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The Interreligious Council of Russia does not plan to give support to the construction of a temple of Krishna in Moscow, "NEWSru.com" reports, citing Interfax.
"The activity of Krishnaites on the territory of Russia evokes many complaints on the part of traditional religious organizations," the executive secretary of the council, Roman Silantiev, told Interfax on 3 March, explaining that Krishnaites conduct active missionary work in Russia.
The occasion for this statement was the distribution yesterday of an appeal from religious leaders of India to participants in the Second Interreligious Peacemaking Forum, which has been conducted these days in Moscow. The authors of the appeal request the Interreligious Council of Russia "to give all possible support to the new center of Hinduism in Russia."
"Most likely the religious leaders of India do not know that a nontraditional, marginalized form of Krishnaism is conducting its activity in Russia, which is very far from its genuine expression," Silantiev suggested. "Besides," he added, "the sect of Krishnaites in Russia is today divided into several tendencies and thus it is not at all clear whom we are supposed to support."
The agency's interlocutor recalled that twenty years back the Indian government sent to the Soviet Union a report that Krishnaites were a harmful, totalitarian sect, and even offered help in the struggle with them. "Considering that the attitude toward Krishnaites has changed in accordance with the circumstances, we cannot base our attitude toward this organization on the basis of that position that exists today," Silantiev added.
He also expressed amazement that "such respected religious groups as Catholics and Nestorians placed their signatures alongside those of followers of totalitarian sects, specifically 'Brahma Kumaris,' and the pseudoreligious group of Bahais."
"We support relations only with those interreligious associations that include only representatives of traditional religions," the representative of the Interreligious Council of Russia said in this regard. (tr. by PDS, posted 4 March 2004)
DECLARATION OF THE CENTER OF SOCIETIES OF KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS IN RUSSIA
On 3 March 2004, in response to a request of religious leaders of India for support of the construction of a temple of Krishna in Moscow, the executive secretary of the Interreligious Council of Russia, Roman Silantiev, indulged in a number of offensive expressions directed against the societies of Krishna consciousness in Russia, in an interview with Interfax.
In connection with this, the Center of Societies of Krishna Consciousness in Russia considers it our duty to declare officially:
1. The public statements by Mr. Silantiev regarding the "marginality," "nontraditionalness," and "sectarianism" of Russian followers of Vaishnavism (Krishnaism), besides their offensiveness, also give evidence of his prejudice and incompetence.
a. The registration of the society of Krishna consciousness with the Council for Religious Affairs of the Council of Ministers of USSR in 1988 was preceded by a whole series of careful analyses by religious studies experts, specifically, the Institute of Eastern Studies of the Academy of Science of USSR, the department of the History of Religion and Religious Studies of Moscow State University, the Institute of Philosophy of the Academy of Sciences of USSR, the Institute of USA and Canada, and the Institute of Ethnology and Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of USSR. They all confirmed the traditionality and authenticity of the movement of Krishna consciousness in the world and in Russia as an authoritative branch of Vaishnavism, one of the basic movements of Hinduism, as well as the propriety of official registration of the movement in USSR.
Not being a specialist on Hinduism, Mr. Silantiev obviously was hasty with his public assessment of the traditionality of the society of Krishna consciousness in the name of such a representative agency as the Interreligious Council of Russia, and he did not take the trouble to acquaint himself ahead of time with a whole series of expert analyses that have been conducted on this topic.
b. The authoritativeness and traditionality of the society of Krishna consciousness in India and abroad has frequently been noted by official persons and religious leaders of India, including specifically Indian President Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma (1992-97), Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee, Speaker of the Parliament Shri Manohar Joshi, Swami Acharya Tirtha, Goswami Srivatsa, and Indian Ambassador to Russia Mr. K. Ragunath.
As noted at the time when the Indian ambassador to Russia visited the Moscow temple of Krishna consciousness on 20 August 2003, "the society of Krishna consciousness has achieved striking success in spreading the philosophy of Krishna and translation of it into life," and that it "works without respite for the sake of maintaining the unique culture of India," and "it deserves the very highest praise for its success in strengthening friendship between India and Russia."
2. Speaking about some division within the ranks of Russian Vaishnavites (Krishnaites), Mr. Silantiev again displays his complete ignorance of the true state of affairs in our confession. At the present time, in Russia there operates only one officially registered All-Russian religious organization of Vaishnavites, the "Center of Societies of Krishna Consciousness in Russia," that unites more than 100 temples and societies of Krishna consciousness throughout the country. In this regard Mr. Silaniev's confusion about "whom we are supposed to support" in the construction of the temple of Krishna is completely absurd.
3. Mr. Silantiev's statement about some demarche of the government of India against the movement of Krishna consciousness in Russia twenty years ago is total disinformation.
Actually, in 1989 Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi received with honor at his residence for the first time in the history of Soviet-Indian relations a delegation of Krishnaite pilgrims who had been rehabilitated after many years of repression in USSR. This evoked outrage on the part of some extreme leaders of Bengal, who then expressed it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of USSR. A copy of their letter is now located in the archive of the Center of Societies of Krishna Consciousness of Russia. The term "harmful, totalitarian sect" does not figure in it and help in the struggle against them, accordingly, was not offered.
