RUSSIA
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On 12 December Alexander Lukashenko visited the House of Charity and met with members of the synod of the Belorussian Orthodox church [BPTs]. He supported the "new and interesting suggestion of BPTs about signing an agreement between church and state." This agreement "should define the forms, methods, goals, and spheres of applying joint efforts," the Belorussian president suggested.
In the opinion of the Belorussian leader, the agreement "should be supplemented with various programs that would permit implementation of plans, resolve basic problems existing in the dioceses, and carry out relations between the state and church at the highest level."
Article 16 of the Fundamental Law of the country, the constitution of the republic of Belarus, affirms that "religions and religious confessions are equal before the laws." However even with the naked eye it can be noted that the relationship of the head of state to various confessions is far from equitable. Indeed he himself called himself an "Orthodox atheist." Thus the relationship of the head of state to Orthodoxy is special.
This is confirmed by the constant meetings with the leadership of the Orthodox church. It is no secret that the state budget includes financial help to the Orthodox church. And as regards the law "On freedom of religious confessions and religious organizations," that was recently adopted by parliament and signed by Lukashenko, it is useless to criticize it. The leadership of the country and parliament have received very many appeals and protests from influential international rights defense organizations, famous public figures, and representatives of other confessions with respect to this law.
However Belorussian President Alexander Lukashenko thinks that the law "On freedom of religious confessions and religious organizations" that has been adopted in the republic is "a timely and progressive law which de jure and de facto puts everything in their proper places." "We have defined what place is occupied by one or another religious organization in our state," Lukashenko explained while meeting with members of the synod of the Belorussian Orthodox church.
Lukashenko suggested that critics of the law "will understand that this (adoption of the law) was done in a timely and correct way." The head of state thinks that "we should react calmly to the criticism of opponents." "We hear this criticism and to the extent possible we are taking it into account. But we cannot honor what contradicts our life and reality," Lukashenko said.
By supporting the "new and interesting suggestion of BPTs about signing an agreement between the church and state" the Belorussian leader again emphasized his special relationship with the Orthodox church and the by no means equal relationship to other confessions. The document may be signed by January or February. (tr. by PDS, posted 18 December 2002)
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At today's session the State Duma turned down a draft of a decree for erecting a monument to the royal family on Lubianka Square in Moscow. The draft was introduced by independent deputy Alexander Fedulov. The draft noted that the monument to the tsarist family, Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra Fedorovna, four young daughters and the young tsarevich, which was a model of the Russian large family, has a direct relationship to Libianka Square in Moscow where the "Detskii mir" department store is located.
The draft also stressed that the Russian Orthodox church of MP and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia have included the family of the former Russian emperor in the canon of saints. Tsar Nicholas II is called the "White Tsar" by representatives of Islam. The draft also noted that representatives of other confessions also viewed the establishment of this monument positively.
The author of the draft suggested that the erection of the monument "would testify to the spiritual rebirth of the Russian people and the establishment of moral bases in Russian society," and in this regard he suggested that the State Duma appeal to the Russian president, Russian prime minister, and Moscow mayor requesting a review of the question of the possibility of erecting a memorial to the tsarist family. However the draft of the resolution received support from only one deputy, whereas 226 votes are necessary for its adoption. (tr. by PDS, posted 18 December 2002)
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Georgy Poltavchenko, the plenipotentiary representative ["polpred"] of the president of Russia in the Central federal district, called Russia "God's chosen country" during his speech to students and teachers of the philosophy faculty of the Lomonosov Moscow State University on 15 December, "Blagovest-info" reports.
"As a Russian man I think that we have God's chosen country," Georgy Poltavchenko declared. In so doing the polpred cited an historical example: "Everybody is acquainted with the concept of 'God's chosen people,' and this people gave the world a great deal, including his Son. But there is also God's chosen country and this is Russia. This is actually so since Russia is a real bridge between the West and the East, a unique culture and civilization. Russia did not simply imbibe the achievements of other cultures but it created its own autonomous culture."
