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On Saturday, 21 August, for the first time in Russia the Day of Mercy and Charity will be observed. The basic celebrations will be conducted in Murom, in the home territory of St. Iuliania Lazarevskaia of Murom, a benefactress who lived 400 years ago. The organizers of the holiday complain that Russians have lost the tradition of charity. We beg to differ with them.
Metropolitan of Kaluga and Borovsk Kliment placed responsibility for the loss of the traditions of charity on the soviet regime. Supposedly, the state took the care of the poor and needy upon itself, disabusing people of the thought that somebody needs their help. And now, without the church supervising help, the people do not know how to properly distribute their good intentions and finances.
"Although in soviet times people were taught to do good, for example, the Pioneers were told to visit the elderly, bring them water and chop wood, there was no spiritual basis for this," the metropolitan said. "This was an obligation. But the attempt to do good should be formed within a person and he should consider this the purpose of his life. Our fellow countrymen are by nature not greedy people. They still do not realize the necessity to perform charitable acts. They have been trained this way."
However experience shows that our fellow countrymen are not so callous and inattentive. For example, on the Internet several sites exist where money is collected for the needy, as well as clothing and even donated blood. These sites are supported by noncommercial organizations or just groups of private philanthropists. For example, the web page at www.dobrodel-site.ru is a coordination point for the efforts of several teams of volunteers.
"Originally our site was conceived as a site for one team," Ekaterina Voronova explains. "Then people began coming to us who also wanted to get involved in charity but did not know how to begin. At first they went to children's homes with us and then they started in their own direction."
Ekaterina is 38 years old and the single mother of two children. By profession she is a technology editor. Along with her colleagues, she took things to children's homes beginning four years ago. Their group comprises ten regular participants. These are people from 22 to 40 years of age. Ekaterina defines their social status as: "not secure, just working folk." Very many people participate in single events. Now, for example, the "Dobrodelites" are preparing housewares for youths who are released from children's homes; after leaving a children's home they are supposed to live independently, but they do not have anything for this.
"You cannot imagine how many people have responded," Ekaterina exclaims. "It was simply a miracle. For example, there was a man who brought ten place settings and an enormous number of boxes of glasses. Another sent money from Tiumen specifically for dishes for children. Many simply donated their old plates and sauce pans. I myself went to five homes, but I am not at all the only one doing this.
Ekaterina's associates say not to ask people for help. It seems that now such calls are heard less often than earlier. Whoever has a need will find us himself. But Voronova is convinced otherwise. Many want to help but they simply do not know how to start. The "Dobrodelites" take care of two children's homes, in Tver and Rybinsk. According to Katy, children in the homes need absolutely everything. For example, girls often cannot wear skirts because they simply do not have any underwear.
The twenty-five-year-old manager of a telecommunications company, Sveta Vysotova, organized her own team of five persons. They range in age from 22 to 26 and consider themselves middle class. Sveta's team took under their care a children's home in Bykov. Their way of working is just like the "Dobrodelites": collect things, take them to the children's home, and buy some things themselves. They all have specialties by virtue of which they can buy at discount. Sveta's resume shows her as an office worker. She receives up to 100 dollars per academic term.
The web site http://deti.msk.ru helps collect money for treatment of seriously ill children in the Republic Children's Clinical Hospital. According to the president of the charity fund at the hospital, Lina Saltikova, thanks to these contributions they have already managed to save 100 children. Among the contributors, both organizations and private individuals (the majority do not even give their names, the size of contributions is from 100 rubles to several thousands of dollars.
"Our problem is not with people who wish to contribute but with those who can dispose of these contributions," Saltikova thinks. "Russians have not forgotten about contributing; people simply want to donate their money into honest hands, but there are few funds that we trust. Thus many are trying to help the needy without intermediaries. There are in fact very many people who want to contribute. They are ready to give to the last. An 83-year-old grandmother came to my place and brought 1,000 rubles. I wasn't about to take this money from her. But she said, 'Take it. I do not need very much.'"
An Izvestiia correspondent has often had occasion to become persuaded of the sympathy of fellow citizens. The newpaper's readers often call the editorial office and ask how they can help the needy people who figure in Izvestiia's articles. We dare to hope that this is not under coercion.