4. Mr. Silantiev's assertion about "complaints" against the activity of Krishnaites on the territory of Russia "on the part of traditional religious organization" could erase the entirety of experience of interconfessional dialogue between Hinduism and other confessions of Russia, specifically, with Orthodoxy, Islam, and Buddhism, and it could promote manifestations of aggression and national and religious extremism with respect to followers of our confession in Russia, both Russians and Indians.
It is especially disturbing that such statements were made during the days of conducting the Second Interreligious Peacemaking Forum of the Commonwealth, and from the lips of one of its organizers; this forum is called to serve the strengthening of interreligious and international peace and to combat xenophobia and religious extremism.
5. Mr. Silantiev expressed open scorn for the opinion of leaders of the basic religious movements of India, which had appealed to the Interreligious Council of Russia with a modest request for support for the construction of a temple of Krishna in Moscow to replace the premises on Khoroshevsk highway which is to be torn down. In doing so he cited the presence among the leaders who signed the appeal of representatives of several religious organizations that are not recognized as traditional in Russia.
We consider this step by Mr. Silantiev to be a manifestation of religious chauvinism that is in complete contradiction with key provisions of (a) the "Declaration of the Russian Federation and the Republic of India on global challenges and threats to international security and stability," that was signed in the Kremlin on 12 November 2003 by the president of Russia and the prime minister of India, which says, in particular, "The Russian federation and India also declare decisively that in today's diverse and complex world community there is no place for any kind of extremist ideology or intolerance. They will devote all their energies to resisting all forms of extremism, including religious extremism. . . ." and (b) the "Declaration on protecting the interests of multinational states," signed by the head of the governments of Russia and India in 1994, which stresses: "In India and Russia there exist various religions which enrich the spiritual values of their societies and of world civilization. . . . The right to exercise, conduct, and propagate any religion is guaranteed by the constitutions of both countries. . . . Claims of religious exclusivity represent a threat to achieving this right and promote extremism and intolerance both within states and between them. India and Russia intend to protect the cultural and religious diversity of their societies from this danger. They declare in full responsibility the impermissibility of incitement of interethnic and interreligious hostility that engenders aggressive nationalism and religious fanatacism.
In this regard the Center of Societies of Krishna Consciousness in Russia:
1. demands from Mr. Silantiev an apology to Krishnaites (Vaishnavites)
of Russia and a review of his position with respect to the ancient and
respected religious tradition of Hinduism that we represent;
2. hopes that his incompetent statements with respect to Hinduism as
a whole and the confession of Russian Vaishavites in particular do not
reflect the opinion of the Interreligious Council of Russia itself;
3. expresses the hope for mutual understanding and cooperation with
the Interreligious Council of Russia in the interests of interconfessional
peace and harmony in our country and for reinforcement of friendship between
India and Russia. (tr. by PDS, posted 4 March 2004)
posted on the site of Portal-credo.ru, 4 March 2004
Russia Religion News Current News Items
According to information from the military commission of Sverdlovsk province, four applications requesting assignment to alternative civilian service were received today at the draft commission of the province. Two of the potential "alternativshchiki" are residents of Ekaterinburg, a third is from Karpinsk, and the fourth is from Berezovskii. Among the young residents of the Urals who submitted applications to the military commission requesting alternative civilian service are representatives of the Union of Christians of Evangelical Faith--Pentecostals and Jehovah's Witnesses. As the conscripts stated, the doctrines of these societies forbid their adherents not only to take up arms but even to wear a military uniform, "Novyi region" reports.
Maxim Ermolin of Karpinsk turned twenty this year. Since he was sixteen he has been a member of the Union of Christians of Evangelical Faith, which the Ekaterinburg diocese includes in the category of "destructive sects." According to a military commissar of the city, Evgeny Isachenko, the young man has tried to get from the military commission the possibility of entering alternative service for three years. From time to time Ermolin has successfully passed the medical commission and been recognized as fit to serve, although he has refused to show up at the conscription point on the day of departure for the army. The military commission admits that it has closed its eyes to this violation and has never taken any measures of persecution or punishment against the draftee. The young man justifies his refusal with articles of Russian legislation that provide for alternative service, although in practice they have not been applied. In the event of an appeal from the military commission to a court, the right of the conscript would be recognized by a resolution of the court. This year Ermolin, subsequent to the adoption of a law on alternative service in Russia, made his application first to the military commission. In it he laid out in written form the reasons for his refusal to serve in the army and expressed his request to be given the possibility of "applying his energies in the civilian sphere."
According to a military commissar, although final decisions on such an application are supposed to be made in Ekaterinburg, he is personally prepared to petition on Ermolin's behalf. At the present time workers at the military commission have required the young man to append to his application an official certification of his membership in the congregation of Christians of Evangelical Faith, excerpts from the Bible forbidding bearing of arms, and references from his places of residence and employment.
The conscript who is a resident of Berezovskii, who also wants to go into alternative service, describes himself as a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses, and for a certification of his membership in this congregation he had to travel to St. Petersburg. That is where the main representation of the movement is located. According to the young man his Petersburg fellow believers already have experience in communicating with the Ministry of Defense, and thus in addition to the certification they gave him a whole package of documents. The military commission of Berezovskii stated that this was completely sufficient for a review of the application for alternative service.
