RUSSIA RELIGION NEWS
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Putin favors teaching children the four "traditional" Russian religions
PUTIN EXPRESSES OPINION ON RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN SCHOOLSReligiia v svetskom obshchestve, 14 September 2007
On 13 September, in the course of a session of the Council for Implementation of Priorities of National Projects and Demographic Policy, Vladimir Putin responded to a request by the leader of the "National Union" party, Sergei Baburin, "to allay fears in connection with the elimination of such academic subjects as 'Foundations of Orthodox culture' and 'History of world religions.'" (The reference was to the draft law "On introduction of amendments of several acts of the Russian federation, in the part on changing the concepts and structures of state educational standards)
The president reported that he was familiar with the appeal of the World Russian National Sobor on this matter, as well as with the appeal of "representatives of the intelligentsia of Russia on the point that our state still is secular," and he recalled: "Our constitution states that the church is separated from the state."
"You know how I myself relate to the Russian Orthodox church. But if someone thinks that now it is necessary to act differently, then we must change the constitution. I do not think that we should be doing this now," Putin said.
"As regards education of children in the spirit of our four religions, I am for that," the president added, noting that "it is necessary to find a form that is acceptable for the entire society." (tr. by PDS, posted 14 September 2007)
PUTIN SURE THAT RELIGIOUS EDUCATION OF CHILDREN IS PERMISSIBLE ONLY IN A FORM ACCEPTABLE TO WHOLE SOCIETY
Interfax, 13 September 2007
Russian President Vladimir Putin is convinced that it is impossible to introduce obligatory study of subjects "on a religious topic" into the schools by order from above.
At a session of the Council for Implementation of Priorities of National Projects and Demographic Policy, the leader of the "National Union" party, Sergei Baburin requesed that the president "allay fears in connection with the elimination of such academic subjects as 'Foundations of Orthodox culture' and 'History of world religions.'"
"I received an appeal from the World Russian Congress on this matter," Putin confirmed. At the same time he noted that he "received an appeal from representatives of Russia's intelligentsia with regard to the fact that our state still is secular."
In connection with this the president emphasized: "Our constitution states that the church is separated from the state."
"You know how I myself relate to the Russian Orthodox church. But if someone thinks that now it is necessary to act differently, then we must change the constitution. I do not think that we should be doing this now," Putin said.
"As regards education of children in the spirit of our four religions, I am for that," the president noted.
"The only thing is that it is necessary to find a form that is acceptable to the entire society," he stressed. (tr. by PDS, posted 14 September 2007)
MOSCOW PATRIARCHATE FAVORS EUROPEAN MODEL FOR TEACHING RELIGION IN SCHOOLS
Interfax, 14 May 2007
The Russian Orthodox church has spoken out in support of the European model which prefers to teach information about religion in the schools on a voluntary basis, taking into account the opinion of groups with diverse worldviews.
"I personally also think that we should not introduce obligatory study of subjects on religious topics, including those subjects that speak skeptically about religion, viewing it only as something dreamed up by people and as a purely social phenomenon," the vice-chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow patriarchate, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, told Interfax on Friday.
In the same way, in his opinion, "it is impossible to force a person to be a believer against his will, since even God himself does not act that way as he created humankind free."
The voluntary study of religions, including with state support, "is not taken nearly everywhere in the world as a violation of the principle of the secularity of the state," the priest noted.
This is the way he commented on the words of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who yesterday declared that it is impossible to introduce the obligatory study of subject "on religious topics" into the schools by order from above, and called for finding a form for educating children in the spirit of the traditional religions that is acceptable to all of society.
At the same time, Fr Vsevolod expressed the opinion that finding such a form of such education that would be acceptable to absolutely everybody "is hardly possible in principle." "In my view, it is impossible not to think that the majority of society is for such education; it is only a portion of the elite who are opposed," the priest thinks.
He said that there are even such people who think in general that "one shouldn't teach even morality in schools, and faith is more dangerous."
