Such a church is not being recognized; it is capable of surviving independently. (tr. by PDS, posted 2 September 2001)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
A new academic year is beginning. School children are taking their places at their desks and students are entering the lecture halls. At this time even elderly folk recall that they once were pupils themselves. At this time the whole country feels especially keenly how important and significant education [obrazovania] is for it.
The very word is symbolic. In Orthodox culture it goes back to the concept of the "image [obraz] of God." Indeed, we are the image of the creator and we should be like God. It is necessary to recall firmly: education is not only acquisition of knowledge nor simply the accumulation of information, but the formation of a honest, independent, spiritual person and true citizen of the fatherland. The church is ready to help such education in every way. And that is why it tries to develop close cooperation with the secular educational system.
The Russian school, both secondary and higher, has entered a new period of transition. One wishes to hope that this will improve its material condition and make it more efficient and bring it closer to the family and society. Life changes; people change; and that means the school should change. However it is also impossible to reject that which was best in the prerevolutionary and soviet educational system. In the first place this pertains to the maximum accessibility of education. Anyone who thirsts for knowledge should get it. May any reforms be conducted such that their main goal is concern for the welfare of each person and the whole country. After all, the school is the foundation of our future.
Alexis II, patriarch of Moscow and all-Rus (tr. by PDS, posted 2 September 2001)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
In Britain the Salvation Army are regarded as a well-meaning group who provide food for the homeless and whose bands play carols at Christmas. In Moscow they are seen officially as a paramilitary group prepared to overthrow the state.
In Russia the Salvation Army are known as the Christian Soldiers. In Moscow they have put down their collecting tins and taken on some of the most powerful officials in the land, pushing a landmark court battle over their right to exist all the way to the European Court of Human Rights.
Their move is a final bid to stay in business after Moscow city government, a state within a state, used a controversial law on religions to prevent them carrying out their work.
The Salvation Army first came to Russia in the days of the Tsar. In 1923 they were thrown out of the country on the orders of Lenin, returning only once Communism had collapsed in 1992.
Since then they have become the foremost charity helping Moscow's legions of sick, destitute and lonely, the many losers in the transition to a free market economy. On any given day, volunteers are out among the grim tenements of Europe's biggest metropolis, operating soup kitchens, visiting hospitals and braving medieval-style jails to bring comfort to prisoners stricken by the hundreds with tuberculosis.
Moscow, rather than welcome the Salvation Army, appears to be embarrassed by its good works and has used a new law on religions to shut it down.
The Salvation Army, like all minority religions - Russia's Orthodox Church and three other faiths are exempt - went along with the law, getting its required papers ready in good time in 1999. Then on the very last day before the registration deadline they received an anxious phone call from a city hall functionary who had been assuring them for months that everything was in order.
"She said 'we_ve got a problem'," remembers Colonel Kenneth Baillie, the Canadian commanding Russia's Salvation Army mission. "She said: 'This is Gogol'_ I said: 'This is Kafka too.'"
It took six months, and a court hearing, to discover that her superiors had blocked the request. The reason given was simple: in the eyes of Moscow, the Salvation Army was classified as a paramilitary organisation.
Colonel Baillie listened in disbelief as city lawyers solemnly trotted out their reasons why his church, with its colonels and uniforms, was regarded as a military unit ready to overthrow the state. And then he was stunned when the judges agreed. An appeal court backed the judgment.
"I do know the arguments in court have nothing to do with an honest reading of the law," said Colonel Baillie. "I've been in the Salvation Army for 33 years, I've never faced anything like this."
Moscow officials say simply that they are bound to follow court rulings. With no further appeals possible in Russia, Colonel Baillie decided to take the case to the only other place that would hear it - the European Court in Strasbourg.
"There's virtual certainty that they will rule for us," said Colonel Baillie. "The violations of Russia's own law are so overwhelming that they have no choice."
But that is not the problem. The problem is finding a way to stay in business until then. Moscow is not waiting for the ruling. It has launched a new court battle to wind up the Salvation Army.
"I can't hold religious services, cannot give soup to the hungry, I cannot do anything," said the white-haired Colonel, sitting in the Army's handsome red-brick office in the city centre, contemplating what would happen if they lost this new court battle. "But I'm not going to move from Moscow. This is the biggest city in Europe. There are pressing social issues."
Many suspect it is those issues that lie at the heart of the problem. Moscow is a wealthy place, but city officials prefer to spend cash on big projects than look after the poor. The Salvation Army's work is embarrassing them.
And not just the city council. The Salvation Army's high profile also reflects badly on the established church, which mostly shuns welfare work. Earlier this year the Patriarch, Alexi II, criticised groups like the Salvation Army, warning them not to try to steal souls which properly belong to the Orthodox Church. Some are not surprised by the attitude of the Patriarch: "He's afraid of openness, he's afraid of truth," says Father Veniamin Novik, an Orthodox monk whose calls for the Church to give more help to the country's poor has got him into trouble. "The Russian Orthodox Church rejects modern society, democracy, liberalism."
Mayor Yury Luzhkov, said to be Russia's second most powerful man after the president, is known for his close connections with the Patriarchate. Many suspect that city officials are simply doing what they think will make the Church happy.
While Moscow continues to hold out, registration has been granted to the Salvation Army by the other 15 Russian cities where it operates and the Russian state. This leaves Colonel Baillie in the strange position of being forbidden to operate in Moscow, but paradoxically allowed to operate anywhere on federal territory.
Europe's judgement will be a landmark, because of what it will say about the commitment of Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, to the rule of law.
In the meantime, and until the bailiffs drag them out, the Salvation Army intend to keep operating. "Poor people don't go away if you don't take care of them," said Colonel Baillie. (posted 2 September 2001)
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