Meanwhile, specialists of the provincial military commission, which must review such appeals for the first time, still do not possess information about possible employment for the "alternativshchiki." For now it is known that followers of various religions will perform their service outside of their home territory. The young people are not able to choose their profession and place of work for themselves. A special commission of the Ministry of Labor will assign these to them. Absenteeism, tardiness of more than four hours, and arrival at work in a drunken condition will not be credited for time in service. And there also is no right of dismissal of such a conscript before the end of the term of service. In addition, civilian service lasts for 42 months, exactly twice as long as military service. (tr. by PDS, posted 4 March 2004)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
"Religious diversity has become a significant factor not in the separation but in the convergence of states," Patriarch Alexis II stated yesterday at the opening of the Second Interreligious Peacemaking Forum of CIS Countries in Moscow. These words could be considered the chief idea of the whole event. In the opinion of forum participants, the convergence of the peoples of CIS should be established on religious grounds.
In Vladimir Putin's address to forum participants, which was read by the presidential envoy for the Central Federal District, Georgy Poltavchenko, it was said: "Today when the international community is confronted with phenomena of extremism and attempts to use religion for the achievement of unjust goals, the voice of authoritative religious leaders in defense of peace and human life is especially important."
General words about peace and love were recited by all religious leaders attending the meeting: the chairman of the Board of Muslims of the Caucasus Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukiur Pasha-zade, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians Garegin II, chief rabbi of Russia Berl Lazar, and others. Catholicos-Patriarch of all-Georgia Ilia II also put forward a concrete suggestion. In his opinion, in cases of armed conflict it is necessary to form peacemaking groups comprising clergymen of the two conflicting sides.
Today at the forum there is supposed to be an announcement of the creation of an Interreligious Council of CIS which will unite all traditional religions of the countries of the commonwealth. Thus, parallel with the already existing Interreligious Council of Russia it is planned to create an analogous body on a grander scale. It is evident that behind the words of opposition to terrorism and cooperation of religious leaders there lurks the idea of the Russian Orthodox church for "unification" of all religions of its "canonical territory" under the aegis of the Moscow patriarchate.
There is no doubt that this is a triumph for the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow patriarchate and its chairman, Metropolitan Kirill Gundiaev. The necessity of creating the Interreligious Council of CIS, undoubtedly, was a product of the possibility of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbaev's taking the initiative on this matter. In September of last year Nazarbaev called a congress of representatives of all world religions and suggested that it be maintained on a permanent basis. According to his plans, this event should become the basis for creation an international interreligious organization. And, judging by every indication, Nazarbaev would want to locate its center in Kazakhstan. (tr. by PDS, posted 3 March 2004)
posted on site of Religiia i SMI, 3 March 2004
The Golovin court of Moscow declared a recess until 3 March in the hearing of the case for the liquidation of the Moscow congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses.
As the attorney representing the congregation, Artur Leontiev, told Interfax today, during today's session two specialists gave testimony in court, a social psychologist, Leonid Kulikov, who was summoned by the prosecutor, and the director of the Center for the Study of Religion, Nikolai Shaburov, who spoke for the defense.
"L. Kulikov told the court how during the time of his professional practice he dealt with families where one of the relatives had joined a congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. However he noted that he had never attended a meeting of Jehovists himself," Leontiev said.
The specialist summoned by the defense, according to the attorney, explained that the accusations against the Jehovah's Witnesses could be made against any other religious confession, since they are regular features of various religions.
"It is expected that at the next session the examination of Shaburov will be continued," Leontiev said. . . . (tr. by PDS, posted 3 March 2004)
RUSSIANS SUFFER FROM "LEARNED HELPLESSNESS"
Jehovah's Witnesses, Office of Public Information, 3 March 2004
On March 2, 2004, at the banning trial of Jehovahıs Witnesses, the Court heard testimony from the prosecutorıs expert, Leonid Vasilyevich Kulikov, a professor with the Department of Social Psychology at St. Petersburg State University. He claimed that unlike Europe where "civil society is much better," Russians are more vulnerable to the teachings of Jehovahıs Witnesses because of their "learned helplessness." Under cross-examination he admitted he had never attended any meetings of Jehovahıs Witnesses, does not know any personally and could not point to any scientific studies to support his negative conclusions about them. (posted 4 March 2004)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
Local police have refused to protect an Adventist pastor from the Azerbaijani city of Nakhichevan, whom aggressive local residents have frequently threatened with expulsion from society and even death. In addition, it is known that they have also mentioned savage treatment of parishioners of his church, Russian religious news media report.
"People constantly phone and come directly to my house, threatening me and my family, but the authorities refuse to take any measures or to protect us," Pastor Khalid Babaev told the "Forum 18" news service. Muslims have declared that if the pastor conducts even one more worship service, a crowd will gather and attack his house.
When the pastor asked for help from the police after the last visit of such "well-wishers," he was confronted with cold indifference on the part of local authorities. He told how a local policeman, who would not even give his name, refused to talk with him on the phone, and then another police officer (whose name also is not known) also showed no inclination to help him. "We cannot give you any help. We cannot stand and guard each door and listen in on all telephone calls," a representative of the protectors of law and order responded to the pastor who is weary from continual threats.
