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Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze and Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of all-Georgia recently signed a "constitutional agreement," which was in preparation for several years, in accordance with which Orthodoxy is elevated to the rank of the state religion of Georgia. In accordance with the agreement, the Georgian Orthodox church becomes a constitutional subject and is placed in a privileged position relative to other religious organizations, and Georgia itself in effect ceases to be a secular state.
Such an agreement, in a larger perspective, is not unique. The effective union of the state with the dominant church on its territory is a rather widespread thing in Europe and it certainly is not new. In recent times it has become the fashion to call such unions concordats. Strictly speaking, this term is not quite correct. According to the classic definition, a concordat is an agreement between the Vatican see and some government about the position of the Catholic church and its rights and privileges, and the like. The first concordat in history was concluded with German Emperor Henry IV back in 1122 and the latest was with Italy in 1984.
However some time back the concept of a concordat was expanded; it is not immediately connected with the Vatican and consequently with Catholicism (although it is within the framework of Christianity). The best known example of this kind is the union of the Anglican church with the United Kingdom (although according to some data there are more Catholics in Great Britain than Anglicans).
We note that such forms of the union of church and state can be seen in European countries where civil society has developed with the richest traditions which permits such unions to exist without creating any kind of substantial tensions within society; the epoch of religious wars there ended several centuries ago.
As regards Georgia, the history of its modern statehood encompasses little more than ten years. And to call these years peaceful is not possible. The country has stood constantly on the brink of civil war and has some times gone over this line. During this time the weak governmental authority has often tried to find a supplementary resource in xenophobia, both political and religious, which can hardly be expected to lead to social reconciliation. The regime of Shevardnadze needs the concordat also as a supplementary source for its legitimacy, which has been in great question from the start (while it seems that hardly anyone in Georgia questions the legitimacy of the Georgian patriarchate).
At the same time, Georgia is certainly not such a monolith in the ethnic and religious sense as, for example, neighboring Armenia is. It is quite probable that the already existing interconfessional conflicts (such as the persecution of the True Orthodox Church) will get a new start with the conclusion of the agreement, which certainly must be seen as regrettable.
There is a curious point: the Georgian "concordat" was concluded just about exactly a week after the visit in Moscow of Patriarch Alexis II with members of the "Russia is my neighbor" movement, that was conducted with the blessing of the primates of Russia and Georgia. Considering that the participants in the meeting included not only Georgian religious figures but also official persons (including the vice speaker of parliament) there seems some logic to the suggestion that these two events were somehow linked together (even if not directly).
As regards Russia we will point out that talk about the possibility of a union between the church (RPTsMP) and the state has swirled up rather regularly. In some sense such a union undoubtedly already exists. The tradition of the patriarch's blessing the new president of the country was established at the first election of a head of the Russian state.
As regards the Russian and also the broader eastern tradition, the term "concordat" is quite inappropriate. What would be more appropriate here is the Byzantine concept of "symphonia of powers." But to call contemporary Russia a Christian state (empire) would be stretching the point too much. Russians are too diverse in ethnic and confessional composition and the level of the churching among those who are "Orthodox by birth" is quite low and in recent years has shown no inclination to grow; and to call the democratically elected secular president of the country a Christian monarch really could be joke, and this is not a joking matter.
The Georgian initiative could hardly be continued throughout the postsoviet space. Incidentally, many representatives of the church also understand this. In present circumstances such a form of mutual relations would not be useful primarily for the church itself (in our case, the Russian Orthodox church); the prospects of the loss of internal freedom in such an event would be quite certain, and that would not be well received. This is noted indirectly even in the scandalous (from the point of view of some Russian government workers) "Bases for a Social Doctrine" of RPTsMP. (tr. by PDS, posted 23 October 2002)
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The deputy minister of education of RF, Leonid Grebnev, declared that the introduction into the curriculum of the schools of religious studies topics does not contradict the secular character of education in Russia, Interfax reports.
"Within the framework of the budget it is possible to teach only secular disciplines, but secular education can include knowledge of religion as a part of the culture. We are talking not only about Orthodoxy but also about other religions that have existed in our country for many centuries now," Grebnev explained in an interview with "Gazeta" published today.
