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Article 1. Introduce into point 4 of article 27 of the federal law of 26 September 1997 N125-F3 "On freedom of conscience and religious associations" (Collection of Legislation of the Russian Federation, 1997, N. 39, art. 4465) the following changes:
Replace the words "31 December 1999" with the words "31 December 2000";
Word the second sentence in the following manner: "Upon expiration of the specified period of time religious organizations that have not undergone reregistration are subject to liquidation through judicial procedure upon petition by the agency that conducts state registration of religious organizations."
Article 2. This federal law takes effect on the day of its official pubcation.
Acting President of the Russian Federation,
V. Putin
(tr. by PDS)
[tr. note: The original law read: "4. State reregistration
of religious associations, formed before the present federal law becomes
effective, must be completed no later than 31 December 1999 in accordance
with the requirements of the present federal law. Upon expiration of said
period, religious organizations that have not undergone reregistration
are subject to liquidation in accordance with judicial procedure upon appeal
of the agency that conducts state registration of religious organizations."
The change consists of replacing words translated "may be liquidated" with
the words translated "are subject to liquidation" and changing the
Russian word that is translated "appeal" to one that is translated "petition."]
(posted 31 March 2000)
ANNOUNCEMENT FROM KRASNOYARSK DIOCESE
from Press Service of Department for External Church Relations
23 March 2000
On the occasion of the ritual murder of monastic priest Grigory (secular name Gennady Mikhailovich Yakovlev).
He was born 3 October 1949 in the city of Bodaibo of Irkutsk province. After eight years of schooling he finished the Angara technical institute in 1968 and then served in the navy from 1969 to 1972. Then he graduated in history at Odessa State University in 1978. The same year he received holy baptism and began attending the church in Barnaul. He became an acolyte in the church of saints Peter and Paul in the city of Anzhero-Sudzhensk of the Kemerovo diocese.
Then from 1981 to 1982 he served a novitiate in the Pokrov church in Tobolsk and was a psalmist from January 1983 in the Dormition church in Yeniseisk. On 12 December 1986 he was ordained a deacon and on 13 December of the same year, a priest. From 5 June 1987 he was rector of the St. Nicholas church in the village of Listvianka, Irkutsk province. From 1 May 1988 he was personal secretary of the archbishop of Irkutsk. On 5 May 1994 he was entrusted with the shipment from Moscow of the casket of St. Innokenty of Irkutsk. He was in our diocese from January 1995 in the monastery of the Holy Transfiguration, where he became a monk on 26 March of that year.
He was the rector in the house of prayer in the city of Tura (Evenkia) from 4 November 1997. It was here that he was murdered by Roman Krishnits, a member of the sect of Krishna Consciousness with whom he was acquainted. Krishnits declared that he did this "on ordered of the guru of Krishna." The ritual nature of the murder is indicated by the following: a stabbing with a sharp dagger in the heart and neck, and then beheading with a knife, following by its procession around the sanctuary in the church and placement on the altar.
We consider that this tragedy is the result of the extensive publicity in the mass media of all kinds of pseudoreligion, a return to the wild pagan cults of satanism, and the cultivation of the idea of polytheism of a new form under the name of Christ which is now being promoted in contradiction to sober thought and the holy scriptures, which forbids the division of the one faith given by God into all kinds of inventions of charlatans and religious pluralism.
May the Lord receive the soul of God's servant, the monastic priest Grigory Yakovlev into his heavenly dwelling, as a true son of the Orthodox church, forgiving him all his transgressions through his martyr's death. (tr. by PDS)
AFTER RITUAL MURDER OF SIBERIAN PRIEST, CHURCH DENOUNCES RISE OF SECTS
by Andrei Zolotov
MOSCOW, March 24, 2000 (ENI) -- Church authorities in the Russian Orthodox diocese of Krasnoyarsk in Siberia, more than 3000 kilometres east of Moscow, have condemned the ritualistic murder of a local priest, and blamed his death on the rise of cults in Russia.
"We see the tragedy as a consequence of extensive advertising of all sorts of pseudo-religiousness, and the return to the wild pagan cults of satanism and the cultivation of new types of polytheism," the church declared in a statement.
The statement was issued following reports of the death of 50-year-old Hieromonk Grigory, the Orthodox priest in charge of a chapel, located in his house in the Siberian town of Tura.
Police Colonel Ivan Panov, chief of the Evenk District Police Department, told ENI by telephone that at 3 am on Tuesday, 21 March, a man entered the priest's house. He then stabbed Hieromonk Grigory (whose lay name was Gennady Yakovlev) in the chest and neck, then cut off his head with a pocket knife. The murderer, who later told police his name was Roman Krishnin, carried the severed head round the altar in the chapel, leaving a circle of blood on the floor, and then placed it on top of the altar.
Roman was detained later the same day and confessed to the murder, according to the police.
"He said he had had an order from his god Krishna," Panov said. The case is now being investigated by the Prosecutor's Office of the district of Evenk, in the Krasnoyarsk region.
Panov said that the killer's identity could not be officially confirmed, but police believed he had arrived in Tura 18 months ago from the Tyumen region, 1000 kilometres away, where he grew up in a family of hunters. He had no identity papers.
Panov added that the priest knew his murderer.
"Father Grigory, the kind soul, may he rest in peace, had taken him in, given him shelter, [and] he [Roman] lived in his [the priest's] house for a long time," the police chief said. "They had arguments about faith." Panov said the murder did not appear to be connected to robbery or any other common crime.
The police chief also suspects that Roman assumed the last name Krishnin in recognition of the Hindu god Krishna. But Panov said he found it difficult to believe that Roman was a follower of the Hare Krishna group, which worships Krishna and has world-wide membership. "I read about this faith, they don't teach violence. He is more likely to be some sort of satanist."
In Moscow Russian Hare Krishnas have expressed deep concern about press reports declaring that the murderer belonged to their organisation. They said they feared these reports could ignite hostility between religious groups.
Sergei Zuyev, chairman of the board of the Centre of Krishna Consciousness Societies in Russia, issued a statement on 23 March denying that Roman had ever been a member or employee of the organisation. The statement stressed that the group's teaching "excludes any violence not only towards men, but also towards animals".
Zuyev has flown to Krasnoyarsk to investigate the case.
