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The I.E. Grabar All-Russian Artistic Scientific Restoration Center has been forbidden to occupy the premises of the church of the Resurrection in Kadashi. As Interfax reports, this decision was made yesterday by the Baltic District Court of Kaliningrad, to which the parishioners of the church had appealed recently.
"Thus, as from now the Resurrection church officially has been turned over for use to the Orthodox parish," attorney for the parishioners, Mikhail Voronin, told the agency today. The fact that the suit was filed not in Moscow but in another city he explained as a matter of timing. "We were not convinced that this case would be reviewed in the capital sufficiently quickly," the attorney explained.
All these days, according the attorney Voronin, a police patrol has been guarding the church and today only one vehicle remains there. The agency's informant also reported that at the present moment a commission has already been created for transferring the church and surrounding grounds to the ownership of the parish.
As already reported, parishioners of the church distributed on Friday a statement expressing readiness for dialogue with the Grabar Center and readiness to help it relocate to new premises "in a reasonable period." (tr. by PDS, posted 6 August 2004)
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The future fate of the church of the Resurrection in Kadashi, which recently became the object of a bitter dispute between the parish society and the Igor Grabar All-Russian Artistic Scientific Restoration Center, will be decided by the Arbitration Court of Moscow.
"This is now the second day that the judicial investigation has been going on. The court will decide what to do in the situation that has developed," a vicar of Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and all-Rus, Archbishop of Istrinsk Arseny, told RIA Novosti. According to him, "all rights to possession of the church are with the parish and for more than ten years now it has been waiting for the restoration center to be given premises into which it can move."
"Unfortunately, bureaucrats have not been concerned about this and they brought the situation to the point where the parish and restoration center have butted heads," the archbishop said. He noted that believers have been forced for many years to worship in a small "carriage house church" and he thanked the parish "for its courage and patience."
The actions of believers, who seized the entrance to the church and since 3 August have not permitted the workers of the center into the building, the archbishop characterized as having been "provoked."
As the legal consultant for the parish, Vladimir Solomonov, told RIA Novosti, the session of the Moscow Arbitration Court on this question is scheduled for 12 August and 21 September. However the leadership of the parish has proposed to all interested parties, including representatives of the Ministry of Culture, to begin immediately a dialogue on specific suggestions for correcting the situation.
"We have not posed the question of the expulsion of the restoration center, even if the church were completely turned over to the parish. We are talking about giving believers a part of the premises and freeing the altar," Solomonov said. According to him, "at the present time the building of the church does not have an owner." "The restoration center has no right at all to be located here, since the lease contract ran out on 21 March 2001," the attorney of the parish noted.
"In 2002," he added, "a recommendation came out from the Ministry of Culture for the restoration center to have joint use of the premises of the church."
Now members of the parish are located in the church and do not intend to leave the building. According to Solomonov, "Today for the first time in the last 70 years two newborns were baptized in the vestibule, the situation is calm, and divine services are being conducted." "They are continuing to stretch barbed wire along the perimeter of our territory. We have strengthened our security in order to avoid provocations (theft and the like)" the attorney added.
An aide of the rector of the parish, Natalia Stepanova, stressed that "believers are no longer able to be reconciled with the fact that in the place where worship services are conducted and prayers are raised, afterward they smoke and use foul language." Therefore they demand a clearly determined date for the return of the church to the parish and until that time the allotment of a place in the church especially designated for worship, with a separate entrance.
The parish society of the church of the Resurrection in Kadashi has existed since 1992 and comprises about 200 persons. (tr. by PDS, posted 5 August 2004)
MOSCOW CHURCH OF THE RESURRECTION SURROUNDED BY POLICE
Portal-credo.ru,
5 August (3:36 p.m., Moscow time)
The Moscow church of the Resurrection of the Lord in Kadashi, where one of the premises of the Academic I.E. Grabar All-Russian Artistic Scientific Restoration Center is located and which recently was occupied by force by representatives of a Orthodox parish, around noon today was surrounded by police, attorney of the society Mikhail Voronin told the Interfax news agency.
"Prior to this, water and electricity to the church were cut off, despite the fact that a baptism of a newborn infant had been conducted," the agency's informant added.
At the present time, according to Voronin, an OMON squad has been dispatched to the church. At the same time Interfax still has not obtained confirmation of this information from other sources.
The problem of the return of the Resurrection church to its parish has been going on for eight years. That was when the parish filed suit requesting the restoration of its rights to this church, which was confiscated by bolsheviks in 1918.
