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Tax question threatens church authority

As NTV.ru reported, according to a statement from the press service of the Belgorod and Starooskolsk diocese of the Russian Orthodox church, in the final months of 2000 unknown persons distributed pamphlets with the text of a "Sample statement of refusal of INN" ["identification tax number"] on the grounds of churches and of a number of enterprises and institutions of Belgorod province.

The authors of these pamphlets are putting into believers' heads the idea that accepting an identification tax number "is apostasy from God and consent to have imprinted upon yourself the seal of antichrist."

With the blessing of Archbishop Ioann Popov of Belgorod and Starooskolsk, the press service of the diocese declared that no written or oral blessing for citizens' refusal to accept INN has been given by the leadership of the Russian Orthodox church. In connection with this the press service of the diocese called residents of the province not to give in to baseless panic and to pay no attention to any "statements of refusal of INN" offered by unknown persons. The diocese calls them to consider publication of these statements in some of the print media to be a mistake and in contradiction with the position of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox church.

This report could be one in a series of similar reports, if not a universal reproduction of the situation described in it. Situations almost completely indistinguishable have arisen around the question of acceptance of INN in Voronezh and Lipetsk, Cheboksarai and Chuvash, Irkutsk and Angara, and other dioceses of the Russian Orthodox church. Everything has happened in accordance with the very same scenario: a statement of protest from below, publication of leaflets, call for opposition, conciliatory statement at the diocesan level, and a more or less decisive distancing of himself from the spontaneous movement on the part of the ruling bishop.

It is obvious that the question of accepting INN is dividing Orthodox laity and even clergy, like no other question, into two opposing (still on the polemic level) parts. One wishes to hope that those who accept INN and do not see anything frightful in it and those who categorically deny the possibility for an Orthodox Christian's agreeing to accept INN will in the future, at least for some time, get along with each other peacefully. However it is quite likely that this peaceful coexistence will not last long.

Already the contradiction has been solidly established now at the level of "spiritual advisor-spiritual child," where the official decisions of the church hierarchy have ceased to have effect at this level without prior permission.  The average parishioner who comes to a priest, who is authoritative for him, for confession or a spiritual conversation most likely is not acquainted with or simply not interested in declarations of the Holy Synod, appeals of the patriarch or diocesan bishop, or protocols about cooperation and agreements of the Moscow patriarchate with the Ministry of Taxes and Duties. He heeds his own priest, trusts him, and is guided by his advice.

If he is an opponent of INN, the priest either recommends not to or simply forbids his spiritual child to accept the tax number. If, on the contrary, the priest does not share the views of the opponents of INN, he advises his spiritual child not to get mired in all this controversy but to pray to God and repent of his sins with meekness and simplicity of heart. Of course there are numerous borderline situations when it is impossible to determine unambiguously the position of either priest or parishioner. There are cases where the INN question in all its seriousness does not cause any problem in relations between spiritual advisor and spiritual child. Finally there are cases where the parishioner does not agree with the pastor's opinion and  doesn't change his mind and withdraws from communication with the former spiritual advisor and goes off in search of a new counselor.

Whatever the case, official church decisions on the question of accepting INN at the present time play a infinitesimally small role in any of the above-described cases. The situation is developing where on this matter clergy and laity are beginning in most cases to be guided by their own Christian conscience. Such a "dictatorship of conscience" contains obvious dangers: from the possibility of open church schism to a covert, secret schism in which the hierarchy simply ceases to be viewed at a source of authority for teaching the faith and its decisions and directives--while canonical unity with it is preserved--begin to be viewed as some kind of "informational noise," that need not be heeded and which can be ignored. When this happens the spiritual advisors and their children begin to create their own kind of "common law" of the church at its parish or monastery level by which they themselves are guided and which they call whoever can hear their voice to be guided by.

It is still difficult to say now which of the courses of development has the greater chance of being realized, but the dangers for the whole church structure of the ruptures in relations among hierarchy, clergy, and laity that are already appearing must not be underestimated. (tr. by PDS, posted 13 January 2001)
 

Briefs: Jehovah's Witnesses; Ukraine; new chapel in Petersburg; patriarch greets antisemites

The Jehovah's Witnesses are a dangerous sect to which the European Convention on Human Rights does not apply, declared the chair of the Commission on Human Rights of the Governorship of Cheliabinsk province, Ekaterina Gorina, according to a report by the Blagovest-info news agency.  In her opinion, a religious group does not have rights to freedom of religious confession equivalent to a religious organization. The Cheliabinsk congregation of deaf Jehovah's Witnesses has the status of a group and cannot conduct divine services on the territory of Cheliabinsk province, Gorina maintains.

