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The consecration of the second-largest church in Moscow, the Life-Giving Trinity at Borisovo Ponds, coincided with the last day of the forty-day Paschal celebrations. Most religious believers had gathered for the service practically before dawn. By nine o'clock there was no place in the new church for an apple to drop. All who wished were admitted through the central entrance; the two side entrances were reserved for honored guests and the press.
"Christ is risen," the parishioners greeted one another. Many of them had been acquainted from services in the old Borisovo church. It became too small for the microdistrict of 200,000.
--But we will go there all the same," the elderly folk from nearby buildings said. "Our grandfathers and great-grandfathers went there. Although, of course, the new one is more beautiful."
The parishioners liked the iconostasis most of all.
"Look how it looks like marble. Actually it is ceramic," a priest said to me, "One of them told the secret."
Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and all-Rus conducted the consecration personally. The service moved into a procession of the cross during which clouds in the shape of three crosses were formed in the sky.
-- It's a sign, a sign," the crowd declared.
Honored guests appeared at the time set for the consecration. Among them was especially distinguished the massive figure of the warrior and former leader of "Medvedi," Alexander Karepin. In the improvized VIP section to the left of the iconostasis was the actress Klara Luchko. Oleg Tabakov watched the clergy from a distance at the central entrance. Viktor Sukhorukov mixed with the crowd of believers. People crossed themselves and prayed loudly. It seems that only security guards and our brother reporter did not do this.
Around noon the security guards began to bustle about and Liudmila Putina appeared in the service, dressed in a lilac suit and hat. This was about the middle of the service. Climbing onto the platform for high-ranking guests, the First Lady of the country stood with all the parishioners to the end of the ceremony, crossing herself and bowing to the waist. It was obvious that she repeated after the clergy the words of the "Our Father." After this, as communion began, one of the clergy approached the high-ranking guests. Liudmila Putina took from his hand the communion bread and drank church wine from the chalice. Alexis II approached to bless the spouse of the president, who kissed his hand and returned to her place.
Not long before the end of the ceremony an acolyte approached Liudmila Putina and asked her something. The president's wife nodded. Two cadets came up to her and stood alongside. The acolyte photographed the future officers and the spouse of the president and the young men went away. Several minutes later Liudmila Putina also left the church through one of the side exits. While she walked through the cordon of security guards some woman with a note in her hand nodded. Mrs. Putina walked past mechanically, but then she turned and asked a bodyguard to take the paper. As we learned later, it was a request for help from the mother of a veteran who was killed in the blast in the subway.
After having stood for almost four hours, the parishioners began to disperse. They left very satisfied with the new church. Even Klara Luchko, who is a member of the trustee council for construction, was delighted. "Just look how brilliant it is," she shared her impressions with the KP correspondent. "Here even the air is so pure."
According to Klara Stepanovna, there were very many problems in construction. But the result exceeded all expectations.
The
church is in Byzantine style. The architectural group was headed by an
assistant of the chief architect of Moscow, Mikhail Posokhin. The 55-year-old
Mikhail Mikahilovich is an hereditary architect, a distinguished architect
of Russia, and a laureate of the State Prize for his reconstruction of
the building of the Kremlin Senate near the residence of the Russian president,
and an active member of the Russian Academy of Artists. This was not the
first monumental church Posokhin erected. It was he who supervised the
restoration of the church of Christ the Savior. The design of the "Okhotny
Riad" mall also was Posokhin's.
The church of the Life-Giving Trinity was conceived in Byzantine style. That is, actually an eastern style and it is quite unlike the standards of Russian church architecture as they have developed by the twenty-first century. Critics even are saying that the Trinity looks very much like a mosque, especially from a distance. On the other hand, in the year 988 Vladimir baptized Rus with Byzantine Orthodox pastors. However, even native Russian churches were built in different styles from century to century. One needs only to recall St. Isaacs and the Kazan cathedrals in St. Petersburg, which also are very little like Russian churches.
The construction of this church was a dream for sixteen years. The idea to construct a beautiful church in commemoration of the millennium of the baptism of Rus arose in Moscow back on the eve of that significant date that was widely celebrated in 1988. In that jubilee year the place for the church was chosen, on the rather empty bank of the Borisovo Ponds, and the cornerstone even was laid. But then it was abandoned. As usual, there was no money.
The construction was revived only in 2001. In accordance with order No. 148 of 13 February 2001 of the government of Moscow and with the blessing of Patriarch Alexis II builders proceeded to the construction of the complex of the patriarchal annex with a church of the Life-Giving Trinity. But now on a new site, on Kashirskoe Highway, closer to the parishioners. (tr. by PDS, posted 20 May 2004)
Posted on Portal-credo.ru site, 20 May 2004
PATRIARCH ALEXY CONSECRATES LIFE-GIVING TRINITY CHURCH
by Yelena Dorofeyeva and Olga Kostromina
TASS, 19 May 2004
His Holiness Alexy II, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, consecrated the memorial church of the Life-Giving Trinity - patriarchal town residence - at the Borisovo Ponds here on Wednesday.
A ceremony to bless the Holy Table in the Altar was attended by His Eminence Metropolitan Lavr, the first hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, and by hierarchs accompanying him. At the close of the consecration ceremony, Patriarch Alexy officiated the first Divine Liturgy.