In recent years, in the church has been located one of the premises of the Graber Center, which, as Interfax notes, could not leave these premises for want of another where it would be able to locate its apparatus and other technical equipment.
As already reported, the Moscow patriachate condemned the violent seizure of the church. Vicar Archbishop of Istrinsk Arseny declared that the Grabar Center is a unique scientific institution, whose basic activity consists in the restoration of icons and other works of art. "It turns out that we are told to suppress those who have always helped the church and who possess our sacred objects. This affair will not work," the archbishop said.
In addition, Elizabeta, abbess of the Martha-Mary convent, spoke out in defense of the Graber Center. One of the departments of the center also is located in the premises of a church in the cloister. "We and the 'Graberites' are hostages to the same situation," the abbess thinks. However, "we do not have the right to act by means of seizure. The church has icons and other works of art; are you going to throw them out onto the street?" she said.
The only way to resolve this difficult situation, in Abbess Elizaveta's opinion, is providing the center fitting premises. "The problem is that the best premises today have been sold off. The problem is that for ten years now, any fitting premises have been made into a restaurant or entertainment center or some other similar enterprise," the abbess said.
The leadership of the scientific center itself has frequently stated that it is prepared to let go of the church, just as soon as a workable building is found.
Meanwhile, the director of the federal agency for culture and cinematography, Mikhail Shvydkoy, said yesterday that the conflict between Orthodox believers and the restorers over the church of the Resurrection of Christ in Kadashi is close to a resolution. He said that "there is a large building available for the restoration center on Radio street; all that remains is the final agreement of the Ministry of Property." In addition, Mikhail Shvydkoy stressed that a criminal case must be opened in regard to the seizure of the church. (tr. by PDS, posted 5 August 2004)
TVTsentr DENIES REPORT ABOUT OMON ARRIVAL AT CHURCH OF RESURRECTION
Portal-credo.ru,
5 August 2004, (11:41 p.m. Moscow time)
A cordon of police and a squad of OMON were sent to maintain order on the territory of the church of the Resurrection of Christ in Kadashi: these headlines came out today in almost all news agencies, "TV Tsentr" reports.
Barbed wire, iron gates, and an admission pass system. This was not a top secret object but a church in the center of Moscow. The question of who owns the church arose after President Yeltsin, in 1992, transferred these lands to the ownership of the church parish. And everything would have been fine if only the building itself at the time were not occupied by the Grabar All-Russian Restoration Center. Since then the art experts have sought new premises, and the parishioners have waited. Until last Monday.
"Responsible persons of government offices, who have the competence to resolve this situation, have not resolved this situation for many years now, and thus the parishioners took resort to this form of the defense of their rights, which is fully permissible," says Vitaly Veremshchuk, an attorney for the church society
Whether permissible or not is a disputed question. On 2 August, when the parish occupied the church, there was nobody inside. Since then employees of the restoration center have not been able to get to their workplaces, and they consider all that has happened vigilantism. For help they have turned to the Department of Internal Affairs of the Central District.
"We received a call for expelling the believers, worshipers, but it would be interesting to contemplate how police wearing helmets and armed would drive praying old women into the street. After all a person who is praying is not disturbing the peace, and we do not have a law that would be the basis for forceful measures against these people," remarks Elena Perfilova, the press secretary of the Department of Internal Affairs.
About the arrival of OMON, nobody at the press service of the department or of the restorers themselves knows anything.They say that they are hearing about this for the first time.
The main question that bothers workers of the center is the preservation of the priceless exhibits that remain within the church. "We now have there a unique exhibit from the Pskov museum, altar cloths from the sixteenth century with gold thread, pearls, and precious stones, which were donated to one of the Pskov churches by the wife of Ivan the Terrible. I very much fear, I fear for its condition," declared the director of the Graber Center, Aleksei Vladimirov.
Who benefits from spreading rumors about OMON intervention and encircling the church with barbed wire is still not clear. The restorers are perplexed about why the church, for whom they have restored priceless icons and rarities, have driven them from their workplace. The final fate of the building should be decided by the Moscow Arbitration Court. (tr. by PDS, posted 5 August 2004)
NO POLICE CORDON AROUND CHURCH OF RESURRECTION
Portal-credo.ru,
5 August 2004 (6:49 p.m. Moscow time)
Reports by Interfax news agency that the Moscow church of the Resurrection in Kadashi has been surrounded by police do not correspond to reality. This was stated by the assistant director of the E. Grabar All-Russian Artistic Scientific Restoration Center, Svetlana Vigasina, to a reporter of Portal-credo.ru. "Several persons have called us with similar questions. We went to the site and looked," Svetlana Vigasina said. "Nothing has happened there. This is a pure provocation. Everything remains as before."