Neither the East nor the West "will be able to own Russia," the presidential polpred thinks. "They will come to blows over Russia" in order to win its position, he said. Thus "Russia must be vigilant and be careful about its territory and culture; be proud that we have been destined to live in Russia, God's chosen country," Georgy Poltavchenko urged. (tr. by PDS, posted 18 December 2002)
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--For me as a representative of the Catholic church the most important event of the past year was the Day of Youth that we celebrated this year at the beginning of May in Cheliabinsk. We are trying to conduct more such Russia-wide events. This is very important for Catholic youth. This day was planned very well and it came off very well.
One needs to be a priest to understand why this is so heartening. Usually when you go into a church there are elderly women and men sitting there, so to see so many youth lifts up the spirit. I arrived in Cheliabinsk and went into the church. It was so full and big. I walked around it and I saw people saying "Nobody can confess us; you wouldn't be able to get to the confessional." This is a supreme joy for a priest when a person wants to make confession. Of course, I began to hear confessions. Everybody then was walking and watching where the metropolitan was going; they couldn't find me and nothing could begin without me. And I was confessing parishioners in the church. In this sense this was very magnificent both for me and for the Catholic church in Russia.
For the world church, I think, this kind of thing happened at the World Day of Youth in Toronto when the pope arrived there. It was estimated that there were around 250,000 people at the liturgy. It seemed much more. Perhaps now the pope is not so young and strong as he was once. But there is nothing higher than what he says. Well, of course, the pope's visit to his native land, Poland, was a very great event for all of our Catholics. At the time of this pilgrimage Bishop Sigmund Felinsky was beatified; he spent twenty years in exile in Yaroslavl in the thirties. Unfortunately, in those same days our priest was expelled. Previously they exiled us to that place and now they expel us. What happened in Poland was inexpressible. Ask our believers who else could assemble such a number of the flock? On the field more than two million people assembled. They stood down below and we were up above; I stood next to the pope. There was a sea of people so vast you couldn't see the edge. There never were so many people assembled in one place. The weather wasn't very good and the field was not very dry. Many people were walking on foot since this was a pilgrimage. Believers came from almost all republics of the former union. This was such a great holiday not only for Poland but for all Catholics.
--In your view, where is the greatest threat to freedom of conscience coming from now?
--The original law on religious confessions, the law of 1997, does not correspond to the present, in my opinion. The preamble, which does not have juridical force, unfortunately has become the standard in practice. Here the World Russian Council has begun in our city. Who was invited? Representatives of traditional religions--Orthodoxy, Jews, Muslims. If the constitution guarantees to all equal rights to religious confession, then this situation is simply absurd.
Despite all that has happened, all the difficulties, my attitude toward the Russian Orthodox church has not changed. Acquaintances often phone me and ask, "There was some kind of religious event there. We did not see you. Why?" I answer, "Because nobody invited me." Or an interreligious council is held. Who participates? The same ones as were at the [world people's] council.
From the start the council did not lay a firm foundation for freedom of conscience. If you want to unify society, then invite its various representatives.
Well now, as regards dialogue between representatives of the Orthodox and Catholic churches, that should remain their internal affair. The state should not interfere in it. A high politician should not be saying that I like one religion and do not like another.
--What does the Catholic church expect from the coming year 2003?
--Christianity is a religion of hope. And I as a Catholic priest also am a man of hope. I have been a man of hope and I want to be one for a long time more. I am in incorrigible optimist. I hope that, despite all, healthy thought will win out and sooner or later we will sit down at the negotiating table and these questions will be resolved. I repeat to you again, we should be together in the face of the challenges of the time which now are taking place and which are very, very dangerous. (tr. by PDS, posted 18 December 2002)
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The president of Ukraine considers achieving closer cooperation between state and church necessary. On the basis of a report from the press secretary of the head of state, Interfax reports that Leonid Kuchma stated this today at a meeting with bishops of the Roman Catholic church in Ukraine.
"Cooperation between the state and religious organizations can be more productive for the spiritual regeneration of our society and its civil and moral growth," the press secretary quoted Kuchma's words. "The state always has supported constructive initiatives of the church in various spheres of public life."