When on 25 February workers of the "Forum 18" news service called the main office of the police in order to obtain information about the incident, two police officers, one after the other, categorically refused to discuss the topic with them. In his turn, Idris Abbasov, chief of the local affiliate of the State Commission for Work with Religious Organizations, reported that he had heard of the threats, but he did not have complete information. "When I receive it, I will make a report and share it with you," he told "Forum 18" on 25 February. "All religious organizations have the right to worship and meet together; our constitution guarantees this. The police must defend the law and human rights."
Pastor Babaev's situation remains critical to the present. He is very concerned for the life of his wife and son and he is not sure whether he will conduct a service next Saturday securely. (tr. by PDS, posted 3 March 2004)
Forum-18 report: "Adventist pastor flees serious death threats"
Russia Religion News Current News Items
In the view of western experts on questions of freedom of conscience, CIS is one of the most inhospitable regions of the globe. Of course, for residents of some Arab countries or, let's say, the People's Republic of China it is even more difficult to profess some religious views freely or to live in accordance with religious principles that depart from the state ideology. But in contrast with these countries, the area of CIS is usually associated with the so-called "civilized world," in which western norms of rights and human freedom that are enshrined in the existing corpus of international law operate. So it is necessary to evaluate the state of affairs regarding freedom of conscience in CIS from the point of view of these norms and this corpus. Although it is more popular to use the approach in postsoviet space that comes from the maxim "things could be worse."
Apparently it is from this postulate that some participants in the Interreligious Peacemaking Forum of CIS, that opened on 2 March in Moscow, proceed. In the respectable speeches opening this very representative meeting there resounded in various forms assurances that everything is not so bad regarding religion in the CIS space. The strange persistence with which religious leaders of the former USSR tried to prove this to themselves leads involuntarily to the thought that there is a slight doubt in their consciousness. In such a case, what does one say about the expert community whose chief intellectual instinct is to have a healthy doubt about everything?
The most egregious example of the abridgement of rights and freedom of believers is in authoritarian Turkmenistan, where only two confessions are permitted, Sunnite Islam and RPTsMP. Meetings of adherents of other societies are broken up by agents of state security and thus a multitude of Turkmen protestants languish in prisons. In second place, some ways back, come Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, where the authorities persecute with special zeal any manifestation of "wahhabism," for which the chief symptom is taken to be a disinclination to join the official, progovernmental ecclesiastical board of Muslims, and they also substantially restrict the activity of protestants. However, problems for protestants exist everywhere, in Tajikistan, Georgia, Armenia, Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. It is possible to call Ukraine somewhat of an oasis in this regard, where specific circumstances for religious freedom are created by the presence of several "state forming" Orthodox jurisdictions of comparable size.
In general the experience of Ukraine is very remarkable. It says that the level of religious freedom in postsoviet states is directly proportional to the influence of the "titular confession," depending on how strong is the religious monopoly of the basic religious organization of the country. In Russia RPTsMP possesses such a monopoly, which virtually does not recognize the rights of "alternative Orthodoxy" to exist, and it harshly restricts Catholics and fights with protestants, while the so-called "traditional religions," that is, ethnic confessions are to a certain extent controlled through the specially created Interreligious Council. Belarus and Georgia have gone yet further, concluding special agreements with the official Orthodox churches of their countries, which places the other confessions in a second rate position. In Armenia the heart of national and state self-consciousness is the Armenian Apostolic church and in Azerbaijan it is the Shiite Board of Muslims of the Caucasus.
The current interreligious forum in Moscow, as expected, will culminate in the creation of the Interreligious Council of CIS, which will extend the experience of the similar Russian council to all the postsoviet space, with the exception of the Baltic countries. The very fact of the conduct of the forum in Moscow, as well as some programmatic statements that resounded at the Eighth World Russian People's Assembly held last month, leave no doubt that the new council also will operate under the aegis of RPTsMP. Its creation should strengthen the position of the Moscow patriarchate in Russia itself, forcing the government to view it as an influential participant in international relations. This same goal also was served by the creation two years ago of the representation of RPTsMP with European organizations in Brussels, and the strengthening of the Russian ecclesiastical mission in Jerusalem and unification with ROCOR.
In general, religious peacemaking in contemporary Russia is pursuing almost the very same goals as it did in "atheist USSR." Through its special position in the international arena the church can get from the state various forms of preferential treatment and protect itself from undesirable interference of the state in church affairs. (tr. by PDS, posted 2 March 2004)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
On 28 February the presentation of a house of worship of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) on Nevsky Prospect was held. The guests were greeted by the leader of the St. Petersburg district of the religious association, Mikhail Zaretsky, Blagovest-info reports.
The new premises are intended for residents of the Central and Vyborg districts of the city. For believers of these two diverse territories the leadership of the organization proposes to conduct two separate services successively. In accordance with plans of the builders, the building will accommodate more than 300 parishioners on Sundays.
The choir of the central parish sang during the open house. Organizers showed the audience scenes from an amateur production of "Cinderella" and screened a film about the Mormon church and described the history, teachings, and structure of the religious association. The event was climaxed by a buffet.