The chief rights' defender of Cheliabinsk made these statements in the trial on the complaint of the Cheliabinsk congregation of deaf Jehovah's Witnesses. In the spring of last year she disrupted a service of the Jehovists in premises rented by them. The trial on the congregation's suit began 26 December.

The effect of the European Convention on Human Rights extends to all persons irrespective of their religious and national affiliation. The Russian law "On freedom of conscience and religious association" contains a number of restrictions on the activity of religious groups, but there is no reduction of the right to freedom of faith among them.

As was reported by a representative of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia Viacheslav Maiatsky, Judge Olga Fotina turned down the majority of questions from attorneys for the plaintiffs with regard to Gorina's interpretation of freedom of conscience. "Everything comes down to showing that Ekaterina Gorina's actions were not planned beforehand but were spontaneous," Viacheslav Maiatsky explained.

Ombudsman Gorina also heads the organization "Informational Center of the Council of Europe in Cheliabinsk Province." Her associate in this affair is the director of the provincial consultation center "Man, Law, State," Igor Tomsky, who took part in dispersing the hard-of-hearing believers. The hearing of the case is continuing.  (tr. by PDS, posted 12 January 2001)

HEAD OF KIEV PATRIARCHATE ADVOCATES JOINT WORSHIP OF THREE ORTHODOX CHURCHES
NTV, 12 January 2001

The head of the Ukrainian Orthodox church (Kiev patriarchate), Patriarch Filaret Denisenko, sent to Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko a letter requesting permission to conduct in the Holy Wisdom cathedral of Kiev a joint divine worship service of the three Ukrainian Orthodox churches. As the Ukrainian National Rukh parliamentary fraction reported, the letter with this request was sent to the premier by a group of people's deputies, including the leaders of the fractions, "Echo of Moscow" reported citing Interfax.

The initiative for conducting the joint service of UPTs(KP), the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox church (UAPTs) and UPTs(MP) was announced in the name of the Rukh fraction on 10 January during the local council of UPTs(KP) by people's deputy Vasily Chervony, a member of the Supreme Church Council. The council supported the suggestion and sent a corresponding letter to the leaders of UAPTs and UPTs(MP).

Meanwhile UPTs(MP) has not recognized the self-proclaimed UPTs of the Kiev patriarchate, which it considers uncanonical. The Russian Orthodox church pronounced Filaret anathema for "schism of Orthodoxy" activity in Ukraine. Disputes over the right to hold divine services in the central Holy Wisdom cathedral in Kiev have been going on more than a year now. (tr. by PDS, posted 12 January 2001)

CHAPEL IN HONOR OF CHRIST'S NATIVITY CONSECRATED IN PETERSBURG BUSINESS CENTER
ITAR-TASS/Sobornost, 11 January 2001

A chapel dedicated to Christ's Nativity was consecrated 10 January in the Petersburg international "Neptune" business center. The ceremony of consecration was performed by Metropolitan Vladimir of St. Petersburg and Ladoga. The domestic chapel that is crowned by a cupola with a cross is located on the sixth floor of the business center. It was built on a design by architect G. Egorov in an unusual style of a "building within a building." The initiator of its creation was the general director of the "Rubin" Central Construction Bureau of Marine Technology, Academician Igor Spassky.

Sacraments will be performed here by clergy of the St. Nicholas marine cathedral. The opening of the chapel was a "Rubin's" contribution in celebration of the bimillennium of the birth of Christ and the tercentenary of the city on the Neva.

Before the revolution there were several churches in St. Petersburg in honor of Christ's Nativity. They all were destroyed under the soviet regime. (tr. by PDS, posted 12 January 2001)

JUBILEE OF "RUSSKII VESTNIK" NEWSPAPER
from Communications Service, OVTsS MP, 12 January 2001

Ten years have passed since the first issue of the newspaper Russkii vestnik came out. On 10 January at the Gorky art theater there was a celebration evening in which an employee of the secretariat of OVTsS MP for relations between church and society, Fr Antony Ilin, participated by bringing the following congratulatory letter from His Holiness Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and all-Rus to the participants in the jubilee evening:

"Receive my heartfelt congratulations on the tenth anniversary of the 'Russkii vestnik' newspaper.