Information: Russians place their greatest hopes for charity work on business. According to an investigation conducted by the ROMIR Monitoring company, 81 percent think that it is necessary to contribute. However 58 percent of those asked have not heard about charitable enterprises in their region, 22 percent think that they exist, while 13 percent are convinced they do not. As to the spheres in which business' voluntary material aid is most needed, those surveyed named health care (58%), housing construction (333%), school education and development of the communal living sector (27 and 26%), and environmental protection (18%). Regarding preschool institutions and the development of culture, eleven percent of Russians mentions them, while ten percent mentioned transportation and sports and entertainment institutions. (tr. by PDS, posted 22 August 2004)
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is concerned about the increasing influence of authoritarian and chauvinistic strains within the Russian government that appear to be directly related to growing religious freedom problems. On June 16, a Moscow court upheld a ban on all activities of the 11,000 Jehovahıs Witnesses in that city. In May, a committee in the Russian parliament took up an amendment to the "Law on Traditional Religions" that would grant wide-ranging privileges to the Russian Orthodox Church and three other religious groups deemed "traditional" to RussiaJudaism, Buddhism, and Islambut not to other religious communities.
"Russian authorities are adopting an increasingly restrictive policy towards freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief, casting doubt on the Russian governmentıs continued commitment to democratic reform and the protection of religious freedom and contributing to a growing climate of intolerance for religious minorities and those who work to protect their rights," said USCIRF Chair Preeta D. Bansal. "The U.S. government should make clear to Russian authorities its concern over the growing authoritarian trends in Russia and to step up its efforts to support and work with the many elements in Russian society who oppose such developments."
Jehovahıs Witnesses have legal registration on the national level in Russia. The June 16 decision marks a sharp turn away from previous Russian court decisions that have mitigated some of the harsher aspects of Russiaıs 1997 law on religion, particularly with respect to registration. The decision also calls into question Russiaıs international obligations, including the European Convention on Human Rights and OSCE commitments on religious freedom and non-discrimination on religious grounds, and comes despite Russian Constitutional references to the primacy of international law. The prosecution successfully called upon the court to reject as irrelevant decisions by the European Court.
Other recent developments in Russia contribute to concerns about the influence of authoritarian strains within the Russian government and growing societal intolerance. In June, three people who organized or took part in an art exhibit at Moscowıs Sakharov Foundation that was critical of the political and commercial role of the Russian Orthodox Church were criminally charged with "inciting religious hatred." Also in June, Nikolai Girenko, a noted Russian activist against racism and religious extremism, was murdered on his doorstep in St. Petersburg. A Russian extremist nationalist group claimed responsibility, saying it had "sentenced" Girenko to death for combating religious, ethnic and sexual-orientation-based intolerance.
"These developments raise the specter of a rollback to Soviet-style control in which dissent is quashed by the Russian Orthodox Church using the machinery of the state. The Russian authorities should live up to their obligations under international law with regard to freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief and make greater efforts to counter these authoritarian and intolerant strains," said Bansal. (posted 21 August 2004)
Russia
Religion News Current News Items
Yesterday a commission for receipt and transfer of the building of an affiliate of the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) on Radio Street to the Grabar restoration studios began work. The building of the church of the Resurrection of the Lord in Kadashi, which the studios occupied for the past forty years, was seized at the beginning of August by a group of parishioners of the Orthodox parish. Yesterday the leadership of TsAGI and the Grabar center officially received the decision of the Federal Agency for Administration of Federal Property, ordering the restorers to move out of the church into the building on Radio Street.
According to the order signed last Friday by Deputy Director of the Federal Agency for Administration of Federal Property (FAUFI) Dmitry Aratsky, of all the immovable property allotted to the Zhukovsky TsAGI, the building of its Moscow affiliate at 17 Radio Street is excluded. It will be transferred to the Academician Grabar All-Russian Artistic Scientific Restoration Center. Mr. Aratsky indicated in his order that the basis for the transfer was the Civil Code of the Russian federation and an appeal from Patriarch Alexis II.
The decision of the federal agency surprised all participants in the conflict, about which Kommersant reported on 3 and 9 August. When the parishioners of the church of the Resurrection of Christ seized the building of the Grabar center on Kadashi embankment, the administration of the restoration studios spoke confidently about the illegal seizure of the building of the former church, which had belonged to the Grabar center since 1964. The head of the Federal Agency on Culture and Cinematography, Mikhail Shvydkoy, even sent to the Office of the Prosecutor General a demand that a criminal case be instigated over the act of seizure.