"These people are trying to establish in the school a worldview of unlimited freedom, consumerism, and a utilitarian approach to knowledge. This worldview neglects moral principles and even declares them to be unnecessary. And thus it is contradictory to the views of believing people, who, of course, will never agree with its inculcation in the schools," Fr Vsevold emphasized.
He noted that there are in society groups of diverse worldviews and the schools "cannot and must not treat them all alike."
"Thus, in my view, it would be better for Russia to have the model that is most widespread in Europe: according to it, people of diverse religions and worldviews form groups in the school system where education is provided in the spirit of their worldview. Naturally, this is done in accordance with freedom of choice. The presence of such groups does not divide people, but calms public contradictions. What does divide people is the attempt to impose something upon people against their will," the agency's interlocutor summed up. (tr. by PDS, posted 14 September 2007)
ALEXIS II CONCERNED BY OPPOSITION IN THE QUESTION OF EACHING "FOUNDATIONS OF ORTHODOX CULTURE"
Interfax, 14 September 2007
Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and all-Rus expressed disappointment in connection with opposition that has been raised to the question of teaching "Foundations of Orthodox culture" to school children.
"The church and state can work together fruitfully in many areas. We think that one very important sphere is the question of education and training. There is definite opposition to teaching the subject of 'Foundations of Orthodox culture' in schools on a voluntary basis and in conformity with the wishes of parents," the patriarch said at a meeting with the "Valdai" discussion club.
Alexis II expressed his conviction that every cultured persons "must know the foundations of his culture."
"If we glance over our own history, we have a thousand-year history of Orthodoxy," the patriarch noted. (tr. by PDS, posted 14 September)
Restrictions on public evangelism deleted from draft law
MOSCOW FAILS TO BAN STREET EVANGELISMRussian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, 11 September 2007
Drafters of a "Code of the city of Moscow concerning administrative lawbreaking" made a decision to expunge from the text of the law draft a standard contained in article 3.8 and providing for administrative punishment for "badgering citizens in public places" for the purposes of religious agitation. This was reported by an editor of the draft law A.G. Semennikov in a letter addressed to the president of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists. The draft of the code was adopted on second reading by the Moscow City Duma on 14 March 2007 and provoked a storm of indignation on the part of rights defenders and religious organizations. Among them was also the Russian Union of EKhB.
At the beginning of July of this year the president of the union, Yu.K. Sipko sent a letter to the chairman of the Moscow City Duma, V.M. Platonov, in which article 3.8 was characterized as contradicting the constitution of RF and infringing upon the rights of religious organizations. The letter substantially proved that the draft of the law contradicts international and Russian standards in the area of guaranteeing and protecting the religious rights and freedoms of Russian citizens. In addition, in essence, street evangelism was placed by the authors of the draft on a par with such actions that are unquestionably condemned by society as fortune telling, panhandling, and male and female prostitution. (tr. by PDS, posted 14 September 2007)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
Changes in Orthodox-Catholic relations expected--II
ARCHBISHOP DID HIS JOBVatican changes leadership of Russian Catholics
by Mikhail Pozdniaev
Novye Izvestiia, 12 September 2007
Archbishop-Metropolitan Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz has been transferred to the Minsk-Mogilev see in Belorussia after sixteen years of residence in Russia. According to information from the Italian news media, the new Catholic bishop in Moscow will be the priest Paolo Pezzi. The intrigue of these personnel changes consists in the Vatican's, on one hand, turning a new page in relations with the Russian Orthodox church, and, on the other hand, gaining a new base in the East.
In Russia, Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz was, as is said, the right man for the job. He headed the Apostolic Administration in the revolutionary year of 1991 without being a "hired hand." He was born in January 1946 in the Belorussian village of Odelsk and entered the Grodno Pedagogical Institute, from which he was expelled in his second year for attending a Catholic church. He made a second attempt and entered the Polytechnical Institute in Leningrad. He graduated with a degree. Then he worked as an engineer in Vilnius and at the same time studied at the Kaunas ecclesiastical seminary and he secretly became a priest in 1981. He would have remained so if it had not been for perestroika. In October 1989 John Paul II consecrated him as the first citizen of USSR to be a bishop.