Svetlana Valerieva, a journalist in Tura who was present when police first questioned Roman, told ENI in a telephone interview that Roman was a strong young man who did not appear insane. "In my opinion he is a normal man who expresses himself well," Valerieva said. "He said that he had to purify himself, and killed Father Grigory for the good of others."
Both Valerieva and Panov said Tura - an impoverished town of about 6000 residents - was in deep shock. Many people stood outside the chapel on 22 March as Orthodox clergy from Krasnoyarsk held a memorial service. The burial is to be held today, 24 March.
Hieromonk Grigory had set up the local parish, the police chief said. "Now, with his death, he is turning our town to God."
Deacon Dmitry Streletsky, who works at the Krasnoyarsk diocesan office of the Russian Orthodox Church, told ENI that Hieromonk Grigory was a "mild, delicate and benevolent man".
Published by ENI News Service, March 24, 2000
(posted 28 March 2000)
The appeal of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox church (RPTs) "Respect believers' feelings and maintain Christian sober-mindedness" of 7 March 2000, which expressed the church's attitude toward the introduction of a taxpayer's identification number (INN), the individual electronic card (IEK), and the bar-code system on documents and consumer goods, evoked varied reactions in both civil and ecclesiastical circles.
Soon after the publication of the appeal, which did not so much enlighten as confuse the uninformed observer, there appeared an announcement from the Administration for Informational Policy (UIP) of the Russian Ministry of Taxes and Duties (MNS) and an article "Concerning the auxiliary signs of the bar code and the number '666'" over the signature of the director of electronic systems of the Association of Automated Identification, Vladimir Korostelov. On the basis of these documents let us try to examine this problem which was formulated in the declaration of the Holy Synod that was directed not only to the ordinary citizen of our state but also to the authorities of "Russia and other countries of CIS having an overwhelming Orthodox population."
We immediately identify two aspects. First, the introduction of INN and IEK was considered by the Synod of RPTs as an entering wedge for "total control by the government over the private and public life of the individual" given the "absence of any kind of public control over the information" which is contained in these new documents. Second, "the documents contain or will contain a bar code," which contains three dividing lines which correspond graphically to the symbol adopted for the number 6. This, in the opinion of the Holy Synod, signifies that "by the choice of the creators of the international system of inscription the bar codes contain a representation of the number 666, which is mentioned in the book of the Revelation of St. John the Divine as the number of the antichrist."
Now let's carefully review what the INN and IEK represent. In the announcement of UIP MNS of 10 March of this year, written as a reaction to the synod's declaration, the procedures for the work of the tax agencies were explained and the certification form intended for establishing the information about taxpayers was described.
A substantial part of the work of tax agencies is establishing a record of taxpayers as living persons. For this it is necessary to know the taxpayer's place of residence, vital statistics regarding birth and death, immovable property that is subject to taxation, vehicles, documents regarding guardianship and responsibility for other persons, certification of rights of inheritance and agreements regarding bequests, and rights to use of natural resources which are subject to taxation. This is a whole range of needed data for accounting for living persons within the tax agencies. "To gain documented confirmation of the accounting for persons there is issued a corresponding certificate on a single form of strict accountability for all of Russia. The certificate contains a taxpayer identification number (INN), assigned for designating the information about the taxpayer in the documents used for tax regulation."
Additionally the announcement says: "MNS RF calls attention to the fact that no form or blank (certificate) contains a bar code as mentioned in the Moscow patriarchate's statement." In their work taxation agencies are obliged to fulfill the requirements laid out in chapter 14 of the tax code of RF, one of which proclaims: 'Observation of the rights and freedom of the individual and citizen that are established by provisions of point 3 of article 17, and articles 23, 24, and 27 of the constitution of the Russian federation (that is, not to violate the rights and freedoms of other persons, to guarantee the confidentiality of information about citizens and the access for each person to information about himself, as well as not to restrict the freedom of movement, choice of place of residence or visitation).'"
MNS RF specifies that the "existence of an INN does not change the name of a person nor does it deprive one of personal identity," and it recalls that "assignment of a personal number is the basis of the passport system which was begun back in prerevolutionary Russia and never evoked an outcry on the part of RPTs." The response to the declaration of the Holy Synod ends with the words: "It is necessary to note that according to point 2 of article 24 of the constitution, a procedure has been established whereby each person may get information about himself regarding place of residence which the tax agencies possess as well as about who has used this information and for what purpose."
Thus, from the answer written by the head of the Administration of Informational Policy of MNS RF it seems that the use of INN does not entail "total control of the government" over all forms of private and public life of the individual and the certificate with the INN does not contain the notorious bar code.
So perhaps the individual electronic card (IEK) is the means of "total control"? If one believes the anonymous text contained in the Holy Synod's appeal and distributed at the time of the Congress of the Orthodox Press (5-10 March 2000) to participants, IEK is a "passport created on the basis of an identification number," and it contains the personal name, patronymic, and family name of the individual and his biological identifiers, including an "analysis of eye color, finger prints, hand shape, electronic photograph, personal signature, and the like." In an interview with a hegumen of the Athos monastery of Saint Gregory, published in the Radonezh newspaper, we learn additional information: the electronic identification cards "will have a magnetic strip that can contain 100,000 words including any information that interests them." FurtherAbbot Georgy saysL "We cannot accept electronic documents containing an identification number which will be assigned to everyone at birth whereby each person will be entered into the central computers of the country by place of residence as well as in the main computer at Strausburg."
So from the above cited documents it become clear that besides the INN there also will be an individual identification number (IIN) which will be given a person on the day of birth and the electronic card with this number will become a new form of personal document replacing the passport to which everybody is accustomed.
The idea for a lifelong IIN provided in the personal electronic certificate arose in the countries of the Schengen agreement, a union of countries which was created in 1985 including at present such states as Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Denmark, and Greece. After signing the agreement about the abolition of border control among these country there began to be created a gigantic data bank in which is being placed information about all citizens of the countries of the agreement, the so called "Schengen Information System." Introduction of such a system obviously replaced the former border control and serves as the support for order on the enormous common territory of the countries that have removed their boundaries.
According to information from the head of the "Union of Christian Regeneration," Vladimir Osipov, such credentials under the label of the individual electronic "Muscovite Card" was instituted on 1 January 2000 in the western municipal district of the capital and later in Zelenograd, Zhulebin, and Vykhin.