The establishment of the Russian association of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was approved by the Council on Religious Affairs of the USSR Council of Ministers in March 1991. (tr. by PDS, posted 2 March 2004)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
The Golovin court of Moscow put off the hearing of the case for the liquidation of the Moscow congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses to 2 March.
As the Interfax news agency was told on 1 March by attorney Artur Leontiev, who is representing the interests of the Jehovists, "the question of the postponement of the hearing was raised by the prosecutor," inasmuch as "the specialist in the area of social psychology who was summoned by the prosecution did not appear for examination today, although, the prosecutor has given assurance he will give testimony in court tomorrow."
"In connection with this, the court postponed the review of the case to 2 March," Leontiev said. . . . (tr. by PDS, posted 2 March 2004)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
Leaders of traditional confessions of CIS intend to unite their efforts in order to overcome the division of peoples that was produced after the fall of the Soviet Union. This was announced yesterday at a press conference in Saint Daniel's monastery by representatives of RPTs, the Buddhist Traditional Sangkha, Russian muftis, and the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia.
A new public organization, the Interreligious Council of CIS, will coordinate the work. The creation of the council will be officially announced at the Second Interreligious Peacemaking Forum that opens today. The forum will be attended by the chairman of the Board of Muslims of the Caucasus, Pasha-zade Allahshukiur, Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia Ilia II, and Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II. Relations among political leaders and states may developed in various ways, but people continue to live together," Metropolitan Kirill, who heads the Department of External Church Relations of RPTs, explained. "And while politicians deal with relations on the level of ideas, and businessmen, on the level of the belly and pocket, religious leaders should deal with relations on the level of the heart."
It is proposed that the council will deal with the resolution of interethnic and international problems, questions of social protection of the population, aid for the needy, education, and the cultural heritage.
We recall that at the recently held Eighth World Russian National Assembly, RPTs declared that it wants to become an active participant in international politics. The creation of the council on the initiative of Russian Patriarch Alexis II will be viewed as the first serious step into geopolitics. Despite the assurances by Metropolitan Kirill that "the council of religious leaders is not a political structure and it is not intended to replace it," the organization nevertheless will possess extremely powerful resources for molding public opinion.
The permanent presidium will include 22 of the most highly placed religious leaders, representing all countries of the commonwealth and all five of the leading religious traditions, Orthodox Christianity, Armenian Gregorian Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism. "We lived for 70 years in a great country," Muhammedgali Khuzin summed up yesterday at the press conference. "Today it has been taken from us, and it has been broken into pieces, and our forum will be a kind of response to these events." (tr. by PDS, posted 2 March 2004)
posted on Portal-credo.ru, 2 March 2004
PATRIARCH ALEXIS' SPEECH TO INTERRELIGIOUS PEACEMAKING FORUM
Sedmitsa.ru, 2 March 2004
Esteemed honored representatives of the agencies of government of the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States! Your Holinesses, esteemed heads and representatives of religious associations of the countries of the commonwealth! Your Blessedness archpastors, and esteemed participants in the forum!
I greet you in the blessed Moscow land that for a second time is hosting a supreme assembly of traditional religious leaders of the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
The First Interreligious Peacemaking Forum, that was held here in November 2000, showed clearly that those friendly relationships that developed among religious leaders during the years of militant atheism withstood the trials of the fall of USSR, fratricidal conflicts among nations, and the progressive moral degradation of society. Traditions of interreligious communication not only were preserved but were multiplied, enriched by new forms of dialogue and cooperation. In many countries of the commonwealth, the level of mutual understanding among leading relgious communities is close to ideal. On the state and regional levels, continuously functioning interreligious structures have been created, the most famous of which is the Interreligious Council of Russia. Of course, there are dangers that the development of the interreligious dialogue could lead to religious syncretism and review of religious beliefs and to an obliteration of the boundaries between religious traditions. However time has shown that a reasonable system of cooperation of religions preserves and emphasizes the uniqueness and autonomy of each one of them. In addition, the form of interreligious dialogue that we have adopted has become a serious preventive for manipulation that is directed to the creation of some kind of ecumenical superreligion.
In the past years the leaders of traditional religions have responded in common to many urgent challenges and problems by calling their followers to peace and harmony. Their common peacemaking position that is a consequence of many centuries of friendship among Orthodox Christians, Muslims, Jews, and Buddhists has helped in avoiding many disputes, and in preventing the transformation of international conflicts into interreligious ones, and it has set up barriers to the growth of destructive pseudoreligious movements. Now we are working together in a quest for the best system of relations among religion, the state, and society, and we are aiding the moral regeneration of our nations and we are withstanding the challenges of the new age. "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit" (Mt. 7.18), Christ the Savior said. Seeing the substantial benefit of interreligious dialoge, we have the right to conclude it is a good tree with good fruit.