Your publication was born during the years of dramatic change that were difficult for Russia, when many people, filled with pain over the fate of the fatherland, began to unite their efforts for preserving and reviving all of the good that the country had accumulated in the centuries of its history, amidst the crashing waves of social disintegration. In the course of ten years the 'Russkii vestnik' newspaper, despite many difficulties, has succeeded in defending the traditional values of our nation fearlessly and zealously, protecting its sacred objects from profanation, and giving a moral assessment of what is happening in society.

I thank the editors of the newspaper for their efforts expended in proclaiming holy Orthodoxy and for their attention to the documents of the hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox church and to the events of church life.

I hope that in the upcoming new century of God's grace the leadership and staff of 'Russkii vestnik' will continue and multiply their labors, performing them in the spirit of fidelity to holy Orthodoxy, obedience to the holy church of Christ, with peace in their hearts and a sincere condern for the good of the great Russian fatherland.

May the Lord strengthen you in every good work, bestowing on you health and prosperity." (tr. by PDS, posted 12 January 2001)

[Editor's note:  "Russkii vestnik" has distinguished itself by its aggressively antisemitic Russian nationalism.]

PATRIARCH CONGRATULATES PATRIOTS
NTV, 12 January 2001

Patriarch Alexis II sent greeting to the publishers, staff, and readers of the Orthodox patriotic newspaper "Russkii vestnik" in connection with the tenth anniversary of its publication, Blagovest-info news agency reports.

The head of RPTs recalled that "Russkii vestnik" was born in the years of dramatic changes that were difficult for Russia. In the course of ten years the newspaper has managed to defend traditional values of the Russian peoople. The patriarch thanked the editorial board of "Russkii vestnik" for its efforts in proclaiming Orthodoxy and wished it success in its future work.

The executive secretary of the Union of Orthodox Brotherhoods, Hegumen Kirill Sakharov, addressed the evening with greetings in the name of the clergy of RPTs. He said that the main problem for the Orthodox church in our days is the spiritual corruption, apathy, and gloom that cause Orthodox people more harm than schemes of enemies or pressure on the part of the authorities. As an example of such a situation Hegumen Kirill cited the meeting with Muslims which was held at the end of December in the Russian Cultural Fund. At this meeting Muslims blasphemed the main teachings of Orthodoxy, the hegumen said with indignation, and the Orthodox did not rebuff the sacrilege.

Hegumen Kirill noted that "Russkii vestnik" provides space on its pages for such prominent leaders of the Orthodox patriotic movement as the head of the "Christian Renaissance" union, Vladimir Osipov, and the chairman of the Union of Orthodox Brotherhoods, Leonid Simonovich.

Participants in the evening demanded the release of Tamara Rokhlina, who was illegally, in their opinion, convicted of the murder of her husband, General Lev Rokhlin, and they also greeted, by standing, Fr Oleg Stroev, who was dismissed from his parish outside Moscow for, as Vladimir Osipov reported, preaching patriotic ideas. (tr. by PDS, posted 12 January 2001)

Unregistered churches still functioning

All religious organisations in Russia registered prior to the adoption of the 1997 law on religion face compulsory liquidation if they did not manage to re-register by 31 December 2000. Prior to this deadline Keston News Service interviewed officials in local departments of justice in a random selection of Russian regions, who gave some indication of those organisations which had not re-registered (see KNS 20 December 2000). Now that the deadline has passed, Keston has ascertained the effect on the organisations concerned wherever possible.

PART I: EUROPEAN RUSSIA

In Ulyanovsk (550 miles east of Moscow), according to local department of justice specialist Marina Nechayeva on 15 December, Muslims were among those organisations which had not re-registered. On 9 January a housekeeper to Mufti Ayub Diberdeyev, who leads the Ulyanovsk Muftiate affiliated to Talgat Tadzhuddin's Central Spiritual Directorate of Muslims, told Keston that 96 of the muftiate's 104 mosques had re-registered. A separate group led by Tagir Shangareyev, she thought, were probably the Ulyanovsk Muslims without re-registration: 'They're impostors, Wahhabis: they've been trying to seize our mosques for the past ten years.'