The church complex, with azure domes and a blossoming orchard, is the second-largest one after the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and will be undoubtedly the pride of Moscow and an architectural dominant in the capital's south. The church has been designed in the Byzantine style and constitutes a single-domed cross-shaped building with four side-chapels.
The church together with the cross is 70 metres high. Moscow's only porcelain iconostasis, made in the workmanship traditions of the 19th-century Kuznetsov Art Workshops has been installed in the church. The ground floor accommodates the baptistery for the christening of adults.
A patriarchal town residence near the church will comprise a bell-tower with a12-bell carillon, a chapel in the name of the most Orthodox Prince St Alexander Nevsky, a Sunday school building, and a house for the parish clergy.
A decision to build this church was taken in 1988 during the celebration of the millenary of the baptism of Rus(sia). However, owing to economic difficulties, the project has been implemented only now. The church has been fully built on the funds of the Baltic Building Company.
Merited Artist of the Russian Federation Vassily Nesterenko, a correponding member of the Russian Academy of Arts, has told Itar-Tass that the artistic team has set about covering the church with paintings. Patriarch Alexiy has endorsed a project for mural paintings.
In commemoration of the event, to the millinery of which the church is dedicated, the paintings on the walls will represent the Feast of Saints that Shone Forth in the Land of Russia. "The area of wall paintings will be about 3,500 square metres," the artistic team director said. (Copyright 2004 ITAR-TASS News Agency, posted 20 May 2004)
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The Interreligious Council of Russia called Russian Minister of Education and Science Andrei Fursenko to give to school children the possibility of studying religious culture from the point of view of religious organizations. "We think that the information contained in the general humanities courses on the history and values of world religions is very fragmentary and often tendentious and in such a context it results in the children's receiving actually distorted information," a letter to the minister says. Leaders and representatives of traditional religious organizations in Russia are concerned that "those who graduate from the schools today know almost nothing about the values and religious culture of their own people or of other peoples constituting Russian society." In the opinion of members of the Interreligious Council, as a rule the teaching in the schools of information about religion is accompanied by explanations from an exclusively atheistic position and properly religious explanations of various aspects of religious culture either are given in abbreviated form or are absent entirely. For a resolution of this problem the Interreligious Council proposes teaching religion in the schools in a way that involves religious organizations.
The Interreligious Council also asks the minister of education to give to ecclesiastical educational institutions the right to present to their graduates diplomas in the state format. In so doing the authors of the letter mention that the ecclesiastical schools "actually carry out a curriculum of advanced professional education, specifically, in the specialties of musicians, theologians, historians, and the like, according to a report from NEWSru.com, citing Interfax. (tr. by PDS, posted 19 May 2004)
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On Tuesday in the Saint Daniel's monastery there was the first official meeting of Patriarch Alexis II with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, Metropolitan Laurus [Lavr].
The heads of the two Orthodox churches shook one another's hand and kissed three times. The rapprochement of RPTs and ROCOR, concerning which Orthodox believers have talked a long time, has achieved reality.
Even quite recently fellowship between "Muscovites" and "Emigres" was unthinkable. To say nothing of kissing. "The present meetings and the first steps that have begun of rapprochement are the desire of the hearts of many people since the reasons which divided us have disappeared," Alexis II said.
Talk about a possible unification began back at the dawn of perestroika, but these talks were strictly hypothetical. The main reason for this was the then head of ROCOR, Metropolitan Vitaly Ustinov, who is a clear opponent of the idea of the merger of the two churches. He called the Moscow patriarchate the devil incarnate, begotten by the NKVD. However in 2000 the reason disappeared. As a result of a protracted, multifaceted operation conducted by associates, Metropolitan Vitaly signed his abdication. In 2001 Metropolitan Laurus became head of ROCOR. The chief strategist and tactician in all this was Archbishop of Berlin and Germany Mark Arndt.
Upon coming to power the new hierarchs seemed to ignore the idea of rapprochement. But on 24 September 2003 President Putil met with the hierarchs while he was in New York and reminded them: Fathers, the time has come. The the president handed over to Metropolitan Laurus an invitation from Alexis II to visit Moscow.
About two months later a delegation led by Archbishop Mark flew into Russia to prepare the ground for a meeting of the heads of the two churches. On the Moscow side the most active part in the negotiations on the question of the approach of the two churches was taken by Archimandrite Tikhon Shevkunov, whom reporters persistently identify as the spiritual advisor of President Putin. However, Fr Tikhon himself modestly repudiates the designation as the "motor" of the negotiating process.