The actual text of the synod's appeal mentions the places for instituting the electronic card and the form of the card in extremely fuzzy terms: "In particular, residents of several places began receiving electronic cards with which accounts with local offices of administration will be created and which will become the basis for distribution of social and medical aid." Which ones or these "several places"? Nothing is said in the appeal even that such cards already had been instituted in the capital beginning 1 January. There is no description of the information which will be entered on the "Muscovite Card." Nor is there even that term itself. Therefore when one reads the text of the appeal many questions arise and one gets the impression of a certain inconsistency in the synodal document.
The text of the document contains a new and quite confusing term: individual tax code. Earlier we tried to describe what the identification tax number (INN) is like and how it is distinguished from the individual identification number (IIN). But here we have a third variant of a term that is hard to understand under the label of individual tax code (INK). It is impossible to figure out from the synod's text what is the relationship of INN, IIN, and INK.
The term INK is not used in the announcement of the Administration of Informational Policy of MNS RF just as there is nothing reported by the specialists of the administration about the institution of the "Muscovite Card" with its IIN. The reader gets the impression that the sides dealing with this question cannot establish a single terminology for describing identical things.
But while studying the devious abbreviations, we discover what they have in common that unifies them in the eyes of the Holy Synod of RPTs. What is common is that all the new forms of documents have the "apocalyptic" bar code. This has to do with the inclusion of the representation of the number 666. But nevertheless it is not explained how that number is represented in every bar code. We can find the only reasonable explanation of the whole system of bar codes in the text ""Concerning the auxiliary signs of the bar code and the number '666'" which was composed in the Association of Automated Identification. It says: "The combination of numbers is assigned by the international organizations of EAN (the European system of trademarks and commodities) and USS (The Council on Unification of Codes), but the composition of the bar codes is achieved in accordance with the rules of representing number in the form of bars and spaces." These rules are "open and accessible for information in Russian also in the form of the publication "Automated identification. Bar coding. Standards for the EAN/IuPiSi symbol," which anyone can obtain a the "Standards" store at number 8 Donskaia Street.
The article explains that bar codes can contain only those number which are represented beneath the bars. Bar codes can encode only Arabic numerals, representing a place-value system like the decimal system. Non-place-value systems of enumeration (like Roman numerals) including the Slavonic numerals cannot be encoded in the form of the bar code. The basic property of the bar code is the guarantee of the nonrepetition of the identification of commodities. It does not reflect the property of the commodity like the number on an automobile. The only thing that can be said is that the first number shows in which country of the world the bar code was prepared. These numbers in many cases do not even coincide with the country where the commodity was made.
As regards the notorious number six, "in accordance with the requirements of the standard" for displaying this number in the form of a bar code, the size of the spaces and bars used is indicated in the table. The six in all three possible collections is coded with two spaces and two bars, seven modules wide. The delimiters of the bar code, each having three modules and the beginning and end of the bar code system and five modules in the center, only graphically--in the form of two bars--resemble the number "six," but they are not an essential expression of that number.
If one views the number 666 from a theological point of view, then referring to historical data and the experience of exegetes of the nineteenth and twentieth century we learn that Greeks and Jews did not have numbers, and letters served as a representation of numbers. At the time of the writing of the book of the Revelation there was an increase in interest in the way the letters of personal names produced a certain sum. If one follows the principles, then the sum of the numerical values of the Hebrew letters of the name of Caesar Neron (which in the consonantal Hebrew transliteration would be QSR NRWN) equals 666. It is interesting that in certain ancient Greek and Latin manuscripts that contain the book of the Revelation, a different variant of the "number of the beast" is given, 616. Evidently this was associated with reading the name of the emperor in a different form, Nero, without the letter "N" at the end (which is valued 50).
The number 666 is the decades of historic Christianity acquired a mystical overlay and it became a persistent apocalyptic mythology. We express the hope that this time it will not conceal the evil indicated by the apocalyptic symbol which was so brilliantly portrayed in Umberto Eco's novel "Name of the Rose." (tr. by PDS)
(posted 26 March 2000)
An important event in the social and spiritual life of contemporary Russia was marked in the opening of an Orthodoxy Department in the Military Academy of Antiaircraft Defense (PVO) of Ground Forces of the Russian Federation, which happened on 14 March in Smolensk.
The participants in the solemn ceremony included the chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow patriarchate, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, the first deputy ministry of defense of the Russian federation, N.V. Mikhailov, and the teaching staff and students of the academy.
Addressing those assembled, Metropolitan Kirill noted the significance of the event that was happening for establishing a new Russian state system and the restoration and further development of the form of church-society and church-civic relations which is traditional for our Fatherland but which suffered violent distortion after 1917. Attendance of the classes of the new department will be voluntary. Thus this is not a matter of some arbitrary change of the ideological markers nor an artificial replacement of certain world view and values orientations by other ones, but it is a matter of reviving models for a way of living that are organic to Russia and have been sanctified by its centuries long history, independent of the vagaries of the time and political circumstances, Metropolitan Kirill stressed.
When the time comes for people to perform their duty by rising to the defense of the Motherland, this becomes the most important and primary matter of their lives. Our victory in the Great Fatherland War would have been impossible without the universal and far-reaching conviction of the people about the supreme justice of its opposition to the enormous force of evil. Thus one of the tasks of the church in its social ministry is to teach and confirm in people spiritual and moral principles which will make them worthy citizens and stalwart defenders of the Fatherland, Metropolitan Kirill noted in his conclusion.
Deputy Minister of Defense N.V. Mikhailov assessed the opening of the Orthodoxy Department within the walls of the PVO Military Academy as a significant and progressive event, that is completely prescribed by the logic of the contemporary development of Russia. It is sufficient to mention the hundreds of churches and chapels which have recently been erected by the hands of military personnel and members of their families in all corners of the country. The Russian army understands well that we can achieve the regeneration of the Fatherland only through a consolidation of all the morally healthy forces of society and the establishment within it of supreme spiritual priorities as the norm of life. The Russian Orthodox church has historically personified the force that is able to unite people in the achievement of these goals. The relationship between the Russian army and the church which is being successfully worked out corresponds supremely with them. It is no accident that of all the professions, only the work of the military and the clergy are given the special designation of "service," the deputy minister of defense of Russia stated.
