RUSSIA RELIGION NEWS
|
Copyrighted material. For private use only. If you quote material, please credit the publication from which it came. It is not necessary to credit this Web page for any print use of the material. If any electronic reproduction is made, please acknowledge the URL: http:www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/ |
|||
|
|
|
|
Information |
Russian Ministry of Education on teaching religion
SCHOOL CHILDREN WILL STUDY HISTORY OF RELIGION IN ALMOST HALF OF RUSSIA'S REGIONSReligiia i SMI, 31 August 2007
Beginning 1 September, school children in more than half of the component elements ["subjects"] of Russia will study historical and culturological disciplines connected with the traditional religions. "The study of the history and culture of traditional religions within the framework of regional curricula has been organized at least in every other subject of the Russian federation," Tatiana Petrova, deputy head of the Department of State Policy and Legal Regulation in the sphere of Education of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian federation, reported.
She said that in approximately every tenth component element [e.g. province, republic, or territory] the number of children studying this subject exceeds 10,000, and in every fifth region this number is somewhere between 1,000 and 10,000 pupils, Interfax-religiia reports.
The study of the history and culture of traditional religions, according to the representative of the Ministry of Education and Science, is more widespread in regions of the Central Federal District, where "these subjects, as a rule, are based on the history and culture of Orthodoxy." Then comes the Southern District, where "as a consequence of the very diverse ethnic and religious composition of the population," Petrova noted, such subjects as "Foundations of religion" or "Religions of the world" are primarily studied.
In the Volga and Northwestern Federal Districts, the teaching of the history and culture of traditional religions "is conducted less intensively," the spokeswoman told the agency. At the same time, she said, in all regions of the country these courses are studied "on an elective basis, that is, on the basis of a voluntary selection." (tr. by PDS, posted 1 September 2007)
FURSENKO THINKS FINAL DECISION OF TEACHING HISTORY OF RELIGIONS SHOULD BE MADE BY SOCIETY
Religiia i SMI, 31 August 2007
At the same time, he emphasized, it must be a culturological subject and not the "Law of God."
Minister of Education and Science Andrei Fursenko thinks that the final resolution of the question about teaching the history of culture and religion is up to public opinion.
Along with this, he stated in St. Petersburg, commenting on the famous appeal of the academicians, "without a knowledge of the history and culture of religion, including Orthodoxy, it is impossible to know and understand the history of the country."
"And from this point of view, such knowledge is necessary. Therefore, whether it be up to the parents of the child or the child himself, whatever confession they may belong to, such a subject may be studied in the schools," the minister thinks.
In addition, he stressed, "the subject itself of the history and culture of religion is taught exclusively as a culturological subject."
"It is another conversation about textbook rivalry or teacher versus teacher," A. Fursenko noted. "And, unfortunately, in some cases instead of the foundations as a purely culturological subject, school children are beginning to be filled up with dogmas of faith."
Also, in the opinion of the minister, it is impermissible that the title of the class contain the name of any specific religion: "This provokes a definite confrontational mood and therefore the subject must be neutral with regard to any one faith. It seems to me that the key problems is the preparation of quality textbooks and qualified teachers," he added.
"On the whole, the minister is sure that "this is a question for public discussion and in this sense the 'letter of the academicians' played a positive role, evoking public resonance."
"It is another matter that there has been definite excess; it is impossible to call a culturological subject the Law of God. That does not correspond to reality," Fursenko noted. (tr. by PDS, posted 1 September 2007)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
Lipetsk Baptists feel discrimination
BAPTIST CHURCH IN LIPETSK Ð MOST SECURE LOCATION FOR THE DEFUSING OF EXPLOSIVESPolice choose Baptist churchyard for bomb search
Press Release, 31 August 2007
Russian Union of Evangelical Christian-Baptists
On 6 August, city authorities chose the grounds of a Baptist church in Lipetsk south-east of Moscow for the bomb search of a local city bus. On that Monday morning the bus and a group of police and security officials arrived just as the congregation's pastor and a colleague were standing in the churchyard. Church pastor Vladimir Boyev reported later that the unwelcome, surprise visit was completely unannounced. Entrance to the church building was immediately sealed off. Pastor Boyev's unsuspecting wife, who arrived later, was arrested and taken to a police station prior to her release. She had expressed the desire to remove supplies from the building intended for a church-sponsored vacation camp.