On 11 January, however, consultant lawyer to Tagir Shangareyev's Spiritual Directorate of Regional Muslims, Mikhail Vkortso, told Keston that all seven of the directorate's communities had been re-registered. He confirmed that the directorate faced strong opposition from Mufti Diberdeyev, but claimed that it had 'not encountered any obstructions so far'.

On 15 December Nechayeva noted with some exasperation that there was a Pentecostal association in Ulyanovsk which categorically refused to register. On 9 January Pastor Anatoli Mukhin of Ulyanovsk Christian Centre, a Pentecostal community which has re-registered successfully, confirmed to Keston that another Pentecostal community in the city with whom he sometimes met 'does not wish to register'. Led by Pastor Leonid Soldatov, whom Keston was unable to contact since he does not have a telephone, the congregation consists of approximately 70 people, said Mukhin, and currently meets in separate groups in private flats. (Since this congregation has never registered, it is not liable to re-registration, but is legally unable to do anything more than meet on the premises of its members and teach its existing followers.)

According to specialist at Tver (100 miles north-west of Moscow) department of justice Alla Maslakova on 18 December, the majority of the region's 22 organisations which had not re-registered were now-defunct parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church. On 3 January Yelena Petrova of Tver diocesan administration confirmed that there were some parishes which 'existed only on paper'. These had formed in the early 1990s, she said, but had never received a priest and were no longer active. 'They might just consist of the walls of an unfinished church building.' She was not sure of the number of such parishes, but was doubtful that they totalled anything like 22.

In addition to the Moscow branch of the Salvation Army (see KNS 24 December 2000), Keston is aware of several other organisations without re-registration in the capital. The Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist order attempted to re-register without success on five occasions before June 2000. On 3 January monk of the order Feliks Shvedovsky told Keston that they had not made any further attempts to re-register since June: 'as we have so few members, we've decided to exist unofficially.' He was under the impression that the late November 1999 constitutional court decision meant that those organisations registered before the adoption of the 1997 law retained their legal personality status after the re-registration deadline (this is the case, but only on condition that they have re-registered). However, since the order did not rent premises, he said, they would suffer no concrete effect. The order has not tried to invite their spiritual teacher - Japanese citizen Junsei Terasawa - since he was refused a visa to Russia last June. Without re-registration they no longer have the legal right to issue invitations, but believe that, regardless of the order's legal status in Moscow, Terasawa would in any case be denied a visa due to being on an FSB blacklist (see KNS 23 June 2000).

On 9 January chairman of the Severnaya Jewish community Anatoli Vladov told Keston that they had not been re-registered since they had not yet submitted the necessary documentation. It was unclear whether the municipal department of justice would still register the community, he said, but they had nevertheless agreed to accept documentation after the deadline, and a decision would be made by the end of February. The community, which belongs to Adolf Shayevich's Congress of Jewish Religious Communities and Organisations, was last refused re-registration in July 2000 (see KNS 22 September 2000).

On 15 December Tatyana Basova of Kursk (350 miles south of Moscow) department of justice told Keston that the 14 unre-registered religious organisations in the region included those of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCA), Baptists and Hare Krishnas. On 3 January ROCA parish priest in Kursk Fr Vladimir Tsukanov confirmed that the ROCA's four parishes had not been re-registered due to insufficient documentation. He had not received any notification of liquidation proceedings, but acknowledged that according to the 1997 law on religion 'they should take our registration away - and I think they'll do it'.

On 5 January Baptist elder for Kursk region Gennadi Likhikh told Keston that all 18 Baptist congregations in the region for which re-registration papers had been submitted had been re-registered. These congregations come under the auspices of the Union of Evangelical Christian-Baptists headed by Pyotr Konovalchik. However, Likhikh was aware of a group of initsiativniki Baptists which had never registered - 'that is their policy' - and met in a prayer house registered as the property of a private individual. (As in the case of the Ulyanovsk Pentecostals, these Baptists are therefore operating without the rights of a legal personality.)

On 9 January Sergei Zuyev of the Society for Krishna Consciousness in Moscow told Keston that the Kursk community had received confirmation of re-registration on 4 January. (Basova had expressed some doubt to Keston that they would be re-registered in time since they had only just submitted documentation.) According to Zuyev, 70 local Hare Krishna communities have been re-registered in Russia. Problems had arisen only in Bryansk (approximately 200 miles south-west of Moscow), he said, where an expert committee was still considering the local organisation's application.

