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Textbooks for religion in schools hit snag

ARCHDEACON ANDREI KURAEV READY TO WRITE TEXTBOOK ON SECULAR ETHICS
by Boris Klin
Izvestia, 15 January 2010

The experiment in the teaching of Foundations of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics has been threatened with breakdown. Two months before its start it has turned out that there is no textbook on secular ethics. The head of the department of ethics of the philosophy faculty of St. Petersburg State University, Vadim Perov, had begun  its preparation, but yesterday he announced that he was terminating his cooperation with the "Prosveshchenie" publishing house, which is preparing the text for publication.

"They wrung out of us an agreement to write this textbook," the scholar told Izvestia. "In the first place, I consider that ethics should be taught to 14 and 15 year olds and that the fourth and fifth grades are too early; and in the second place, you cannot write a textbook in such a restricted period of time."

Nevertheless, a working draft was submitted to "Prosveshchenie" press.

"We intended to rework it; there were oral agreements, but then they insisted that we make changes which changed the course on ethics into a course of 'moral training,' and I cannot agree to that," Perov told us. In his opinion, moral training should be done within a framework of extracurricular activity. "Within the framework of a course on ethics it is possible to explain what it is to act ethically, and to place the emphasis on knowledge; but if we talk about training, it is impossible to place the emphasis on conscience," the scholar explained.

The "Prosveshchenie" publisher refrained from comment. Vadim Perov refused to provide the textbook and a list of claims regarding it to Izvestia.

However, the other authors also, with the exception of Archdeacon Andrei Kuraev, have kept their textbooks secret. Thus parents of 240,000 school children who are supposed to participate in the experiment will have to make the selection of the course 'blindly,' and journalists must be satisfied with comments from those who have received access to the texts.

Fr Andrei Kuraev is acquainted with Perov's textbook (which, incidentally, also angers the ethics specialist).  "It is a badly arranged university textbook that is clearly not appropriate to the age level," the archdeacon told Izvestia. "It would be better to recruit a good children's author."

The clergyman does not agree that secular ethics are inaccessible to pupils of the 4th and 5th grades. "There are the excellent 'Adventures of Dennis' by Dragunsky, there is 'Tom Sawyer,' and children are quite able to learn how to relate to friends and enemies."

But the main mistake of the authors of "secular ethics," Fr Andrei thinks, is another matter:  "The course has been designed as an alternative to religious textbooks, but the authors of the latter were able to avoid evaluation and comparison with the convictions of the others."

A graduate of Moscow State University, Archdeacon Kuraev is prepared himself to write the textbook on secular ethics in two weeks: "Without it the whole project is threatened."

Meanwhile today in the Academy of Advanced Qualification and Professional Development of Educational Workers classes are beginning for pedagogues and methodologists from the regions (in all there will be 1,000 of them). After they return home they are supposed to train 15,500 school teachers for teaching the new school subject, which will begin on 1 April. We recall that parents have the right to choose themselves either a course on one of the four traditional religious cultures (Orthodoxy, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism) or the history of world religions or secular ethics. According to data from the head of the academy, Eduard Nikitin, in the large cities, 60 percent of parents prefer the history of world religions and secular ethics.(tr. by PDS, posted 15 January 2010)

Russian original posted on Portal-credo.ru site, 15 January 2010

Related article:  Religion in schools still a puzzle ,  December 30, 2009

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Leaders of Orthodox and Baptist churches seek cooperation

MOSCOW PARISH OF RPTsMP HOLDS ECUMENICAL CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION FOR CHILDREN OF ORTHODOX AND BAPTIST FAMILIES
Portal-credo.ru, 12 January 2010

A children's ecumenical Christmas celebration, organized jointly by the parish of Saints Cosmas and Damian the Silverless in Shubina, the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow patriarchate [OVTsSMP], and the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists [RSEKhB], was held on 10 January in Moscow, the Communications Service of OVTsSMP reports.

The idea of conducting a joint matinee for children from Orthodox and Baptist families arose during a meeting of the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow patriarchate, Archbishop of Volokolamsk Ilarion, and the director of the Department of External Church Relations of RSEKhB, Pastor V.K. Vlasenko, which was held on 15 May 2009. The goal of conducting such an event is the exchange of experience in the work of training children in the spirit of traditional Christian spiritual and moral values.

Vice-chairman of OVTsSMP monastic priest Filipp, the head of the Department of External Church Relations of RSEKhB, Pastor V.K. Vlasenko, and the rector of the church of Saints Cosmas and Damian the Silverless, Archpriest Alexander Borisov addressed the children assembled in the Orthodox church. They emphasized that the Nativity of the Savior brings great joy to believers in Christ, which should serve as an inspiration to build one's life in accordance with the commands of the gospel. Then the children watched a puppet show on Christian topics.