It soon became clear that the sniffer hounds had been mistaken Ð the suspicious package contained nothing more than laundry soap. The all-clear signal was given and the security forces retreated. Local radio reported shortly thereafter: "The defusing of a city bus occurred at the most secure location of all Ð the grounds of the Church of the Holy Trinity." No thank you or word of apology was ever offered by police officials.
A staff member at headquarters of the Baptist Union in Moscow asks: "Why did they not do their inspection in an open field, at a garbage depot or on the grounds of an unused factory? It is unthinkable that such a check would take place in the vicinity of an Orthodox church. I believe they wanted to make clear that Baptists are an inferior social group"
A press release from the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists (RUECB) reports of discrimination and calls the incident illegal and "simply absurd." The Lipetsk congregation has suffered repeatedly from tensions with local authorities. (posted 31 August 2007)
Foundations of Orthodox culture
MOSCOW PATRIARCHATE REACHES A COMPROMISERPTsMP agreed that study of OPK is schools will not be mandatory and now everyone should follow its example
by Mikhail Moshkin
Vremia novostei, 31 August 2007
On the eve of the beginning of the school year, hierarchs of RPTs have begun talking again about "Foundations of Orthodox culture" [OPK]. This time the position of the largest Russian confession, expressed by the vice-chairman of the Department for External Church Relations, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, looks like a compromise. "Teaching of 'Foundations of Orthodox culture' on a voluntary and elective basis is the most honest and useful path. It is no accident that it is this path that is proposed in the sample agreement regarding cooperation between regional educational administrations and our dioceses," Fr Vsevold declared on Thursday. The vice-chairman of OVTsS placed the accent upon the fact that "free choice of worldview subjects" is the practice adopted in the majority of countries of the world and it does not at all contradict human rights and freedom: "It is believing people who have protested against a monopoly of a single worldview in the schools, namely materialism, including a skeptical view of religion."
In classes of OPK the subject should not be the attributes but rather foundations of Orthodoxy and the teaching should not be in any case "amoral and absent of worldview matters." As Fr Vsevolod noted, if one tells school children only about the architectural features of churches, or the technique of painting icons, or dry historical facts, or what distinguishes an archimandrite from a metropolitan, then this course will not fulfill its main goal and will not facilitate the moral training of pupils. "Teaching about Orthodox culture in an aloof and cold form and in a way that does not pertain to the human soul can hardly change people really for the better, since the majority of today's school children will not accept anything that does not directly touch their heart," the representative of the patriarchate thinks.
We note, that the leadership of the Ministry of Education and Science holds a diametrically opposed opinion. On Thursday the director of the ministry, Andrei Fursenko, stated that this subject must not be religious but culturological and "neutral with respect to religion." The main problem, according to the minister, remains the shortage of teaching staffs and the lack of quality textbooks. The latter statement is the more curious if one considers that the textbook is already written. The Academy of Sciences [RAN] actively has lobbied for a resource prepared under the editorial direction of the director of the Institute of World History of RAN, Alexander Chubarian.
In the pedagogical community itself the current position of the patriarchate has been received as a step forward. "I am very happy that representatives of RPTs have turned from false accusations to a very constructive recognition that this course must be purely voluntary," the rector of the "Eureka" Institute of Educational Policy and member of the Public Council of the Ministry of Education and Science, Alexander Adamsky, emphasized. In his opinion, Fr Vsevolod Chaplin's statement effectively puts an end to the discussion about the introduction of OPK into the general education required curriculum. Mr. Adamsky recalled that the original message of church hierarchs was like this; back in 1999 Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and all-Rus sent a letter to the dioceses which specifically stressed the voluntary character of the teaching of foundations of Orthodoxy.
At the same time the expert thinks that a generally required culturological subject, "Foundations of religions," can fully coexist with a nonmandatory parallel Law of God.
"It seems to me that teaching of the subject of "History of world religions" within a general education school class does not contradict the teaching on an elective basis of the foundations of religion, with the consent of parents and the free choice of pupils," Mr. Adamsky suggests. "This is the right of both the confessions and the citizens that corresponds to both the constitutional principle of freedom of conscience and the law on education."