PART II: SIBERIA

According to Tatyana Antsiterova of Tomsk (2200 miles east of Moscow) department of justice on 19 December, six Catholic parishes in the region had not re-registered. On 4 January Tomsk parish priest Fr Andrei Duklewski confirmed that six parishes had been registered in the region under the 1990 religion law, but one of these had since disbanded. Of the 5 existing parishes, one of approximately 350 people was located in Tomsk city, he said, while four were in remote village locations. (Although there were around 170 Catholics in 35 different location in the region, Duklewski explained, there were only four cases in which they numbered more than the ten required for registration). Due to the inaccessibility of these parishes, said Duklewski, 'it just wasn't possible to get things done quickly', and so re-registration documentation had not been submitted until Christmas 2000: 'It is possible that they weren't re-registered in time.'

On 18 December Anna Vodnenko of Khabarovsky krai (region) department of justice spoke of 20 organisations which had not re-registered, remarking that these were mostly Protestant and that they might have been founded by a foreigner who had left and were now defunct. She was unable to give any details about one case known to Keston, that of the independent Baptist parish founded by US citizen Dan Pollard in the Pacific port of Vanino. On 27 November 2000, Pollard, who is now unable to obtain a visa to Russia, wrote to Keston that 'it is very clear that our church in Vanino, which was legally registered before the new law on religion came into effect, will not be able to re-register before the end of the year.' On 4 January parishioner of the Vanino church Yelena Tolstopyatova confirmed to Keston that the parish was without re-registration, having again been refused re-registration on two occasions since March 2000. The parish had filed suit against the department of justice at a local court in Khabarovsk city, she said, since 'according to the law there is no basis for refusing to re-register the church due to its legal address.' As documentation had been submitted to the court only in December, she did not know when the case would be heard: 'We haven't been directly threatened with liquidation although we know we should be liquidated if we haven't re-registered.'

On 5 January Igor Zhimurshuk of the community of Jehovah's Witnesses in Chelyabinsk city (1200 miles east of Moscow) told Keston that his congregation of over 1,200 had tried to register ever since 1995 but were constantly being refused. Since October 1997, he said, the congregation had tried unsuccessfully to register on ten occasions, with different reasons for refusal each time: 'One was that we had not given page numbers in the proposed charter.' The documentation submitted, he said, was identical to that in other Russian regions - where in all but a few cases the Jehovah's Witnesses have been re-registered. On 27 December 2000 fellow community member Vyacheslav Mayatsky told Keston that the congregation was forced to act as a 'religious group', a lower status to 'religious organisation' with fewer rights. As a result, he said, the congregation faced difficulties when trying to rent premises for worship; in April 2000, for example, Chelyabinsk regional plenipotentiary for human rights Yekaterina Gorina had arrived with police at a worship service on rented state property and forced the approximately 160 present to disperse. On 4 January specialist at Chelyabinsk department of justice Lyudmila Loginova told Keston that 'everyone who wanted re-registration' had obtained it. The Jehovah's Witnesses, she claimed, had never submitted any documents, and could not be liquidated because 'they never registered in the first place'.

On 31 December 2000 Keston received a message from Fr Jerzy Karpinski of the Moscow Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in which he stated that 'on Christmas Day we received documentation from the Ministry of Justice about the definitive rejection of the re-registration of the Inigo Centre in Novosibirsk. We still have a chance to re-register in Novosibirsk.' (The Inigo Centre in Novosibirsk - 2000 miles east of Moscow - was subject to a search by the tax police: see KNS 30 May 2000). On 9 January Fr Jozef Macha of the Inigo Centre explained to Keston that the centre had applied for re-registration on the federal level 'because we want to try to extend our activity to the whole federation'. They had been unsuccessful on several occasions, he said, and the Ministry of Justice had told them they should re-register locally. The centre had thus submitted re-registration documentation to the Novosibirsk justice department in early December and was currently awaiting a response. It had been impossible to act earlier, explained Fr Macha, since the Moscow Society of Jesus constituted the founding body of the Inigo Centre and had itself managed to gain re-registration only following the September constitutional court decision in its favour (see KNS 18 September 2000).