The president noted at the meeting that at the state-wide and regional levels work is underway to carry out his decree of 21 March 2002 regarding the final overcoming of the negative consequences of the policies in relations with religion and the church, although there still remain many problems regarding the return to religious organizations of property belonging to them.
"Resources for cooperation of the church and state are very great, but they have been used minimally," the Ukrainian president said. "We are talking primarily about the spiritual and moral atmosphere in society, the problem of its unity, which does not exclude the possibility of diversity of convictions, including religious convictions."
After participating in the meeting the Roman Catholic church's cardinal in Ukraine, Marian Yavorsky, thanked L. Kuchma for his personal participation in resolving the church's problems, especially questions of the return to it of liturgical facilities. The meeting's participants described for the president problems of the church, in particular, how social problems are being resolved. They agreed on the necessity of joint actions by church and state for injecting moral principles into Ukrainian society.
There are an estimated million Roman Catholics in Ukraine and almost five million Catholics of the Byzantine rite. (tr. by PDS, posted 18 December 2002)
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Several hundred Orthodox Russians converted to the Catholic faith in the past decade according to a report today by the head of the Russian Catholic, Tadeucz Kondrusiewicz, Interfax reports. At the Conference of Catholic Bishops of the Russian federation it was explained to the agency that there were approximately 500-600 such conversions. "For a country of many millions, this is a pittance," T. Kodrusiewicz said at a press conference in Moscow. At the same time he categorically rejected the accusations of proselytism which are often aimed at the Vatican from the Russian Orthodox church.
"We are dealing with the voluntary conversion of people from Orthodoxy to Catholicism. How can one refuse a person who comes to us by himself? Kondrusiewicz said.
At the same time he noted that the Vatican, despite the claims from the Orthodox side, does not consider Russia a mission country that needs to be converted to Christianity. "Russia was baptized a thousand years ago; it is an Orthodox country, but today there are 69 religious denominations registered in it, that is, the religious situation has changed in comparison with 1917," Kondrusiewicz added. (tr. by PDS, posted 18 December 2002)
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With greetings from Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Alexis II that were read, the Seventh World Russian People's Council opened in the hall of Church Councils of the church of Christ the Savior on 16 December, devoted to the topic "Faith and labor." Metropolitan Kirill stressed that the patriarch was unable to take part in the sessions of the council for reasons of health. That Putin would not bless the council with his presence became known only yesterday. Several of those present were pleased with Putin's absence; when he comes entry into the building of the church is shut off.
Despite the president and patriarch's absence, the council nevertheless seemed rather representative. At the presidium sat the actor Mikhail Nozhkin, the president of the Union of Writers of Russia ("patriotic"), Valery Ganichev, president of the International Foundation of Slavic Literature and Culture, Viacheslav Klykov, the "village" writer Valentin Rasputin, former deputy of the State Duma and president of the Moscow Confederation of Manufacturers and Enterprises, Elena Panina, deputy premier of the government of Moscow, Alexander Muzykantsky, former editor in chief of "Moscow" magazine, Vladimir Krupin, artist Ilia Glazunov, film director Nikolai Burliaev, president of FNPR Mikhail Shmakov, first vice speaker of the State Duma Liubov Sliska, and vice president of the "Union of Realists" club Nina Zhukova.
Besides those seated in the presidium, there also were many famous persons in the hall. In the first rows sat deputies of the State Duma Gennady Ziuganov, Sergei Glazev, Alexander Chuev, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Andrei Isaev, Nikolai Ryzhkov, Svetlana Gvozdeva, Valery Galchenko, Viktor Zorkaltsev, Grigory Tomchin, deputy chair of the government of Moscow Mikhail Men, leader of the "Eurasia" party Alexander Dugin, and director of the Institute of CIS Countries Konstantin Zatulin. Lost in the crowd were former deputies of the State Duma and now rectors of institutions of higher education Sergei Baburin and Igor Bratishev; director of the Institute of Political Research Sergei Markov; head of Mordovia Nikolai Merkushkin; announcer of the "Russkii dom" program Alexander Krutov, "Radonexh" director Evgeny Nikiforov, and leaders of the unions of "Christian Regeneration" and Orthodox standard bearers Vladimir Osipov and Leonid Simonovich.