In addition he noted that the introduction of religious studies into the curriculum of secondary schools on the federal level will not take place very soon. At the same time Grebnev reported that in a number of regions the decision about the study of religion in the schools already has been made. "Not as doctrine and not as a system of rituals and certainly not as their performance, but as a part of the culture within which we all live," the deputy minister specified.
He expressed categorical disagreement with the idea that teaching the fundamentals of various traditional religious of Russia will lead to estrangement among children and minors. "Let's remember that these children attend schools in the Russian federation. They communicate with one another in the Russian language. Nobody doubts the necessity of studying the Russian language and Russian history," Grebnev said.
In this regard he posed the question: "Why should history be without Cyrill and Methodius, without Sergius of Radonezh? Culture derives from the word cult," the deputy minister of education noted, adding that "the cultured person should know something about what lies at the foundation of the culture of the country where he lives." (tr. by PDS, posted 22 October 2002)
RADIO "ECHO OF MOSCOW" LISTENERS OPPOSE INTRODUCTION OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
INTO SCHOOLS
Mir religii, 22
October 2002
The majority of listeners questioned by radio station "Echo of Moscow" think that the "Religious education" subject should not be introduced into the schools. The express survey conducted in connection with the "Ricochet" program by interactive telephone showed that 71% of those questioned hold this opinion while 29% of the survey participants think that "Religious education" should be taught in the schools.
In all, 3143 telephone calls were received during the survey that lasted for five minutes on radio station "Echo of Moscow." (tr. by PDS, posted 22 October 2002)
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The first reactions to the plans for Patriarch Alexis II to visit Ukraine have appeared. And as should have been expected, the Ukrainian Orthodox church of the Kievan patriarchate (UPTsKP) issued a sharp protest. Its representative, the rector of the Kiev Ecclesiastical Academy, Bishop Dimitry, declared that the visit by the primate of RPTs is undesirable inasmuch as it will bring "dissension and hatred" to Ukraine. UPTsKP accuses Alexis II of often "speaking with hostility" about the idea of a united local Ukrainian Orthodox church. "Such a hostile attitude on the part of the Moscow patriarch means that we also treat him with hostility," Bishop Dimitry added.
Such expressions also resounded from several deputies of the Ukrainian parliament. The first vice chairman of the Supreme Soviet Committee on Questions of Culture and Spirituality, Pavel Movchan, reported that along with Deputy Lilia Grigorovich he is sending a letter to the speaker of parliament, Vladimir Litvin, with the request to rescind the invitation that he gave Alexis II in the course of his recent visit to Moscow. The deputy thinks it "uncanonical." "According to Orthodox canon law and Orthodox tradition, persons of high episcopal rank may be invited from one country to another only by persons of equal religious rank," Movchan explained, quite clearly referring to the head of UPTsKP, Patriarch Filaret Denisenko. The deputy stated that "the current Moscow patriarch is, in the eyes of millions of Ukrainian Orthodox Christians, a persona non grata in Ukraine." Movchan intends to send Alexis II a letter requesting that he decline to visit Ukraine. "In the years of your patriarchate you clearly and definitely have shown that you are extremely aggressively opposed to Ukraine and its independence," the letter says.
In other words, a campaign against Alexis II's visit is gathering speed in Ukraine. At the same time nobody among major Ukrainian politicians has so far reacted to the intent of the primate of RPTs, although it was announced three weeks ago. It is possible that Ukrainian opposition leaders simply are waiting until the Moscow patrairachate officially announces the visit and the specific dates have been determined. In any case, there have not been any clear statements to Alexis II on their part. As NG-R has already noted, in the light of the upcoming presidential elections no major Ukrainian politician wants to damage relations with the Moscow patriarchate, whose position is, as previously, very strong in the republic. Moreover, RPTs has strong supporters among the Ukrainian opposition--the communists.
Open statements against the visit by the primate of RPTs most likely will come only from "independent" church groups and the extreme nationalistic parties that support them. They are concerned that the patriarch's visit will be accompanied by demonstrations and pickets as happened at the beginning of the 90s when Alexis last visited Kiev. At that time Ukrainian nationalists organized mass demonstrations of protest under the slogan "Get the Moscow padre" and several deputies even threw themselves under the wheels of the patriarchal vehicle.