Kondrusiewicz bore the burden of returning to the Catholic church in Russia the rights of legal ministry. He managed to do a great deal, but at the same time he constantly faced charges of "proselytism," and, after the religious wars in Ukraine, of "expansion on the canonical territory of the Moscow patriarchate."
"We are a church of the minority," he said earnestly in an interview with "Novye Izvestiia" two years ago. "While we are prepared to agree that we are a minority in terms of numbers, we do not agree with the position that we occupy relative to the 'traditional confessions.' They continually remind us about 'canonical territory,' while they forget that, while although Rus received baptism in the Byzantine rite at the end of the tenth century, by the twelfth century there were many Catholic churches and monasteries within its boundaries of the time. We cannot understand why they continue to consider us a 'nontraditional confession.' This is insulting and hurtful."
Now Archbishop Kondrusiewicz will return to Belarus. Sources close to Benedict XVI report that the pope will thereby "extend the hand of friendship to the patriarch of Moscow and all-Rus and emphasize his intention to open a new page in relations between the two Christian churches."
Analysts explain the transfer of Kondrusiewicz as having several direct causes. First, on the whole he fulfilled the mission of carrying out the policies of John Paul II, the Slavic pope. And if he manages to consolidate the position of Catholicism in Minsk the Vatican will achieve another gain in the East. Second, the "romantic period" of the rebirth of religious life in Russia is completed and the romantics must become pragmatists. That kind of person, like Fr Paolo Pezzi, who is the rector of the "Mary Queen of the Apostles" ecclesiastical seminary in St. Petersburg, will become the new bishops. After the unification of the Moscow patriarchate with the church abroad, the question arises about the Christianization of the atheist world, and it is possible to do this only by joint efforts. The figure of an executive bureaucrat in Russia is preferable for both sides today than that of a charismatic personality with the aura of a rights defender, such as Kondruseiwicz. What is most curious is that, according to information Novye Izvestiia has, the new appointments were cleared beforehand with the leadership of RPTs. Apparently a conversation about this was held at the August meeting of Alexis II with the vice-dean of the college of cardinals, the honorary president of the papal council, Roger EtchegarayÑin a word, a big politician.
Incidentally, it is significant that the 45-year-old successor to Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz is an Italian from the province of Ravenna, a native of the city of Russii, which in translation means "Russian folks." And the building where now the "Mary Queen of the Apostles" seminary is located we, before the revolution, the seminary of the Minsk-Mogilev archdiocese, which is where Kondrusiewicz is being transferred to. So the cause-and-effect connection of the Vatican's personnel decisions may be view as having a profoundly spiritual aspect. (tr. by PDS, posted 13 September 2007)
Russian original posted on the Portal-credo.ru site, 12 September 2007
Orthodoxy in schools provokes violence against non-Orthodox
VORONEZH RIGHTS DEFENDERS TO PROVIDE LEGAL AID TO PROTESTANTHis son's classmates resolved to teach him to cross himself Orthodox-style
Portal-credo.ru, 7 September 2007
Recently a follower of the Reformed Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Aleksei Perov, who is a resident of Gribanovka settlement, turned to the "Voronezh/Chernozemie" organization with an account of his first-grader son's experience. On 1 September, after the class had been visited by a local priest of the patriarchal church (who sprinkled the pupils and the classroom with holy water), the classmates decided to teach the son how to cross himself in the Orthodox way by means of force exerted upon the child of a protestant family. This was reported to a "Portal-credo.ru" correspondent by Olga Gnezdilova, an attorney of the "Voronezh/Chernozemie" interregional rights group.
Several months ago the interregional rights group became famous for having been one of the participants in the organization of collection of signatures in favor of maintaining the secular character of education in the region, after the department of education of Voronezh province announced the introduction of "Foundations of Orthodox culture" into the curriculum of general education school on the regional level.