However yesterday, as the director of the Grabar artistic center, Aleksei Vladimirov, told Kommersant, the commission on receipt and transfer of the building on Radio Street had already begun its work. According to Mr. Vladimirov's calculation, repair of this building will cost about 1,000 dollars per square meter (the overall area of the building is 6,000 square meters) and "who will pay for the repairs is still unknown."
"This is a great surprise for us, but judging by everything it is already impossible to do anything," the director of the Moscow affiliate of TsAGI, Vladimir Sokoliansky, told Kommersant. Mr. Sokoliansky said that it is still unknown where the affiliate will move to. According to Kommersant's information, the question of accommodating the evicted laboratories on the main territory of TsAGI in the Moscow suburb of Zhukovsky is under consideration.
Archbishop of Istrinsk Arseny, who supervises questions of church property in RPTs, told Kommersant that the decision in principle about evicting the restorers from the church building was made back on 7 August at a conference in the Federal Agency for Administration of Property. "Representatives of all interested parties were present there," Master Arseny said, and added that it is much easier for church hierarchs to work with the present leadership of the agency than with the former head of the Ministry of State Property (in March of this year FAUFI, headed by Valery Nazarov, became the successor of the Ministry of State Property, which had been headed by Farid Gazizulin).
The only thing that remains unclear in this story is the fate of Mikhail Shvydky's written request to Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov, which is awaiting its turn for review in the Prosecutor General's office. "Nobody has recalled the request," Kommersant was told at the Center of Public Communications of this agency. "It will be reviewed when its turn comes, and the decision of the Federal Agency on Property will have no effect on this at all." (tr. by PDS, posted 19 August 2004)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
With heavy feelings of sorrow I have learned about the intensification of the situation in South Ossetia. The danger to the life of civilians of various nationalities who live in this territory evokes profound alarm in our church.
Conflicts can and should be resolved only with the aid of negotiations. The world knows a multitude of examples of peoples living side-by-side autonomously determining and constructing their fate. I am convinced that Ossetians and Georgians can live peacefully as brothers and sisters in Christ. When they begin to exchange shots, the first to suffer from this are innocent people, women and children. Unfortunately, that has already happened in the course of the current conflict. There is a danger of the intensification of bloodshed by many times.
People have come to a dangerous boundary beyond which lie death and destruction. It is necessary to halt in front of it. It is my profound conviction that it is necessary to cease immediately all military actions and to return to a responsible dialogue, since it is known that thanks to the agreements achieved over the course of twelve years in this region they have managed to preserve peace and calm. Ossetian and Georgian peoples profess the one Orthodox faith and it is impermissible that brothers in faith arm themselves against each other. In the words of sacred scripture, "let us seek to pursue peace" (Rm. 14.19)
I lift up prayers to God for the establishment of peace in the region of hostilities. May the Lord send wisdom to both sides of the conflict. I sorrow along with the wounded and those who have lost loved ones. I implore the responsible law enforcement and peacekeeping forces not to permit yet more victims.
The Russian Orthodox church appeals to politicians and military personnel: do not permit the spread of fratricide. Cease fire. Protect innocent people.
Alexis
Patriarch of Moscow and all-Rus
(tr. by PDS, posted 18 August 2004)
Posted on Religiia i SMI site, 18 August 2004
METROPOLITAN OF GEORGIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH ISSUES OPEN LETTER TO PATRIARCH
ALEXIS II
Blagovest-info , 17 August 2004
Metropolitan of West Europe Avraam Garmeliia (Georgian Orthodox church) issued an open letter on the declaration of Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and all-Rus that was made in connection "with the escalation of military actions in South Ossetia." In the metropolitan's opinion, the statement of the primate of the Russian Orthodox church "evokes amazement and poses a number of questions."
"The declaration sets aside the fact that he is talking about a conflict
situation on the territory of the sovereign Georgian state, located within
the canonical jurisdiction of the patriarchate of Georgia," the metropolitan
affirms in the open letter, published in the "24 hours" newspaper. "The
declaration pursues the goal of maintaining the situation that has evolved
and the impossibility of a just resolution
of this conflict that was inspired and organized by Russia."
Metropolitan Avraam proposes that Alexis II answer several questions.