Sometimes the countries of the commonwealth are accused of having insufficient freedom and democracy, and an attempt is made to teach them how to organize relations among religions and confessions. In doing so they are forgetting that it is in our region of the world that there have not been religious wars, while, on the contrary, a unique experience of harmonious coexistence of religions and cultures has developed. Nowhere else in the world has interreligious cooperation that has been achieved by religious leaders enjoyed such attention and support on the part of civil authorities and mass media. We now are witnesses of the way, through dialogue, religious diversity has become a significant factor not for the division but for the rapprochement of states. I testify that this unique experience should be used in the rest of the world if it wishes to avoid global conflict. I am convinced that our joint efforts will develop and serve the welfare of people. I want to wish all participants of the forum fruitful work and success in all good deeds. (tr. by PDS, posted 2 March 2004)
posted on Portal-credo.ru site, 2 March 2004
PATRIARCH ILIA II PROPOSES CREATION OF RELIGIOUS PEACEMAKING CONTINGENT
OF CIS
Portal-credo.ru,
2 March 2004
Catholicos-Patriarch of all-Georgia Ilia II has proposed the creation of a religious peacemaking continguent of CIS, RIA Novosti reports.
"The Georgian Orthodox church has proposed the initiative that clergy should take upon themselves the responsibility of peacemaking with the right of unimpeded movement within zones of conflicts," Ilia II declared on Tuesday at the Second Interreligious Peacemaking Forum of Countires of CIS in Moscow.
He stated that peacemaking groups should comprise representatives of the clergy from the two sides to a conflict, without the intrusion of a third side. "Religious peacemakers should not fulfill the mission of soldiers who are separating the sides in the conflict but the mission of their convergence, unification, and reconciliation. Their weapons should be love for neighbor, human kindness, and mutual forgiveness," the patriarch of all-Georgia stressed.
"The situation in Georgia and the Caucasus in general, where there is neither peace nor war, cannot continue for long," he noted as well. "I consider that with respect of Georgia, Russia, as a great state, should take active steps in matters of territorial integrity. This will create a basis for restoring mutual trust among our countries," Ilia II said.
The Georgian people "are awaiting with great hope a visit by Vladimir Putin, which should start a new stage in fraternal cultural, political, and economic cooperation between Russia and Georgia," the patriarch of all-Georgia declared. (tr. by PDS, posted 2 March 2004)
Russia
Religion News Current News Items
The president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Cardinal Walter Kasper, spoke out against the creation of a Greek Catholic patriarchate in Ukraine, Blagovest-info reports, citing CWN. "Nobody wants to see a breaking of all connections that the pope managed to establish with the Orthodox churches," the cardinal declared; he recently returned from Moscow where he conducted talks with Patriarch Alexis II and other hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox church.
The decision whether the Ukrainian Greek Catholic church (UGKTs) should be given the status of a patriarchate can be made only by John Paul II himself, the prelate reminded reporters. At the same time, Cardinal Kasper is convinced that this decision should be made soon in order to put an end to disagreements as quickly as possible.
Even before his trip to Moscow Cardinal Kasper was known as an opponent of the creation of the patriarchate, for which several other hierarchs of the Catholic church had spoken in favor. In particular, the head of this organization, Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, who at the present time bears the title of Supreme Archbishop of Lviv, has actively promoted the granting of patriarchal status to UGKTs.
The prospect of the creation of the patriarchate was sharply condemned by Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and all-Rus. His position was supported by the primates of other Orthodox local churches, led by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew II. The patriarch of Constantinople sent the pope a letter in which he called the pontiff to refrain from this step because of which relations between the Vatican and Orthodox churches could suffer serious harm.
"It is necessary to take account of the arguments of the Orthodox," Cardinal Kasper stated. "Dialogue with Orthodox churches must not be interrupted because of this." The prelate also expressed the hope that his visit to Russia would lay a foundation for a new stage in relations between the Catholic church and the Moscow patriarchate. At the time of the cardinal's visit to Moscow he and the head of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow patriarchate, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, agreed on the creation of a joint commission which will review the accusations of proselytism on the canonical territory of the Russian Orthodox church, which have been made against representatives of the Catholic community. (tr. by PDS, posted 1 March 2004)
MEETING WITH ALEXY II VIEWED AS A STEP FORWARD
Patriarch Airs Old Criticism, but Cardinal Kasper Sees New Hope
Zenit.org, 23 February 2004
The president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity said his weekend meeting with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II was a "first step" in the resumption of dialogue.
Cardinal Walter Kasper was received by the patriarch on Sunday at the end of a visit to Moscow aimed at overcoming the misunderstandings between the Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches.
During the meeting, Alexy II, who turned 75 today, insisted on repeating the accusations he has made for some time against Catholics in Russia, Cardinal Kasper told Vatican Radio.
"In any case, it was a first step," the cardinal said in a phone call from Moscow. "I am pleased because the meeting actually took place. At the beginning, the patriarch repeated the issues known for years. In the second phase, we had an exchange of opinions on the different issues."
The cardinal added: "I hope it was useful. In the near future, we will see if the tone of the debate is calmer and if we arrive at a dialogue, a collaboration."
The cardinal's arrival in Moscow was preceded by the Moscow Patriarchate's spread of the Orthodox Churches' criticisms of the institution of a Greek-Catholic Patriarchate in Ukraine.
Proscribed under the Stalin regime, the Greek-Catholic Church in Ukraine, which preserves the Eastern tradition and liturgy but is loyal to Rome, has flourished since the fall of Communism.