The distinguished guests visited the premises in which the new department will be located. Here Metropolital Kirill conducted a prayer service, invoking the Lord's blessing upon the spiritual labors of teachers and students of the academy. (tr. by PDS)
(posted 17 March 2000)
On 12 March His Holiness Alexis II, patriarch of Moscow and all-Rus, signed a decree according to which the prohibitions were lifted from the former rector of the Moscow church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God in Pechatniki, Fr Georgy Kochetkov and from twelve of his parishioners.
On 15 March in the church of Saint Sergius of Radonezh in Rogozhskaia Sloboda of the city of Moscow, the chief of staff of the Moscow patriarchate, Metropolitan Sergius of Solnechnogorsk, performed the ritual of reconciliation. In his introductory sermon Metropolitan Sergius said that Fr Georgy and the laity had made their penance in good conscience and that at the beginning of the Fast His Holiness blessed his performing this ritual. After this Metropolitan Sergius read the text of a resolution and the decree, where the patriarch says that, taking into account the prohibitions and penance born by Fr Georgy Kochetkov and his parishioners, as well as Fr Georgy's assurances that his activity and that of the schools and brotherhoods that he leads will be directed toward strengthening the Russian Orthodox church in complete obedience to the hierarchy, he considers it possible to remove the bans imposed by him in October 1997. Then Metropolitan Sergius gave a prayer of settlement for all. Thus, Fr Georgy Kochetkov has been restored to the right of priestly ministry and the laity to the right of communion.
However the laity who had been under ban were advised to refrain from active participation in the parish life of churches. It remains an open question whether Fr Georgy Kochetkov will resume parish ministry and, consequently, which church will be designated for the very large congregation. he heads. According to the decree, this question will be reviewed by the patriarch after the conclusion of a special theological commission of the Moscow Ecclesiastical Academy and Saint Tikhon's Institute, certifying that the theological works published by Fr Gerogy do not contradict the Orthodox teaching of the holy fathers and do not violate the traditions of the Russian Orthodox church. (tr. by PDS)
(posted 16 March 2000)
The press service of the Ministry of Taxes and Duties (MNS) was forced to respond to the surprise declaration of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox church and it issued a statement in which it said that the assignment to Russian citizens of taxpayer identification numbers (INN) was not intended to undermine the structure of Orthodoxy and does not deprive taxpayers of their "personal identity."
As is known, several church groups are sounding the alarm and are talking about the "last times" because the bar codes, which soon every Russian taxpayer will receive, contain the encoded "number of the beast," 666. "Many Christians, who consider their name a sacred thing given to them at baptism, think it unworthy to ask the government to assign them some new 'name' in the form of a number," the synod's declaration says. However the synod ignores the fact that a "name in the form of a number" for every person has already long existed; it is the number in the civil passport as well as many other identification documents. None of the Orthodox every spoke against them. Why this sudden uproar?
The synod's declaration obviously was made in inexplicable haste. The authors of the text did not even take time to check basic facts and they used rumors to a great extent. In fact, the INN has nothing to do with bar codes. The INN is simply a numerical sequence which already has been in use a long time in work with organizations, including Orthodox ones.
Can there be other reasons why the Holy Synod chose to make this declaration at this time? The influential Russian newspaper Izvestiia maintains that the mystical sensitivity of RPTs could quite well be connected with the fact that MNS under the leadership of Pochinok has tried persistently to reduce tax privileges at the same time the church, as is known, is one of the largest importers in the country of alcohol and tobacco due to existing customs privileges. Apocalyptic moods, which are prevalent among Orthodox in the jubilee year 2000, can inject a certain instability into society, including the economy. Besides, church hierarchs have tried to get tax privileges for two of the largest commercial structures, KhPP Sofrino and AOST Artgemma (precious stone cutter), in addition to the already existing exemption of their products from income tax and the exemption of jewelry "with religious and liturgical significance" from excise tax. If this were done, then the church undoubtedly would become one of the most powerful players on the jewelry market of Russia. (tr. by PDS)
"INN" DOES NOT EQUAL 666
Bar codes do not contain the "number of the beast"
by Igor Stadnik
Segodnia, 14 March 2000
The Ministry of Taxes and Duties (MNS) responded to the accusation by the Holy Synod of RPTs that documents issued with the individual tax number (INN) contain in a cryptic form the "number of antichrist," 666. In its statement MNS emphasized that neither the form nor the blank certifying the assignment of INN contains any bar code whatsoever. As additional assurance to the holy fathers, MNS promised that it would not transfer the right to establish a certification form to anybody, even regional subdivisions.
However within RPTs it is insisted that the bar code is contained in the application for receiving an INN. The director of electronic systems of the Association of International Coding UNISKAN, Vladimir Korostelev, commented on the problem of the "three sixes" for Segodnia. He explained that the division symbols consisting of two elongated bars, located at the beginning, middle, and end of each code, are not numbers. Any number is formed by a combination of not only bars but also spaces, and the number "6" in the bar code system consists of a single bar, single space, single bar, and four spaces. The division symbols have only single bars and spaces.
A representative of the Department of External Church Relations, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, whom Segodnia also contacted, agreed that the number 666 is not in the code, but it "looks very much like it," and thus the problem persists. The question is: whose problem? If a school child tried to justify a wrong answer by saying that 6 is like 5 (or 8), this would be his problem as well as that of his daily record.
The original source of the nonsense about the three sixes in the bar
code was the obscure (and apparently illiterate) Greek computer worker
Thomas Psaras, who in 1997 responded to an inquiry from his countryman
Archbishop Nectarius by reporting that the bar codes "use three cryptic
double bars which were deliberately chosen to represent the number 6."
Since then this modern apocryphal story has been circulated among Orthodox
churches, giving rise to "anti bar code" declarations of the Greek, Ukrainian,
and Russian hierarchs. It should also be pointed out that times have changed
and, in contrast to the first centuries of Christianity, it is not the
poorly educated flock that is ready to spread apocryphal stories, but the
upper ranks of the church. (tr. by PDS)
(posted 15 March 2000)
[editor's note: Twenty-four hours worth of personal interviews with Acting President Vladimir Putin have been put into book form by two Kommersant reporters. This book, titled From the First Person, was printed, but the Russian electoral commission has forbidden its sale before the election, judging it campaign material.
