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The head of the Catholic metropolia in Russia, Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz addressed the session of the Council for Relations with Religious Associations of the presidential administration of the Russia federation on the problems of adequate coverage of the activity of various religions in the news media, return of church property, and interpretation of the legislation of the Russian federation in various component elements of the federation, "Blagovest-info" reports.
"It is unclear to me why in one region foreign priests are required to have permission to work, while in another there is no such requirement, and why in one there is a quota on foreigners and in another there isnąt," the metropolitan declared.
During the session, which was devoted to relations of offices of state power and religious associations in strengthening toleration and social harmony and improvement of interconfessional dialogue, the Catholic hierarch spoke against the division of religions into "traditional" and "nontraditional" religions, since, in his opinion, this leads, in the final analysis, to the growth of tension in relations both among religions and between the state and religion.
Metropolitan Kondrusiewicz expressed concern with regard to the draft of amendments to the law on freedom of conscience according to which foreigners will be able to be invited only by centralized religious organizations. "For Catholics this could evoke many problems; we invite a priest to Moscow because the center of the archdiocese is located there, but he will serve in an entirely different location, for example, in Kaliningrad, where it will be necessary to explain to local bureaucrats at length why Moscow invited him," the prelate explained.
Kondrusiewicz cautioned against hasty resolution of problems of religious education in the schools. Appealing to the experience of Lithuania, Poland, Italy, and Spain, the metropolitan suggested in this complicated question a strict distinction between knowledge and faith, and the teaching of the history of religion and catechesis. "In Lithuania, reviewing the experience of the past decade, Catholic bishops came to the conclusion that one cannot prepare people for communion in the schools well, nor inculcate the truths of the faith," he noted. Calling attention to the peculiarities of the perception of spirituality in secular schools, the prelate stressed that by no means do all priests, monks, or nuns who teach there have pedagogical training. Thus the Catholic hierarch suggested separating the history of religion from teaching the foundations of the faith. "The first should be studied in schools and this subject can be taught by lay teachers who have appropriate preparation," Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz continued. "But catechesis must be left to the church."
After the session the metropolitan especially shared the words spoken at the session by the chairman of the Council for Relations with Religious Associations of the presidential administration of the Russian federation, the director of the presidential administration, Dmitry Medvedev, to the effect that the question of transfer of confiscated and privatized church property is complicated, but it is not closed. "This arouses in us great hopes," the head of the Catholic metropolia in Russia said. (tr. By PDS, posted 4 June 2005)
REPRESENTATIVES OF ALL RUSSIAN RELIGIOUS CONFESSIONS READY TO COMBAT
NATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM
Mir religii, 2 June
2005
Representatives of all religious confessions of Russia are prepared to cooperate actively with agencies of state power in questions of combating manifestations of intolerance, nationalist and religious extremism, and of supporting stability in society by means of peacemaking and educational work. This was stated in a declaration adopted on the basis of conclusions of a session of the Council on Relations with Religious Associations of the presidential administration of Russia. The session occurred yesterday in the Kremlin under the chairmanship of the head of the presidential administration, Dmitry Medvedev, who heads the council, RIA Novosti reports.
The main topic of the meeting was cooperation of agencies of state authority and religious associations in strengthening tolerance and social harmony, and improvement of interconfessional dialogue.
The head of the presidential administration of the Russian federation did not rule out the possibility of attempts to complicate the domestic political situation in the country proportionate to the approach of the next election campaign, including through intensifying interreligious conflicts. "The distance will become wider to the extent of the approach of the regular political season and this intensification of passions will occur to a greater and greater degree," Medvedev declared.
The danger of artificial incitement of interreligious strife in Russia was addressed at the session by the vice-chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow patriarchate, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin. "In the past few years, if not months, there have appeared attempts to worsen the interreligious situation in the country and to upset believers by presenting the case as if Russia is just about on the verge of interreligious war," he noted. The priest is convinced that "these tendencies or attempts to rock the boat must be stopped because this wind that they are trying to create artificially could turn into a real storm."
D. Medvedev agreed with such an assessment. "You cannot explain this [attempts to complicate the situation in the country‹Mir religii ed. note] other than as a special work or political order," Interfax quoted the head of the presidential administration as saying.