The "independent" church groupings, primarily the Kievan patriarchate, have very serious reasons to fear Alexis II's visit. Right now their chief hobbyhorse is the idea of the creation of a united Ukrainian Orthodox church. The "independents" accuse the leadership of RPTs of not agreeing with this idea and thereby diminishing the status of Ukraine as an independent state. Meanwhile it cannot be ruled out that during Alexis II's visit there will be a discussion of granting autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox church under the jurisdiction of the Moscow patriarchate (UPTsMP). In that event the schismatics will be in a very difficult position. They will either have to declare their readiness to unite in the future autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox church or continue to position themselves as independent church structures. In the first instance, the current "independent" church leaders could count at best on a role as ordinary bishops in the future united Ukrainian church. In the other case they would immediately lose their image as patriots who are fighting for a united Ukraine and they would lose thereby all their political clout. (tr. by PDS, posted 21 October 2002)
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The Catholic church has no intention of curtailing its presence in our country. This was declared at last week's Conference of Catholic Bishops of Russia. Although several weeks back it was expected that the results of the representative western Christian forum would be just the opposite. The clergymen discussed the possibilities of "going into the shadows" so as not to irritate the Russian Orthodox church and Russian government officials and not put at risk the visas and residence permits for foreign Catholic pastors.
However, the head of Russian Catholics, Metropolitan Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, called his colleagues, as previously, to special caution in working with youth. The requirement that minors are permitted to receive sacraments in a Catholic church only upon written permission from parents remains in effect. But at the same time the metropolitan stated that he does not intend to refrain from educating the future flock in the spirit of western Christianity. Moreover, he thinks that pastoral work with youth is not being conducted with sufficient vigor and he advocated establishing special masses for young parishioners.
In essence, the Conference of Catholic Bishops recommended "smoothing out" the church's information policy only. All the news media of western Christianity that have been active hitherto will continue their work. But religious persons should display caution in their public statements and not express judgments that could give grounds for accusing the Catholic church of proselytism and violation of Russian legislation. And at the same time it is necessary to insist upon the right of review before the publication of an interview in secular media. It is possible that soon every diocese will have specially designated representatives for communication with Russian mass media. (tr. by PDS, posted 21 October 2002)
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For the first time in Russia's modern history a criminal case regarding a fight among Orthodox priests has been instigated. On 3 October directly opposite the residence of Metropolitan Mefody of Voronezh and Lipetsk, in the center of Voronozh, two groups of believers confronted each other. As a result three priests beat up a fourth.
The conflict arose on the basis of intrachurch disagreements. Parishioners of the Kazan church, in which one of the local spiritual leaders, Fr Georgy Lutskevich, serves, have had a long conflict with his opponents. On 3 October thirty parishioners held a protest demonstration against Fr Georgy's loss of the right to conduct his ministry in this church (this decision was made by the local diocesan administration). More than 100 priests of the diocese came out to meet the demonstrators, accusing their opponents of paganism and pronouncing anathema on them. A fight broke out. One of Fr Georgy's sons, Yury, a graduate of ecclesiastical seminary, was beaten up, resulting in a brain injury. Yury filed a complaint with the central Department of Internal Affairs for Voronezh on the same day.
On 16 October a criminal case was opened on the basis of article 213 of the criminal code of the Russian federation ("hooliganism committed by an organized group"). The accused was a secretary of the local diocesan administration, Evgeny Levshuk. However Fr Georgy told Izvestiia that two other priests who participated in the beating of his son, Deacon Andrei Podgorny and Fr Andrei Voronko, should be taken to court. "As a Christian, I am profoundly saddened over them and over this disgrace they have brought the church. But as a father and citizen, I think that evil must be punished according to the law. These people have not even taken the time to look into church rules. An anathema, that is 'great excommunication' from the church, can be pronounced only upon laity and not on priests and then only with the sanction of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox church and His Holiness the patriarch himself. The last such case occurred when Lev Tolstoy was excommunicated."
The Lutskevich family of generations of priests has long been known for its good works. However after Fr Georgy's wife, Svetlana, spoke out in the press regarding the atmosphere among the local clergy, difficult days, she says, began for the family. In an interview Svetlana stated that the diocesan leadership should be more concerned about creating orphanages, hospitals, and soup kitchens than about constructing more new churches.