In Putin's recollections about his childhood he includes a reference to his baptism. The translation of that excerpt follows. There is little difference between this and an excerpt from an earlier article; the most specific addition here is the date of Putin's trip to Israel.]FROM THE FIRST PERSON. CONVERSATIONS WITH VLADIMIR PUTIN
"In our communal apartment, in one of the rooms, there lived a Jewish family, an old grandpa and grandma and their daughter Khava. . . . They were proper Jews. On Saturdays they did no work and the old man recited the Talmud from morning to night in accordance with required procedure: bu-bu-bu. . . Once I couldn't stand it any more and I asked him what he was mumbling. He explained to me what kind of book this way and I immediately lost interest . . . There also were retirees in our apartment, true, not for long. My baptism is connected with them. A neighbor, Baba Anya, was a devout person who attended church, and when I was born she and my mother baptized me, unbeknownst to my father who was a party member, secretary of the party organization at the shop.
After many years, in 1993, when I was working in the Leningrad council, I went to Israel as part of an official delegation. Mama gave me my baptismal cross so that I could have it consecrated at the tomb of the Lord. I fulfilled her request and then I put on this cross and since then have never taken it off. . . . (tr. by PDS)
(posted 14 March 2000)
MOSCOW, March 13. Today the Plenitude of the Russian Orthodox Church enters the Lenten season which according to the Eastern Orthodox tradition lasts for 40 day and precedes the Holy Easter. The season of repentance and fast starts with the first Monday in Lent. It has been a custom amid Russian people since immemorial time to get very early this day to visit a bathhouse as a symbolic act of washing filth out of body and soul. Orthodox believers strictly observe the Lenten requirement to fast, to ardently pray both at home and at services of worship, to avoid visiting public events, cinemas, theaters etc. The Lent is the time for Orthodox men and women to occupy themselves with introspection, to become aware of their sins and transgressions and to repent for no forgiveness is possible without repentance. Only children, pregnant women and the sick are permitted to turn aside. Worship-services are traditionally ascetic during the Lent: no joyful chants, no bright light, only rare candles twinkling in front of shadowed icons and clergy vested in black proclaiming humbleness, obedience and sorrow. Yesterday on the pre-Lenten Sunday of Forgiveness His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and all Russia celebrated the office of forgiveness at the Epiphany Cathedral in the presence of the clergy and laity of the Russian Orthodox Church. On the threshold of the Lent he prayerfully asked the Lord to grant that the salvific Quadragesima be beneficial for the Orthodox flock. Tonight His Holiness starts reading the Forgiveness canon at the Epiphany Cathedral. The Lent in the Christian church is a period of penitential preparation for Easter. In Western churches it begins on Ash Wednesday, 6 1/2 weeks before Easter, and provides for a 40-day fast (Sundays are excluded), in imitation of Jesus Christ's fasting in the wilderness. In Eastern churches it begins 8 weeks before Easter. Since apostolic times a period of preparation and fasting has been observed before the Easter festival. It was a time of reparation of candidates for baptism and a time of penance for sinners. In the early centuries fasting rules were strict, as they still are in Eastern churches. One meal a day was allowed in the evening, and meat, fish, eggs, and butter were forbidden. In the West these fasting rules have gradually been relaxed. The strict law of fasting among Roman Catholics was dispensed during World War II, and only Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are now kept as Lenten fast days. But the emphasis on penitential practice remains. In the Anglican churches The Book of Common Prayer prescribes that Lent be observed with fasting. In Lutheran and many other Protestant churches Lent is observed with various services and practices.
(posted 13 March 2000)
IS THERE A SATANIC SYMBOL IN THE TAX DOCUMENTS OF POCHINOK'S ADMINISTRATION
by Evgeny Krutikov
Izvestiia, 10 March 2000
The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox church (RPTs) issued a declaration accusing the Ministry on Taxes and Duties (MNS) of using a "satanic symbol" in several tax documents. In the church's opinion, the bar codes contain a representation of the number 666, which is the "number of antichrist;" just which documents contain the mystical bar code is not specified. It is curious that at the same time RPTs has already for several years been receiving from the government expanded tax privileges.
The first thing that strikes one in this synod declaration, that is remarkable in a number of senses, is its extraordinary vulnerabilty to criticism. RPTs seldom speaks out on civil matters so openly, and even less often in the form of criticism of governmental actions. Besides, RPTs does not have a developed system for exerting influence upon secular authority through certain internal church institutions, of the form of the Order of Jesus (Jesuits) that Catholics have, which could stand on a par with the government in matters of the formation of policy and in the economic sphere. Indeed the position of RPTs within society in the last year and a half is not so firm as it was in the middle of the 1990s, when every self-respecting political candidate, even a confirmed atheist, was forced to show up at liturgy a couple of times a year. Besides, the Orthodox church has experienced certain problems from its own flock and it has been forced to search for a balance between the extremely radical and little-educated part of parishioners, who are inclined to believe the "advent of antichrist in the year 2000" and all sorts of conspiracies, and the undecided "sympathizers," who attend church occasionally but still consider themselves Orthodox believers.
Of course, in such a situation cynical reporters search for the first logical explanation for such a strange action by the Holy Synod in the economic bases of RPTs, which is one of the richest "public organizations" in Russia. It is known that the church, which enjoys various privileges at customs, controls a substantial portion of the imports of tobacco and alcohol into the country, which in and of itself is strange for a religious organization.
"Don't confuse the one with the other," Izvestiia was admonished at MNS. "Import privileges is a matter for the Customs Committee and not a matter of taxes." That is true. The economic basis for the conflict between RPTs and the tax collectors may lie not so much in the area of the profit-making business of the church fathers, the importation of alcohol and tobacco, as in some drawn-out conflicts dealing with the large commercial structures of the church that are engaged in production: "Sofrino" (church ware) and AOZT Artgemma (cutting of precious stones). One's attention is called to the fact that in the preparation of the latest declaration of the Holy Synod, an active part was played by the chairman of the Department of External Church Relations (OVTsS), Metropolitan Kirill Gundiaev of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, who was dismissed in January 1997 by this same Holy Synod from work dealing with humanitarian aid.