The Interfax report also was denied by the press service of the Department of Internal Affairs of the Central Administrative District of Moscow. "We officially cannot confirm this information," the press service told Portal.
Thus, the report distributed by the attorney of the parish, Mikhail Voronin, turns out to be a regular attempt to put the attackers in the role of victims.
An official of the Department of Internal Affairs also denied reports about police interference in a ritual of baptism that was conducted in the seized church. This was obviously an attempt to put pressure on law enforcement agencies on the part of persons who are continuing to harm the activity of the Grabar Center, connected with the statement by Mikhail Shvydky, the head of the Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography, about the illegality of the actions of "Orthodox aggressors." (tr. by PDS, posted 5 August 2004)
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Yesterday parishioners of the church of the Resurrection of Christ in Kadashi seized the building of the church in which for the past forty years the Grabar All-Russian Artistic Scientific Restoration Center has been located. Believers posted a guard and declared that they would not leave for anywhere until the church is transferred to the ownership of the Russian Orthodox church. Police still have not intervened in the conflict.
Before yesterday the demands of believers to return to RPTs its property, which was confiscated in 1918 by the decree of the Council of People's Commissars "On separation of church from state and school from church" over the signature of Vladimir Lenin, were restricted to petitions to the government and suits in the Arbitration Court of Moscow. The suit for the return to believers of the church of the Resurrection of Christ in Kadashi was accepted by the Moscow Arbitration Court in June of this year among other suits about the return of church buildings. On 14 July Moscow Arbitration Court Judge Irina Belozertseva refused to satisfy a similar suit of parishioners of the church of Elijah the Prophet on Vorontsovoe Field, where the storehouse of the State Museum of the East is located. Parishioners of the church of the Resurrection of Christ in Kadashi did not intend to wait for the court's decision and took the building themselves, in which the Grabar Restoration Center is located, and they demanded that the Ministry of Culture relocate the restorers.
"Around fifty parishioners sealed the doors of the church, posted their own guard, and did not allow us to enter," the assistant director of the Grabar Center, Svetlana Vigasina, explained to Kommersant. Meanwhile, she said, around 500 works of art remain in the church "not counting the archive, which is generally priceless." "The parishioners are praying and lighting candles, which could harm the furnishings of the church, sculptures, pictures, and ancient banners of Don cossackdom," the assistant director of the center said with alarm.
Attorney Mikhail Voronin, representing the interests of the believers, explained to Kommersant that the parishioners of the church of the Resurrection of Christ in Kadashi "about eight years ago sent a petition to the government of the Russian federation following the established procedure requesting the return of the church building to them." "Since the period for a response to citizens on such matters is two months, we decided that all periods had passed and, having warned the administration of the city and the police that the artists did not have a juridical right to occupy the building, they seized the church, blocked the door, and placed their own guard around the perimeter of the building, employees of private security firms," the attorney stated.
"We are ready to move to other premises, if the federal ministry present them to us," Svetlana Vigasina says. "But according to law, an institution of culture cannot be evicted without being granted other premises." "So that the seizure of the church building is pure provocation," the assistant director of the Grabar center stressed. She said that the restorers have already written a request to the Ministry of Culture and to the federal agency for administration of federal property, for the assignment of new premises .
Vicar Bishop of Egorievsk Mark Golovkov told Kommersant that the Moscow patriarchate did not know about yesterday's seizure of the church of the Resurrection of Christ in Kadashi, since "many things happen and it is impossible to stay informed of all." "But the position of RPTs in principle is this: all church buildings should gradually be returned to the church's ownership," Master Mark told Kommersant.
The police still have not intervened in the conflict. The No. 2 security force of the Department of Internal Affairs, on whose territory the Grabar Center is located, told Kommersant: "You understand that all agents now are maintaining order for the celebration of the Day of the Paratroopers. The chief of the department went personally to the church and there now are two men sitting there, maybe security guards and maybe not. Everything is calm." (tr. by PDS, posted 3 August 2004)
Posted on Portal-credo.ru site, 3 August 2004
MOSCOW PATRIARCHATE CONDEMNS SEIZURE OF CHURCH OF RESURRECTION OF THE
LORD
Portal-credo.ru, 3 August 2004
At the Moscow patriarchate the seizure of the church of the Resurrection of the Lord in Kadashi, which was carried out yesterday by representatives of the Orthodox public after they expelled employees of the Grabar studio, was condemned.