Displaying toleration, Orthodox hierarchs say that "such a voluntary choice must also belong to our brother Muslims, Jews, atheists, Buddhists, and other confessional and philosophical minorities." However, "brother Muslims" who have spoken out sharply against the appearance of OPK in Russian schools have not changed their position. Thus, participants in a recent All-Russian Conference of Directors of Tatar Public Organizations in Kazan issued a declaration that "the covert introduction of 'Foundations of Orthodox culture' by authorities of several regions of the Russian federation into the curricula of general education schools violates the standards of a secular state and human rights." (tr. by PDS, posted 31 August 2007
Russian original posted on Portal-credo.ru site, 31 August 2007
APPROVAL OF TEXT TELLING PUPILS ABOUT CHRISTIANITY, ISLAM, JUDAISM, AND BUDDHISM
Portal-credo.ru, 30 August 2007
On the eve of the beginning of the school year the minister of education of the republic of Tatarstan, Nail Valeev, stated that an experiment in the teaching of a course "History of religions" in a number of schools of the Tatarstan republic will begin on 1 September, a Portal-credo.ru correspondent reports.
In the event of positive results, the course may in the future become a part of the mandatory curriculum. The "History of religions" course is close to a historical social science block studied by pupils, and so it will be conducted by teachers of history and social studies.
The Ministry of Education of the Tatarstan republic provided, for the teaching and study of the new subject, a textbook of the same name that came out under the general editorship of the director of the Institute of Russian History of RAN, Andrei Sakharov.
The resource gives a presentation of world religions, but along with this it ties in with the four so-called "traditional religions" of Russia, Christianity in its Orthodox form, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism. The account of the history of Islam and the Islamic ideological problem was written by the rector of the Russian Islamic University, Rafik Mukhametshi.
(tr. by PDS, posted 31 August 2007)
NOT IN ACCORDANCE WITH GOD'S LAW
Tatar diaspora opposes teaching OPK in schools
by Irina Begimbetova
Kommersant-Kazan, 31 August 2007
The heads of Tatar public organizations sent an appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin against the introduction of the "Foundations of Orthodox culture" course into the schools. They think that it will result in children being forced to study the Law of God, cross themselves, and perform prayers and other rituals of Orthodoxy that will violate the principle of freedom of conscience and the standards of a secular state. At the Ministry of Education and Science of RF it was stated that the alarm of the Tatar diaspora was evoked by "extremes in the provinces."
On Wednesday evening, around 150 participants in the All-Russian Conference of Directors of Tatar Public Organizations, held in Kazan upon the initiative of the World Congress of Tatars, adopted an appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the speaker of the State Duma, Boris Gryzlov, and Minister of Education and Science Andrei Fursenko in which they call for "preserving the educational heritage of the Tatar people." As noted in the document, the alarm of the Tatar community was evoked "by the essentially covert introduction by authorities in various regions of RF" of the "Foundations of Orthodox culture" course into the curricula of schools. "Under the guise of culturological studies, the multinational and multiconfessional cohort of pupils in modern Russian schools will actually be forced into the sorely remembered subject of the "Law of God," when school children will learn to cross themselves and perform prayers and other rituals of Orthodoxy," the appeal says. In the opinion of representatives of the Tatar diaspora, this violates the standards of a secular state that are established in the constitution of RF, specifically, the principle of freedom of conscience and separation of religious organizations from the state. "And in the final analysis, this turns out to be a violation of human rights," they emphasize.
We recall that Tatarstan has often acted as an opponent of the teaching of "Foundations of Orthodox culture." Tatarstan President Mintimer Shaimiev declared in August of last year that he thinks "attempts to introduce the Orthodox subject" into educational institutions are "profoundly mistaken." He stressed that this will never happen in Tatarstan, regardless of any decisions made at the federal level. Following in the president's footsteps, a protest against introduction of the course was expressed by the executive committee of the World Congress of Tatars. This opinion also was shared by deputies of the Tatarstan State Council, who, in their turn, advocated the study of several basic religions, not just Orthodox culture. A similar position was taken by the Council of Muftis of Russia. In January of this year its head, Ravil Gainutdin, declared that teaching of "Foundations" violates the constitution of RF. Meanwhile, the Russian Orthodox church has often refuted these accusations, maintaining that this is a culturological and not a theological subject.
As a result, Tatarstan has gone its own way. Beginning tomorrow, in several schools of the republic, children will begin elective study of the "History of religions" on the basis of a textbook created on the initiative of Mintimer Shaimiev by Tatar scholars under the editorial supervision of the director of the Institute of Russian History of RAN, Andrei Sakharov. The textbook, intended for tenth and eleventh grades, describes the four religions that are most widely spread in Russia, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism. State Council Speaker Farid Mukhametshin, who participated in the conference, suggested to the regions that they benefit from the experience of Tatarstan and adopt the textbook for the study of this subject by pupils, assuring the representatives of the Tatar diaspora that "they will like the book."