Meanwhile there still are no data that confirm that the manufacturing organizations controlled by the church have clashed with the Ministry of Taxes and Duties in the last month. Evidently the economic theme, even if it exists among the motives for the appearance of the latest declaration of the Holy Synod, is only subordinate to other motives for the situation. It seems that in finding the "hand of antichrist" in the actions of the office of Pochinok RPTs was guided mainly by what it calls "matters of faith."
RPTs's dislike for any kind of census and accounting, especially in the application of international (that is including other than countries with a traditional dominance of Orthodoxy) system or coding, has long been known. In just about every attempt to create some regulatory system on the basis of western experience RPTs sees the hand, if not of antichrist, then at least of the Vatican (and they are still seeking and finding traces of Masonic conspiracies). The same Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, for example, declared yesterday that RPTs "does not agree with that conception of freedom of speech which came into Russia from the West back at the beginning of perestroika." Of a piece with this are the suggestions to create some "alternative computer language" (on the basis of Church Slavonic?) for which RPTS is prepared to offer to MNS and FAPSI their own specialists.
It seems that in balancing between the conservative (let's call it that) and the liberal sections of its flock, RPTs nevertheless is gradually identifying with the side of the conservatives who, however regrettably, historically have always played a dark and unconstructive role in Russian Orthodoxy.
* * *
Any political declaration contains social, economic, and other subtexts. Church politics are no exception. However it must not be forgotten that the main audience of the synodal letter is not the state nor the tax inspection nor society as a whole, but the Orthodox clergy and its flock. Whoever is acquainted with the current church milieu knows what kinds of fears and subconscious complexes control the minds of many parishioners and to some extent the clergy, and how widely spread are eschatological (bordering on hysteria) moods. From this point of view the declaration of the Holy Synod is not at all "reactionary." On the contrary, it is adapting the frightened and unenlightened portion of contemporary Christians to the realities of the postindustrual life: "One must not fear external symbols and signs. . . .We remind those who are trying to associate identification numbers with the 'seal of the antichrist' that in the tradition of the holy fathers such a seal is understood as a sign that established a conscious apostasy from Christ. . . . No kind of external sign can damage the spiritual health of a person if it is not taken as the consequence of conscious betrayal of Christ and renunciation of faith."
If one does not take all of this into account, it is possible to turn the problem inside out and simply fall into an informational quagmire. Alexander Arkhangelsky
* * *
TAX ON CONSCIENCE
Reconciliation with reality
In private conversations our sources in the government have turned the conversation about "antichrist" to a practical plane. They associate the synod's interest in the tax innovations by MNS with the concrete tax and customs privileges that the Russian Orthodox church has long enjoyed. We recall that in 1995 it received from the government permission for duty-free importation of alcohol, as well as cigarettes "with subsequent partial realization." This permitted the Public Committee on Freedom of Conscience even to call Patriarch Alexis II an "oligarch" and to accuse him of financial "unscrupulousness." "The patriarchate has soaked up hundreds of billions of rubles of state money. The public has long known about the tobacco, alcohol, petroleum, and apartment business carried on under the church's roof," says a letter sent by the committee a year and a half ago to the then head of the government, Evgeny Primakov. Reliable information proving the misuse of tax privileges was never found, but as a result of the uproar, after six months the permission for duty-free import of cigarettes was cancelled.
It is curious that RPTs long ago got from the government still other
tax privileges. The issue is, in particular, the exemption from excise
taxes on jewelry that has "religious and liturgical purposes." At
the same time privileges were supposed to be enjoyed only by enterprises
which were owned by RPTs. We recall that they already were exempted
from tax on profits. Hitherto the government has denied church people their
requests for new reductions in taxes, but never have government officials
publicly been accused of ties with the antichrist. Natalia Neimysheva
(tr. by PDS)
(posted 13 March 2000)
TAX ID NUMBERS STIR FEARS OF ANTICHRIST
by Andrei Zolotov Jr.,
Moscow
Times, 11 March 2000
"And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred threescore and six." (Revelations 13, 17-18).
It is the year 2000, and some right-wing Christians fear the growing computerization of the world is opening the way for the coming of the Antichrist.
The government's new, widely publicized plan to give every citizen a tax identification number and talk of introducing social security cards with bar codes - dreaded by those who see Satan's number, 666, in the codes - has apparently given them cause for further alarm.
This week, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church broke new ground with a rare public policy statement addressing their fears and aimed at calming the waters.
The document, titled "To Respect the Feelings of Believers and Maintain Christian Sober-mindedness,"calls on the government to reconsider its plans for tax numbers, while urging church members not to read too much into the numbers.
The church statement said some believers are concerned about being assigned numbers that will be entered into computerized data bases and allow the government to have "total control" over their private lives.
"Many Christians, who consider the name given to them in baptism holy, consider it unworthy to ask the government for some new 'name' in the form of a number," the statement said.
On one hand, the church authorities told the clergy and church members to remain "sober-minded" and remember that "no external sign will violate the spiritual health of a person, if it is not a consequence of a conscious betrayal of Christ." The statement was critical of priests who deny communion to those who have applied for the numbers.
On the other hand, it urged the government to create an alternative system for keeping records of citizens so that those for whom using electronic cards is problematic would still be able to receive benefits.
The federal Pension Fund introduced cards with bar codes several years ago, but the campaign appears to have fizzled out. Last year, the Moscow city government proposed introducing all-purpose cards for Muscovites that would keep track of their social and medical benefits and be used to pay bills.
Larisa Sakharova, a spokeswoman for the Moscow branch of the Tax Ministry, said Friday there are no plans to issue cards with bar codes in connection with the tax identification numbers. People will receive "certificates" with the numbers, which would have to be entered into computers.
This is unlikely to be a consolation to those who believe in the conspiracy theories that portray a mysterious universal force seeking to destroy Christians.
Small groups of right-wing Christians, in Russia and around the world, see bar codes as having a diabolical nature. It is enough to type "bar-code+Antichrist" on any Internet search engine to get a whole series of web sites explaining the theory in great detail. According to an international system known as UEA/UPC, every bar code has three pairs of thin parallel stripes in the beginning, middle and end of the code, which uses combinations of stripes and spaces to signify numbers easily readable by a scanner. These three pairs of stripes - which bear no meaning and separate the parts of the code - are said to look strikingly similar to the combinations of stripes used to mark the number six.