The session also was addressed by the Minister of Culture and Mass Communications of RF and the chairman of the Commission on Questions of Religious Associations of the government of RF, Alexander Sokolov, the deputy Minister of Education and Science of RF, Andrei Svinarenko, the chairman of the Committee of the State Duma for Affairs of Public Associations and Religious Organizations, Sergei Popov, as well as other members of the council.
Meeting participants included representatives of various religious confessions, including Metropolitan of Krutitsy and Kolomna Yuvenaly, Metropolitan of Kaluga and Borovsk Kliment, the primate of the Russian Orthodox Old Ritualist church, Metropolitan of Moscow and all-Rus Andrian, the chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia, Sheikh Ravil Gainutdin, Chief Rabbi of Russia Berl Lazar, the chairman of the Buddhist Traditional Sangkha of Russia, Khambo-lama Damba Aiusheev, the head of the Catholic metropolia in Russia, Metropolitan Tadeusz Kondrusiewica, the head of the representation of the Evangelical Lutheran church in Moscow, Vladimir Pudov, the chairman of the Russian Associated Union of Christians of Evangelical Faith Pentecostals, Bishop Sergei Riakhovsky, and the president of the West Russian Union of Churches of Christian Seventh-day Adventists, senior pastor Vasily Stoliar. (tr. By PDS, posted 4 June 2005)
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Portal-credo.ru: What position has Vice-mayor Mikhail Alexandrovich Men taken in the developing conflict of the "Emmanuel" Pentecostal church (a member of the centralized organization of the Russian Assemblies of God) with Muscovite bureaucrats?
Andrei Parnov: Without doubt Mikhail Men is convinced that the question regarding the allocation of land to the church must be resolved. Back on 23 May, when Mr. Men met with representatives of the "Emmanuel" church, an agreement was reached that we will cooperate in the resolution of problems of the evangelical church for which its members had held a demonstration. It was decided that the leadership of the capital would be informed about the situation and it will take supervision over the further development of events.
For today the situation has reached its limits and the question itself lies with various structures, in Moscow Commission on Architecture and the prefecture of the Western Administrative District. Now they have the say. It is these subdivisions [of the government] that must offer the church other possibilities for parcels of land since they had previously offered something that was entirely unsuitable to the congregation.
--Did the church have the right to hold a demonstration and organize picketing of the Moscow city hall? How was this taken by the government of Moscow?
--After the meeting with Mikhail Men, despite the fact that the church's problems had been taken notice of, representatives of the congregation decided to exacerbate the situation. On their part the actions of the protestant ministers only strained the circumstances. So far as I understand, there was not any permission for conducting a picket or a demonstration. For this reason, police officers began dispersing the demonstrators. And that's been repeated day by day.
In light of the seriousness of the situation, on 1 June Mikhail Men called an extraordinary conference in which representatives of the prefecture of the Western Administrative District, the Moscow Commission on Architecture, and workers of the Committee for Relations with Religious Organizations of the government of Moscow participated. Leaders of the "Emmanuel" church also were invited to this conference. However, they did not arrive at this session. Subsequently there appeared a statement that Pastor Alexander Purshaga did not show up at this session as a sign of protest against the breakup of the demonstration of believers and his arrest (at the time of the conference in Men's office the senior pastor of "Emmanuel" church, Alexander Purshaga, had been arrested by the police and was under detention at the "Tver" district Department of Internal Affairs--Portal-credo.ru note]. It is another matter that we also were not interested in this picket for which there had been no permission. In addition, there have been reports that the police beat believers.
--From your point of view, were there any excesses in the actions of bureaucrats of the Central Administrative District or the police in breaking up the picketing as was done from 30 May to 2 June, inclusive?
--It is difficult for us to assess the situation, since organizing, permitting, or forbidding demonstrations and pickets lies outside our competence. In addition, Vice-mayor Mikhail Men has tried to investigate the situation. All claims with respect to dispersal of the pickets must be sent to the State Directorate of Internal Affairs of Moscow and the prefecture of the Central Administrative District. They need to be asked whether they really gave permission to church members to go out onto the street or not.