"It is necessary to solve the problem in a civilized way," a vicar (aide) of Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and all-Rus, Archbishop of Istrinsk Arseny, told "Interfax" on August 3. He recalled that the Grabar Center is a unique scientific institution, which has been engaged in the main in the restoration of icons and other works of art.
"It turns out that they are proposing that we suppress those who have always helped the church and who possess our sacred objects. It won't work that way," the archbishop said. (tr. by PDS, posted 3 August 2004)
PARISH MILITARY COUNCIL
by Ekaterina Butorina
Vremia novostei, 3 August 2004
Early Monday morning workers of the I.E. Grabar All-Russian Artistic
Scientific Restoration Center (VKhNRTs) arrived for work, but they were
not able to get to their studios, which are located in the building of
the church of the Resurrection of Christ in Kadashi. On the gates hung
a lock and next to it a large sign: "We warn you that access to the
territory of the parish of the church by outsiders is forbidden."
And a sign: "Parish Council of the Church." Parishioners decided not
to wait until the Arbitration Court of Moscow issued a decision about to
whom the church and land on which it stands should belong, and now they
are trying by force to restore their rights to ownership of the church,
which was nationalized in 1918.
The Grabar Center has existed since 1918. At that time the restorers managed to save from destruction the building of the Arsenal, the belltower of Ivan the Great, and the church of St. Basil. In 1934 the organization was disbanded and the majority of its workers, descendants of icon painters, were repressed. The center's work was reestablished in 1944 by order of Molotov, in order to restore buildings and cultural treasures that had been destroyed during the war, which required master artists. And since 1964 the center has been allotted premises in buildings of four Moscow churches, including the church of the Resurrection of Christ in Kadashi, where previously had been located a storehouse of the KGB of USSR. The restorers liberated the premises from a heap of boots and safes and restored the church by their own efforts. With the adoption of the law on freedom of conscience and religious confession, the federal and Moscow governments issued orders for returning ownership to the church and the parish of the church in Kadashi received the use, without cost, of the land of the church parish and several adjoining buildings. However the authorities were not concerned with granting new premises to VKhNRTs, despite numerous requests from its workers, and divine services have, until now, been conducted in a small wooden building, a former coach house. "We have always tried to cooperate with the parishioners, because we sincerely believe that the church should belong to the believers. Since 1992 we have voluntarily left the church of Saint Catherine and the Presentation cathedral. But now we simply have no place to go. We have often nearly gotten new premises from bureaucrats, but each time the transfer is for some reason postponed--there is not some necessary signature--and everything goes around in a circle," the historian Pavel Semechkin, an archival worker, told "Vremia novostei."
Parishioners got tired of waiting for the Moscow authorities to decide the fate of the artistic studios and wearied of interminable judicial processes. In their opinion, the conflict could be decided only by forceful methods. At the same time, in order to protect themselves from possible violent confrontations with the police, they hired a squad of agents of one of the Moscow security firms for guarding the territory and maintaining order. Around ten strong men in white shirts and black pants are carefully seeing that no "outsiders" penetrate the territory of the church. The "invaders" justify their position by saying that, first, the land of the church was allotted for use without cost to the parish back in 1992 by order of the mayor, Second, although the mayor also ordered that workers of VKhNRTs be allowed access to their studios across this land, this right was not registered, in accordance with the Civil Code, with the Moscow Commission of Registration, and thus it is void. That is, members of the parish have the right to decide themselves whom to admit into the church and whom not. "The artists' studios will not work here. And VKhNRTs will receive all of its property by a special arrangement which will be drawn up in the near future," one parishioner, Vasily Boiko, declared. And the property of the studies is extremely valuable. At the present time an enormous quantity of picture and sculptures are there for restoration and expert study, and the church contains a unique archive of old photographs. "Maintaining the security of the territory and the treasures located in the church building is our basic task. Most of all we are now afraid of provocations on the part of the authorities and we do not want to repeat the mistakes of the bolsheviks, to whom nothing was valuable. The conflict should be resolved by the government, and we only want to hasten it. At the same time we understand that the restorers also are hostages to the situation that has developed, as are we," thinks attorney Anton Zeldovich, who is responsible for deciding possible disputes of parishioners with workers of VKhNRTs and the police.