"Why have you, Your Holiness, not issued similar peacemaking initiatives and declarations when under the leadership of Russian politicians and military leaders with the active participation of the 'Orthodox Russian host' genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Georgian people were carried out in Abkhasia and the so-called South Ossetia? After all, Georgian Orthodox people were victims of genocide and ethnic cleansing.
"Why have you permitted participation by the Russian Orthodox church in increasing tensions in regions of conflict, creating there anti-Georgian attitudes?
"Why have you permitted the priest V. Pili to concelebrate with you, who, as you know, is not subordinate to any legal church authority. For which actions did he receive the support and awards of the Russian church?
"What kind of peace and calm over the course of twelve years can one speak about when actually a part of the territory of Georgia was annexed and hundreds of thousands of refugees have not been able to return to their homes as the result of the aggressive policy of the Russian state and the capitulationist policies of Eduard Shevardnadze?" In the author's opinion, "The Ossetian and Georgian peoples have not armed themselves against each other. What has occurred is a conflict between the aggressive imperial policy of Russia and the state interests of sovereign Georgia." "The only thing I would wish for my motherland is the removal of Russia from the resolution of conflicts on the territory of Georgia, which for two centuries now has suffered from the hostile policies of the Russian state and Russian Orthodox church," Metropolitan Avraam says in concluding his appeal to Patriarch Alexis II.
As reported earlier, the patriarch declared that it is necessary to cease immediately all military actions and to return to a responsible dialogue. In his declaration the primate of the Russian Orthodox church called politicians and military leaders not to permit the spread of fratricide, to cease fire, and to protect innocents. (tr. by PDS, posted 18 August 2004)
Posted on Religiia i SMI site, 17 August 2004
Russia Religion News Current News Items
The Grabar All-Russian Artistic Scientific Restoration Center (VKhNRTs) has finally received premises to which it will be able, in time, to move not only its subdivisions occupying the church of the Resurrection in Kadashi but also departments located in premises of the Martha-Mary convent and the church of the Holy Martyr Catherine in Vspol. This was reported by VKhNRTs director Aleksei Vladimirov. He displayed an order of the Federal Agency for Federal Property (formerly the Ministry of Property) of 13 August by which a former factory shop of 6,000 square meters on Radio Street will be transferred to the "operative administration" of VKhNRTs.
According to Aleksei Vladimirov, a minimum of three months will be required in order to make small preliminary repairs and to take necessary measures for checking communications and heating. Then it will be possible to move to the new premises several restoration departments. Of course, the first to go to Radio Street will be the department of ancient sculpture which occupies the "high" church in Kadashi. "Thus by the beginning of the new year believers will be able to have at their disposal the high church and the belfry and moreover they will have a separate entrance. And gradually we will move everything out of Kadashi," the director of VKhNRTs said.
Regarding the conflict with the parishioners of the church of the Resurrection, who on 2 August sealed the premises where the restoration studios are located and closed off access to the grounds, Aleksei Vladimirov said: "To a certain degree we are thankful to them. Since 1991 we have written letters to Moscow city hall and to the government and we asked to be resettled from the churches."
Meanwhile it has been discovered that representatives of the parish do not know anything about the assignment of premises to the restorers. Attorney Vladimir Solomatin enumerated what law suits will be filed against the "Grabarites" and he spoke about how the Ministry of Culture still only intends to create a special commission for resolving the conflict. To a question about whether parishioners intend to act in accordance with a letter of their attorney Mikhail Voronin (we recall that he officially promised to declare the property of VKhNRTs in two weeks as unowned and to begin its removal if the restorers themselves do not clear out of the church), Vladimir Solomatin responded: "We are patient people and are prepared to wait longer, but I don't know just how long." And an associate of the parish museum "Kadashi settlement," Lidia Shestakova, responded to a question about removal: "We do not have any such thoughts. Many parishioners of Fr Alexander are professionally affiliated with museum treasures and we understand that it is impossible 'independently' to remove anything," "Blagovest-info" reports. (tr. by PDS, posted 18 August 2004)
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An experiment in teaching the fundamentals of Orthodoxy will begin on 1 September in municipal school No. 16 of Tambov, IA REGNUM reports.
A resolution concerning the creation of two first grades with intensified study of the fundamentals of Orthodox culture was signed by Tambov Mayor Aleksei Ilin. As a source in the city department of education stated, the Tambov authorities made this decision because contemporary secular education can be of a substantial quality only if it include religious values of the national culture within which the education is being conducted. As the source explained, the "Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture" subject will not be a required subject but will be conducted as an elective subject outside of regular school hours, on the basis of the decision of the school administration and the parents' council.