On 9 January Viktor Korolyov, head of the registration department at the Ministry of Justice in Moscow, remarked to Keston that it was unclear why the Inigo Centre had tried to re-register on the federal level: 'According to the law it has to be at local level. We explained this to them twice.' He stressed, however, that they had not been issued a refusal, 'since following the constitutional court decision they have a perfect right to re-register.' (posted 12 January 2001)

Patriarch wants icon returned to Kazan

Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and all-Rus sent a telegram to the president of Tatarstan, Mintimer Shaimiev, in which he noted that the question of the return from the Vatican of the icon of the Kazan Mother of God retains its vitality. This was reported by "Echo of Moscow" citing the Interfax-Eurasia news agency.

As was reported to the agency on Tuesday at the office of the head of the republic, the telegram in particular stressed that in the year 2005 the capital of Tatarstan will celebrate the millennium of its founding. "We ought to deal with the upcoming jubilee with proper respect, understanding well that the new impetus given to the resolution of the matter of the return of the sacred object is connected with the desire of the residents of Kazan to reverence the icon in its original location," Alexis II said in his letter.

At the end of October of last year Kazan Mayor Kamil Iskhakov conducted negotiations in the Vatican with the Roman pope over return of the miracle working icon of the Kazan Mother of God to the motherland. A new church will be built especially for it in Kazan in the monastery of the Theotokos.

The icon was discovered on 8 July 1579 by a ten-year-old girl named Matrena, who received a vision that the icon was lying under a layer of ashes in a fire place. Numerous miracles have been ascribed to the icon including the expulsion from Moscow of Polish invaders.

The icon was located in the Kazan monastery of the Theotokos, whose first mother superior was Matrena who had become a nun. Later the icon was kept in the Kazan cathedral of Red Square in Moscow and the cathedral of the Kazan Mother of God in Petrograd, from which at the beginning of the 1920s it was sold abroad along with other church valuables through Torgsin [All-Union Association for Trade with Foreigners].

In 1970 the icon was purchased for three million dollars by the Catholic organization "Blue Army" from an American collector and in 1993 it was presented to Pope John Paul II and now is located in the Vatican. (tr. by PDS, posted 11 January 2001)

Ukrainian president aspires to control Orthodox church

On 9 January in Kiev a local council of the Ukrainian Orthodox church (Kiev patriarchate) was held. The Filaretites (in Ukraine this Orthodox church often is called "Filaret's church") again emphasized their loyalty to the Ukrainian authorities who for a long time have not been concealing their goals of creating in Ukraine a united Orthodox church under Kuchma's control, independent from Moscow. The council called the leadership of the country "to multiply its efforts for creating favorable conditions for the unification of Ukrainian Orthodoxy and for the recognition of a united local Ukrainian Orthodox church in the year 2001."

Delegats of the council expressed support for the leadership of the country "in the work of strengthening the stability of Ukrainian society, building the Ukrainian state especially in the sphere of spirituality, establishing the morality of people on evangelical Christian bases, and preserving and expanding the scope of communication in the Ukrainian language." They thanked the leadership of the state for support of the idea of the creation of a united local Ukrainian Orthodox church as well as for the invitation to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I to visit Ukraine. As noted in the document, the Constantinople patriarchate and its head, Patriarch Bartholomew I personally, have joined the work of unification of Orthodoxy in Ukraine.

Besides this, the council adopted an appeal to bishops, clergy, and laity of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox church and to all Orthodox people of Ukraine, whom it called to unification in a united local Ukrainian Orthodox church. In Ukraine three Orthodox organizations are operating: the Ukrainian Orthodox church (Moscow patriarchate), the Ukrainian Orthodox church (Kiev patriarchate), and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox church. The Ukrainian authorities support the last two, hoping to unite them and create a single controlled church. Appeals to the "services" of the Constantinople patriarch are especially noteworthy when one considers that Patriarch Bartholomew is notorious for his schismatic activity in Ukraine, Estonia, and on other canonical territories of the Moscow patriarchate. At the end of November 2000 President Kuchma personally met with Bartholomew and, it seems, the Ukrainian authorities seriously intend to create a united Orthodox church under the jurisdiction of the Constantinople patriarchate. Sensing the weakness of his political positions, President Kuchma hopes to strengthen his position in the religious world of Ukraine. (tr. by PDS, posted 11 January 2001)

UKRAINE'S SPLINTER ORTHODOX CHURCH HOLDS ASSEMBLY IN KYIV
KYIV POST, 9 January 2001
The Associated Press

Leaders of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate convened in Kyiv on Tuesday, issuing calls for unity among Ukraine's Orthodox believers and condemning the dangers in recent scientific discoveries.