The appeal still has not reached the addressees, although yesterday a consultant for the Department of State Policy and Legal Regulation in the Area of Education of the Ministry of Education and Science, Elena Romanova, expressed her opinion for Kommersant: "What the organizations of the Tatar community are concerned about possibly are extremes in the provinces." She reported that in June the ministry sent out to the regions a model agreement for cooperation with RPTs, but this does not mean that RPTs is being given priority. "We simply decided to establish a unified form of cooperation," she said. "An accompanying letter states that such agreements may be concluded with centralized organizations of other religions." At the same time Ms Romanova agreed that in regions "disorders over the foundations of Orthodox culture have been observed": in some places they really are teaching the Law of God under this guise; in others, it is a "culturological subject observing all the limits." She noted that provinces may freely study the "History of religions" on the basis of the Tatarstan textbook. "Any region has the right to decide the question of the teaching of a regional, ethnic curriculum," she stressed. "If the regions want to do this, no ministry has the right to forbid them." (tr. by PDS, posted 31 August 2007)
Russian original posted on Portal-credo.ru site, 31 August 2007
OPEN LETTER OF PROTEST BY CITIZENS OF RUSSIA AGAINST INTRODUCTION OF 'FOUNDATIONS OF ORTHODOX CULTURE' INTO STATE SCHOOLS
Esteemed President of the Russian federation, President of the Public Chamber, President of the State Duma Committee for Affairs of Public Associations and Religious Organizations, and Minister of Education and Science
We, citizens of Russia, decisively protest against attempts to introduce the teaching of any religious confession into state schools. And in the first place this is a protest against attempts by the Russian Orthodox church to attain the teaching of the subject "Foundations of Orthodox culture" (OPK) in the state schools.
While reading the suggested textbooks for the "Foundations of Orthodox culture" course and viewing the syllabi for its teaching, we find it obvious that OPK is not a culturological subject but teaching of the Orthodox faith in pure form. Back in 1999, Patriarch Alexis II wrote in his instructional letter No. 5925, of 9 December 1999:
"N. 7 If difficulties with teaching foundations of Orthodox doctrine are encountered, then call the course 'Foundations of Orthodox culture.' This will not evoke outbursts from pedagogues and directors of secular academic institutions, who have been trained on an atheistic basis."
Thereby he unequivocally affirmed that OPK was originally viewed by the Russian Orthodox church as teaching Orthodox doctrine, and it never was viewed by it as a culturological subject. The practical implementation of OPK only confirms this conclusion.
Proceeding from this, we declare that the introduction of the teaching of Orthodox doctrine in state schools violates a whole number of provisions and regulations of existing Russian legislation.
2. OPK is not a "culturological subject," as RPTs declares. OPK in essence and literally is the teaching of Orthodox doctrine. Its introduction into state schools is unequivocally illegal and violates the provision of Russian legislation that states that the sphere of religious views lies outside the sphere of the state's competence. In state schools there cannot be, in principle, the teaching of any faith, since this is excluded by the secular character of education.
3. The introduction of the teaching of Orthodox doctrine within the framework of any curriculum as a required course violates the provision of the law that says that religious education can be conducted only on a voluntary basis, with the consent of the children, at the request of parents, and outside of the framework of the curriculum.
4. Introduction of teaching OPK into state schools violates the principle of the equality of all religions and faiths. Teaching Orthodox doctrine in state schools, in the absence of equal preferences by the state to all other registered confessions (not just "traditional" ones), is a violation of the principle of the equality of all religions before the law. In addition, it is an infringement of the rights of all citizens of Russia who do not belong to the Orthodox confession.
Also, alarmed about the future of our children and viewing the methods that RPTs has adopted for introducing the teaching of its doctrine into the state schools and the stated goals of this subject and the opportunities for their achievement, and other possible covert goals that OPK tries to reach, we have come to the following conclusions:
Considering the millennium-long experience of Orthodox education, the material, temporal, and human resources that were devoted to it, the continual support by the state (administrative resource) and, in the end, the absence in practice of positive results in strengthening the ethics and morality of the mass of even believers themselves, we can conclude that at the present time there are no bases (no proven, stable, positive results of Orthodox education, no objective reasons for a sudden increase in the effectiveness on any scale, no indications of any stable trends in strengthening the ethics and morality among members of RPTs itself) to conclude that Orthodox education accomplishes the goals stated by RPTs of strengthening morality and ethics.