Russian Muslims were represented by the chairman of the Central Ecclesiastical Board of Russia and European CIS Countries Supreme Mufti Talgat Tajuddin, chairman of the Coordinating Center of Muslims of the Northern Caucasus Magomed Albogachiev, and muftis of Perm province Mukhammedgali Khuzin, of Chuvashia Albir Krganov, and of Khanta-Mansiisk district Tagir Samatov. There were no representatives of the Council of Muftis of Russia at the council. The secretary of the Interreligious Council Roman Silantiev explained the conduct of the council Council of Muftis leaders that they never attend events where muftis of the central board are present. Jews were represented by leaders of the Congress of Jewish Religious Organizations and Associations of Russia Adolf Shaevich and Zinovy Kogan. There was no representative from the Federation of Jewish Community; hassidic Jews are strictly prohibited from attending church buildings of non-Jews.
The first speaker was Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, who delivered a speech typical for such an event, recalling in particular the words of the philosopher Nikolai Berdiaev: "Bread for one's self is a material category; bread for my neighbors is a spiritual one." "This is the spiritual essence of economics," the metropolitan summed up. "If a person works only for himself and his relatives, continually getting the minimum needed for his own, he is like a squirrel on a treadmill who cannot break free," Metropolitan Kirill noted. "It is necessary to help those who are not able to produce material goods and those who produce material values. . . . Economics should be effective, but we cannot place a period at this phrase; we must continue it: everything that a person produces that is more than he can use should be given to the needy," the chairman of OVTsSMP declared.
Metropolitan Kirill also pointed to the shortcomings of current Russian laws. "Good people are forced by the state into ways of vice. If the legislative system pushes the majority to depart from observance of the law, is this really a moral system?" The metropolitan also condemned those who make enrichment the goal of life: "Fool, this night your soul will be required of you; what do you need all this for?" the head of OVTsSMP would write these words from the Bible in all offices where "wealth is being accumulated."
After the metropolitan, Liubov Sliska spoke; as always she was not distinguished by her originality.
Supreme Mufti Talgat Tajuddin began his speech with the traditional expression of praise for the patriarch of Moscow and all-Rus: "We pray the Almighty for the health of Patriarch Alexis II." Then the mufti openly took issue with several representatives of the news media: "Quite recently in our capital word was circulated that the traditional Russian Muslim clergy had sold out to the Russian authorities. We have sold out to no one; we simply were born here, by the will of Allah; Russia is our motherland. Holy Rus is our fatherland." Talgat made the principled distinction between the extremists' interpretation of the word "jihad" and "shakhid." "Shakhid is not someone who ties bombs to his waist; a shakhid is, as the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, someone who from morning to night works for the sake of his neighbors. True jihad is a struggle with evil and cruelty, with evil thoughts and evil acts." Tajuddin also did not agree with several speakers who compared GDP of the population in Russia with western countries. "It is wrong to measure our wealth in this way. We have 1,000 dollars per person and they have 25,000. Our chief wealth is spirituality. If we get 25,000, then they will print 250,000 for themselves not backed by goods." The supreme mufti also touched on the results of the conference of TsDUM on 10 December in Ufa (in which 30 muftis of TsDUM from Russia and 5 from Belorus, Ukraine, Moldova, and the Baltics participated) devoted to the struggle with religious extremism. "We thought that only 400-500 of our young people had studied abroad, but it turns out that already more than 20,000 children of Muslims have undergone training in foreign centers; these people are twenty to twenty-five years old and they have returned to Russia as warriors with sparkling eyes." "We value our good relations with the Russian Orthodox church," Tajuddin concluded his speech over the stormy applause in the hall.