Yesterday's meeting of the two hierarchs was historic, although it did not cause a sensation. Because, despite bold declarations, the disputes between the two churches remain. First, there is the longstanding accusation that the "Emigres" make against the "Muscovites": kowtowing to governmental authority. But the greatest current accusation is "ecumenism." That is, fellowship with non-Orthodox confession. "Ecumenism is the heresy of heresies," Metropolitan Laurus said in one of his interviews on the eve of his arrival in Russia. "And therefore it is important that the Moscow patriarchate depart from the ecumenical movement." In order to remove the disagreements, commissions of RPTs and ROCOR have been created. The task of the commissions is "to work out common understanding" on the following topics: "principles of mutual relations between the church and state" and "principles of mutual relations of the Orthodox church with non-Orthodox communities." If the two churches manage to settle the fundamental disagreements, unification will occur. But for this to happen the sides must make mutual concessions. (tr. by PDS, posted 19 May 2004)
Posted on the Portal-credo.ru site, 19 May 2004
RESULTS OF CONVERSATIONS BETWEEN THE MOSCOW PATRIARCHATE AND THE RUSSIAN
ORTHODOX CHURCH OUTSIDE RUSSIA
Blagovest-info, 19 May 2004
The head of the Department of External Church Relations [OVTsS] of the Moscow patriarchate, Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad Kirill Gundiaev, and Archbishop of Berlin and Germany Mark Arndt reported their satisfaction with the outcome of conversations between delegations of the Russian Orthodox church of the Moscow patriarchate [RPTs] and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia [ROCOR] at a press conference in Moscow. They met with journalists in the evening of 18 May in the conference hall of the "Danilovskaia" hotel.
"The tasks of the first stage of negotiations have been fulfilled. A door to the negotiation process has been opened," Metropolitan Kirill stated. He explained to reporters that it was not the task of these conversations to reunite the church; their chief outcome was that a common language was found and agreement was reached on approaches and the sides expressed a common desire "to overcome the tragic division of our people that came about as a consequence of revolution and civil war and to achieve a restoration of eucharistic fellowship and canonical unity within a united local Russian Orthodox church of which ROCOR always considered itself an inseparable part."
Metropolitan Kirill sees the "spiritual meaning" of the conversations in the way that, thanks to personal meetings, "face to face, eye to eye, in common prayer," they managed to advance to "melting the remnants of the ice that have existed between us."
Archbishop Mark also thinks that as a result of the negotiations "all conditions for common labor have been created." As noted in the press release, the commissions which were established by the hierarchies of both sides in December 2003 have been charged with working out a common understanding of the following subjects: principles of mutual relations between the church and state, principles consistent with the tradition of the church of mutual relations between the Orthodox church and non-Orthodox communities and interconfessional organizations, the status of ROCOR as a self-governing part of RPTs, and canonical conditions for establishing eucharistic fellowship.
Metropolitan Kirill noted that the commissions, which earlier had worked separately, will begin joint work at the end of June in Moscow out of which should come a statement that will be presented for confirmation by the hierarchies of the Moscow patriarchate and ROCOR.
In the conversations it was also recognized that it is necessary to continue joint academic and historical study of the ecclesiastical events of the twentieth century and particularly of the sacred work of the Russian holy new martyrs and confessors and the experience of the church's existence under circumstances of persecution.
Responding to a question about the time that will be required for completing the negotiation process, Archbishop Mark refused to make a precise prediction, considering this "irresponsible." He pointed out that the process has "its own internal dynamic that is not determined by us but by God." Nevertheless, in speaking of the time, the bishop mentioned the bishops' council of RPTs that is coming at the end of this year, and the council of ROCOR that will be held in 2005.
The reporters were interested in specific questions connected with the anticipated reunification. Speaking about ROCOR parishes on Russian territory, Archbishop Mark noted that this problem should be discussed by the commissions, taking into account the existence of "parallel structures in the West" (before the 1950s-1960s only parishes of ROCOR existed there, he explained). Metropolitan Kirill stated that "it will not be very difficult to conform to a canonical standard." The press also was interested whether the number of bishops will be reduced or the number of dioceses will be increased. Metropolitan Kirill stressed that the sides in the negotiations were governed specifically by spiritual priorities; they did not approach problems "as managers or directors," but he gave assurances that no reductions are planned and he promised that reforms will proceed in a way so that "there will be no cause for anybody to suffer."
Responding to questions about ecumenism, the representative of ROCOR stressed that his church recognizes mutual action with other faiths only to the extent that it bears witness "to the exclusivity of Orthodoxy." In the archbishop's opinion, ecumenism is dangerous where it "erases boundaries," and concelebration by Orthodox clergy with other faiths is "a seduction" for Orthodox folk.
Archbishop Mark noted that his church is ready to share about experience of fellowship with other faiths with the Moscow patriarchate. As regards representatives of other religions and nonbelievers, he said that it is possible to have "moral and cultural" cooperation.
Questions at the press conference were posed regarding relations between the Orthodox and Catholic churches. Archbishop Mark thinks that discussion of a meeting between Patriarch Alexis II and Pope John Paul II is "inappropriate" because "there is too much opposition and proselytism by Catholics on the territory of RPTs, particularly in Ukraine." Only a resolution of these essential questions will make possible, in his opinion, a meeting of the heads of the two churches.
In this regard, Metropolitan Kirill recalled the positive results of the recent visit to Russia by Cardinal Walter Kasper, during which they managed to get beyond the "stalemate" and recognize the existence of problems on both sides and to plot a path to dialogue.