And there is no correspondence with reality in the claim by hierarchs of RPTs about the existence of two mutually exclusive paths for human development: the path of vice, crime, drug addiction, etc., and the path of faith. Even the very methods of lobbying for the introduction of OPK employed by RPTs prove that these paths can be thoroughly united in a single person and they do not at all exclude one another. We will not linger on the fact that the textbooks for OPK frequently contain statements that directly offend the religious feelings of people who profess other religions, confessions, and religious groups that are legally registered in Russia. The very fact of the lie of the RPTsÑestablishing the teaching of Orthodox doctrine in the schools and the catechizing of children for increasing the number of its members under the guise of a "culturological subject"Ñspeaks unequivocally of the real moral character of the lobbyists of RPTs. One may draw the conclusion that in this question RPTs is following the medieval principle that "the end justifies the means."
None of the lobbyists for OPK admits the existence of a third way for the development of a personÑtraining of a person who is autonomous and responsible, understands clearly the real world and his goals, makes independent decisions and takes responsibility for their consequences; a person with human dignity. Lying, meanness, theft, and similar conduct is considered by such a person as beneath his dignity, and he does not lower himself to them by his own will and desire. This path of training children is difficult for a teacher, but, in our opinion, it is the only way that permits achieving the strengthening of ethics and morality of people. Obviously, the hierarchs of RPTs have not noticed it because this "third" way excludes the path of faith and eliminates the possibility of directing a person to where he is isolated from the facts of the real world and can be deceived by words operating on blind faith.
Also great doubt in the sincerity of the goals declared by RPTs is aroused by the fact that RPTs has tried to begin teaching OPK in state schools with the youngest grades. Considering that the children in the youngest grades do not have the safeguard of a critical evaluation of information, the attempt by RPTs can have only one goalÑto catechize our children and impose upon their consciousness an Orthodox picture of the world and an Orthodox worldview. In addition, this worldview hinders an objective and impartial view of other possible worldviews and a free independent individual selection among such views as a basis for further life, which the law of RF guarantees to us. Such "work" with children cannot be considered a positive result. We categorically oppose even the vague possibility of the achievement of such a result and we demand that the state take all measures for its elimination.
We do not doubt the value of presenting to a child information about various religions, confessions, and worldviews. But in doing this no one should be singled out. The arguments adopted by clerics about the "traditionality" and "large numbers" of Orthodoxy cannot be a basis for granting to one or several religions any precedence. That is what the law of RF declares, and all religions should be equal before it.
In order for children to receive information about cults, religions, and faiths, currently existing courses are sufficient: history, literature, culturology, social studies, which should impartially and objectively inform children about all the varied religions, cults, and worldviews, and not view them from the point of view of any one of the religions. Only such an approach will give children the possibility of exercising to the full their right to a conscientious, free, and unimpeded choice of a religious confession, or a refusal of such, as is guaranteed to us by the legislation of RF.
The rights of Orthodox believers and RPTs are already being observed. They already now have, by law, the full right to establish educational institutions with a religious composition. This also applies to other citizens who confess one or another faith. And such an approach seems fully reasonable to us.
At the present time we see violations of legislation, incompatibility of the declared format of a "culturological subject" with its contents (teaching Orthodox doctrine), attempts to exploit the defenselessness of children for influencing their consciousness, and the absence in history of positive results of Orthodox education.
As parents, it is necessary for us to completely eliminate the risk of pedagogical mistakes in the education and training of our children. And in this case, there is very little basis for hope that the positive results that Orthodox education has not achieved in 1000 years will suddenly appear now and one cannot talk about it seriously. We, as parents, categorically oppose risking and trusting all of this for our children.
We as parents and citizens of Russia DEMAND that the state guarantee the education of our children in state schools without minimal risks of pedagogical mistakes and without the possibility of the influence of any religious faith upon them.
After all, these are OUR children.
This letter was signed by 591 persons.
(tr. by PDS, posted 31 August 2007)
Russian original posted on Portal-credo.ru site, 30 August 2007
METROPOLITAN KIRILL: SHOULD NOT DEPRIVE 80% OF COUNTRY
Religiia i SMI, 30 August 2007
Metropolitan Kirill emphasized that the elective teaching of OPK does not serve as a means for dividing or discriminating against children. He said this in an interview with the Perm newspaper "Zvezda." "Therefore we consider that it is essential that there be in the schools a variety and opportunity for choice; this is a sign of progress in the educational system.