Gennady Ziuganov's speech began with calling the council "a Russian national council," declaring that "the attitude of our predecessors toward faith was a crude mistake in our history." "Russia's competitors in the world do not need such a form, neither monarchical, nor socialist, nor democratic. The proof of this is the continuing expansion of NATO," Ziuganov declared. In Russia itself "the chief blow is today being borne by the Russian people. Why are the French and Germans, who fought so many centuries, now united, but we, Russians, Ukrainians, and Belorussians, are not allowed to be united? After all, in essence we are one people, Great Russians, Little Russians, and White Russians," the leader of KPRF stated. But things are bad not only in the unification of people but also in the Russian economy. "Ishaev's program was voted for in the State Council almost unanimously. Nevertheless, nothing in it has been fulfilled. I do not want to politicize this meeting, but this is not the first time that I have not seen a single member of the government and I get the impression that there is not a single Russian person in the government." The hall interrupted with stormier applause than either before or after his speech. Sensing the hall's support, Ziuganov made a specific suggestion: "Let's officially transform the fifth channel, on which we see the vile broadcasts of that chief russophobe Shvydky, into a Russian Orthodox channel!"
Speaking next, Ilia Glazunov declared that "the depths of the country should be returned to the people." The artist expressed the extravagant idea of "creating an interethnic league for defense of Russians on the model of our brother Jews and Muslims." It is necessary to fight for Russians' rights, since "in the Baltics and other republics the people whom we taught to climb down out of the trees forbid us to speak Russia." But the Russian language is subjected to persecution not only beyond the borders; in Russia, "colonial monkeys, the democrats, are distorting the Russian language," artificially introducing English words into it. Glazunov also complained that in Tatarstan the little house of Shaliapin was torn down in front of the Kazan kremlin: "Does this really help pacify peoples?" In conclusion Ilia Sergeevich sharply condemned the policy of USA in the world, noting that "the struggle with terrorism should not be an occasion for a new global terror. American policy now reminds me of the old saying that there will be such a struggle for peace that one stone will not remain on another stone." Glazunov also tried to get into an argument with Ziuganov who, although he is the "nicest man," still admires a "German spy." During a break Ziuganov and Glazunov continued their discussion on stage.
Sitting in the first row, Zhirinovsky reacted emotionally to every speech and when he got the floor he outdid himself, declaring that he was the only person defending the interests of the Russians and all the rest recalled this too late. Not only communists but even cossacks and priests were strewn with curses on the part of the leader of LDPR. The hall could not bear it and some began whistling and one man of about sixty with an iron cane in his hand several times shouted at Zhirinovsky: "You are a Judas!" After comments to the hall and to Vladimir Volfovich from the presidium, passions somewhat subsided and the speaker concluded his speech with the words: "It is necessary to introduce amendments into the constitution saying Russians are the ruling people and Orthodoxy is the state religion, but without infringing upon others, and the form of administration is an empire." Power should be handed on, in Zhirinovsky's opinion, from one emperor to another, as Yeltsin did it, naming Putin his successor. "When the empire begins to work, and the Russian army and Russian intelligence agencies begin working, then the economy will begin working," Zhirinovsky concluded. The hall reacted to the speech quite ambivalently and Metropolitan Kirill noted that nothing fruitful will come from such speeches.
Alolf Shaevich, speaking after Zhirinovsky, was unusually calm and brief. "I was born in Russia; I have lived here and I do not think of having my grave anywhere but Russia." The chief rabbi of Russia also noted that "any thinking Jewish school child understands that things cannot be good for him if they are not good for the Russian people."
Alexandra Burateva stated that she represents at the council "all Buddhists of Russia, who live in Kalmykiia, Tyva, Buriatiia, and Gorny Altai." Alexandra Mandzhievna delivered a Buddhist proverb: "If the bowstring is tightened too much it will break but if it is loosened too much it will not shoot." The deputy remarked on the conduct of her colleague Zhirinovsky, who clearly had gone overboard. On the whole, Burataeva's speech was respectful to all and not too clear, although she spoke with excellent diction. At the end of the speech it was explained that Burateva also represented "Young Unity" at the council.
It is noteworthy that both Tajuddin, Shaevich, and Burataeva emphasized their complete approval of Metropolitan Kirill's speech as if they were distancing themselves from the statements of politicians.