The interregional rights defense organization plans to provide Aleksei Perov legal advice in the composition of a complaint to the prosecutor's office and other offices in connection with the violation of his civil rights to freedom of religious confession, and, if he needs it, it will represent his interests in court. Olga Gnezdilova also indicated that everyone who confronts cases of violation of the principles of freedom of religious confession in secular schools can count on similar aid. She noted that the department of education of the province did not pay any attention to the conduct of religious ceremonies in secular schools, "apparently thinking that this is in accord with the norms of a secular state." In addition the attorney emphasized, what happened says something about the low culture of tolerance among teachers. (tr. by PDS, posted 11 September 2007)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
Putin praises Russian Orthdox church
VLADIMIR PUTIN POINTS TO INVARIABLY UNITING ROLE OF RUSSIAN CHURCH FOR RUSSIANS ABROADInterfax, 10 September 2007
Russian President Vladimir Putin has stressed the important uniting role that the Russian Orthodox Church has played for all Russians living outside Russia.
"In all times the Russian Orthodox Church was and is a spiritual center for Russians abroad," he said during a meeting with the Russian diaspora in Australia on Sunday.
Vladimir Putin thanked representatives of the Orthodox Church in Australia, who, he said, have played a great role in uniting the Russian Orthodox Church inside and outside Russia.
The president stated that Russia took and would take measures to consolidate relations with Russians living abroad, noting that the natives of Russia (some 200 thousand people) living in Australia have not lost interest in their historical homeland.
According to Putin, the last 15 years have seen a fundamental change in the attitude of the state to compatriots living outside Russia. (posted 10 September 2007)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
Changes in Orthodox-Catholic relations expected
POPE SOON TO APPOINT NEW HEAD OF CATHOLICS IN MOSCOWInterfax, 7 September 2007
Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz will leave the Catholic see in Moscow and will be placed at the head of the Minsk-Mogilev archdiocese, taking the place of Cardinal Kazimierz Swiantek, who retired last year, the Italian newspaper Giornale reported Thursday.
At the same time the author of the article adds that the Roman Pope most likely will appoint 45-year-old Italian priest Paolo Pezzi to the see in Moscow; at the present time he is the rector of the "Mary, Queen of the Apostles" Catholic Advanced Ecclesiastical Seminary in St. Petersburg, where priests are trained for Catholic dioceses in Russia.
The article notes that these appointments should be officially announced at the end of September and they will be evidence of serious changes in relations between the Vatican and the Russian Orthodox church, which for a long time has accused Catholics of proselytism (converting Orthodox believers to Catholicism) and of opening dioceses on the territory of Russia headed up, as the newspaper says, for the most part by hierarchs of Polish descent.
At the representation of the Holy See in Russia there is still no comment on this information. As regards Archbishop Kondrusiewicz, he told "Interfax" that he knows nothing about his transfer to the Belorussian see. (tr. by PDS, posted 10 September 2007)
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Duma will not condemn academicians
DEPUTY KRUTOV CALLED PARLIAMENT TO EXPRESS OPINION ON "LETTER OF THE ACADEMICIANS"Blagovest-info, 4 September 2007
Speaking at the first plenary meeting of the concluding session of the fourth State Duma on 4 September, Deputy Alexander Krutov said: "Recently a number of Russian academicians headed by laureate Ginsburg addressed a complaint to the president against the fact that the RPTs affirms God's existence and is trying through the state to teach this to Russian citizens. And this, in their opinion, undermines the Russian constitution."
The deputy suggests that their letter recalls the significant appeal by cultural leaders in October 1993 calling Yeltsin to punish fellow citizens. "At that time," Krutov recalled, "Yeltsin fired upon parliament. What are these academicians calling for today? And what should the president do today? Issue a decree that there is no god or that God exists?"
"The level of religious ignorance of these academicians is amazing," Alexander Krutov continued. "They all are still living by the ideas and concepts of the militant atheists Emelian Gubelman Yaroslavsky or Khrushchev. And what if the president says that there is a God, or that he goes to church. Whither and to whom will the academicians write?"