"For example, a child shows up who declares that he wants to study the foundations of Muslim culture; that is his right. And the schools must guarantee it. If there is one such child in a class, of course, it is not necessary to get a teacher for him. But a textbook on the foundations of Muslim culture must exist. And not only Muslims can become acquainted with this textbook, but Orthodox too, if they have an interest. We propose to our secular colleagues that they write a textbook on the foundations of secular ethics for those children who are not religious. That is also an alternative. They try to frighten us with "this will divide the children." Excuse me, can physical education classes not divide? Children suffer some embarrassment since they are not able to run fast or jump far because of the peculiarities of their physique. Physical education not only divides but also discriminates. For some reason our public does not think about this, but it thinks that having alternatives and variety in the teaching of the foundations of religious culture inevitably divides children.
"I can give an example from Smolensk diocese. For many years now we have been teaching foundations of Orthodox culture in the schools. And there was a negative reaction only once. One man wrote an open letter to me, saying that he is training his children in the traditions of Judaism and they do not want to study the foundations of Orthodox culture. I responded publicly that I will be the first to stand up to defend his children's rights not to attend classes in Orthodox culture. After some time I learned that his son, and it's an intelligent family, is attending classes and he simply finds them interesting.
"I think that an appeal to the qualities of a multinational and multiconfessional country must not deprive eighty percent of our people of the possibility of studying the foundations of their spiritual and religious culture in the schools." (tr. by PDS, posted 1 September 2007)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
Ekaterinburg makes study of Orthodoxy compulsory
EKATERINBURG SCHOOL CHILDREN WILL BE TURNED TO GODClasses in "Spiritual culture of the Urals" to be introduced into city schools
by Mariia Khudovekova, Alexander Lakedemonsky
Kommersant Ekaterinburg, 28 August 2007
Yesterday at a press conference in Ekaterinburg a representative of the Institute for the Development of Regional Education, Stanislav Pogorelov, reported that beginning 1 September, as an experiment, a new subject, "Spiritual culture of the Urals," will be introduced into twenty schools. The course provides for the study of the culturological foundations of the Orthodox religion. Although the diocese gives assurance that the new subject will not promote propaganda of the cult of Orthodoxy, Urals rights advocates fear pressure from the church on the children.
Stanislav Pogorelov, the chair of the Department of Socio-cultural Education of the Institute for the Devellpment of Regional Education, reported that the academic subject "Spiritual culture of the Urals" was developed by the Sverdlovsk Ministry of Education and the Ekaterinburg diocese for the purpose of the spiritual and moral education of the coming generation. It will be taught from grade five on. In contrast to "Religious studies" Mr. Pogorelov noted, this subject is an attempt to view religion not from the outside, but "from within," "tracing the links of Orthodoxy with chronicle writing, icon painting, church architecture, and literary productions." In the upper grades (10-11) it is planned to teach a course on the culture of family relations from the point of view of the Orthodox church.
For now the subject will appear in only twenty schools of Ekaterinburg. According to Mr. Pogorelov, the directors of these academic institutions agreed to the introduction of the new subject with parents and teaching staffs. In the course of four years the Institute for the Development of Regional Education will conduct monitoring, assessing how the attitudes of children change with regard to studies, peers, degree of engagement, etc. In the event of positive results, the new subject will be added to the so-called regional curriculum, which will be introduced into every school as desired. However, Mr. Pogorelov emphasized, if a child attends a school where "Spiritual culture of the Urals" is taught, he will not be able to refuse to study it.
"The spiritual values of the basic religious confessions do not contradict one another, inculcating in the rising generation honesty, fairness, and respect for elders, and not conflicting with other religions," Archbishop of Ekaterinburg and Verkhotursk Vikenty gave assurance.
However, the opinions of leaders of religious confessions are divided on this matter. Thus the president of the Ecclesiastical Board of Muslims of Sverdlovsk province, Mufti Sibagatulla Khadji, supports the idea of the Orthodox diocese. "We have different paths, but the roads are the same," he noted. At the same time one of the informal leaders of Muslims of the mid-Urals region, Magomet Abuev, holds an opposing point of view. He thinks that if the state gives attention to the necessity of the spiritual training of the future generation, then it would be proper for school children to be granted equal opportunity for studying all of the divine scriptures, from the Old Testament to the Holy Quran. "This will permit returning to society the understanding of the principle of monotheism, which lay originally at the foundation of all religions. It is known that the emissaries of the Almighty came to earth precisely at the time when the fundamentals of faith in a single Creator began being propagated," he noted.