The event was also attended by Secretary for Inter-Christian Relations of OVTsSMP, Archpriest Igor Vyzhanov. (tr. by PDS, posted 13 January 2010)

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Investigation of church arson

SUSPECTS IN ARSON OF BAPTIST AND JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES RELIGIOUS BUILDINGS ARRESTEDIN VOLGOGRAD PROVINCE
Portal-credo.ru, 12 January 2010

A group of young people suspected of arson of the house of worship of Evangelical Christians-Baptists and the office of the "Kingdom of Jehovah's Witnesses" organization, which occurred in the city of Volzhsk on New Year's night, has been arrested in Volgograd province.

As reported to Interfax on 12 January at the press service of the Department of Internal Affairs of Volgogad province, unknown persons tried to set fire to the buildings of the religious organizations by throwing bottles with a flammable mixture through their windows.

"The arson attempts followed one another. However thanks to the action of emergency workers the fire was extinguished," the agency's source said.

A criminal case was opened on the basis of part 2 of article 167 of the Criminal Code of RF (intentional destruction and damage of property).

"Within the parameters of the investigation of a criminal case, suspects were arrested. Extremist literature, gunpowder, and inflammable acid were found in the apartment of one of them. Additional investigative measures are being undertaken," a representative of the Department of Internal Affairs of the region said.

The agency's source did not specify the exact number of those arrested, noting that "according to preliminary information, the suspects in the arson of the religious organizations claim membership in the informal 'ANTIFA' association and the Movement against Illegal Immigration."  (tr. by PDS, posted 13 January 2010)

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Museum displeased with return of monastery to church

VLADIMIR PUTIN WROTE NEW CHARTER FOR MONASTERY. NUNS TO RETURN TO NOVODEVICHY
by Pavel Korobov, Oleg Kashin
Kommersant, 11 January 2010

Premier Vladimir Putin has ordered that the Novodevichy Monastery, which is federal property where an affiliate of the State Historical Museum is located, be handed over to the Russian Orthodox church. Representatives of the church have promised that "the principle of mutual cooperation will be practiced" in the monastery, permitting museum specialists to control the condition of the unique structures and iconostases. Meanwhile, the directors of the historical museum do not conceal their concern over the subsequent fate of the monuments of history.

Premier Vladimir Putin said that the state intends in 2010 "to completely get out of Novodevichy Monastery in Moscow and turn it over to the Russian Orthodox church" at a meeting with Patriarch Kirill in St. Daniel's Monastery. As the director of the State Historical Museum, Alexander Shkurko, told Kommersant, "this process has been going on for more than two years now and the conclusion has only now been reached."

Just how long it will take to complete the turnover of the premises and whether the new owners will permit museum workers to continue research work in the monastery still has not been decided. The press secretary of the Moscow patriarchate, priest Vladimir Vigiliansky, assured Kommersant that "the principle of mutual coopeartion will be practiced" in Novodevichy Monastery, where it is planned that a women's religious community will be reborn. "The museum will not be thrown out onto the street; it will continue to function," Fr Vladimir noted. "The state has renounced the soviet heritage in the form of confiscated church property; but this is not restitution but rather a gesture of good will on the part of the government."

Novodevichy Monastery was established by Grand Prince Vasily III in 1524 in honor of the Smolensk icon of the Mother of God, and in the course of its entire pre-Revolutionary history it was the property of the monarch, from whom the church leased the cloister territory. In 1922 the convent was closed and on its territory a museum of "liberated women" was constructed, which in 1926 was transformed into the "Novodevichy Monastery" historical exposition, which in 1934 was transferred to the State Historical Museum. Since 1964 the monastery also has been the residence of the metropolitan of Krutitsy and Kolomna.

In its turn, the State Historical Museum reacted to the prime minister's gesture in a very restrained manner. Mr. Shkurko told Kommersant that he does not "see in the transfer of the monastery a great tragedy," and he also recalled that according to a resolution of the government the museum should receive premises in the region of Ismailovsky Park, to which the restoration studios and some of the museum's collections will be transferred. At the same time, in commenting on the transfer of the monastery anonymously, directors of the historical museum have not concealed their dissatisfaction. "It is not known how this experiment will come out," one of the directors of the museum told Kommersant. "We already have a mass of bad examples of buildings turned over to the church being destroyed, icons stolen, and there still is no mechanism of state control over the transferred property and the risk will remain." "Now a large territory in the center of Moscow has been removed from under the control of the state," Kommersant's interlocutor noted, "and if in about five years we see in place of the Novodevichy Monastery with its old facade a modern underground parking garage, it is not even clear who would bear the responsibility for this." The government's decision does not in any way affect the Novodevichy Cemetery, located next to the monastery; the cemetery belongs to the government of Moscow, as previously.  (tr. by PDS, posted 11 January 2010)

RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL CLOISTERS.
Monasteries will be transferred to full ownership of RPTs
by Dmitry Ivanov
Trud, 11 January 2010

A number of church building complexes, including the famous Novodevichy Monastery, will be transferred to the ownership of the Russian Orthodox church (RPTs). Vladimir Putin declared this at a meeting with Patriarch Kirill on 5 January. At the same time, it is planned to resettle museums located in the monasteries and church buildings. The Ministry of Culture has already prepared corresponding draft laws, which are proposed for adoption in the first half of the year.

