DRAFT: Produced by the Institute of State-Confessional Relations and Law and the Main Administration  of the RF Ministry of Justice for the City of Moscow, represented by Assistant Director of the Main Administration, V.N. Zhbankov

This doctrine has been developed in order to coordinate efforts of agencies of state authority of the Russian federation and bodies of state power of the constituent regions of the Russian federation for improving and developing their relations with religious associations (state-confessional relations), directed to the maintenance of conditions for citizens of the Russian federation to exercise freedom of religious confession as well as conditions for the preservation and development of the spiritual and moral potential of the multinational people of the Russian federation.
State policy in the sphere of relations with religious associations is built on principles acknowledged for the Russian federation and standards of international law, international agreements of the Russian federation, and the constitution of the Russian federation, and it finds its expression in the system of federal laws, other normative legal acts of the Russian federation, and the activity of bodies of state authority. The doctrine reflects a summation of official views on the condition, goals, principles, and basic tasks in relations of federal agencies of state authority and bodies of state authority of the constituent regions of the Russian federation (subsequently called "bodies of state authority" or "the state") with religious associations that are active in the Russian federation. The doctrine derives from the necessity of guaranteeing the unity of the cultural space and sovereign integrity of Russia in the new historical circumstances of its development, and the maintenance and strengthening of ties with fellow countrymen in foreign countries, and it takes into account state interests and the interests of religious associations and their adherents and of the whole of Russian society.
The doctrine serves as the methodological basis for bodies of state authority in improvement of the normative legal assurance, practical implementation, and future development of relations with religious associations as well as citizens’ exercise of the right to freedom of religious confession.

I.  State of Relations between the State and Religious Associations in the Russian Federation

The Russian federation is a secular state that has a rich cultural heritage, where a multitude of peoples who possess distinctive characteristics of spiritual culture constitute a single civil society. Throughout the course of its centuries-long history the Russian state has endured serious trials which could be overcome thanks to the spiritual and moral potential that is intrinsic to the Russian people, one of whose basic sources is religious faith.
Citizens of the Russian federation maintain diverse convictions with regard to religion. Over the course of centuries a substantial portion of the population of the Russian federation has professed traditional religions that have played a substantial historic role in the formation of Russian statehood. Thanks to the unifying role of traditional religions, there has been maintained on the territory of Russia a distinctive unity and diversity of national cultures of the peoples inhabiting it. In accordance with the constitution of the Russian federation and federal laws, the state guarantees to every person who is legally present on its territory freedom of religious confession, including the right to profess individually and in company with others any religion or not to profess any religion, to choose freely, and to hold and disseminate religious and other convictions and to act in accordance with them. At the same time the exercise of these freedoms should not harm or threaten the foundations of the constitutional system, the morality, health, rights and legal interests of other persons, or the accomplishment  of the defense of the country and security of the state.
The exercise of the indicated rights and freedoms is achieved in the Russian federation on the basis of the principle of the separation of religious associations from the state (the principle of the secular nature of the state), which can be done by observation of the following conditions:
--no religion or nonreligious (atheist) ideology is established in the capacity of a state religion or obligatory ideology and the state does not support propaganda of atheist ideas and teaching, including atheist or agnostic views on religion;
--the state does not interfere in the activity of religious associations, except when they violate legislation of the Russian federation;
--religious associations do not interfere in the activity of bodies of state authority;
--the state does not finance the religious activity of religious associations, but at the same time it promotes the development of charitable, cultural, and educational activity of religious organizations and their participation in the country’s public life;
--the state cooperates with traditional religious organizations and facilitates the preservation of the spiritual and cultural heritage of traditional religious organizations, in accordance with legislation of the Russian federation.