The leader of the Jewish religious community in the Ekaterinburg synagogue, Yakov Soskin, does not oppose introduction of such subjects into the schools, but on an optional basis. "Let the ones who want it study on a supplementary basis Orthodoxy and other religions, but nobody should be compelled. We understand that Orthodoxy is the most widespread religion in Russia, but the spiritual culture of the country includes other religions confessions, too. It would be fair to talk about their traditions, too," Yakov Soskin noted.
In contrast to representatives from the basic religious confessions, rights advocates of the Urals are more categorical in their assessments. The director of the "Arkhiv-otpisk" rights organization, Alexander Livchak, fears that the "Spiritual culture of the Urals" courts will turned out to be the study of thhe Law of God and become one of the instruments for pressure from the church upon children. "Russia is a secular state and nobody has the right to impose their religious views upon children," Mr. Livchak said. (tr. by PDS, posted 29 August 2007)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
Education Ministry proposes agreement with church on teaching religion
DEACON ANDREI KURAEV ADVOCATES REQUIRED TEACHING OF ORTHODOX CULTURE IN SCHOOLSPortal-credo.ru, 29 August 2007
On the eve of the school year, Deacon Andrei Kuraev declared that teaching Russian school children "Foundations of Orthodox culture" should be obligatory and not voluntary.
"Foundations of Orthodox culture" [OPK] should be a required course precisely so that non-Orthodox children can more easily be implanted into our common Russian culture. It should not be conversion to Orthodoxy but a description of the internal logic of the world of the Orthodox person," Fr Andrei told Interfax in the run-up to the new academic year.
Thus he thinks that such classes may all be obligatory, without making a division of school children on the basis of national and religious identity.
"So that there be no clashes and so that the Russian people not feel that they and their sacred things are under threat on the part of migratory streams it is important to help migrant workers to be oriented to their locality," the agency's interlocutor said.
In Deacon Kuraev's opinion, the requirement of teaching "Foundations" may be understood by comparison with problems of new settlers. "Here's a person who enters an apartment that is new to him, but it already has its own history. The original owners did not leave for him a diagram of the electric cables and other utilities in the walls and floors. Thus every nail hammered into the wall can hit an electric cable and lead to fatally dangerous results," he said.
In saying this he explained that the "new settlers" are the children of our new countrymen and the old apartment is Russia, while the electric cables are the internal and hidden nerves, hidden energy lines, defining the code of Russian culture."
In this way he commented upon the publication on the site of the Ministry of Education and Science of RF of a "Sample agreement on cooperation between departments of education of components of RF and a centralized religious organization." In this document it is said, in particular, that foundations of Orthodoxy can be conducted only on a voluntary basis with freedom of choice while respecting the legal interests and rights of other religious organizations and the nonreligious portion of society.
"This provision, which is natural for our times, is used as a matter of ritual. But in this case it actually turns out to be a stick in the spokes or a fifth wheel on the wagon," Deacon Kuraev thinks.
He explained that such a provision equates on a legal basis two diverse things: religious teaching proper and a culturological conversation.
"If the Ministry thinks OPK is a religious subject, then such a provision is unnecessary because the procedure for religious teaching in the secular schools is rather clearly laid out in the law on freedom of conscience. And that procedure explicitly speaks of voluntariness. But if we are talking about teaching a culturological subject, "Foundations of Orthodox culture," then why is any agreement made between the ministry and anybody? It would be the same as concluding an agreement between the Ministry of Education and Great Britain about how to teach Shakespeare in Russian schools," Deacon Andrei Kuraev thinks.
In his opinion, a legal equating of classes in the culturology of Orthodox with classes of religion proper means that "the church will not be able to get out of its ghetto and secular children will remain hostages to television entertainment." (tr. by PDS, posted 29 August 2007)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
Remains discovered may be two of tsar's children
CHURCH MAY CHANGE MIND ON AUTHENTICITY OF TSARIST REMAINS BURIED
IN ST. PETERSBURGPortal-credo.ru, 29 August 2007
In the event that the recently discovered remains of two children are recognized to be genuinely two children of Nicholas II, the Russian Orthodox church of the Moscow patriarchate (RPTsMP) may change its position on the question of the authenticity of the remains that were buried in 1998 in the imperial tomb of St. Petersburg.
"If there is confirmation of the authenticity of the new Ekaterinburg discovery, several serious doubts of the church may be dispelled and, in principle, the possibility is not excluded that proof of the authenticity of these remains may result in the church's position being changed," Archpriest Georgy Mitrofanov told Interfax on 28 August. Mitrofanov is a professor at the St. Petersburg Ecclesiastical Academy and a member of the synodal Commission on Canonization of Saints of RPTsMP.