The issue arose in the Orthodox world in 1997 when predominantly Orthodox Greece debated ratification of the European Union's Schengen pact, under which citizens have visa-free travel among EU countries. The existence of magnetic strips in EU passports containing bar codes caused public rallies and an appeal of the Greek Orthodox Church. The pact was ultimately ratified by the Greek parliament, but with a thin majority.
In 1998, Orthodox Christians in Ukraine rallied to protest the introduction of a national taxpayers' register. The parliament ultimately amended the law to provide for an alternative system of accounting using such traditional means as people's passport numbers.
Now, it is Russia's turn.
One of the pioneers of the discussion in Russia was a conservative priest and leading Orthodox publisher, Archimiandrite Tikhon Shevkunov, who heads the Sretensky Monastery in central Moscow. When Sretensky Monastery launched its own web site, www.pravoslavie.ru, late last year, it had a special page, called Schengen Zone, dedicated to the problem of the devil in bar codes. It invited people to participate in the discussion.
"Those who stand behind the three sixes are already crying all over the world: That's us!" one person wrote. "We could have put three sevens instead, but we have chosen three sixes because from the first century on Christians have knownthat three sixes, whose mystery will be unknown until the last days, are tied with the coming of the Antichrist."
It is unclear how many Russians are concerned about bar codes and computerized identification numbers. The synod's statement puzzled some Orthodox Christians.
"What?!" exclaimed Anna Sokolova, a violinist and a practicing Orthodox Christian who was brought up in a prominent clerical family. "I have never heard about it."
Sergei Chapnin, the editor Internet magazine Sobornost Orthodox (www.sobor.ru), said he was surprised by the synod's statement because it gave undue prominence to the issue without a proper theological discussion.
He acknowledged, however, the problem exists and said it is the sign of an "occult" mentality penetrating the Orthodox Church.
"To believe in the magic of numbers is absolutely a non-Christian attitude toward life," Chapnin said. "If some people are afraid of it, it only says that occultism is intruding into Christian consciousness, and first of all the consciousness of neophytes who are the majority in today's Russian Orthodox Church."
Chapnin said the church is dealing with the challenges of an information society while it has not yet recovered from the siege mentality caused by Soviet-era persecution of Christians.
(posted 15 March 2000)
Declaration of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church
7 March 2000
Recently the government of Russia and a number of other countries of the Commonwealth have tried to set up a system for collecting information about citizens, which will be maintained in state computers. This is justified by the need to regulate the tax collection system as well as a desire to facilitate the financial relations between citizens and administrative structures.
In particular, residents in several localities have begun receiving electronic cards by which their accounts with local administrative agencies will be conducted and which will become the basis for distribution of social and medical aid, that is, the return of financial means which citizens give to the government in the form of taxes. This innovation has caused anxiety among believers who are afraid of total control by the state over the private and public life of people, as well as of the absence of any kind of public control over the information which may be contained on these cards.
Every working person, upon application, will be assigned an individual tax number. Many Christians, who consider their name to be a sacred thing given to them at baptism, think it improper to ask the government to assign to them some new "name" in the form of a number.
Another no less important question which has caused believers to appeal to us is the problem of the symbol that is used for registration of citizens. In some document there is or will be a bar code that represents numbers in the form of lines of varying thickness. Each of these codes contains three dividing lines that are shaped like the symbol adopted for the number "6." Thus by the choice of the inventors of the international system the bar codes contain a representation of the number 666, which is mentioned in the book of the Revelation of Saint John the Divine as the number of the antichrist (Rev. 13. 16-18) and for that reason is being used by satanic sects for desecrating the church and Christians.
Many specialists who work in computer technology assure us that the use of the sign for the number "6" as a demarcating line is unnecessary. From this it is possible to draw the conclusion that, whether consciously or unconsciously, the inventors of the international bar code system which is widely used today in statistics, trade, tracking the movement of goods, and many other areas chose a symbol that is offensive and alarming for Christians, which appears at least to be rude ridicule. Concern about this matter already has been expressed by many Orthodox societies in the world, particularly the Greek church. In view of the complexity of the problem, the Holy Synod nevertheless appeals to pastors and to the flock with a call to maintain Christian sober-mindedness.
The anxiety which has been engendered in you by the actions of the authorities is shared by the church hierarchy because in the final analysis the issue is the protection of the right of believers to live in accordance with their religious convictions. However at the same time we want to declare clearly that there is no need to fear external symbols and signs, for there is no delusion of the enemy of human souls that can overcome the grace of God which abounds in the holy church. Nothing and no one can shake the faith of a person who truly abides in Christ and takes refuge in the church's mysteries. The holy apostle Peter writes: "Who will do you evil if you are zealous for the good? But if you suffer for righteousness, then you are blessed; do not fear what they fear and do not be frightened. Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts; be always ready to give an answer to everyone requiring of you an account of your hope, in meekness and respect" (1 Pet 3.13-15). Some pastors have unilaterally included the question about receipt of a tax number among the questions asked at confession and they have made rejection of tax registration a requirement for admission to Holy Communion. We remind those who are trying to link identification numbers with "the seal of antichrist" that in the tradition of the holy fathers such a seal is understood as a sign that establishes conscious apostasy from Christ. According to Hippolytus of Rome, "that seal will say: 'I renounce the Creator of heaven and earth; I renounce baptism; I renounce my service to God and I unite myself with you and I believe in you.'" Similarly Saint Nil says: "On the seal will be written the following: 'I am yours,' 'May you be mine.'" Despite this tradition sometimes it is alleged that the effect of technology could in and of itself produce a turnabout in the secret depths of the human soul, leading it to abandon Christ. Such superstition diverges from the Orthodox understanding of the Revelation of Saint John the Divine, according to which the "seal of the beast" is placed on those who consciously believe in him "simply because of his false miracles" (Bishop John Chrysostom). No kind of external sign can damage the spiritual health of a person if it is not the consequence of a conscious betrayal of Christ and renunciation of the faith.
Having said this, in the name of our flock we appeal at the same time to the authorities, taking into account all of the above mentioned causes of anxiety and misunderstanding.
The church views with understanding the attempt to improve the collection of taxes inasmuch as in many respects the welfare of the people depends on this, especially those who are suffering from poverty, misfortune and old age. We also welcome any attempts to facilitate access of citizens to social aid and other benefits offered by the state, for we know how many difficulties today accompany such access.