Yesterday it was expected that for storming the church at least a squad of OMON would arrive, but only three agents of an independent security firm made a visit. They checked documents and passes of both sides and were satisfied that all premises of the studios were secured properly, and returned to where they came from. (tr. by PDS, posted 3 August 2004)
Posted on Portal-credo.ru site, 3 August 2004
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The end of July was not wasted for the Saratov Orthodox diocese; it brought out its flock to a protest demonstration against the construction of an administrative and worship building for Mormons in the center of Saratov. Without doubt, this was a substantially new stage in the activity of RPTs. Up to now, at least in the provinces, priests never went out into the squares with crudely secular slogans. This event was similar to the capital: in Moscow they demonstrated against the construction of an excessively tall temple of Krishnaites, while in Saratov it was against a house of worship of Mormons located in the immediate vicinity of three significant points--the provincial government, an Orthodox church, and a Muslim mosque. We note, however, that the building for the "totalitarian sect," as those who gave speeches called this religious organization, was bought on completely legal bases, which the city administration confirmed. And indeed it exists itself within the framework of the federal law "On freedom of conscience and religious associations" adopted in 1997.
However, it is not this fact that we were reminded of. An attack was made on the dubious reputation of Mormons, who "slander Christ and the Theotokos." Or more specifically on the fact that this religion came from America which, you see, did not dare to do battle with Russia but wants to destroy it ideologically, in association with the CIA, and it engages in nothing less than espionage. You cannot find a better place than Saratov for this purpose, since it is right next to an enterprise of the military-industrial complex. True, they have been practically inactive many years now and their secrets, one should guess, are somewhat outdated. But besides this the Mormons have a lot of ungodly qualities and distinctives, from polygamy (incidentally, there aren't any among them) to refusing to consume tea and coffee, which, generally speaking, is a deeply personal matter.
I wish to be understood correctly: I think that the "Latter-day saints" do not need my defense. But along with this I would like to note that one really should not raise such a noise when one has no concrete facts about harmful activity by foreigners. In the final analysis, there is the court, if they are violating the law, and there is a special department for catching spies. But in recent times we are following the law less and less, and more and more acting "on understanding." It turned out that the building was purchased ten years ago, but only now somebody demands forbidding its restoration. It seems, the authorities have responded. The chief architect of the city found violations in the plans and other normative acts, and an important government bureaucrat threatened the spies: start running, it will get worse. In all likelihood, one should expect the exposure of some agent who arrived from the state of Utah or was trained, like Baba Yaga, in the collective. (tr. by PDS, posted 2 August 2004)
"Polit.ru" has managed to get an interview with Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad Kirill, the chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow patriarchate, regarding the religious political conflicts of April of this year. At that time the judicial decision in the case of the "Jehovah's Witnesses" organization was rendered and opposition to the construction of a Center of Vedic Culture and a temple of Krishna was expressed. Despite all the differences, these stories had something in common: in both cases the greatest activity was shown by public organizations calling themselves Orthodox. At the time we published interviews with Krishnaites, "Witnesses," and "Orthodox activists." But the official position of the Russian Orthodox church we are able to present to readers only now, when one of the most notable of its hierarchs, Metropolitan Kirill, found time to answer our questions.
--What is the position of the Russian church with regard to the actions of Orthodox believers who organized a demonstration on Pushkin Square against the construction of a Center of Vedic Culture and temple of Krishna in Moscow?
--The Russian Orthodox church shares the concern of Orthodox believers, as well as Muslims, Jews, and Buddhists, who speak out against the construction near the center of Moscow, on a plot of land of more than one hectare, the largest center of this newly formed religion in Europe.
Religious leaders representing traditional religions of Russia have spoken out unequivocally against plans to construct in the district of Khodynsk Field a Krishnaite complex with a 16-story building that exceeds in area the church of Christ the Savior, and also against the "charity" programs of the Society of Krishna Consciousness, which actually are either an explicit form of proselytism or a covert practice of "giving communion" to unsuspecting Russians with sacrificial Krishnaite food.
The Russian church viewed with satisfaction the statement by M.A. Men, in the name of the Moscow authorities, supporting the position of the Interreligious Council of Russia on the question of the planned construction on Khodynsk Field of the so-called Center of Vedic Culture, with its gigantic dimensions that in no way correspond to the proportion of this confession in the life of the city and the country.
One of the journalists produced the calculation according to which the Krishnaits society, on the basis of its numerical size, and the existing proportions of churches provided for Orthodox Muscovites, would be supposed to get, instead of a hectare of truly golden capital land, premises the size of about ten square meters.