According to our information, the picket's organizers notified the prefecture of the Central Administrative District that they intended to gather on Tver Square. Workers at the prefecture did nothing to respond to them, neither yes nor no. The church leadership who initiated the protest action came to the conclusion that silence was permission for their picket.
--Had information about the violation of the rights of the believers from "Emmanuel" church been given to the leadership of the capital, specifically about problems of the congregation in allocation of a parcel of land in the western district of Moscow and about hindrances to the construction of a house of worship in Solntsevo?
--As a result of yesterday's conference with Vice-mayor Mikhail Men, information about the claims of "Emmanuel" church against Moscow authorities was delivered on 2 June to Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov. The situation regarding allocating a different plot of land was taken under the direct supervision of the capital's chief. In addition, orders were given to the Moscow Commission on Architecture to offer in the shortest possible time to "Emmanuel" church another parcel of land for constructing a house of worship if that plot that the church had possessed is not suitable for construction. We think that we must bring this matter to a close and, without question, we will not ignore the problems of the church.
--Specifically, what questions were brought to the notice of the capital's Mayor Yury Luzhkov and for what reason? Which of the church's problems do you expect to be resolved first?
--Luzhkov was informed about the conflict over the parcel of land in the Western Administrative District. We expect that this question will be reviewed in the shortest possible time. If not this week, then next week a decision in principle should be made. The church needs land for building its church. In this regard it is necessary to find a compromise with the believers.
According to our information, back in May 1996 the "Emmanuel" church was assigned a piece of land in the park of the Fiftieth Anniversary of October on Vernadsky Prospect, about 0.46 hectare. The congregation then received the approvals of the architecture council of Moscow and ecology service and so forth. The church actually received this land and its ownership of it was finalized. However Russian legislation soon afterward was changed and a new Land Code was adopted. On the basis of the standards of the recently adopted laws, the prefecture of the western district incorporated the land of the "Emmanuel" church into the natural park zone. Moreover, by 1999, when this happened, nothing had been constructed on the lot. The decision of the prefecture of the western district was the basis for concluding that the protestant church that was the owner of the land must be offered another parcel in exchange. This question, as it turned out, was suspended and a search for an alternative parcel was begun and now the church did not have the right to build anything. It turns out that all subsequent decisions still had to be made by the prefecture of the western district and the Moscow Commission on Architecture, which decides which lands to allocate and specifically what to build on them.
--The Pentecostal church has spoken in its statements about yet another incident of claims on the part of the government. In the opinion of leaders of the Pentecostal congregation, in Solntsevo the believers were denied the right to build their own church on land they had already purchased. Was this question discussed at the conference with Mikhail Men?
--In Solntsevo the church confronted a problem of a completely different substance. The point is that deputies of the local Solntsevo administration objected that a Pentecostal house of worship would be built in their district. Representatives of the administration have stated that residents of Solntsevo oppose having the "Emmanuel" church in their neighborhood.
--In your opinion, are the Moscow authorities prepared to have contact with representatives of the evangelical church after the conflict has flowed out onto the street and ministers have been frequently escorted to the police department?
--The problem is that the meeting scheduled for 1 June with the pastor of "Emmanuel" church did not produce any results, since it did not happen. The authorities are prepared to resolve many disputed question affecting the congregation, but without representatives from the church it is foolish to solve these questions. I do not doubt, as well, that Mikhail Men is prepared to have further contact. Men is prepared to hear out all desires of leaders of the church. But it is impossible to allocate land to the church without the presence of its representatives. For example, the prefecture of the western district has already offered believers other parcels, in Zhulebino and on Krylatskaia Street. that did not suit the congregation since you have to go a long way to get there and they are located far from the metro. However I think the prefecture may also understand that there is little land in the capital and everybody wants land question to be resolved quickly. In any case we will do nothing while the other side is waving flags and trying to get behind bars.