Thirty pupils of special classes will study a full day, twenty hours. In accordance with sanitation and hygiene requirements, in addition to the classes, two meals costing thirty rubles per child, obligatory strolls, and recesses will be provided. If the experiment is considered to be successful, the leadership of city hall of Tambov is prepared to review the question of opening an Orthodox high school [gymnasium] in the city. (tr. by PDS, posted 17 August 2004)
SCHOOLS IN KABARDINO-BALKARIIA WILL TEACH BOTH ORTHODOXY AND ISLAM
Religiia
v svetskom obshchestve, 17 August 2004
The government of the republic adopted a resolution "On measures for
cooperation with religious associations of Kabardino-Balkariia and governmental
support for them in 2004-2006." It provides for the introduction of fundamentals
of islam and orthodoxy into the school curriculum.
The subject will be called "History and culture of the religious
of the peoples of KBR." In August participants of a congress of Orthodox
clergy of Kabardino-Balkariia approved the idea of introducing this subject
in the schools of the republic, but advocated participation of the church
in selection of teachers. (tr. by PDS, posted 17 August 2004)
"HISTORY OF RELIGION'" TO BE INTRODUCED AS ELECTIVE IN TATARSTAN
Blagovest-info, 23 June 2004
An excursion to restored houses of worship in the Kazan kremlin was conducted by Tatarstan President Mintimer Shaimiev for Russian Minister of Education and Science Andrei Fursenko, who visited at the end of last week. The guest surveyed the "Kul Sharif" mosque and showed great interest in the restoration of the frescoes of the Annunciation cathedral, that was erected upon the order of Tsar Ivan the Terrible.
As the press center of the president reported, Mintimer Shaimiev told Andrei Fursenko that the first services in both buildings will be held next year when the millennium of Kazan will be celebrated. The "Kul Sharif" mosque and the Annunciation cathedral were restored as a part of the plan of preparation for the city's jubilee.
Both persons also touched on the question of the study of religion in general education schools.
As Tatarstan Minister of Education Faris Kharisov announced recently, in the new school year, the subject of "History of religion" will be introduced on an elective basis into all secondary schools of the republic, where Orthodoxy will be taught alongside Islam. (tr. by PDS, posted 17 August 2004)
Posted on Religiia i SMI site
Russia Religion News Current News Items
The chairman of the Helsinki Commission of the Congress of USA, Christopher Smith, accused Azerbaijani authorities of continuing the persecution of members of the "Dzhuma" society, Kavkazskii Uzel reports. This was how Smith evaluated the decision of the Supreme Court of the country that left in force the decision of the Sabailsky court regarding eviction of the society from the mosque of the same name. "The actions of the government of Azerbaijan are disgraceful and they demonstrate real contempt for international norms of human rights and obligations before CSCE," Christopher Smith noted.
"I again call the government to put an end to such a policy and to return the mosque to the society and permit it to act freely. An end should be put to the practice of persecution and detention of members of the society as well as the naming of the imam of the mosque by the authorities," Christopher Smith stressed.
We recall that on 1 March the Sabailsky district court issued a decision for the immediate eviction of members of the "Dzhuma" religious society from the mosque of the same name in the "Icheri shekher" historic center of Baku. A suit for the eviction was filed by the historic architectural preserve of "Icheri shekher," which based its demand on the premise that the mosque is an "architectural monument." However members of the "Dzhuma" society claimed that this conclusion was insubstantial, claiming that the building had historically been a mosque and since 1992 had been used for such purposes.
On 22 April the Appeals Court left in force the decision of the Sabailsky court, and on 30 June police carried out an operation in execution of these judicial decisions. Police officers evicted members of the society from the mosque by force during the performance of prayers. (tr. by PDS, posted 15 August 2004)
US STATE DEPT CONDEMNS PERSECUTION OF "DZHUMA" RELIGIOUS SOCIETY
Portal-credo.ru,
15 August 2004
The State Department of USA condemned official Baku for persecution of members of the "Dzhuma" religious society, "525 Gazeta" (Baku) reports.
A representative of the State Department, Edgar Vasquez, stated that the government of USA views the seizure of the "Dzhuma" mosque and expulsion of its imam as "a violation of international norms of freedom of religion." The legal basis used for evicting this society cannot be justified from the point of view of international norms of human rights and the principles of CSCE, of which Azerbaijan is a members.