The case against one of the top persons of the Voronezh-Lipetsk diocese is in the hands of the chief investigator of the central Department of Internal Affairs for Voronezh, Alexander Shein. "The investigation is just beginning," he told Izvestiia. "A list of witnesses has been expanded, so there is much work. There will be no problems summoning priests to the inquiry." (tr. by PDS, posted 20 October 2002)
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The state intends to introduce religious education into the schools. This was reported yesterday directly by three presidential plenipotentiaries in federal districts at a meeting with leaders of traditional Russian confessions. "It is impossible to construct a law-based society simply by economic and power methods alone," the presidential plenipotentiary [polpred] of the Central Federal District, Georgi Poltavchenko, said. "And the causes of the demographic crisis are not so much the economic problems as they are in the moral sphere. It is necessary to strengthen the spiritual and moral foundations of society and it is unrealistic that this can be done without turning to Russia's traditions."
The polpred of the Volga Federal District, Sergei Kirienko, supported his colleague, noting that previously leaders of the country "had treated the world view of citizens with indifference, but now the state is not indifferent to what kinds of world views society formulates."
In the opinion of their colleague from the southern district, Viktor Kazantsev, without religious education the authorities will be unable to instill in Russians the feeling of patriotism that was lost during the period of perestroika.
Heretofore the RPTs has been unable to get from the authorities such a carte blanche. Although both Patriarch Alexis II and one of the most authoritative hierarchs of the church, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, asked long ago "not to prevent the children from coming" to them, the Ministry of Education categorically opposed religious classes in the secular schools. Ministry workers agreed only to the teaching of religious doctrines within the framework of the history of world culture. At the same time, as a rule, regular teachers of history and literature told children about the eternal truths.
It was learned yesterday that a new course has been proposed for the school curriculum called "Orthodox Culture" that includes the history and fundamentals of the traditional faith. How many hours to allot to its study will be determined by the regions independently. Deputy Minister of Education Leonid Grebnev assured the plenipotentiaries and religious figures that his department has already almost completed work on the recommendations for this curriculum. The most substantial innovation is that schools will be advised to invite priests to serve as the teachers. In order for these to receive legal bases for full-fledged work in the secondary educational institutions a state standard for a specialty in "theology" will be confirmed. Thus, according to Mr. Grebnev, a certificate of education received in a religious institution of higher education will be sent to the state. In addition the deputy minister promised to raise the question of recognition by the state of theological degrees received in the past.
The representatives of the presidents and clergy, in turn, declared that their initiative does not violate in any way the premise of the separation of church from the state. Metropolitan Kirill suggested to agree once and for all on the terms and to return to prerevolutionary interpretations. "Secularity is the absence of clerical interference in politics," the master said, "and a secular school is one that is free from submission to clerical authorities. That's all; there is no other interpretation."
Highly placed government workers promised to facilitate the promotion of religious education in the schools not only for Orthodox but also for representatives of other confessions. In the regions where the majority of the population does not profess Orthodoxy, it is suggested to introduce analogous courses in the culture of Islam or Buddhism. However, practice has shown that dialogue with the offices of the education department turns out to be more complicated for representatives of these confessions. Speaking at the forum, Mufti Ravil Gainutdin complained that up to now there has really not been equality of rights between those professing Islam and those professing Christianity. "The Ministry of Education recently refused to issue a license to the Russian Islamic University for teaching theology, while the St. Tikhon's Theological Institute has been granted both a license and accreditation," he declared. The polpreds agreed to study this question. Metropolitan Kirill also supported their agreement. "Why would Orthodox school children not study the foundations of Islamic teaching?" he said. "After all this is a direct path to toleration." (tr. by PDS, posted 11 October 2002)
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The Council of the Republic of Belarus approved the law "On freedom of religious confession and religious organizations." The law is supposed to be signed within ten days by the president. At the end of last week representatives of the citizens' initiative "For freedom of religious confession" called Belorussian President Alexander Lukawhenko to refer the law for additional work since, in their opinion, contradictory provisions of the documents could divide society.
The patriarchal exarch for all-Belarus, Metropolitan Filaret of Minsk and Slutsk, is convinced that the new draft law "not only does not infringe upon believers' rights but even, to the contrary, gives sufficient possibilities for confession of faith by citizens." He also points out that "all traditional confessions as a whole view the law positively and have approved it." On the eve of the adoption of the law several "round tables" were held. At these meetings which were held on the initiative of the upper house of parliament, the Council of the Republic, representatives of the traditional religions (in Belorussia Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Islam, Orthodox Judaism, and Lutheranism are officially recognized) claimed that all religions that do not belong to this religious category are, in their opinion, marginal and harmful not only for the souls of Belorussian citizens but also for their mortal bodies.