"I consider that the Duma should give a precise and clear assessment of this regular antichurch campaign and instruct the Committee on Affairs of Public Associations and Religious Organizations to prepare a statement by the State Duma on this problem, the Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Informational Policy A Krutov appealed to his colleagues. (tr. by PDS, posted 4 September 2007)
STATE DUMA REFUSES TO CONDEMN ACADEMICIANS OPPOSING "CLERICALIZATION OF COUNTRY"
Interfax, 4 September 2007
The State Duma did not support an initiative to draw up a draft statement condemning the position of a group of academicians of the Russian Academy of Sciences, who in July sent a letter to the leadership of the Russian federation against the "clericalization of the country," and in particular against the teaching of "Foundations of Orthodox culture" to schoolchildren.
The suggestion to prepare the corresponding documents was made Tuesday morning at the session of the chamber by Deputy Alexander Krutov ("Just Russia" fraction), declaring that the "level of religious ignorance of the academicians is simply amazing."
However at the time of voting his initiative was supported by only 57 parliamentarians (while the necessary minimum for adoption of a positive decision is 226 votes), an "Interfax" correspondent reports. (tr. by PDS, posted 4 September 2007)
Majority of Russians oppose Orthodoxy in schools
GENERAL EDUCATION OR PARISH CHURCH SCHOOLSby Ilia Peresedov
The New Times, 3 September 2007
The first results of the teaching of "Foundations of Orthodox culture" (OPK) in the schools convince one that the culturological status of the discipline is a formality for diverting the eyes. Experts and observers are unanimous: the real goal of the course is conversion of pupils to the church life of only one confession, but one that is more and more acquiring the status of a state church.
The course "Foundations of Orthodox culture" has been introduced into Russian schools with the active support of local authorities. The experience of Belgorod provinceÑa pioneer in adopting OPKÑis especially interesting, since it shows the logic of the introduction and subsequent evolution of the subject that has engendered vehement discussion in society.
Orthodox culture has been taught in Belgorod for three years already. The original course was considered elective, although parents maintain that pupils were required to attend these classes on an almost mandatory basis. At first it was intended, in the main, for the lower grades. The time of extended classes was granted to priests, who told the children about God and Orthodoxy. Then teachers began conducting the classes, as a rule teachers of history or pedagogues with inadequate teaching loads who underwent retraining at the diocese. The subject was considered, as previously, elective, but classes appeared in the schedules of the second or third class hour; children usually skipped the latter. In a number of schools in the city a year before the subject acquired obligatory status, OPK began being taught from the first through eleventh grades.
--Who can see the sky
The contents of the course is the description in the main of the Russian Orthodox church and its centuries-long union with state authority. In every school, in a visible spot (sometimes next to the coat of arms and anthem of the country) there now hangs a board with rules for behavior in church. When OPK was introduced, its goal was declared to be unifying the family and regeneration of traditional values. But, as practice has shown, it unified only those families who began filing lawsuits at the prosecutor's office against introduction of such a subject. Not one of these suits was satisfied.
Nikolai, an Orthodox pupil of one of the Belgorod schools, acknowledged in a personal conversation: "The majority of higher grade students categorically do not believe in God and they ridicule all that they are told in this class. The history teacher, who teaches us OPK, also is a nonbeliever." According to Nikolai's testimony, they have not been told anything about the evangelical commands of love nor the story of Christ's life, and he has had to learn all about this independently.
They are trying by all means to give OPK the appearance of an academic discipline. Teachers do not force pupils to acknowledge faith in God or to perform rituals. However the specifics of the course themselves and the methods of its presentation inevitably place before the children the question of their personal religious identification. A teacher of supplementary education, Natalia Shcheglova, told how the composition by her brother, a higher level pupil, was not accepted for the provincial competition in Christmas Readings on the topic "What I feel when I look at the sky." The teacher liked the paper but she stated directly that it did not contain any personal religiosity and thus it wouldn't do.