The reporters were told of further plans for the ROCOR delegation's stay in Russia. On 19 May the guests will attend the patriarchal consecration of the church of the Life-Giving Trinity at Borisovo Ponds in Moscow, and on the next day will attend the patriarchal liturgy in the church of the Great Ascension at the Nikita Gates. On 21 May the delegation will go to Ekaterinburg, where they will pray at the site of the murder of the tsarist passion-bearers. The schedule for the visit also includes stops at shrines in St. Petersburg, Sarov, Diveevo, and Kursk. The delegation will leave Russia on 28 May. (tr. by PDS, posted 20 May 2004)
Posted on Russkaia liniia.ru site, 19 May 2004
METROPOLITAN LAURUS: READY FOR DIALOGUE
Pravoslavie.ru,
13 May 2004
On the eve of his first official visit to Russia, which begins 14 May, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia [ROCOR], Metropolitan Laurus, gave in exclusive interview to Interfax.
--Your Eminence, what do you expect from your upcoming arrival in Moscow?
--The goal of my visit is to meet with the primate of the Russian Orthodox church of the Moscow patriarchate, His Holiness Alexis, patriarch of Moscow and all-Rus, and with members of the Holy Synod and to become personally acquainted with the state of affairs in Russia's church life. If God grants, I will be accompanied by priests of our emigre Russian church who will nurture the Orthodox Russian people who are scattered throughout the world. Besides official meetings, it is planned to make a pilgrimage to the site of the murder of the tsarist family in Ekaterinburg, as well as to other shrines of the fatherland.
--How do you view the path of approach of the two parts of the Russian Orthodox church?
--The current meetings should determine subsequent joint work of the two church commissions whose task is to work out possible solutions of problems that arose in the past and the conclusions of the commissions, in their turn, will lay a foundation for further practical steps. In so doing the emigre Russian church is striving for the achievement of mutual recognition between the parts of the single Russian church that have been torn apart by tragic experiences and for overcoming all disagreements in the spirit of repentance, conciliarity, and brotherly love.
Judging by everything, both parts of the Russian church are ready for an honest and constructive dialogue. Nevertheless the work of both church commissions, in my opinion, will be difficult and the process of healing all of the wounds dealt to the body of the Russian church may turn out to be a rather long one. But if they proceed in the spirit of the church, then, in the words of the holy prophet and king David, "mercy and truth will meet together and righteousness and peace will kiss."
--In your view, who is hindering the reconciliation of the two parts of the Russian church, and why?
--I can speak on this matter only with respect to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. We have now raised the fourth generation of clergy, but there still remain people who remember the persecution of the Russian Orthodox church in USSR, who in their own personal experience suffered and witnessed the persecution of the faith and the church, and for whom it is still difficult to comprehend the essence of the changes that are happening in Russia.
But we will not prevent our flock from expressing their opinion with regard to what is happening. We hope, however, that in time they will be convinced of the radical changes and will recall that repentance is able to heal all earlier wounds. (tr. by PDS, posted 19 May 2004)
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The identity of three suspects in the case of two incidents of arson in the church of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God in the city of Orel has been established, a Portal-credo.ru correspondent reports. Information on this was distributed on 13 May by the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Orel province. The arson occurred in February of this year.
After the first incident, in which books in the church book stall were destroyed, windows were broken, and an attempt was made to set fire to the iconostasis which was undergoing restoration, a criminal case was opened based on article 167 of the Criminal Code of RF ("intentional destruction and damage of property"). After the second fire, when 250 packages of candles worth 30,000 rubles were burned up in the basement of the church, the investigation of the two cases was joined into a single case and was recategorized under article 214 ("vandalism.").
After the first incident the intruders left a slogan on the walls of the church saying "The Jewish God will depart; praise to the gods," to which was attached a symbol reminiscent of a nazi swastika.
In March in the city of Livna, of Orel province, a worker in the Sergius church discovered in a donation box a note containing a threat to set fire to the church roof, in which the Orel incidents were mentioned.
A search for the persons who committed the arson was conducted by a specially formed operational group in the Directorate of Internal Affairs among radical, nationalistically minded youth and groups of occultic activity.
By the middle of April the first suspect had been arrested, a 23-year-old unemployed graduate of the Orel Institute of Culture and Art who had converted to paganism. The suspect admitted the crimes, explaining that he had been drunk and the slogan was produced by memory from a book on paganism. Several days later two 19-year-old students of the same institute were arrested. They are awaiting trial while free on a promise not to leave the city.
Article 214 of the Criminal Code of RF "Vandalism" provides for a punishment in the form of a fine of 50 to 100 times the minimum wage or corrective labor of from six months to one year. (tr. by PDS, posted 14 May 2004)
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Concluding document of the "Protestantism and protestants in Russia: past, present, and future" conference
We, participants in the scholarly practicum conference "Zaoksky Readings XI" over the course of two days listened to papers and reports dealing with various historical and social aspects of participation by protestants in modern Russian society. The real circumstances of contemporary protestant practice were drawn out quite fully and specifically for those assembled. Acute concern is evoked by the problems of maintaining the equality of the rights of religious associations, which is especially clearly manifested in relations with governmental structures.