At the present time a substantial influence on relations between the state and religious associations is exerted by a number of the following mutually related factors of social development:
--the creation and development in the Russian federation of a broad public sphere for the exercise by citizens and their associations of democratic freedoms, which are established by the constitution of the Russian federation, one of whose consequences is the formation and strengthening of civil society, of which important elements consist of religious associations;
--the appearance of a spiritual crisis in contemporary Russian society in all spheres of its activity, devaluation of the system of traditional moral values, disorientation of a part of society with regard to world view, loss of moral direction in many areas of contemporary culture, weakening of the spiritual and moral bases of the institution of the family, and other negative social consequences;
--the presence of threats to the maintenance and development of cultural identity and spiritual autonomy of peoples of Russia;
--the creation and strengthening of civil society within the Russian, of which religious associations are a part;
--intensification of problems connected with manifestations of religious hostility and activation of religious extremism in society;
--foreign religious expansion in Russia as an element of the foreign policy of a number of foreign states;
--growth of the activity of religious associations that cause harm to the morality, health, rights, and legal interests of citizens, as well as other interests protected by law.

The above mentioned factors of social development have appeared in various spheres of the life of society, including relations between the state and religious associations, and they have brought about the existence of a complex of problems in which resolution the state is obliged to take necessary measures in accordance with the legislation of the Russian federation.

II. Basic Goals and Principles of State Policy in the Sphere of Relations with Religious Associations

The goals, principles, and content of state policy in the sphere of relations with religious associations are determined by the obligations of the state for assuring the guarantee of freedom of religious confession as well as the creation of conditions for maintaining and developing the spiritual and moral potential and cultural heritage of the Russian people. In accordance with the constitution of the Russian federation, every person is guaranteed freedom of religious confession, including the right to profess individually or jointly with others any religion or not to profess any, to choose freely, and to hold and disseminate religious and other convictions and to act in accordance with them.

The basic goals of state policy in the sphere of relations with religious associations in the Russian federation include
--facilitation of the maintenance of the integrity of the state of the Russian federation and creation of conditions for the maintenance of the spiritual autonomy and national spiritual traditions of the peoples inhabiting it;
--support of social stability and interreligious peace and harmony in society and the achievement of mutual understanding, tolerance, and respect in questions of freedom of religious confession;
--assurance of the guarantees of equality of rights and freedoms of every person irrespective of attitude toward religion;
--assurance of the guarantees of freedom of religious confession for each person who is on the territory of the Russian federation legally;
--assurance of the guarantees of freedom of activity of religious associations in accordance with the legislation of the Russian federation.

The basic principles of state policy in the sphere of relations with religious associations in the Russian federation include
--the principle of the secular nature of the state;
--the principle of freedom of religious profession;
--the principle of the equality of religious associations before the law;
--the principle of the noninterference of the state in the internal activity of religious organizations, including in the maintenance of doctrines, rituals, worship, and other forms of religious activity, as well as in the internal self-administration of religious associations, except in cases of their violation of Russian legislation;
--the principle of state oversight for observance of Russian legislation by religious associations;
--the principle of cooperation of the state with religious associations including the state’s cooperation in the development of socially useful activity of religious associations in the social sphere and in the spheres of culture and education, but it does not finance the religious activity of religious organizations.

The state assures the guarantees of freedom of religious confession, including
--each person has the right to profess individually or in common with others any religion or not to profess any religion, to choose freely, and to hold and disseminate religious and other convictions and to act in accordance with them;
--nobody is obliged to declare one’s attitude toward religion and nobody can be subjected to compulsion in determination of one’s attitude toward religion, toward confession or refusal of confession of religion, and toward participation or nonparticipation in divine services, other religious rites and ceremonies, activity of religious associations, and the study of religion;
--the rights and freedoms of an individual and citizen are equal irrespective of one’s attitude toward religion;
--the right of an individual and citizen to freedom of religious confession may be restricted by federal law only to the extent necessary for purposes of protection of the foundations of the constitutional order, morality, health, rights and legal interests of the individual and citizen, and maintenance of the defense of the country and security of the state;
--the state does not permit discrimination against citizens of Russia in foreign countries based upon their attitude toward religion;
--the privacy of the confessional (impossibility of holding a priest responsible for refusing to give evidence regarding circumstances that became known to him in confession);
--prohibition of attracting minors into religious associations and teaching religion to minors against their will and without the consent of the parents or guardians.