After Burataeva's speech a break was announced during which participants were able to enjoy tea with cheap cookies. However pouring tea for many turned out to be a problem; there were far fewer samovars than persons wishing to use them. After the break the hall, which at the start had been almost full, was half empty. (tr. by PDS, posted 17 December 2002)
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The Russian Orthodox church declared its desire to make a contribution to the development of the country's economy. The Seventh World Russian People's Council opened yesterday in the church of Christ the Savior under the slogan "Faith and Labor: spiritual and cultural traditions and the economic future of Russia." The vice chairman of the assembly, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, explained the choice of the topic for the forum saying that "economics is a zone of increased ethical and religious risk," and that "material possessions to a great extent determine the cultural and spiritual level of people," while "poverty promotes vice." Thus the church "does not remain indifferent to economic processes."
Participants in the forum mainly demanded that Orthodoxy not be blamed any longer for a harmful influence on the work potential of Russians. It was explained that many people are upset that the standard of living in "Orthodox" countries is lower than, for example, in protestant and Catholic countries. The deputy chairman of the State Duma, Liubov Sliska, presented a report acquainting forum participants with several figures. According to studies by the Council of Europe in 1999, the population of the countries of the Slavic world constituted 5.2% of the total number of inhabitants of the planet, but the total GDP is only 2.2% of the world's GDP. With regard to the GDP's effect on the population, at the beginning of the millennium the average citizen of the Slavic world lived ten times worse off than the average citizen of the countries of western Europe. To be sure, Mrs. Sliska herself is convinced that the economic problems in Russia happened at just the time when "standards of Orthodox ethics was consigned to oblivion."
Metropolitan Kirill enumerated the recipe of ethics. In several points these rules coincided absolutely with the recommendations of protestants. One must not be slothful; one must work one's hardest; one must be modest in life style and use only what is really necessary. We recall that this scheme, described in detail by Max Weber and often cited at the assembly, produced the emergence of huge capital in the West. However the Orthodox church suggests dealing with money differently. Do not accumulate it but share it. "Such labor is justified only if its results are justly distributed among those who are not able to produce the products of labor or else one should not be engaged in such activity," Metropolitan Kirill summarized. "A person should produce more than he needs in order to be able to give to his neighbor."
Actually the topic of labor is not a new one in the conceptual policy of RPTs. As Master Kirill himself recalled, in the Bases for a Social Doctrine of the Russian Orthodox church, two whole chapters are devoted to this topic.
It is difficult to determine just what RPTs is calling for at the seventh council besides a generally ethical approach. However one specific legislative suggestion was made for deputies of the State Duma--improvement of the tax system particularly in the sphere of charitable activity. "Can a person create economic value in our country and remain clean before the law and his conscience? I have never heard a positive answer to this question," Metropolitan Kirill said. "The legislative system forces people to go against the law for the sake of effective business. Is such a system moral?"
Vladimir Putin promised the Orthodox that "he would heed their good advice." In written greetings sent to the council the president noted the representativeness and authority of the forum's participants and expressed the hope that they would have sufficient bases for "making weighty, considered decisions." (tr. by PDS, posted 17 December 2002)
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS PATRIARCH ALEXY II OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA
TO THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE 7th WORLD RUSSIAN PEOPLE'S COUNCIL (Moscow,
16-17 December 2002)
from Communications
Service of Mocow patriarchate
Esteemed heads and representatives of the agencies of state authority and communities of traditional religions! Right Reverend archpastors, ladies and gentlemen, beloved in the Lord fathers, brothers and sisters!
The theme of the present Council concerns the most important spheres of human life: labour, economy and ethics. It is not fortuitous that St.Clement of Alexandria called labour "the school of social justice." The ability to create and be active in the spiritual sphere and to be faithful to moral norms in all acts is the most important indication of the human person's likeness to God.
The commandment to work was one of the first given to our forefathers in Paradise. Our Lord Jesus Christ has also given us an example of work. Being a carpenter, he helped his earthly family. The Orthodox Church gives its blessing to all kinds of labour aimed at service towards neighbour and in line with Christian moral standards. Such human activity is a co-working with the Lord and promotes His design for the world and man.
Unfortunately, at present the hierarchy of social values is often determined by the principle of everyday benefit, while indifference to the spiritual state of the human person is increasing. Economic processes are sometimes accompanied by a profound moral crisis, while moral standards are forgotten and even abandoned. One cannot but notice the growth of consumerist tendencies, which give rise to egoism, heartlessness, injustice and cruelty.