According to the head of the State Committee for Religious and Nationality Affairs, Stanislav Buko, the law takes account of the traditions of Belorussia and is directed against new cults and destructive sects. But Baptists and Pentecostals, for example, not only maintain that the state is restricting them but they also fear persecution. Recalling the soviet times, they do not rule out that in the event of a worsening of the economic situation in the country, some will begin searching for enemies among them.
Belorussia is the homeland of esoteric word construction. "Orthodox atheist" is what President Lukashenko once called himself. Today they say here that a law on Orthodox freedom of confession was adopted. Representatives of protestant and several Jewish and Uniate congregations have spoken out against the draft law. A number of international and Russian rights defense organizations have called the law discriminatory. The director of the International Helsinki Federation, Aaron Rhodes, states that the new law violates freedom of religious confession.
Today in Belorussia 2800 societies and general confessional structures are registered. In the country there are 1220 Orthodox parishes, 432 Catholic parishes, 270 Evangelical Christian-Baptist congregations, and 480 congregations of Christians of Evangelical Faith. According to data from a September survey by the Independent Institute for Social, Economic, and Political Research (minsk), today in Belorussia 67.4 percent of the population is Orthodox, 13.1% Catholic, 7.4% Christian, 4.9 % atheist, 1% nonbelievers, 1% protestants, 0.1% Jewish, 0.1% Muslim. Around 60 percent of those questioned are convinced of the need for all churches to have equality of rights. Only a third of respondents spoke in favor of preeminence for the Orthodox church. (tr. by PDS, posted 8 October 2002)
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Tomorrow the census of the population begins. Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and all-Rus talked about this in an interview for the Moscow Information Center for Conducting the All-Russian Census of the Population, released to our paper for publication.
--It is common knowledge that the Orthodox church fulfilled the registration function for a very long period of time, that is, it recorded documents of civil status. It is clear that in our multinational state, in which a multitude of diverse religious confessions exist, this is impossible. In this regard, how does the Russian Orthodox church think about the idea of an all-Russian census of the population?
--Actually, the church registered births, marriages, and deaths of citizens all the way up to 1917. Religious organizations still record documents of civil status in many countries of Europe and the world, including those that are multiconfessional. However I recall that in prerevolutionary Russia the census of the population was conducted by the efforts of the state.
The Russian Orthodox church considers the upcoming census an important common national affair. Thirteen years have gone by since the last census and in those years much has changed. New states have arisen in place of the Soviet Union. There have been substantial changes in economic reality and the social situation of the people. Processes of migration have accelerated. Russia has gone through several political and economic crises. The severe demographic situation has changed the face of the nation greatly. Thus it is very important to know how many people live in our land and what we have gained and lost in the intervening years.
In my view, the census will aid the mobilization of forces of the nation for constructive labor and a sober awareness of our capabilities and problems and of the prospects for the future. Today the governmental leadership is devoting considerable efforts to overcome economic and social problems that have accumulated over many years. And the effectiveness of these efforts depends directly on the extent of objective and complete information at the disposal of the authorities.
--In all times there have been people who have tried to use the census or other general governmental measures for various kinds of speculation and frightening the people with the consequences. In this, notions of a religious character have occupied what is by no means the back seat. Can this situation be repeated now with regard to the census?
--There are several reasons for such concerns. First, there is insufficient generally accepted and understood information about one or another governmental measure. Second, in the memory of many Orthodox Christians the years of persecution on the part of the atheist state are still alive. Several generations of our countrymen have become accustomed to the idea that for confessing the name of Christ they could be dismissed from work and subjected to various kinds of deprivations, including deprivation of freedom. Human consciousness is characterized by a certain inertia and thus decades of suffering cannot be forgotten overnight.
However, it should be recalled that the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ happened in Bethlehem, to which the Mother of God and righteous Joseph had gone to participate in the census of the population of the Roman empire. Our godly ancestors did not fear participating in the censuses either during the Mongol-Tatar Yoke or even in 1937, when, despite the horrible repressions Orthodox people opened their doors to the census takers and openly confessed faith in Christ. It is generally known that in the questionnaires of the 1937 census there was a question about confessional affiliation and to declare openly one's self as a believer in those years meant to expose one's self to danger. Nevertheless, 63% of the population of USSR called themselves Orthodox.