An obvious selectivity that has still not been eliminated hinders the realization of the social potential of protestant churches and missions in Russia. Such selectivity clearly contradicts the bases of the religious legislation of the Russian federation "On freedom of conscience and religious association" and the generally recognized standards of international law. Such actions lead to the emergence of confrontational attitudes and an intensification of interreligious conflict, they threaten to divide society, and they inhibit the achievement of constructive dialogue and cooperation among representatives of diverse religious traditions and groups.
The participants of the conference address the Christian community and all Russians with an expression of profound concern about such practice. We think that it is necessary to devote every effort by representatives of the religious community, the journalistic community, and governmental structures to removing such phenomena and establishing positive state-confessional and interconfessional relations.
We are convinced that this will facilitate a more complete emergence of the social and confessional potential of religious organizations for the benefit of all believers and the whole of society.
6 May 2004
Zaoksky
Tula province
(tr. by PDS, posted 13 May 2004)
Posted on the Portal-credo.ru site, 13 May 2004
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The Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists (EKhB) is the largest of the protestant denominations in present-day Russia and it conducts active social work. Despite this, many continue to consider Baptists "sectarians," removed from public life. How Russian protestants really live was described in an interview with NGR by the president of the Russian Union EKhB, Yury Sipko.
--Yury Kirillovich, when will the social doctrine of Evangelical Christians-Baptists be published.
--It is still being developed. I cannot indicate a time for its coming out. Some of its provisions most likely will be discussed in October at the council of the Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists.
--How will it be different from the social doctrines of other confessions?
--In the first place, our union will be defined in it as a special protestant denomination. In the substantive parts I think there will not be any major differences, inasmuch as the general protestant social doctrine which was presented at the end of last year reflects our points of view on all basic issues.
--Before the election of the president Patriarch Alexis II called Orthodox believers to go to the polls. Did you issue a similar call to your flock?
--Religious organizations are forbidden to participate in political life. As a pastor I am able to bless someone for participation in elections, but here advocacy is impermissible. Ministers of Baptists churches always speak about the personal freedom of every parishioner. This freedom extends to elections, too. At the same time I am convinced that Russian Baptists deal with national elections as genuine citizens and patriots. I, for example, as a participant in our "The Gospel for the nations of Russia" expedition turned out to be in the village of Susuman, which hardly anybody knows, on 14 March. This did not prevent us from going to the local polls and voting.
Therefore the notion that Baptists ignore the political life of the country is a holdover from soviet times. As a boy I went to the library from the first grade on, our father subscribed to newspapers, and we regularly listened to the radio. Once a commission from the city executive committee came to our house. Soon a newspaper article appeared where we were portrayed as marginalized and alienated from the world. The newspaper said that our parents forbade us to read and that we had neither newspapers nor a radio in our house. These notions have remained to the present, as I have seen.
--Is there any idea of creating a political party of Baptists or protestants as a whole?
--There was such an idea. But all leaders who are oriented toward religious values have been removed from the political arena. However, perhaps, this is not bad because Christians cannot be at home in this milieu. And we as Baptists understand that we should not use political means to try to win recognition. Christians need first of all to restore their Christian character and distance themselves from politics.
--In 1944 the soviet government united Baptists and Evangelical Christians. Have the differences between them been increased since the arrival of democracy?
--As Christ said, "you would have no authority over me if it had not been given to you from above." I think that neither Baptists nor Evangelical Christians took the unification as if it were forced. After all, they were taken out of the stalinist concentration camps and told to continue their religious life in a new capacity. All of our differences were conditioned exclusively by territorial causes and pertained to a few peculiarities of ways of worship. In 1944 they were reconciled and did not evoke disputes subsequently.
The soviet government only shoved us toward unification which was achieved completely both organizationally and doctrinally. We have lived as a united family for 60 years now and no barriers exist within our brotherhood.
--Are there today some followers of the "Baptists-initiativniki," who refuse to get state registration? What kind of relations do you have with them?
--There are. They are quite diverse, because this is a movement that emerged in the process of schism and continues to divide us to the present. Some have been registered autonomously at the congregational level without joining any association. Others have abandoned their previous views. There also are those who continue to hold a very strict position with respect to the government and the registered EKhB church. Unfortunately, they have no leaders with whom we could conduct dialogue. Attempts to achieve it have not produced results.
--How do you view the results of the recent meeting with representatives of the Orthodox clergy in St. Daniel's monastery?
--I am very satisfied. All participants unanimously decided to make such meetings regular. We came to the conclusion that we need to conduct joint consultations on question of relations with the state, social service, service in the army, and alternative civilian service.
In all of the discussion an atmosphere of closeness reigned, such as exists in the Christian world but about which we often forget in the busyness of life. We even discovered that the Orthodox with all of their might and Baptists with their small numbers need one another. We have one Lord and one future. Without doubt, such meetings facilitate a lessening of interreligious tensions.
--In general what is the condition of your relations with the army? After all, previously Baptists refused to bear arms. What has changed since then?
--To say that previously it was one way and now it is different is not quite correct. In the Baptist world it is not forbidden to bear arms. Pacifism and Baptists are not synonymous. Some Baptists bear arms and others do not. A conflict arose not on that basis but on the basis of taking the oath. Many viewed here a contradiction with the biblical command, "Do not swear." And the state, naturally, was not about to entrust arms to a soldier who will not take the oath of loyalty to his motherland.