Interview conducted by Roman Lunkin
(tr. by PDS, posted 3 June 2005)
FIFTH DAY OF PENTECOSTAL PICKET
Police continue to make havoc; pastor of "Emmanuel" church arrested
again
Portal-credo.ru,
3 June 2005
For the fifth day the picket organized by the "Emmanuel" church of Christians of Evangelical Faith (Pentecostals) on Tver Square across from the Moscow city hall is continuing. The believers demand the return to them of a parcel of land previously allocated for construction of a church building in the western district of Moscow. According to a report from the press secretary of the "Emmanuel" church, Yury Popov, on 3 June that picket began at 11:30. Approximately fifteen minutes later police officers from the Tver district OVD appeared and demanded that the demonstration cease. After the participants in the picket refused to fulfill their orders, police began confiscating the placards. As Popov affirms, the policemen understood, finally, that the picket was being conducted on legal bases, but they were forced to fulfill the orders of their commanders.
This time a police microbus arrived, from which a man in civilian clothes jumped and, swearing crudely, he seized the senior pastor of the "Emmanuel" church, Alexander Purshaga, and shoved him into the police "Gazel," after which a pastor from a church in Zelenogorsk, a St. Petersburg suburb, Ilia Astafiev was similarly crudely arrested, along with two members of "Emmanuel" church. At the present time they all are being held at the "Tver" district OVD building, Yury Popov told a Portal-credo.ru correspondent.
Deprived of their placards, and under pressure from the police, the
Pentecostal demonstration was scattered for some time onto nearby streets,
but by 12:30 the believers had returned to the square with new signs and
the demonstration resumed. Yury Popov reported by phone that this time
the organizers were approached politely by police lieutenant Igor Viktorivich
Bolotov from the Tver department who requested that they cease the demonstration.
He was shown documents that confirmed the legality of conducting the picket.
As Popov said, Lt. Bolotov looked rather sad since he acknowledged that
he was committing an illegal act, but he did not have the power to oppose
the order of his superior. (tr. by PDS, posted 3 June 2005)
BREAKUP OF PENTECOSTAL PICKET CONTINUES. DETAINEES SCATTERED TO VARIOUS
DEPARTMENTS
Portal.credo.ru,
3 June 2005
A report of his arrest during the demonstration organized by the "Emmanuel" church of Christians of Evangelical Faith on 3 June on Tver Square was made at 12:45 by cell phone by the church's press secretary Yury Popov, to a Portal-credo.ru correspondent. The arrest had been made by police Sr. Lt. Igor Bolotov, of the "Tver" district OVD, who told the one he arrested that he will be taken not to OVD, as usual, but to the Tenth Division of police near the Belorussian railroad station.
Placards were again seized from the picketers by police. As Sr. Lt. Bolotov said, the police were acting in fulfillment of orders from the commander of the Directorate for Internal Affairs of the Central Administrative District, Gen. Lt A.V. Melnikov, to break up the demonstration, Popov reports.
Yury Popov also reported that the senior pastor of "Emmanuel" church, Alexander Purshaga, who had been arrested earlier, was also being held not at the Tver OVD building but in a "monkey cage" in the Fourteenth Division of police, along with the drunks and hooligans who are there. (tr. by PDS, posted 3 June 2005)
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1. FROM "EMMANUEL" CHURCH TO PREFECTURE OF CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE DISTRICT
S.L. Baidakov
Prefect of Central Administrative District of city of Moscow
NOTIFICATION of the conduct of a public event.
Ar. 16 of the federal law "On freedom of conscience and religious associations" regulates the sites for unimpeded conduct by religious organizations of religious rituals and ceremonies on the basis of rights for the use of such places. In other circumstances, in accordance with point 5 of that article, public worship services, other religious rituals and ceremonies are conducted by the procedure established for conducting demonstrations, processions, and gatherings. According to point 4 of article 5 of the federal law "On assemblies, meetings, demonstrations, processions and picketing," the organizer of a public event is obliged to submit to the executive authority of a component element of the Russian federation or an office of local administration notification about the conduct of a public event in accordance with established procedure.
On the basis of what is stated, we send to you the present notification about the conduct of a public event.
1. Goal of this public event:
--public expression of public opinion against discrimination against the constitutional rights of protestant Christian confessions;
--calling attention of the mayor of the city of Moscow to discriminatory actions of city government workers with regard to the rights of protestant Christian confessions.