The Holy Church supports people and the authorities in all good works and at the same time calls upon them to organize life on the foundation of truth, goodness and charity. The Church is not indifferent to economic processes, which exert a direct influence on millions of people.
The defeat of sinful preoccupations which dominate in the economic sphere should be considered a most important cause. It is vitally necessary for Russia to revive work and business ethics, orientation towards creative productive labour and help to one's neighbour, especially to those who are not capable of earning their daily bread. According to St.Paul, "by toiling one must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" St.Basil the Great wrote that the purpose of all those who work should not be the gratification of his own needs but service to those who are in need. If this attitude prevails in taking important economic decisions, we shall be able to successfully develop our national economy for the good of all the citizens of our country.
I am convinced that the future belongs to the ideals of a just and highly moral society, and the present Council will help to comprehend it. I wish the 7th World Russian People's Council success in its work. May the All-Merciful Lord grant you His ineffable wisdom and strengthen you by the spirit of love, peace and like-mindedness. (tr. by Communications Service, posted 17 December 2002)
LAYING AN ORTHODOX FOUNDATION UNDER MARKET ECONOMY
by Natalia Konygina, Aleksei Krizhevsky
Izvestiia, 17 December 2002
The Seventh World Russian People's Council opened yesterday in the hall of Church Councils of the Moscow church of Christ the Savior. This year its theme was announced as "Faith and labor: spiritual and cultural traditions and the economic future of Russia."
"The church does not remain indifferent to economic processes that directly affect the lives of millions of people," Patriarch Alexis II said in his letter to participants. This letter was read by Metropolitan Sergius of Solnechnogorsk; despite his "burning desire," the patriarch himself was not about to attend the council since the physicians did not permit it.
According to Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, the topic of the council does not at all signify that RPTs intends to strengthen its positions as an economic agent. The position of the church on this question, the metropolitan said, can be characterized as one of noninterference in the economy. "If the church identifies itself strongly with an economy and with property, it deprives itself of the possibility of saying what it is saying today. The church will have effect not on the economy but on economic ethics, because without economic ethics it is impossible to build a prosperous society."
It was because of this that speakers talked more not about the role of their societies in the economnic life of the country but about a much more profound problem, the compatibility of a religious life style with economic activity. In Master Kirill's opinion, a person should possess the material conditions for discovering his spiritual potential, a poverty leads to vice. "The existing opinion that Orthodox ethics are a drag on economic development is not correct. It was the forgetting of Orthodox ethics that was one of the causes of the economic downfall of Russia," the first vice speaker of the State Duma, Liubov Sliska, agreed with him.
However how does one who works and earns not fall into the opposite extreme--beginning to serve Mammon? the council participants were asked. Orthodox priests and adherents of other religions, Russian Supreme Mufti Talgat Tajutdin, Russian Chief Rabbi Adolf Shaevich, and the representative of the Buddhists, Alexandra Burataeva were unanimous: salvation is in charitable activity. The state should take upon itself the task of redistributing material goods for the benefit of those who are not able to work themselves. A special role in this should be played by taxation and budget policy. However, having begun with eloquent and correct words, the participants soon forgot the theme they intended to discuss and the chief word in the speeches of Gennady Ziubanov and Ilia Glazunov became the word "Russian." "Who would venture to say that the genocide of the Russian nation is underway," the artist began his speech. "I venture to say it!." The fervent twenty-minute speech by Ilia Glazunov was accompanied by stormy applause, leaps from the chairs, and even weak shouts of "hurrah." (tr. by PDS, posted 17 December 2002)
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At the plenum of the Central Ecclesiastical Board of Muslims (TsDUM) of Russia, which is going on in Ufa, leaders of twenty-nine regional ecclesiastical boards of Russia came to the conclusion that it is time for the state to interfere in their affairs and help them strengthen the vertical of spiritual authority that has been destroyed.