It is worthy of amazement that it is this exotic Krishnaite organization that demands for itself and gets such substantial and quite undeserved privileges, on which it has no right to count, if one proceeds from the letter of existing legislation. At the same time several religious organizations that are traditional for our country, for example, Buddhist societies, still do not have the possibility of resolving the problems of construction of a modest temple in Moscow.
--How can the Russian Orthodox church comment on the judicial decision in the case of the "Jehovah's Witnesses" organization?
--The sect of Jehovists is one of the most active pseudo-Christian movements in contemporary Russia. Complaints of our fellow citizens who have been victims of its activities arrive from all over the country. Jehovists really do incite religious strife, and they commit insulting attacks on Orthodox Christians and representatives of other traditional religions of Russia. The antihuman rules adopted in this sect, for example, the prohibition on blood transfusion, often cause people's death, including children.
This is by far not the first case where the Russian judicial authorities have had to rise to the defense of the spiritual and physical health of citizens and to counteract their being drawn into the activity of various pseudoreligious movements. For example, quite recently the Supreme Court of Russia left in force the decision of the Supreme Court of Bashkiria that imposed in February a prohibition on the activity of the "Center of Dianetics" organization (the church of Scientology).
In supporting the indictment, Bashkir Prosecutor Florid Baikov noted during the trial that this center, which did not have the obligatory license, conducts broad educational and medical activity which "has a negative effect on the thinking and psychology of its adepts" and "represents a threat to the health of people."
The "Center of Dianetics" organization operated in Bashkiria from 1994. According to the prosecutor's information, in that time more than 2,000 persons passed through its classes.
Both the trial of the case of the Jehovists and the case of Scientologists are only separate, isolated episodes in the struggle of the state for its own citizens who have been caught in the snares of foreign preachers. However these trials, which had great public resonance, do not even in the least reflect the magnitude of the activity of pseudoreligious movements in contemporary Russia.
It is this that represents the very specific position of the Russian Orthodox church that was stated on 27 May 2004 in the State Duma of the Russian federation at parliamentary hearings on the topic of "Improving legislation on freedom of conscience and religious organizations: practice of implementation, and problems and means for their resolution." In particular, we stressed that today substantive changes in the existing law on freedom of conscience and religious associations are not an urgent task. In particular this includes the maintenance of the currently existing rule about a fifteen-year period of existence in Russian legal space as a condition for registration of a religious group as a legal entity. Our church also has spoken out against attempts to remove any restrictions on inviting foreign workers by religious organizations.
--Does the Russian Orthodox church consider the "Society of Krishna Consciousness" and "Jehovah's Witnesses" totalitarian sects? Why?
--The terms "totalitarian sect" and "destructive sect" have not received general recognition among jurists and theologians, although their widespread use by the public with regard to a whole number of organizations seems quite deserved and justified.
The bishops' council of the Russian Orthodox church held in December 1994 designated "Jehovah's Witnesses" and the "International Society of Krishna Consciousness" as constituting a false Christian and pseudoreligious organization. The bases for this decision were the distinctive doctrines and practices of these two sects, which have no features that correspond to traditional religious organizations, as well as the destructive consequences caused by their activity, particularly their aggressive proselytism. (tr. by PDS, posted 1 August 2004)
Posted on Portal-credo.ru site, 2 August 2004
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The director of a home for the elderly in Rybinsk has rejected alternative service personnel because of fear of sects, the "Karavan ROS" newspaper of Yaroslavl reports.
A group of Rybinsk alternative service personnel has arrived. The second alternative serviceman to arrive was assigned as an orderly at the home for the elderly to help crippled old women. Yury Khachaturian, who belongs to a congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, is from Krasnodar territory. He refused to serve in the army because of religious convictions. His faith forbids not only bearing arms but also helping the army with food production. At first he was assigned to a divisional pig farm in the suburbs of Moscow, but Yury ran away from there. He had to prove through a court trial his right to work in some kind of hospital. Reluctantly the military commission sent him to Rybinsk.
Recently yet another, a third, young man was supposed to arrive in the city, who dared to serve as an alternate serviceman. He also is a product of a "nontraditional" religious congregation. The director of the home, Alexander Naumov, is now afraid that religious conflicts could arise among orderlies of different confessions. The director has already written a letter to the employment service requesting that it cease assigning alternative servicemen to Rybinsk.
But the mechanism has already been put in motion and it will not likely be able to replace "sectarians" with adherents of "traditional" confessions. In all, ten vacancies for alternative service have already been provided in the Rybinsk home for the elderly. (tr. by PDS, posted 1 August 2004)
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