III. Basic Tasks of State Policy in the Sphere of Relations with Religious Associations

In the sphere of relations with religious associations the Russian federation adopts measures for resolving the following basic tasks:

1. In the state-legal sphere:
--assurance of legal guarantees of freedom of religious confession;
--improvement of the legal regulation of relations between the state and religious associations;
--assurance by the state of guarantees of equality of rights and freedoms of citizens irrespective of their attitude toward religion;
--creation of conditions for supporting interreligious and interethnic harmony by means of cooperation of bodies of state authority of the Russian federation and bodies of state authority of constituent regions of the Russian federation with religious associations and other institutions of civil society;
--cooperation in support within society of conditions of religious tolerance and religious dialogue in relations among believers of different confessions as well as among believers and nonbelievers;
--creation of effective legal and organizational mechanisms for preventing and putting an end to activity of religious associations that cause harm to or threaten  the morality, health, rights and legal interests of citizens, the foundations of the constitutional system, and assurance of the defense of the country and security of the state;
--improvement of federal legislation and law enforcement practices with regard to state measures for preventing and putting an end to manifestations of religious extremism, religious hostility, offense against the religious feelings of believers, and propaganda of the inferiority of citizens on the basis of their attitude toward religion;
--improvement of mechanisms for state oversight of the observance of Russian legislation by religious associations and for assuring legal protection of the rights and legal interests of believers in the sphere of education, health care, employment, and other spheres of public life;
--legal strengthening of criteria for determining which religious organizations of Russia are traditional and their corresponding status;
--cooperation in the revival and protection of spiritual values of traditional religious organizations and facilitation of the increase of a constructive role for traditional religions of the peoples of Russia in society;
--provision to citizens of the Russia of the right and possibility for substituting alternative civil service for military service in cases where their convictions or religious confession oppose performing military service, as well as in other conditions established by federal law;
--provision of deferment of draft into military service in peace time and exemption from conscription for clergy in accordance with procedures established by legislation of the Russian federation.

2.  In the sphere of education and culture:
--guarantee of the secular nature of the activity of state and municipal institutions of education in the Russian federation;
--assurance of the legal guarantees of citizens' exercising their right to religious education;
--cooperation of the dissemination within state and municipal educational institutions of information about the history of traditional religions and religious organizations in the Russian federation;
--guarantee of the teaching of general academic subjects in institutions of general education created by traditional religious organizations in accordance with the legislation of the Russian federation on education and conduct of state accreditation;
--cooperation in the maintenance of the historic heritage of traditional religious organizations representing nationwide cultural values and in the formation within society of an atmosphere of respect toward cultural values of traditional religious organizations;
--assurance that the spiritual, moral, and cultural values of the traditional religions of Russia are taken into account in establishment of federal educational standards, curricula, and academic and pedagogical procedures in subjects of the humanities;
--cooperation of the state with traditional religious organizations in resolving social problems and questions of spiritual, moral, legal, and patriotic education of the population and other socially significant problems in the state;
--cooperation of the state with traditional religious organizations in conducting educational activity, including the creation of educational institutions and training of teaching personnel for them;
--provision of state support for the production of television programs, radio programs, and printed publications, including materials created in cooperation with traditional religious associations illuminating questions of history, cultural heritage, manner of life, including the religious sphere, and traditional moral values, including family values, of peoples of the Russian federation;
--cooperation of the agencies of state authority with traditional religious organizations in performing tasks for strengthening the institution of the family and improvement of the demographic situation in Russia.

3.  In the sphere of the economy:
--in the absence of financing by the state of the religious activity of religious associations, the state cooperates in the development of activities of religious organizations for maintaining traditional spiritual culture, cultural, educational, charitable, and other socially useful activity of religious organizations, including provision of the possibility for participation of traditional religious organizations in the conduct of special federal, interregional, and regional state programs in the social sphere and the spheres of education, training, and culture;
--the state oversees the granting to religious organizations of tax and other privileges and the provision of financial, material, and other aid to religious organizations in the restoration, maintenance, and preservation of buildings and objects that are monuments of history and culture;
--the state carries out the gradual, partial return of the property of religious associations confiscated by the soviet state and owned by the state or municipalities to the original owners or their legal successors, in accordance with procedure established by federal legislation.