When members of our churches ask whether they should serve, I always answer that they are free to make their own choice. But my advice is that one should not hide from difficulties. The army helps to mold character. And for the Christian, who calls himself a soldier of Christ, this is very important. For some reason the opinion has developed in society that only an Orthodox person can be a patriot. That is not so.
--What conclusion were you able to reach regarding alternative service for draftees?
--Both sides say that the state should give people with pacifist convictions the possibility of fulfilling their state obligation. At the same time, pacifism in its pure form is not essential for either Orthodox or Baptists. Orthodoxy always blessed troops for the defense of the fatherland. Baptists, following scripture, act in the very same way. Thus our attitudes toward alternative service turn out to be identical. Everyone noted that the current law on alternative civilian service reflects a wish not to help people of certain convictions but to find a way to humiliate them more. Practically all the articles of this law have a repressive character.
--How is the social ministry of Evangelical Christians-Baptists expressed?
--A multitude of directions exist. Of course, we do not yet have a great deal of experience since during soviet times it was impossible to engage in such things. Today our country is experiencing a social tragedy. Elderly and destitute folk, orphaned children, the homeless, invalids, alcoholics, and drug addicts--all of these lack any protection whatsoever.
Therefore representatives of our churches work in all of these areas to the extent they can. Unfortunately, the atmosphere that has developed in our society is not very conducive to such ministry. One of our pastors was not permitted to adopt a little girl from a children's home simply because in his papers he honestly indicated his confessional affiliation. And this is by no means a unique case. Very often attempts to give a child a childhood, or to send him to summer camp for a vacation or to Sunday school meet such a reaction from government officials.
In the area of work with alcoholics and drug addicts that our churches conduct, very good results have been achieved. And this is despite the convictions not only of professional drug counsellors but even our clients themselves. Through prayer and reading of scriptures and through the support of a community, people are returned to a normal life. And such cases are innumerable.
--That is, your service always is accompanied by preaching?
--Not always, of course. For example, service for children is simply help. We take children to summer camps and provide them a real vacation, surrounding them with an atmosphere of love and mutual respect. In ten or twelve days of fellowship in such a camp many are literally resurrected. They never experienced this love from their own relatives. What do children need with our theological teaching? Sincere Christian love is the most effective preaching!
--Your "The Gospel for the nations of Russia" action, which EKhB has conducted, is that preaching or social aid to the destitute?
--The most precise word seems to me to be "mission." The expedition started on 21 December 2003 and has been going on for four months now. The itinerary extends along the coast of the Arctic Ocean and then to Sakhalin, Kamchatka, the Caucasus, and the southern regions of Russia. In July the expedition is supposed to come to an end in a general Baptist congress in Briansk. The main goal of the expedition is to visit our churches and urge them to social ministry. Participants visit corrective labor institutions and children's homes and provide social aid in the regions. It should be said that at the start we had many reservations, but all of them were dispelled.
--What caused them?
--We were afraid of the severe conditions of the north and of the shortcomings of our equipment. After all, we were taking an old truck that had long since passed its prime in forestry. In addition, at any stage the expedition could be delayed by circumstances and our whole schedule could be disrupted. We also anticipated resistance on the part of local inhabitants. Several times we actually did encounter protesters. But these were isolated cases. And they all ended peacefully.
Despite all these difficulties, we took the risk of making such a trip. And to the present day the work has continued; the personnel has changed and new folk have joined, who are ready to take a break and leave their usual circumstances. The expedition is going according to schedule. And this is a great joy. (tr. by PDS, posted 13 May 2004)
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Participants in parliamentary debate in the capital of Adygei called for the adoption of a law prohibiting "alien religious propaganda." As the "Severnyi Kavkaz" newspaper reports, in the parliamentary hearings in which representatives of traditional religious confessions particpated, theological scholars as well as deputies who spoke all stressed that Russia was formed as a multinational and multiconfessional state. However representatives of the traditional confessions of Adygei, appealing to their own assessment of the role of various confessions in the spiritual and moral regeneration of society, declared that the law "On freedom of conscience and religious associations" is being interpreted extremely liberally in Russia.
They declared that the republic of Adygei has recently literally been entangled in a web of all sorts of houses of worship and that "here there operate 17 newly registered religious organizations, not counting a number of protestant organizations that operate without registration." Clergy of Orthodoxy and Islam noted that "nontraditional doctrines often sow pseudohuman values, destroy the unity of the family, and treat Russian statehood hostilely and, naturally, violate the friendship and harmony among nationalities and religions." In Adygei there even has been "noted an outbreak of suicides among youth on the basis of religious frenzy." But "their insistent missionary activity has become especially intolerable." Unfortunately, there was not at the parliamentary debates a single representative of the believers being subjected to accusations and thus the opposing side has again not been heard by anybody. Meanwhile, they view the restrictions on their activity as a form of discrimination on religious bases.