In a statement Feb. 14, Cardinal Kasper explained that the Holy See has taken these protests "seriously into consideration."
During Sunday's meeting, Alexy II expressed his opposition to John Paul II's decision in 2002 to establish four dioceses in the Russian Federation, which he described as "not a very friendly step," Interfax reported.
The Russian patriarch also criticized what he described as "direct proselytism and the work of the Catholic Church in Russian orphanages," ITAR-Tass said.
There were, however, points of agreement during the conversation with the patriarch. Among the common concerns of the two Churches is the defense of Christian values in the context of the redaction of the European Constitutional Treaty, a "topic on which the patriarch showed particularly responsive," Vatican Radio commented.
A fruit of Cardinal Kasper's visit was the proposal to establish a joint working group for the solution of specific outstanding issues between the Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches.
The proposal arose in a meeting Thursday between the cardinal and Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, president of the Department for External Ecclesiastical Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate.
Another result of Cardinal Kasper's visit was the discussion, at the Ecclesiastical Academy of the Moscow Patriarchate, of possible collaboration at the academic level with Catholic institutions, including exchanges of professors. (posted 1 March 2004)
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On Monday more than 20 religious leaders of countries of CIS will arrive in Moscow to take part in the Second Interreligious Peacemaking Forum of the Commonwealth, RIA Novosti reported at the Interreligious Council of Russia.
This forum will be conducted in the Russian capital on 2 to 4 March on the initiative of Patriarch Alexis II of Mocsow and all-Rus, the head of the Board of Muslims of the Caucasus, Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukiur Pasha-zade, and the Interreligious Council of Russia.
The goal of the forum is the coordination of the activity of traditional religious organizations of the CIS countries for strengthening interethnic and interreligious peace, the establishment of traditional religious values in society, and the joint struggle with common challenges, particularly terrorism.
It is planned that one of the main outcomes of the forum will be the creation of an Interreligious Council of CIS that will include more than twenty prominent religious leaders of the commonwealth. They will represent all countries of CIS and all five leading religious traditions, Orthodox Christianity, Armenian Gregorian Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism.
The forum does not have a goal of convergence of the beliefs and doctrines of various religions nor are joint prayers or worship services contemplated and theological problems will not be discussed. On the whole, it is called to continue the traditions of the First Interreligious Peacemaking Forum that was held in Moscow on 13-14 November 2000.
Participants in the second forum will include Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and all-Rus, the Catholicos-patriarch of all Georgia, Ilia II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, Garegin II, and the chairman of the Board of Muslims of Caucasus, Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukiur Pasha-Zade, who approved conducting the forum at a quadrilateral meeting in Moscow in November of last year.
Forum participants also will include metropolitans Vladimir of Kiev and all-Ukraine, Filaret of Minsk and Slutsk, Vladimir of Kishinev and Moldova, and Mefody of Astana and Alma-Ata, and the chairmen of the ecclesiastical boards of Muslims of Kazakhstan, Kirgizia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenia, Tajikistan, and other religious leaders of traditional confessions.
In addition, the forum will not escape the attention of governmental, political, scientific, and public leaders of CIS countries or representatives of foreign interreligious structures. (tr. by PDS, posted 1 March 2004)
On 1 January 2004 there were 280 religious organizations registered within the Maritime Territory (Primorskii krai), not counting the Vladivostok and Maritime diocese of the Moscow patriarchate, which is registered with the Russian federation Ministry of Justice, the newspaper "Zolotoi Rog" reports.
Of 76 Orthodox organizations in the Maritime region, 69 parishes and other structures belong to the Moscow patriarchate of RPTs, and there is an organization of the restored Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia and a parish of the Ukrainian Orthodox church of the Kiev patriarchate, as well as five parishes of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer church.
There are 164 religious organizations of protestants, Mormons, and Jehovah's Witnesses. This includes 39 parishes and other structures of Christians of Evangelical Faith--Pentecostals, 29 congregations of Evangelical Christians, 22 congregations of Seventh-day Adventists, 9 Evangelical Christians-Baptists, 36 Presbyterian churches, 8 Methodist churches, 3 Mormon groups (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), and 13 congregations belong to Jehovah's Witnesses.
The Buddhist, Muslim, and Jewish confessions are represented by only a few registered organizations.
Protestant organizations have constructed within the territory a multitude of churches, headed by pastors mainly from the republic of Korea. Practically all members attend meetings regularly and perform all religious rituals, in contrast with the Orthodox believers who attend church once a year or even less.
As reported by the head of the Department of Public Associations and Religious Organizations of the chief directorate of the Russian Ministry of Justice for Maritime Territory, Dmitry Vladimirov, in 2003 13 religious organizations were registered and the registrations of five were cancelled. The greatest number of applications, up to 60 in one year, came in 1999-2000. Dmitry Vladimirov explains this by the fact that the law "On freedom of conscience and religious confession" came out in 1997; foreign missionaries studied it for a year or two and then began to operate actively according to Russian rules. (tr. by PDS, posted 1 March 2004)
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The rector of the Nizhny Novgorod Catholic parish of the Assumption of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, Fr Mario Beverati, held a meeting with Bishop of Nizhegorod and Arzamas Georgii Danilov, where the parties discussed the situation surrounding the construction of a Catholic convent in the city, Blagovest-info reports.