IV.  Relations of the State with Traditional Religious Organizations

The majority of the population of Russia has professed traditional religions over the course of centuries, thanks to which there were formed and preserved distinctive unity and diversity and spiritual community and union of the people within the Russian federation. The state, recognizing the equality of religious associations before the law, chooses forms of cooperation with religious associations and it cooperates primarily with these religious organizations for which a substantial portion of citizens of the Russian federation express adherence or preference. The policy of the state in the sphere of relations with religious associations can become a unifying factor in society only on condition that it takes into account the interests of traditional religious associations of the Russian federation. Orthodox Christianity was the religion that created statehood in Russia and it exerted a definite influence on the formation of the Russian people and thus interreligious and state-confessional relations in the Russian federation depend to a great extent on relations of the state with the Russian Orthodox church, which is the religious organization to which a majority of citizens of the Russian federation express their affiliation or preference. The state also recognizes Islam, Old Belief, and other religions and their corresponding traditional religious organizations that are traditional for Russia as integral parts of the contemporary spiritual life and historic heritage of the peoples of Russia.

In order to facilitate the maintenance in society of an atmosphere of tolerance and respect in matters of freedom of religious confession, to reach an effective protection of the rights and freedoms of individual and citizen, to facilitate the maintenance and development of the spiritual and moral potential of Russian society, and to reach a more complete exercise of the interests of citizens of the Russian federation in the spiritual sphere, in the Russian federation a distinction is made between traditional religious organizations of the Russian federation and traditional religious organizations of individual peoples of the Russian federation.

Traditional religious organizations of the Russian federation are those centralized Russian religious organizations that
1) have exerted a substantial influence on the establishment and development of Russian statehood and historically played a major role in the development of the national self-consciousness of peoples of the Russian federation,
2) have guaranteed the formation and development of traditional spirituality and culture of peoples of Russia and have constituted a part of the spiritual, national, and cultural heritage of the Russian federation,
3) are religious associations to which a substantial portion of the citizens of the Russian federation express their adherence or preference,
4) act in the capacity of creative and unifying spiritual forces in the Russian society directed to the support of peace and stability in the Russian federation.

In the Russian federation criteria also have been established defining the traditional religious organizations of separate peoples of the Russian federation. These organizations are characterized by identifying signs of the confession of doctrines that have a geographically defined historic territory of their distribution or have a preferential relationship for certain national (ethnic) communities. Traditional religious organizations of separate peoples of the Russian federation possess the rights of traditional religious organizations of the Russian federation within the boundaries of the historic territories of their distribution (Buddhism, traditional religions of the peoples of Siberia, etc.) or particular national (ethnic) communities.

The state facilitates the participation of traditional religious organizations in public life, including participation in the implementation of special federal, interregional, and regional programs in the sphere of education, culture, and social security.

The state and traditional religious organizations cooperate on the basis of the observance of the principle of independence from each other. The spheres of cooperation of the state and traditional religious organizations include
--facilitation of mutual understanding and cooperation among peoples, nations, and states and the preservation of morality in society;
--preservation, revival, and development of the historic and cultural heritage of the peoples of Russia;
--common concern for the protection and preservation of church facilities and valuables having historic, archaeological, architectural, and cultural significance;
--education and the cultural, moral, and patriotic training of children and youth;
--spiritual nurture for military personnel and officers of law enforcement agencies;
--cooperation in the area of prevention of crime and nurture for persons in places of confinement;
--scholarship, including research in the humanities;
--preservation of health;
--ecclesiastical and secular media of mass communication;
--support of the institution of the family, maternity, and childhood, and improvement of the demographic situation of the Russian federation, and humanitarian and charitable activity.

V. Relations of the State with Religions Associations in the Sphere of Education

In the Russian federation the secular nature of education has been created, which consists in the condition that no religion or atheist ideology is established in the capacity of a state or obligatory ideology for teaching in state and municipal educational institutions, and the state does not support the propaganda of atheist ideas and doctrines, including atheistic or agnostic views on religion; at the same time state and municipal institutions of education have the right to cooperate with traditional religious organizations in ways provided by legislation of the Russian federation.