2. Format of event: picketing
3. Place of conduct: Tver Square at the monument to Yury Dologruky
4. Date of conduct: from 30 May 2005 to 03 June 2005; time of beginning--11.00; time of ending--17.00
5. Predicted number of participants--50 persons
6. Public order among the participants of the picketing will be assured by the service of the organizer
7. Organizer of picketing: "Emmanuel" religious organization of the central church of Christians of Evangelical Faith Pentecostals of Moscow (Certificate of registration No. 721 of 24.08.1998).
Legal address: 119618, Moscow, St. Glavmosstroia 12, apt. 14. Contact telephone (095) 505-21-41
8. Persons authorized by the organizer of the public event to perform preperatory actions for organizing and conducting public event: Purshaga, Alexander Ananievich; Azarin, Bakur Grachiaevich; Soloviev, Alexander Alexseevich; Koledov, Oleg Alexeevich; Popov, Yury Nikolaevich; Gribovodov, Sergei Yurievich; Demianovsky, Vladimir Maratovich
In accordance with article 12 of the federal law "On assemblies, meetings, demonstrations, processions and picketing," we request you to guarantee, within the bounds of your competence and jointly with the organizer of the public event and an authorized representative of the agency for internal affairs, public order and the security of citizens during the conduct of the public event and to provide them as necessary emergency medical aid.
Senior pastor of the church, A.A. Purshaga
20 May 2005
(tr. by PDS, posted 3 June 2005)
Russian text and photo facsimile of original posted on Portal-credo.ru
site, 3 June 2005
2. FROM PREFECTURE TO "EMMANUEL" CHURCH
26.05.2005
No. 14-38-870/5
Religious organization
"Emmanuel" central church of Christians of Evangelical Faith Pentecostals
Glavmosstroia St., building 12, apt. 14 (tel. 505-21-41)
Moscow
Concerning pickets conducted by the "Emmanuel" religious organization of the central church of Christians of Evangelical Faith Pentecostals on 30 May and 3 June 2005
The prefecture of the Central Administrative District has received your notification of intent to conduct a picket on Tver Square, at the monument to Yury Dolgoruky, from 11.00 to 17.00 on 30 May 2005 and 1,2,3 June, with up to fifty persons participating. The purpose of the event, indicated in the notification: "Against discrimination against the constitutional rights of protestant Christian confessions."
Guided by federal law of the Russian federation of 19.06.2004 "On assemblies, meetings, demonstrations, processions and picketing," I inform you
In connection with the impossibility of accommodating participants in an event on the territory of the monument to Yu. Dolgoruky (order of the mayor of the government of Moscow of 30.12.1998, No. 1471-RP "On arrangement of stops for transportation in the vicinity of the buildings of Moscow city hall") the prefecture of the Central Administrative District proposes the space in Novopushkin Square for conducting the picket by representatives of the "Emmanuel" religious organization of the central church of Christians of Evangelical Faith Pentecostals of Moscow on 30 May and 3 June, from 11.00 to 15.00, inasmuch as this proposed space will be occupied on 31 May and 1 and 2 June by other mass actions, of which notification had been submitted earlier, with up to fifty participants for the purpose as indicated in the notification, without creating impediments for vehicular traffic and pedestrians.
We remind you of the necessity of fulfilling article 5 of the federal law of the Russian federation of 19.06.2004 regarding observing public order and personal responsibility for its violation in accordance with existing legislation.
S.A. Vasiukov
[tr. note: the original of this document contains a handwritten note in the upper left corner: "Resolution: Medianikov S.P. We ask that you prepare a plan to provide a squad for Tver Square with the goal of not permitting the conduct of the action on the square and guaranteeing legal order. [signed] Shorin S.A. 27.05.05"]
(tr. by PDS, posted 3 June 2005)
Russian text and photo facsimile of original posted on Portal-credo.ru site, 3 June 2005
Note from Portal-credo.ru: "Photocopy of a letter signed by deputy prefect of Central Administrative District, S.A. Vasiukom, of 26 May 2005, addressed to the "Emmanuel" church regarding change of the site for conducting the picket, which was neither delivered nor sent by FAX to the persons responsible for conducting the picket. According to law, this letter was supposed to be brought to the attention of organizers of the event within a three day period after submission of notification regarding its conduct, that is, 23 May. The letter turned up at the Tver district OVD, instead of at the immediate address, where it was copied by the press secretary of "Emmanuel" church on 30 May, at the time of his detention."
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