Understanding and respecting the complex feelings of people, I nevertheless cannot agree with those who are agitating for a refusal to participate in the census. Some people who really are far from the church are spreading dark rumors, using "Orthodox" phraseology while really working to make the results of the census false so that Russian believers, their condition, their way of life, and their difficulties remain outside the attention of the government. Besides this, census takers will ask no questions that could trouble a Christian conscience.
--In the questionnaire there is no question about religious confession. It was proposed to have one, but ultimately it was decided to exclude these questions from the form. Is that right, in your opinion?
--In my opinion, complete information about the number of adherents of the various religions and confessions would help to understand our society better and to draw from this the necessary conclusions. This is the more true because "religious" sociology often is based on tendentiously formulated questions and is subject to ideological distortion. For our church a question about the number of Orthodox believers is extremely important because its right to participate in the life of society often is disputed on the basis of the manipulation of sociological data.
However we understand that the state has the right to decide which questions to include in the questionnaire. Besides the legislation does not permit requiring citizens to indicate their religious confession in any documents. However, I hope that we will be able along with the government and scholarly community to conduct a complete and objective investigation of the religious choice of our countrymen.
--Nobody expects that absolutely everybody will honestly answer the questions in the survey. Nevertheless the reliability of the results depends on the honesty of the answer. In your view, what could prompt people to answer the questions about themselves and their family honestly?
--First, a feeling of responsibility for the future of the country. But this problem has another aspect: people are rightly concerned about their security. They should be assured that the information that they give to the census takers will not be used for their harm nor fall into the hands of ill-intentioned people. I hope that the organizers of the census will devote special attention to confidentiality and protection of the information gathered as well as protecting citizens from criminals who pose as census takers. In the final analysis, the success of the census depends to a great extent on the trust of people toward the government and I would hope that the organizers justify this trust.
--Does the Russian Orthodox church plan any special events devoted to the census?
--Our clergy will try to explain to believers the significance of the census and promote participation in it and to refute various baseless rumors. Ruling bishops in many dioceses have appealed to their flocks specifically on this matter. Many clergy have published explanations in central, regional, and local news media.
--Do you plan personally to participate in the census? If so, do you, as the primate of the Russian Orthodox church, have any special requests for the census taker who comes to your place?
--As a citizen of Russia I consider participation in the census to be my personal duty. My expectations of the census taker probably are the same as any other person has. I think they are quite obvious. The census taker is called to be accurate and sensitive and to treat his subject with patience and understanding.
--The Russian Orthodox church has not spoken out against believers participating in the census. How does it feel about believers possibly working as census takers? Are there any kinds of restrictions here?
--There are no restrictions whatever and there cannot be. The church blesses all efforts directed to the good of the people. I am sure that the work of the census takers will serve the welfare and flourishing of our fatherland and will regenerate its majesty and glory.
--If people of other confessions work as census takers--say, Muslims, or Jews--could this be a reasons for an Orthodox believer to refuse to participate in the census?
--Unity in diversity--this is a unique trait existing in Russia where for a thousand years believers of various religions have lived peacefully. Our country has not known religious wars. Openness and tolerance are traditional for it as a result of centuries of experience of good neighborly relations of Christians, Muslims, Jews, and Buddhists.
The followers of these religious have studied together, labored, and served in the army. The census is a common national affair and during it religious differences have no prominent significance. Believers understand this well. After all, nobody imagines refusing, for example, to ride in a bus if somebody of another confession is sitting at the wheel.
--In his speech to the session of the State Commission for Conducting the All-Russian Census of the Population, Russian President Vladimir Putin said: "I consider the successful conduct of the census the most important task of this year for all levels of government and administration. It will be a distinctive stage on the path taken by our country and the starting point for our plans for the future." Your Holiness, what kind of words would you like to use in appealing to your flock as well as to all citizens of our country?
--We are sons and daughters of Russia and we are responsible for its future. Only by our common efforts will we manage to resolve the multitude of problems facing our nation. With these thoughts I would like to call all my fellow citizens, regardless of their national or religious affiliation, to take part in the all-Russian census of the population. (tr. by PDS, posted 8 October 2002)
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