"We call the government of Azerbaijan to respect its international obligations in the area of freedom of religion and to return the mosque to its legal parishioners with the right of choosing their own imam by themselves," Edgar Vasquez noted. (tr. by PDS, posted 15 August 2004)
DECLARATION OF THE FEDERATION OF RIGHTS DEFENSE ORGANIZATIONS OF AZERBAIJAN
9 August 2004
The Federation of Rights Defense Organizations of Azerbaijan sharply condemns the campaign of persecution of the religious society of the Dzhuma mosque in Icheri Shekher in the city of Baku.
Slanderous statements in the pro-governmental press, reaching to insinuations of a supposed stash of weapons in this mosque for antigovernmental purposes, and the arrest of the mosque's imam Ilgar Ibragimogla, the forceful expulsion of believers from the mosque, the arrest of a group of believes during a funeral, and finally, the accusation that supporters of Ibragimogla supposedly beat Imam Surkhai Mamedov, who had been appointed by the official Board of Muslims of the Caucasus--all of this clearly creates a negative image of this religious society, whose methods of protest and self-expression have always borne an exclusively peaceful character.
Even the beating on 8 August of Mamedov, if it actually happened, is more a part of the propagandistic campaign and methods of operation of the authorities than of the nonviolent campaign of the "Dzhuma mosque" society for the return of their temple to believers. It could have been organized by the very same forces that organized the recent beating by supposed "Islamists" of the chief editor of the "Baky kheber" newspaper, A. Guliev.
The federation, condemning the violent methods of regulating relations between religious groups, demands that the authorities conduct a full and impartial investigation of the incident of the beating of Mamedov, and before its results it calls news media to refrain from hasty conclusions. (tr. by PDS, posted 15 August 2004)
Posted on Portal-credo.ru site, 11 August 2004
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Yesterday Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Patrirach Alexis II for the first time since the recovery of the head of the Russian Orthodox church, in his suburban apartments in Peredelkino. The patriarch showed the president the new building of his residence and talked about plans of the church for the future and provided lunch.
The last time Vladimir Putin met with His Holiness was more than two months ago in the Kremlin. That time the meeting bore an official character and the president awarded Alexis II the "For services to the Fatherland" medal of the first decree on the occasion of the patriarch's seventy-fifth birthday. This time the president decided to call on the patriarch after his recovery in an unofficial status, for which he went to Alexis II's home in his suburban residence in Peredelkino. As the president's press service told Kommersant, the head of state went to the patriarch on his own initiative, "since Vladimir Putin has developed very good personal relations with the head of the Russian Orthodox church."
The president arrived at the patriarch's suburban residence at approximately one o'clock and spent an hour and a half. The president's meeting with the patriarch began with a survey of the new building of the residence. As Kommersant has learned, the new three-story building of 5,000 square meters, took more than six years to build and its cost was on the order of seventy million dollars. Having viewed the new place of residence of the patriarch and admiring the view from the balcony of the third floor, the president and the patriarch separated themselves for a conversation in the office of the head of the Russian Orthodox church. During the meeting Alexis II described for Vladimir Putin the future plans of the Russian Orthodox church. In particular, that on the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God, 28 August, the Vatican will transfer to RPTs the Kazan icon of the Mother of God, which now is kept in the personal apartment of Roman Pope John Paul II. It is this icon that the pontiff for several years now has expressed the desire to return to Alexis II. "Inasmuch as this icon is only one of the copies of the miraculous image, there is no need for the Roman Pope to bring it personally to Russia," the patriarch told the president. "We agreed that two cardinals will transfer this icon to me in the Dormition cathedral of the Kremlin."
In his turn, the president was interested in how the patriarch was feeling and noted that he looked good. We recall that Alexis II spend several weeks in a German clinic for a restorative regime of treatment after exhaustion brought on by the full schedule of his ministry in recent times. In connection with this, rumors appeared in the news media that the patriarch underwent an operation for an aortal bypass. Alexis II denied these rumors, saying that he had a fluttering arythmia.
While making a formal television tape Vladimir Putin said that he was "pleased to note that the dialogue with the Russian Orthodox church has continued," which "was not only the initiator of the discussion of serious questions," but also "helps people in their daily lives, and really supports them."