Religious organizations have the right, in accordance with legislation of the Russian federation, to create their own institutions for religious education. In order to facilitate effective fulfillment of the duties of educating and training children and youth that follow from the necessity of protecting the rights of the individual by state and municipal institutions of education, and taking into account the interests of citizens of the Russian federation in the religious sphere, the state
--cooperates with traditional religious organizations in the area of spiritual, moral, legal, civil, patriotic, and other training and education of the population, as well as in the area of religious education in forms provided by legislation of the Russian federation;
--works mutually with traditional religious organizations in developing the contents of educational standards, curricula, and academic and pedagogical means for academic subjects in the humanities, for the purpose of taking into account the spiritual, moral, religious, and cultural values of the peoples of Russia;
--facilitates traditional religious organizations in the creation and operation of educational institutions;
--secures for religious organizations the legal possibilities of exercising the rights of citizens to religious education;
--cooperates with traditional religious organizations in assuring the protection of the rights and interests of parents and children in the educational process, including the right to physical, intellectual, moral, and spiritual development of children.

VI. Fundamental Directions of the Activity of the State in the Area of Prevention and Struggle Against Religious Extremism and Incitement of Religious Hostility

In striving for strengthening the constitutional structure and supporting social stability and interreligious peace, the state
--forbids, prevents, and puts an end to activity of religious associations throughout the whole territory of the Russian federation, which are directed against the foundations of the constitutional structure and security of the state;
--puts an end to all incitement of religious extremism, including imposing one's religion on anyone by means of physical or psychological pressure and threats of violence, and takes all necessary measures for preventing and liquidating manifestations of religious extremism;
--while recognizing the constitutional right of everybody freely to seek, receive,  transfer, produce, and disseminate information by any legal means, forbids the incitement of religious hatred and hostility, offense to the religious feelings of believers, any propaganda of the inferiority of citizens on the basis of their relation to religion, and acts of violence or
incitement to such acts, directed against any group of persons on the basis of their relation to religion, as well as providing any aid, including financial and support in the mass media, for conducting propaganda of religious extremism or the inferiority of citizens on the basis of their relationship to religion, activity directed to offense of religious feelings of believers, and incitement of religious hostility;
--facilitates interreligious and interethnic harmony, lowering of social tension in society, and support for respectful relations among believers of various confessions, as well as among believers and nonbelievers;
--implements through the state system of education the formation within citizens of respect to religious institutions and the feelings of believers.

VII. Forms of the Implementation of State Policy in the Sphere of Relations with Religious Associations

In development of federal programs and programs of the constituent regions of the Russian federation financed from the respective budgets within the social sphere, including in the spheres of education and culture, the provisions of the current doctrine are taken into account. The conduct of the state policy in the sphere of relations between the state and religious association is exercised by means of
--improvement of the normative, legal maintenance of relations between the state and religious association, including the federal law "On freedom of conscience and religious associations;"
--support of public initiatives in attaining goals that correspond to goals of state policy in the sphere of relations of the state with religious associations;
--development and implementation of special state programs with the participation of traditional religious organizations;
--cooperation of bodies of state authority with traditional religious organizations in spheres of education, culture, science, health services, and legal education of citizens;
--development of the informational means for implementation of state policy in the sphere of relations of the state with religious associations, and facilitation of dissemination of information about the history and culture of traditional religions of the Russian federation;
--distribution of state orders for production of television and radio programs and printed publications illuminating questions of history, cultural heritage, life style, including the spiritual sphere, of traditional and moral values, including family values, of peoples of the Russian federation, in accordance with procedures established by legislation;
--cooperation of organizations for television and radio broadcasting, created with the participation of the state, with traditional religious organizations in production of television and radio programs that illuminate questions of history, cultural heritage, life style, traditional spiritual and moral values of the peoples of the Russian federation;
--conduct of studies of domestic and foreign experience in the development of federal and regional programs for prevention and resolution of conflicts of a religious nature, on the basis of state orders.

The development and submission by the government of the Russian federation to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian federation of a draft of a federal law "On introducing changes and additions to the federal law 'On freedom of conscience and religious associations,'" taking account of the provisions of this doctrine, is a priority task for the implementation of the Doctrine of State Policy of the Russian Federation in the Sphere of Relations with Religious Associations.  (tr. by PDS, posted 18 June 2001)