In Belgorod province, with a multimillion population, there live people of various confessions. Muslims, protestants, and Jehovah's Witnesses view OPK extremely negatively. In response to its obligatory introduction, the Muslim community of the city began seeking permission to build a mosque at which Muslim children would be able to study their own religious culture. This request was denied.
--He is not like us
Belgorodian teachers acknowledge that OPK has brought a split in relations among school children, even back when it was elective. Children would say about their classmate who skipped the classes: "He does not want to hear about church; he is not like us." After the inclusion of the course in the obligatory curriculum, OPK began being taught even in schools where 80% of the children were Muslims. In order to preclude disorder teachers were ordered not to give any bad grades for this subject.
However there have already been cases when there were parents who did not wish for their children to attend OPK and the leadership of the schools offered to hire teachers at school expense for parallel teaching of another subject, because they thought skipping an obligatory class was impermissible.
Experts and observers of the teaching of OPK unanimously acknowledge that the only goal of the course is conversion of school children to church life. The culturological status of the discipline is a formality for diverting the eyes. Outside-of-class work leads to a close union with the church: children are taken to churches and to Orthodox camps, those same Pioneer camps with seminarians in the role of counselors. Life in them is subordinated to a single principle and includes conversations with priests, trips to church, and assisting in the church. It is practically impossible for a pupil to escape such a "vacation." If the camp is associated with the school, and in the same village, then it is obligatory to attend; in other cases parents simply have nowhere to send their child for the summer.
State supports the church; church supports the state
Local authorities devote grandiose attention to "Foundations of Orthodoxy." On television broadcasts, both clergy and administrations continually emphasize its exceptional significance. Supporters of the course treat it simply as the chief subject of the curriculum. Nowadays it is the discipline that is provided the most academic supplies. A village teacher, Svetlana Perova, complained: "For mathematics we have old textbooks that are ragged and there are no supplies, but for OPK there are both textbooks and supplies, and compact disks and diocesan magazines. These are all distributed and displayed in educational exhibits."
Today OPK is, in essence, the central part of not only the educational but also the global agitation program, reaching beyond the walls of the schools. In every military committee of Belgorod there is a priest who exhorts all draftees (in some military committee separate rooms are furnished for this). In the state offices, when the birth of a child is registered all mothers are given certificates of thanks from the bishop and diocese congratulating them on fulfilling their civic duty. On local television there continually are shows about the successful joint activity of church and government.
OPK pays
Of course, by far not every teacher, even of those who teach OPK, is an active supporter of it. But it does not come to open protest. Those who are unhappy prefer to be upset with and ridicule the course in private conversations. For many teachers there is one benefit from OPKÑadditional hours and additional subsidy. School principals unquestionably support the course; they also get a monthly stipend from the department of education as a reward "for good work."
For the Moscow patriarchate, such a state of affairs, undoubtedly, is beneficial. The church publishing houses receive state orders for editions of academic literature in the many thousands and the role of the episcopate in public life is growing. And this is very necessary for the church, whose real status is significantly different from its image in official documents. Recently, both secular and Orthodox analysts are more and more acknowledging that the internal status of RPTs is quite lamentable and it may be facing soon the problem of schism.
Whether the introduction of Orthodoxy into the general education schools is a panacea for the woes of the church is a great question. Evgeny Ikhlov, the director of the informational and analytical service of the "For human rights" Russian movement, thinks: "The OPK course, despite all the wishes of the church authorities, does not provide and cannot provide an experience of faith. The only thing that it gives the pupils is the feeling of superiority over those who 'believe incorrectly.' There is no real story of the church in the OPK course. There are no polemics, problems, or struggles. There is the church, going from victory to victory, always supporting the state and strengthening its centralization. This is falsification of church history in the interests of the Kremlin and not of the church itself."
This opinion is supported by recent events. The pro-Kremlin youth movements "Nashi" and "Georgievtsy," which operate extremely actively, have declared the universal dissemination of OPK as one of their goals. At the same time, any disagreement with the introduction of Orthodoxy into the schools is used by them for putting pressure on political opponents and their self-promotion.