After this the patriarch invited the president to have a lunch of fasting food (according to church canons Friday is a fasting day). After dining with the patriarch the president left. (tr. by PDS, posted 14 August 2004)
RUSSIAN ORTHODOX LEADER SNUBS PONTIFF
by Steve Gutterman
Associated Press, 13 August 2004
The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church emphasized Friday that Pope John Paul II is not welcome in Russia, reiterating that an icon the pontiff once hoped to return personally in a conciliatory gesture is a copy of a revered 16th-century work.
Patriarch Alexy II told President Vladimir Putin that the icon - known as the Mother of God of Kazan - will be turned over to the Russian Orthodox Church at the Cathedral of the Assumption in the Kremlin later this month, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
But Alexy noted that the icon, now at the Vatican, previously was determined to be "one of many copies'' of the original.
"For that reason there is no need for the pope himself to bring it,'' ITAR-Tass quoted him as saying.
John Paul had once hoped to return the icon himself and become the first Roman Catholic pontiff to visit Russia, but sour relations with the Russian Orthodox Church have prevented such a trip.
The aging pope's desire for a historic visit to Russia is part of his efforts to promote greater Christian unity a millennium after Christianity split into eastern and western branches. But Russian Orthodox leaders strongly oppose a visit, accusing the Catholic church of seeking converts in Russia and other traditionally Orthodox lands.
The icon, which first appeared in the city of Kazan in 1579, is revered by Russian believers for its purported ability to work miracles, including the rout of Polish invaders from Russia in the early 17th century. It was taken to the West after the 1917 Russian Revolution and disappeared.
The Russian Orthodox Church said last year the icon obtained by the Vatican in the 1970s was a copy and could "under no circumstances be considered a reason'' for a visit by John Paul.
Orthodox leaders did agree for papal representatives to bring the icon to Russia on Aug. 28, but Alexy's statement underlined the persistent animosity between his church and the Vatican.
"There is nothing new in negotiations with the Roman Catholic Church, except that on the Day of the Assumption, August 28th, the icon of the Mother of God of Kazan, which was stored in the Vatican, will be returned,'' ITAR-Tass quoted Alexy as telling Putin.
But he added, "It is one of many copies, not the original miracle-working image that disappeared at the beginning of the 20th century.''
Alexy noted a commission that included representatives of the Vatican, the Orthodox church and the Russian Culture Ministry had opened the metal plating on the icon at the Vatican and determined it was an 18th-century copy, the report said. (posted 15 August 2004)
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As one of the most humiliating experiences in their lives will be the way believers remember the procession of the cross on 12 August 2004 in St. Petersburg in honor of the centennial of the day of birth of Tsarevich Alexis. Around 3,000 persons found themselves under strict control by OMON agents and were forced to go along a route which was pointed out by police clubs, a correspondent of "Portan-credo.ru" reports.
As "Portal-credo.ru" already reported, the city administration, without any explanation, forbade the procession of Orthodox believers that has been performed annually since 1992. Police vehicles had previously blocked off the approaches to the cathedral of the Kazan Mother of God, to which the column usually goes.
After the traditional reading of an akathist at the "Savior on the Blood" cathedral, the strictly ordered stream of people still moved along the adjusted route. In accordance with the new design, the believers had to pass around the building complex of the Malyi Theatre of Opera and Ballet, past the pubs headed by the "Stray Dog" art cafe and the monument to Ostap Bender [fictional hero of a satyrical novel by Ilf and Petrov (1927)--tr.].
To the indignant cries of the believers passing through the police cordon "Have you no shame!" there resounded the justification that this "event" was not consented to by Smolny. Meanwhile, in the new law "On demonstrations. . ." such concepts as "consent" and "nonconsent" do not exist, while notification about the procession of the cross was submitted, as always, in a timely manner. (tr. by PDS, posted 13 August 2004)
MOSCOW CHURCH OF ST. NICHOLAS CONDUCTS PROCESSION IN MEMORY OF TSAREVICH
ALEXIS
Portal-credo.ru,
13 August 2004
A procession of the cross in memory of the murdered Tsarevich Alexis, devoted to the centennial of the day of his birth, was held on 12 August after the divine liturgy in the church of the Holy Prelate Nicholas in Bersenevko, "Blagovest-info" reports.