He recalled that the resolution of the Synod in 1998 said that the "Ekaterinburg remains" that were discovered in 1979 still may not be recognized, since there remained definite doubts of their genuineness.
One of the reasons that RPTsMP refused to recognize the "tsarist remains" found in 1979 as genuine was the existence of two basic versions of the investigation. The first was the result of studies by Nikolai Sokolov, who unearthed in 1918 two fire pits in which it was possible the remains had been destroyed. According to the second version, the remains were discovered in our time although among them the remains of Tsarevich Aleksei and Grand Duchess Maria were not found, which supposedly were found in the summer of 2007.
RPTsMP proposed additional questions, the answers to which were to clarify fully the situation, Fr Georgy recalled.
He said that the Christian church is often criticized for unreasonably accepting any remains as saints' relics. "In this case our hierarchy tried to take a stricter position, since taking the "first Ekaterinburg remains" as genuine was based on purely scientific investigations, which even from the point of view of the scholars themselves were always viewed as relative," the priest noted.
"What is most important," he emphasized, "is that the determination of the Synod did not consider this question closed, and now what has happened may fully lead to the church's position being changed. But for this it is necessary that the investigation proceed calmly and openly."
At the same time the member of the Commission on Canonization noted that, in contrast with the first investigations, the present investigations were made "on a much more solid basis," in which representatives of various organizations participated, including consultations among them.
"Information from Ekaterinburg has not become sufficiently precise and I hope that with the current investigations there will not be that definite closedness and vigorous disputes among the scientists themselves, which would prevent a definitive church position," the priest said.
"Thus," he summed up, "it seems to me that what has now occurred may lead us to a final resolution of this question." (tr. by PDS, posted 29 August 2007)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
Baptists say they are ignored in Moscow
THE ROAD IS STILL LONGInitial meeting between Baptists and the administration for the Moscow region
Press Release
Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, 27 August 2007
The regional administration responsible for the territory is not informed on church developments in the city of Chekhov (Moscow region) and the ruling of the European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg. This became evident at an initial meeting in Moscow on 24 August between Baptists and the ÒMinistry for Territorial Development in Moscow RegionÓ, to which the office for church affairs belongs. The meeting had been initiated by Vitaly Vlasenko (Moscow), Director of the Department for External Church Relations within the ÒRussian Union of Evangelical Christians-BaptistsÓ (RUECB). In a conversation with the press afterwards he reported: ÒOur partners had already done some research on us. But they knew nothing about the events in Chekhov which have been reported on widely throughout Europe.Ó
On 26 July, the EU Court for Human Riights had sentenced the Russian government to a payment of 6.000 euros. After the chapel in Chehov was destroyed by fire in 2001, the congregation there had been forbidden to meet under the open skies. Further incidents in Latoshino and Balashikha were an additional reason for Baptists to request the meeting.
This ministry for the region surrounding Moscow is known among Baptists for its closeness to the Russian Orthodox Church. The ministry`s representatives also stated in this meeting that 98% of their regionÕs residents are of Orthodox faith. In the later press conversation Vlasenko responded: ÒIn view of the fact that the region around Moscow is also home to hundreds of thousands of Muslims, Jews and Ð above all Ð atheists, this number can only be regarded as pure fiction.Ó
The second Baptist present at the meeting was the businessman Alexander Semchenko (Moscow), who represents Protestants in the political ÒAdvisory Council for Cooperation with Religious Associations at the Seat of the President of the Russian FederationÓ. He remarked in the meeting that Baptists did not expect big changes immediately. Yet the RUECB would always be ready to develop relations with this local administration. He added in the meeting: ÒWe want to help the people of Moscow region grow in their knowledge of God. We want to help them be good citizens, and we also want to teach our young people to be such.Ó
In his conversation with the press Pastor Vlasenko concluded: ÒThe meeting did not fulfill all of our expectations. The road is still long. But we want to be patient and not lose the hope that we will someday still meet with Regioinal Governor Boris Gromov, for he is an important figure.Ó Primary government representative at the meeting was Sergei Komarov, Vice-Minister for Territorial Development in the Moscow region.
The RUECB, RussiaÕs largest Protestant free church, has roughly 75.000 adult believers active in 1.300 local churches and groups. Its President is Yuri Sipko (Moscow). (posted 27 August 2007)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
If material is quoted, please give credit to the publication from
which it came.
It is not necessary to credit this Web page. If material is transmitted
electronically, please include reference to the URL,
http://www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/.