At one time in Adytei a law was adopted that established a standard prohibiting activity in children's and school institutions, in public places, and in homes of religious associations that are not sanctioned by the state. But this article soon had to be removed from the republic's law since it conflicted with federal legislation. Three years ago deputies of the parliament of Adygei sent as a legislative initiative to the State Duma a prohibiting amendment to the federal law, and in the current debate it was decided to remind the deputies of the State Duma of RF that they should "legislatively shield our children and youth from foreign religious propaganda." It was also decided to create a public council for registration of religious associations. (tr. by PDS, posted 12 May 2004)
COMMITTEE ON RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS OF REPUBLIC OF DAGESTAN CRITICIZES CALLS
FOR PROHIBITING WAHHABISM
Religiia i SMI, 12 May
2004
In connection with the frequent confrontation by the village population with the propaganda of the ideas of Wahhabism, the last session of the Committee on Religious Affairs of the government of Dagestan was devoted to working out a suggestion for local administrations for combating the ideology of religious and political extremism.
As the "Severnyi Kavkaz" newspaper reports, the chairman of the Committee on Religious Affairs, Akhmed Magomedov, identified as one of the most important factors in the struggle with extremism stability in religious circles. However experience of recent time has pointed out disagreement between the Ecclesiastical Board of Dagestan and substantial groups of believers. In Akhmed Magomedov's opinion, it is impermissible that some clergy, including through the press, have called those Muslims or religious figures with whose point of view they disagree "Wahhabis." These are authoritative representatives of the clergy. And they do not call for violence but, on the contrary, advocate peaceful coexistence of all nationalities and confessions. In Akhmed Magomedov's opinion, the ecclesiastical board should act as the instigator of a search for compromise among the clergy.
The director of the sociology sector of the Dagestan Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Zaid Abdulagatov, provided results of an expert survey. It revealed that 73% of those questioned consider that the improvement of the material condition of the population would be an effect means of combating extremism. "The opinion has arisen," Zaid Abdulagatov said, "that if the position of traditional Islam is strengthened it will overcome Wahhabism. I am not sure of this. Because traditional Islam in the form in which religious leaders portray it to us leads to fundamentalism. There are people sitting here who prohibited the book of the state prize laureate Magomed-Nuri Osman. If he is suspected of Wahhabism, then I and many others have begun to be confused in understanding just what Wahhabis are. This question requires a clear answer, and the government of the republic of Dagestan should not stand on the sidelines." The best place for the propaganda of ideas of Wahhabism are the mosques. For example, in just Karabudakhkentsk region alone there are 150 mosques, almost ten times as many as there are schools. "I think that it is necessary to disseminate secular scientific values more actively," Zaid Abdulagatov said.
Other religious leaders and representatives of the intelligentsia also spoke at the session with calls to end mutual attacks and for critics to try to find compromises. (tr. by PDS, posted 12 May 2004)
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Information about who, how, and to whom one prays is not simply the personal affair of each person but also a question of importance to the state. Thus, in Cheliabinsk, the directorate of the Ministry of Justice has demanded from religious organizations lists of parishioners. In the event of refusal, they are threatened with closure of their churches. In Samara such a significant development has not occurred, but even here, where interconfessional wars have not been reported throughout history, there is reason for alarm. Statistics know all. Especially in our country.
In various years matters of reporting for religious organizations have been transformed into an object of political bargaining and even of totalitarian pressure. From 1929 until the 1990s churches, mosques, and synagogues had to present personal information about parishioners to responsible agencies. That requirement disappeared with the breakup of USSR. And suddenly a questionnaire from the directorate of the Ministry of Justice of Russia arrives at the headquarters of religious associations. Point number 8 states: provide for participants (members) of religious organizations this information: family name, personal name, patronymic, age, place of residence. An uproar unsued.
Archbishop of Samara and Syzransk Sergei of RPTs: "If this is registration such as occurred in soviet times, when information about baptisms was reported to the executive committee and then came an interrogation, then that is genocide of the nation and a violation of human rights."
Archbishop Sergei is not the only one who thinks that a census of parishioners is a violation of the right and freedoms of citizens. The instruction from the Ministry of Justice arrived at all of the headquarters of traditional Russian confessions. The congregation of Evangelical Christians-Baptists in Samara is more than 100 years old. There are about 20 churches in the province. Here they say that the time when the word "Baptist" was used to frighten children has passed. The assistant to the ruling bishop of the union of Evangelical Christians Baptists [EKhB], Viktor Riaguzov, once suffered himself from the obligatory reporting. He was expelled from the medical institute as a hopeless "sectarian."
Viktor Riaguzov, assistant to the ruling bishop of the Russian Union of EKhB for Samara and Ulianovsk provinces: "I do not think that we as pastors would submit such lists. We know what that is about."
The Christians of Evangelical Faith [KhVE} are considered one of the fast-growing protestant movements. In the years of militant atheism they were underground. The bishops of KhVE considered registration under the conditions of the soviet authorities to be criminal and they did not provide lists of parishioners. Thus the church came out of the underground only after 1990.
Vasily Liashevsky, bishop of Christians of Evangelical Faith for Samara region: "A country that wants to talk about democracy must not rule over faith but be concerned with acts. Gambling and debauched institutions are being opened freely. Does the government really have nothing more to do than to just control the church?"
The Samara mosque is considered the largest in Europe. In the past Muslims huddled in a tiny house of worship. In those times advertising one's faith was not done. Today the regional Ecclesiastical Board of Muslims of Samara province unites dozens of religious organizations and a madressa is operating. Here the aforementioned letter of the Ministry of Justice is treated with caution. At point eight they either draw a dash or write "look in the laws of the Russian federation."