The assembly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate was attended by more than 300 delegates from the country as well as from congregations in the United States and Australia.

Church leader Patriarch Filaret said the Ukrainian church should be recognized as autocephalous, or autonomous, which would eventually contribute to a union of the country's rival Orthodox churches.

Believers in Ukraine, a mainly Orthodox nation of 50 million people, are split between the larger Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate, affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church, Filaret's smaller church which broke away from Moscow in the early 1990s, and an even smaller Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, known by the acronym UAPZ.

The Kyiv and Moscow patriarchates have been locked in a bitter struggle over property and leadership. Filaret, who was beaten by followers of the Moscow-linked church in 1999, has repeatedly accused it of being hostile to Ukraine.

On Tuesday, he charged the Moscow-affiliated church and its leaders in Russia with trying to jeopardize a fledgling unification process between his own church and UAPZ.

Metropolitan Andriy of the UAPZ echoed the call for unity. 'A prayer at the St. Sophia's Cathedral attended by the president and a single patriarch would be the best gift for Ukraine's 10th independence day'  in 2001, he said. 'Only our enemies want patriarchs to multiply in Ukraine.'

Filaret, looking ahead into the third millennium, called for a 'moral revival' and condemned attempts by genetic scientists 'to alter God's creatures,' along with cloning and euthanasia. (posted 11 January 2001)

Protestant evangelism frustrated in Moscow province

The organizing committee of Evangelical Christian churches for the celebration of Christmas of the city of Chekhov sent an official protest to the head of the local administration, Gennady Nedoseka, in connection with an attempt by city authorities to disrupt the public showing of the "Jesus" film, according to a report by the Blagovest-info news agency.

At the end of last year members of the organizing committee informed Gennady Nedoseka of their intention to show this film as part of the celebration of the bimillennium of the Christian era and the start of the third millennium, which did not evoke from the head of the administration any response.

An advertising campaign was conducted in the city at the expense of voluntary contributions from believers. As a result practically every resident of Chekhov learned about the upcoming holiday film showing as well as about the possibility of attending Christian congregations of Chekhov district afterwards.

At the end of December 2000 the organizing committee received telephone calls from the directors of institutions of culture which reported that the rental fees, paid in advance for the use of the movie theaters, would be returned and the agreement for the showing of the "Jesus" film would be cancelled. They explained that these actions were the result of an oral directive from the head of the administration, Gennady Nedoseka, as well as the fact that "the movie film about Jesus Christ is propaganda of a foreign, non-Orthodox faith."

On 3 January representatives of the organizaing committee led by Pastor Peter Barankevich were received by the deputy head of administration of Chekhov district Anatoly Chibeskov, who promised to investigate the situation that had developed and set up another meeting with them for the next morning. On the next day, at the building of the Chekhov administration, the members of the organizing committee were given an order signed by Anatoly Chibeskov forbidding all public events, including the showing of the "Jesus" film, in connection with the untoward epidemiological circumstances in the city and in Chekhov district. Nevertheless, public New Year's productions and concerts continued to be held in all institutions of culture of the city.

The showing of the "Jesus" film at present is being conducted only in houses of prayer of the Chekhov Evangelical church, and churches of the Evangelical Christians-Baptists, Christians of Evangelical Faith (Pentecostals), and Seventh-Day Adventists Christians. Leaders of several institutions of Chekhov have begun offering their own transport for getting people there who wish to view the "forbidden film."

The text of the letter to the head of the district administration contains the request to produce some official document about a flu epidemic in the city and district. In any case the organizers of the film evangelism project intend to postpone the public showing of the film to February.

If the request of the organizing committee is not satisfied, the protestant churches of the city of Chekhov plan to send a petition to the Organizing Committee for Planning the Celebration of the Third Millennium and the Bimillennium of Christianity of the Presidency of the Russian Federation. (tr. by PDS, posted 11 January 2001)

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