The procession of the cross was organized by the parish of the church led by the rector, Hegumen Kirill Sakharov, the Union of Orthodox Brotherhoods, and the Union of Orthodox Standardbearers. The procession, led by young men in black shirts and boots, carried around thirty black and green banners and standards and encircled the church. Several dozen elderly women accompanied the icon of the holy tsarist martyrs, singing prayers. At the gates of the church grounds all were met by a man distributing an issue of "Oprichnyi listok," that argued for the "sanctity of the merciful Christian sovereign" Ivan the Terrible, whose basic achievement was a "merciless war" against the "world Jewish kahal," in the opinion of the author, Nikolai Kozlov.
Upon completion of the procession the assemblage sang "God save the tsar" and the leader of the Union of Orthodox Standardbearers, Leonid Simonovich-Nikshich, addressed them. He spoke about the "redemptive sacrifice" of the last Russian sovereign, calling them "not to listen to various theologians and deacons who ridicule our love for the tsar. . . and are now carrying out strong attacks on the sacramental understanding of the autocratic monarchy." The orator explained that the Russian people should not be accused of the murder of the sovereign since "all of the people at the time did not know about the regicide, because there were no news media." For L. Simonovich it is obvious who "wants to remove the guilt for this murder from the Jews and impose it upon the Russian people." He said that the very same "mystical, ritualistic nature was displayed in the murder" of the sailors on the "Kursk" submarine (the anniversary of this event also falls right on 12 August) and the recent murder of the cossack Lt. Vladimir Naumov, a deputy of the supreme hetman of the Union of Cossacks of Russia. A special issue of "Russkii vestnik" was devoted to the latter event, which was distributed to all of the procession participants.
"It is we who are the true Sacred Rus and not some theologians," the speaker continued, calling them "to defend" the rector of the Bersenevko parish who is the "only priest in Moscow who has not accepted an individual taxpayer number." The head of the standardbearers explained what a "grave battle" will begin after the completion of the building of a new bridge across the Moscow river and the construction near the church of amusement institutions and promised in the event of an attack on Fr Kirill "to raise 300 banners and standards." "The war has begun everywhere. If they call us to Kadashi, we should go there and support the believers," he summoned the assembled women, explaining the rules of a "telephone chain." In conclusion the speaker invited all to two events, a congress of Orthodox brotherhoods of Russia, Ukraine, and Moldavia (13 August), which is supposed to adopt an "Appeal to the Orthodox community" in connection with the upcoming bishops' council of the Russian Orthodox church and an evening devoted to Ivan the Terrible (17 August).
The next speaker, Aleksei Ivanov, who was introduced as the deputy head of the "Christian Regeneration" union, also spoke about the insidiousness of world Zionism. "It was not for nothing that they declared Russia the center of world Zionism in 2000. Every year upwards of seventy Jews immigrate to Russia from Israel."
In concluding the event Fr Kirill reported that an icon of the holy tsarist martyrs had begun secreting myrrh "at the end of the procession of the cross," and this was not the first time. He said the same had happened to an icon in Kursk, to which the parish had borne it during the St. Serafim celebrations. (tr. by PDS, posted 13 August 2004)
VORONEZH COSSACKS MARK CENTENNIAL OF TSAREVICH ALEXIS WITH PRAYER SERVICE
Portal-credo.ru, 13 August 2004
The dean of the Voronezh city district of the local diocese of RPTsMP, Archpriest Petr Petrov, served a prayer service in honor of the 10th anniversary of the Holy Passion-bearer Tsarevich Alexis, the last heir of the Russian throne, a correspondent of Portal-credo.ru reports.
The initiative for conducting the prayer service on 12 August in the church of St. Nicholas of Myra in the city of Voronezh was made by the cossacks of the Northern Don district of the Union of Cossacks of Russia, uniting the cossack organizations of Voronezh, Lipetsk, and Tula provinces.
On the same day and in the same church the cossacks also performed a requiem for the first deputy of the supreme hetman of the "Union of Cossacks of Russia" all-Russian public organization, Vladimir Naumov, who died nine days ago. (tr. by PDS, posted 13 August 2004)
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A copy of the Kazan icon of the Mother of God, kept in the Vatican, will be transferred to Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and all-Rus on 28 August in the Kremlin Dormition cathedral. The patriarch himself reported this in a meeting with the president of the Russian federation, according to an RIA Novosti report.
The icon will be brought to Russia by two cardinals. (tr. by PDS, posted 13 August 2004)
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