Minnakhmet Sagirov, executive secretary of the regional Ecclesiastical Board of Muslims of Samara province: "We did not provide information and we will not. This is a deeply personal affair of each person. The Ministry of Justice should not be involved in surveillance activity."
In Samara, as in almost any self-respecting provincial city, there is a synagogue. Here Jews conduct their rituals, make ethnic food, and tell stories of Jewish holidays. The inspiration for the community is Rabbi Shloma Doich. Ten years ago he arrived from Israel and thinks of Samara as the promised land.
Rabbi Shloma Doich: "Everything is getting better and better and better. That there will be a turnaround I do not believe. I myself wear my hat and nobody mocks me. For me it is just grand here."
Echoes of the past or a reverse of the future. After seventy years of militant atheism religious circles are accustomed to paying attention to even a rustle. And the famous Hemmingway phrase, "do not ask for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for you," expresses in the best possible way the mood of many clergy.
Vasily Liashevsky, Bishop of Christians of Evangelical Faith for Samara region: "Today we have declared that if the state ever demands submitting personal information about Christians, we will go into the underground."
Minnakhmet Sagirov, executive secretary of Muslim ecclesiastical board: "We will meet them in court. Let the court decide the degree of legality of their demands."
Archbishop of Samara and Syzransk Sergei: "It is important to maintain order, but not in a way that harms human rights and freedoms."
The time has arrived to call on stage the authors of the controversial instruction. At the Chief Directorate of the Ministry of Justice of Russia for Samara province, the deputy chief, Aleksei Shashkov, commented on the situation: "We are not considering those who attend ceremonies. We are interested in participants. We are not talking about a census of parishioners."
But the federal law on freedom of conscience does not provide for a distinction between participants, founders, and members of a religious organization. So it turns out that interpretation remains in the hands of bureaucrats and what they have in mind for their own instructions remains each time only something to be guessed. (tr. by PDS, posted 12 May 2004)
YAROSLAVL DIRECTORATE OF MINISTRY OF JUSTICE DEMANDS LOCAL PROTESTANTS
PRESENT LIST OF ALL CHURCH MEMBERS
Religiia
v svetskom obshchestve, 24 March 2004
"Gazeta" newspaper reported about an instruction that came into its possession from the chief of the directorate of the Ministry of Justice for Yaroslavl province that was sent to the local church of Christians of Evangelical Faith. On 28 February 2004 the state counsel of justice, second class, Lev Khorikov, demanded that no later than 5 April 2004 they present "in connection with a supplementary inspection" the decisions of the church council, information about commercial activity and about sources of financing, and also a list of members of the church.
Meanwhile, Gazeta recalls, according to the law on state registration of legal entities, religious organizations are supposed to present to the Ministry of Justice the following information: "full name, organizational legal service, address of permanent executive body or address for maintaining communication with the legal entity, means of formation of legal entity and its reorganization, information about founders, copy of founding documents of the legal entity, information about legal succession, date of registration of changes, means for ceasing activity of the legal entity, names and passport information of the official who has the right to act finally in the name of the legal entity, and the latest information about licenses received by the legal entity. In addition, the organizations are required to inform annually the registering body about the continuation of their activity, changes in leadership, or of the legal address."
The head of protestant churches of Russia, Bishop Sergei Riakhovsky, stated that such inquiries have become the rule in the provinces. "In the event of refusal to present a list of members of churches, pastors are summoned to FSB and presented with the demand to cooperate and they threaten closure of the church," S. Riakhovsky said in an interview with Gazeta. "The list of methods of operation also includes prominent persons being summoned to the headquarters and presented with an ultimatum "either work or faith," and so-called centers for rehabilitation of victims of sects and FSB officers also "work" with simple folk."
The bishop's information was confirmed by the director of the Institute for Religion and Law, Anatoly Pchelintsev, who described letters of similar contents that have arrived at protestant organizations in other regions. In his opinion, the demands of the agencies of justice "violate two articles of the constitution, regarding the inviolability of private life and personal privacy and the impermissibility of collecting, maintaining, using, and disseminating information about the personal life of someone without consent."
The director of the Center for the Strategic Study of Religion and Politics of the Modern World, Maksim Shevchenko, and the vice-chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow patriarchate, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, also described with disapproval the initiative of the Yaroslavl Ministry of Justice. The priest also noted that even in soviet times state agencies did not demand lists of members from religious organizations.
L Khorikov, however, stated that there is no violation of legislation in the demands presented to the Yaroslavl protestants. "Inspection is conducted in accordance with an order of the Ministry of Justice and in accordance with its methods, and we determine the period ourselves. Now it is conducted three to four times a year," the official said. The head of the Department of Public and Religious Organizations of the Russian Ministry of Justice, Alexander Kudriavtsev, reported that the ministry is not implicated in such inspections and has not sent out such recommendations, since "the state does not have the right to demand from a citizen any indication of his religion in documents." (tr. by PDS, posted 12 May 2004)
Related article: "Russian justice ministry asks for church rolls"
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