According to the chief of protocol of the head of the Nizhegorod diocese, Andrei Milkin, the Catholic priest acknowledged that such plans have actually been discussed. However, as Fr Mario Beverati gave assurances, if the Orthodox bishop is opposed, then they can be "repudiated."
The meeting between Fr Beverati and Bishop Georgii was held soon after the Nizhny Novgorod diocese distributed an official statement sharply attacking the initiative of the Roman Catholic church.
The parties also touched on the question of how the two-story building constructed by the Catholics in the microdistrict of Verkhnie Pechory will be used in the future. The head of the press service of the Nizhegorod diocese, Fr Igor Pchelintsev, noted that in the situation that has developed the Russian Orthodox church "does not possess the possibility of insisting on a unilateral closing of the already constructed convent." But now, he said, confirmation has been received that in the future the rector of the Catholic parish will coordinate actions "on the question of the opening of the convent" with the Nizhny Novgorod diocese.
Meanwhile one of the leading scholars of religion in the region, docent of the Nizhny Novgorod Pedagogical University, Igor Simonov, put the blame for the tension between Orthodox and Catholics on the city administration, In an interview with the Nizhegorod Telegraph Agency he stated that the Catholic parish has no obligation to coordinate its actions with the Nizhegorod diocese, but municipal agencies should have thought through matters thoroughly before allotting to Catholics a land parcel for construction. The conflict on religious bases could have been foreseen, since relations between the Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches have always been tense. As Igor Simonov states, in confessional policy it is necessary to proceed from the interests of public calm and reality, "and the reality is that the leading confession on the territory of Russia is the Russian Orthodox church."
In the expert's opinion, the local authorities underestimate the complexity and acuteness of interconfessional problems, of which the abolition of the Department for Relations with the Public and Interconfessional Relations from the city administration serves as an example. The same fate befell a Department for Relations with Public and Religious Organizations. Now the Department of Culture is responsible for such relations, "a structure which deals with recreation, dancing, and movie theaters." Igor Simonov noted that he has known Fr Mario Beverati for a long time and he gave assurances that he values highly relations with the Russian Orthodox church. This is shown in the way the rector of the Catholic parish regularly participates in Orthodox processions of the cross. Such a thing is rare for Catholics. (tr. by PDS, posted 1 March 2004)
NIZHNY NOVGOROD MAYOR OPPOSES CREATION OF CATHOLIC CLOISTER IN PRIVATE
HOME
Portal-credo.ru,
1 March 2004
Nizhny Novgorod Mayor Vadim Bulavinov spoke out on Friday, 27 February, against the creation of a Catholic convent in a private home, NTA-Privolzhe reports.
He clarified that the head of the Catholic parish, Fr Mario, bought a parcel of ground and a partially constructed cottage for the convent in the Verkhnie Pechory district, where according to construction plans private homes will be erected. In the mayor's opinion, the organization of a convent in the city should be coordinated with the city administration and the head of the department of architecture of the city. He added that in any case city authorities will not grant Catholics permission "to transform a house into a dormitory."
Vadim Bulavinov recalled that the administration gave permission for the construction of a Catholic church on Gorky Street, and for now the Catholics should be satisfied with this. "Meanwhile, an Orthodox church is not given land in Italy; it was built on the grounds of the Russian embassy. Why do they treat other religions in this way in the West and we should treat them differently?" the mayor noted.
As noted in the Nizhegorod newspaper "City and Citizens," on 22 February when the population observed Maslenitsa and Forgiveness Sunday, the heads of the Nizhny Novgorod diocese and the Catholic parish met and asked one another for forgiveness. Father Mario, the head of Nizhegorod Catholics, assured the Nizhny diocese that the opening of a convent will be suspended, although they intended to bring in only two or three nuns. It seems that it was for these two nuns from Lithuania and England that a house of 1,000 square meters was built, reporters for the paper noted.
There is no official permission for the construction of a monastery; all of Fr Mario's documents were drawn up for the construction of an ordinary private home. To reporters' questions about what will be done with the house, Father Mario declared surprisingly, "Really should there be a parish or a convent there? No, it will be simply a home." It is not clear what will become of the just completed house, although its intended residents now do not want to come to Nizhny Novgorod because of such opposition, Fr Mario said. The Nizhny Novgorod diocese, in its turn, hopes for a peaceful end to the affair. (tr. by PDS, posted 1 March 2004)
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In the near future the history of religion as an elective subject may be introduced into the curriculum of secondary schools of Moscow. "At the present time the head of the Department of Education of the government of the capital, Liubov Kezina, is studying a textbook on this topic," Vice-Mayor Mikhail Men stated at a press conference on Thursday in the central office of Interfax in Moscow. He is convinced that "if a young person wants to be considered fully educated he should know the history of religion and the substance of the basic confession that is dominant in the country."
Mikhail Men stressed that the teaching of a religious subject should be conducted on an elective basis and the subject itself should have a general character, that is, it should acquaint pupils with the history of all traditional religious of the country and not just some one of the confessions. (tr. by PDS, posted 1 March 2004)
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