However the Holy Synod reminds the government that according to the standards of secular law, in particular the Russian constitution, collection, maintenance, and use of information about the personal lives of people without their consent is not permitted (article 24). Responding to the anxiety of the servants of our church, we call the powers that be to heed with all seriousness our declaration. In particular we are disturbed by the absence of citizens' access to information about them which may be stored in electronic data bases of the taxation agencies and other administrative and financial institutions, and the possibility of using this information to people's disadvantage.
We consider it important to create for believers the possibility of not having to apply for an individual tax number.
We call the authorities of Russia and other countries of CIS that have a primarily Orthodox population to raise the question of removing from the bar codes the blasphemous symbol by replacing the corresponding signs of the international system of inscription. If this is impossible to do, we consider it necessary to create an alternative national electronic language.
There is also another essential issue. Soon people who do not have a tax number or the plastic card will be denied in practice the possibility of receiving social and even medical aid. If such happens, then will arise a basis for doubting the principles of the equal rights of citizens and freedom of conscience, principles which are so vigorously proclaimed by contemporary civilization.
It is for this reason that we insist on the necessity of having an alternative record keeping system for citizens and an alternative way for them to receive social, medical, insurance, and other services.
The church cannot but raise its voice in defence of human freedom. Because it is extremely important for the spiritual unity of society that believers not be placed in second class status, again seeing in the government a persecutor and reviler of the faith. Indeed, Orthodox Christians upon whom the government forces the acceptance of documents containing a number with its deplorable significance will not endanger their own souls. But at the same time it will be necessary for them again, as in the time of persecution, to make an agonizing distinction between the Motherland and the state. Genuine repentance for the crimes committed in the twentieth century against believers will be achieved only when the state steadfastly respects believers' feelings and does not intrude upon the conscience of the individual for whatever motives, whether political, economic, ideological, or police.
With prayer for Russia and other countries where our flock resides, we hope that the civil authorities will not be indifferent to the pain of millions of Christians. And we appeal to the ministers of Christ and to our flock with the words of the apostle Paul: "May the God of patience and consolation grant you to be of one mind among yourselves, according to the teachings of Jesus Christ" (Rom 15.5) (tr. by PDS)
(posted 11 March 2000)
BARCODE FROM THE DECEIVER
by Alla Astakhova, Aleksei Makarkin
Segodnia, 10 March 2000
The church beseeches the tax service to reject the "number of the beast"
The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox church is upset by the symbols that are being used in some tax documents, as well as by the collection of information about residents of Russia for the use of the tax collection agencies. The hierarchs are concerned about possible violation of article 24 of the constitution of RF according to which collection and use of information about the private lives of people without their consent is not permitted. They are worried about "total control by the state of the private life of the individual" as well as the absence of public control over the information gathered.
As regards the symbols, they are the bar codes that have appeared on the cards that are issued with individual taxpayer numbers (INN). "Each of these codes contains three division lines corresponding to the symbol that has been adopted for the number 6," the synod's appeal says. That means the bar codes, by decision of the creators of the international system of inscription, contain a representation of the number 666, the number of antichrist."
In commenting for Segodnia on this report, a representative of the Department of External Church Affairs of RPTs, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, characterized the synod's appeal as an attempt to give voice to the position of a large number of believers who had sent letters to the patriarchate protesting against the introduction of these cards. "RPTs is not saying there is no need for holding taxpayers to account," Fr Vsevolod noted. "Doubts are raised only by the practice of assigning to citizens serial numbers and bar codes. In order to get a taxpayer card it is necessary to fill out an application requesting it. Believers argue that in this case they would be forced to give consent to the assignment of some 'name' distinct from their Christian name given at baptism. If the state itself assigned an INN, the moral burden to a significant extent would be lifted from the believers."
The church sees a way out in the removal from the bar codes of the "blasphemous symbol by means of the replacement in the international system of the corresponding signs." If this is impossible, then in the creation of an alternative national electronic language without any demonic regime.
The first Orthodox to get up in arms about the bar code were the Greeks. On 7 April 1997 the Holy Synod of the Greek church published a letter "with regard to the number 666 and electronic cards," in which it recommended not taking the number 666 as a code number of the state electronic systems (including those provided for by the Schengen agreements in which Greece joined). On 9 February 1998 a new letter appeared from the same synod in which it was said that as a result of "bar coding" Orthodoxy was at risk of being "turned into a kind of restricted minority."
A majority of Orthodox of the so-called developed countries (USA, England, France) as well as countries aspiring to join the European Union (Bulgaria, Romania) have ignored the problem of bar codes. Greece is another matter. It is a country where the entry "religious profession" still is in passports and the Orthodox church enjoys preeminence in comparison with other confessions. And Russia, where fear of "western influence" is extremely strong and many "pastors and their flocks" have taken the Greeks' argument seriously. Some believers are afraid of buying goods with bar codes in stores, and if they buy them they then repent of their "sin" at confession. The decision of the synod apparently is supposed to give some orderly limits to the issue and attempt to achieve a compromise, especially since the synodal fathers do not deny the importance of the work of the tax inspectors.
As regards the legal aspect of the problem, Segodnia has managed to clarify the know-how of the Russian tax collectors regarding the assignment of tax payer bar codes. As explained by Viacheslav Vasilev, a representative of UNISKAN, the Russian department of the organization of EAN International which is developing and installing the international bar codes, "Russian tax services did not ask us." That means that the bar codes developed by the tax collectors exist only for "internal use" and they have no international character. At the same time Viacheslav Vasilev emphasized that the "system of bar coding has never been applied anywhere in the world for conducting fiscal tasks."
The concern of the hierarchs for possible violation of human rights is shared by attorneys. "I am persuaded that the individual taxpayer number can be used for combatting criminals," the well known attorney Anatoly Kucherena declared to Segodnia. "The desire of tax collectors to hold everyone to account is understandable, but for this it is necessary to adopt a law passed by the State Duma. In this case we have a matter not of a law but a decree by a particular administration. Law abiding tax payers in other countries fear the law, but we are going to fear the tax police."
Representatives of the Ministry of Taxes and Duties of RF still have made no kind of response to the criticism coming from the church. "We will not be in any hurry to give an answer," the head of the department of informational policy, Vadim Smishchenko, told Segodnia. (tr. by PDS)
(posted 15 March 2000)
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