Approximately fifteen million persons profess Islam in Russia. The majority of them are united in 2,500 Muslim communities which are members of TsDUM of Russia, the historic center of Russian Islam with its central residence in Ufa. The residence has been located here for 213 years, from the time Catherine II signed a decree about the creation of the Muslim Religious Assembly of the empire in Ufa. But from the beginning of the nineties a multitude of new Islamic structures has begun to emerge as parallel structures to existing communities as well as alternative "pseudoreligious sects" like the Wahhabites. For a rather long time TsDUM of Russia has tried to maintain the unity of Muslim organizations, but now finally it has decided to recognize the schism that has occurred.
The regular annual plenum of TsDUM of Russia, at which the heads of the ecclesiastical boards reviewed the work done in the year, lasted almost twenty-four hours. The main topic was the condition in Muslim communities of the country. Supreme Mufti Talgat Tajuddin stated that during the years of reform the state authorities in Russia have protected, with the help of troops, the country and its air space, but "its spiritual space has remained without defense for a long time." According to the supreme mufti, already several years ago it was possible "for any shepherd from somewhere in Saudi Arabia" to get into Russia and to declare himself a preacher, and organizations that even are prohibited in Arab countries, to say nothing of in European countries, found shelter in the country. Many of the "self-proclaimed" spiritual administrations of the "new wave," Talgat Tajuddin said, were formed and developed thanks to financial influences from Saudi Arabia, where Wahhabism is the officially recognized religion.
There are around 100,000 adherents of Wahhabism in the Russian federation now, that is, fewer than one percent of the total number of Muslims, but their number continues to grow. The situation is worst of all, in the supreme mufti's opinion, in Penza, Ulianovsk, Orenburg, and Sverdlovsk provinces and in Tataria. Newly formed societies of various types now are laying claim not only to the souls of parishioners but also to the property of TsDUM of Russia. In Perm, for example, the main mosque was ordered by a court to be shared by the regional ecclesiastical board of Muslim of Perm province that is a member of TsDUM of Russia and a new association of Muslims. According to the mufti of Yamalo-Nenetsk autonomous district, Farit Salman, Wahhabites "illegally seized" the Krasnoufimsk mosque in Sverdlovsk province and the Almetevsk and Buguruslansk mosques in Tataria and "this process is snowballing."
Plenum participants even sent an appeal to Vladimir Putin and to Tataria President Mintimer Shaimiev in connection with the "seizure" in Almetevsk of the building of the cultural educational Muslim religious center belonging to TsDUM and "the illegal organization in it of an educational center on bases that are alien to the Muslims of Russia."
Plenum participants also found "bases that are alien to the Muslims of Russia" in other regional communities. Representatives of TsDUM of Russia think that training of clergy is being conducted "on the basis of the ideas of Wahhabism" in a number of Islamic educational institutions of the Urals and Volga regions. The resolution of the plenum notes "the destructive activity" of the Kazan Russian Islamic University, the Kazan "Mukhammadie" medressa, and the medressa in Buguruslan, which are causing "serious harm to the traditional unity of the Muslim umma of the country."
In the opinion of TsDUM, it is sufficient to have one Islamic university in Russia (in Moscow) and to unify the curriculum of Islamic educational institutions and to take strict control of the publication of religious literature. The director of the administration of TsDUM, Imam-khatyb Mukammad Tajuddin, told KD that the "Badr" publishing house in Moscow is publishing seditious books.
The plenum of TsDUM of Russia was attended by invited heads of Muslim boards of the countries of the Baltic, Ukraine, and Moldova and by rectors of a number of religious educational institutions, but not by representatives of the alternative Muslim structures. However according to conversations in the corridors it is clear that Muslim organizations are fighting not only over property but also over the status of the generally recognized leader. For many years Talgat Tajuddin was recognized as the unquestioned head of TsDUM. With the appearance of the Council of Muftis of Russia, led by Ravil Gainutdin, the situation changed. The Muslims of Russia now have no single unquestioned leader recognized by all who has authority equivalent to that of the Orthodox patriarch. At the TsDUM plenum it was said that "it is time for the state to begin to examine which Islamic organization has positive wares and which is functioning as a conduit for ideas that sow discord in society." (tr. by PDS, posted 17 December 2002)
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