"Foundations of Orthodox culture" and other confessionally oriented subjects are taught electively in more than 30 regions of Russia. In Belgorod, Briansk, Kaluga, and Smolensk provinces this subject has been obligatory since 1 September 2006. Beginning 1 September 2007 it has become obligatory in Voronezh province also.
Beginning in the new school year, in Moscow there will be conducted an elective course in "Religions of the world." It is viewed as an alternative to OPK.
Professor of the department of State Confessional Relations of the Academy of State Service on the presidential administration of RF, and chairman of the investigating committee of the Sociology of Religion of the Russian Society of Sociologists, Remir Lopatkin: "Advocates of the introduction of OPK appeal to the presence of an academic request within society for just such a subject. However this request is not unequivocal. A much greater number of pupils, parents, and teachers are advocating the teaching not of a confessional subject of the OPK type but information about religion in its historical and culturological aspect. An Internet survey in Belgorod province showed that 29 percent of respondents favored OPK, 45 percent decisively opposed it, and 23 percent did not see a need for this subject. A survey of upper class pupils in Ekaterinburg showed 24% for OPK and 76% against it. Of Moscow teachers: 12% for introducing a subject studying religion (including OPK); 41% for subjects giving information about religion and other forms of worldviews (for example, history of religions and religious studies); 46% against teaching such subjects in secondary schools. (tr. by PDS, posted 3 September 2007)
Russian original posted on Religiia i SMI site, 3 September 2007
Russia Religion News Current News Items
Russian Ministry of Education on teaching
religion: II
IN NEW SCHOOL YEAR MORE THAN HALF OF RUSSIAN REGIONS WILL STUDY HISTORY
AND CULTURE OF TRADITIONAL RELIGIONSInterfax, 3 September 2007
Beginning 1 September school children in more than half of the component elements of Russia will study historical and culturological disciplines linked with traditional religions. . . .
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 reported that her department annually conducts monitoring of the situation in the regions and recently received data regarding the upcoming academic year will be developed in the near future. . . .
T. Petrova also denied the idea that the Ministry of Education intended to abolish the regional educational curriculum (subjects for which the decision about teaching is made at the level of the regionÑ"IF") within the framework of which "Foundations of Orthodox culture" now is taught.
The spokeswoman told the agency that as a result of changes now being made in the formulation of state educational standards "to the contrary, the freedom of the regions has only been increased by contrast with what it was earlier."
"As a result, regional administrations of education and the educational institutions themselves have been given the possibility to determine up to one third of the classroom time in accordance with their own circumstances," the representative of the ministry reported.
In a majority of the component elements of the Russian federation, these disciplines are taught on a voluntary basis. After "Foundations of Orthodox culture" became obligatory in Belgorod province, parents of 66 children wrote a declaration of refusal of the study of this subject, "and the regional administrators themselves . . . reconsidered this situation."
The bureaucrat told also about the changes being prepared in legislation on education, assuring that the new educational standards to not provide for the elimination of the elective curricula. That is, every school, as previously, will be able independently to decide whether to include the given subjects in their curricula. In order to give order to this process the Ministry of Education worked out amodel agreement on cooperation between organs of provincial administration of education and a centralized religious organization.
In speaking about the possibility of an educational institution's including in its curriculum the foundational of religious culture as a mandatory subject, Petrova stressed: "The principle of voluntariness in any case must be observed. How? If a regional department of education has already made the decision to include such a subject in the curriculum, then for those pupils who prefer otherwise it must , by all means, be provided that they be required to study some other discipline in those hours. It is necessary to foresee all possible consequences. Nevertheless we must take care that in our country children in the schools are not divided on the basis of religious identity. When we admit children into the first grade, we do not ask them about their religious confession and we do not have any right to do so. Therefore it is natural they the principle of voluntariness must be observed." (tr. by PDS, posted 3 September 2007)
See other details from this interview in related article. Russian Ministry of Education on teaching religion August 31, 2007 Russia Religion News Current News Items
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