The process of the return of church property has been going on since the beginning of the 90s. Just since 2005 the government has transferred to RPTs about 100 churches and monasteries and a great quantity of icons, Orthodox shrines, and churchware, including items from the museum of the Moscow Kremlin and the Russian Museum.

Secularization in reverse

Now, it seems, a new round of the return of church property has begun. Last Tuesday the prime minister met with Patriarch Kirill. As a result of their conversation it was decided that the state will completely transfer to RPTs ownership a whole bunch of monasteries and church buildings. The museums that are located within the bounds of the architectural monuments will possibly have to seek new places for themselves.

"I am sure that we will together find a resolution that will not destroy anything that has been created in the previous years, but will permit the return to religious organizations everything that belongs to them by rights," Putin declared. In his turn, the patriarch expressed the hope that churches will be in the churches and monasteries in the monasteries. "Institutions of culture should, of course, receive such spaces and such buildings so as to be able to continue their work," the primate noted.

Among the objects that RPTs will receive will be the Novodevichy Monastery, the pearl of Russian architecture. At present it functions simultaneously as an Orthodox cloister and affiliate of the State Historical Museum. Those artifacts that are connected with the monastery will be allotted for free and unlimited use.

Minister of Culture Alexander Avdeev has already promised that his agency is concerned that the museums that will have to move outside of the church walls will be able to function effectively. At the same time he assured that the transfer of objects to religious organizations is not restitution, the return of property illegally expropriated by the state. There also is continuing the transfer of icons from museums to churches in those cases where the quality of their preservation will be fully guaranteed, which Rosokhrankultura [Agency for Preservation of Russian Culture] will continue to monitor.

At the same time the patriarch noted that the joint use of buildings by the church and museums has so far produced positive results, for example at the St. Sergius Holy Trinity Lavra and on Solovki. "There abbots have been appointed directors of the museums, people who are educated, competent, and capable of not only ruling the monastery but also supporting the museums," the patriarch said.

In his turn, Avdeev hopes that there will not be a repeat of the case of the Ipatiev Monastery in Kolomna: the museum that was located there was evicted but locations for its 700,000 artifacts have still not been found.

"The problems need to be resolved in a constructive way, understanding the responsibility of both museum people and representatives of the church for the fate of monuments that constitute our common national treasure," the chief curator of museum artifacts of the Tretiakov Galery, Tatiana Gorodkova, thinks. She said that it always is painful when some statements become the occasion for the creation of two irreconcilable camps, in this case the opponents and supporters of the transfer of property to the church.

Gilding at state expense

A second draft law that the Ministry of Culture has already sent to the Ministry of Finance permits the government to allocate budgetary items to the restoration of monuments of culture that belong to religious organizations. At present, the budget may pay for the restoration only of objects that belong to the state.

Budgetary financing of cultural monuments pertains not only to Orthodox complexes but also to religious buildings of all confessions that are traditional for Russia.

What will be transferred to the church?

Novodevichy Monastery. The monastery was founded by Grand Prince Vasily III in 1524 in Moscow in honor of the Smolensk icon of the "Pointing" [Hodigitria] Mother of God in gratitude for the conquest of Smolensk. A cemetery of the same name in which many famous people are buried is located next to the monastery. It is simultaneously an active female cloister and an affiliate of the State Historical Museum. The museum exposition was opened within the walls of the cloister back in the 20s of the past century. The extremely valuable vestry of the monastery and the architectural ensemble have remained to this day the core of the museum. In all, the museum contains 12,000 preserved artifacts.

Andronik Savior Monastery. This cloister, most likely, will be among the historic monuments that will be transferred entirely to Orthodox church ownership. At the present time an affiliate of the Andrei Rublev Museum of Ancient Russian Art is located in this monastery, where there is the oldest of the capital's preserved churches. Divine worship services were restored in the monastery in 1989 after many years of interruption. For now services in one of the churches of the complex are being conducted regularly, but so far only as a parish church. The distinctive monastic life of the cloister has still not been reestablished. (tr. by PDS, posted 11 January 2010)

Related article:  Heads of Russian government, church exchange Christmas greetings, gifts ,  January 6, 2010

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Justice ministry replies to Baptists' concerns regarding evangelism

WHEN DOES THE STATE HAVE THE RIGHT TO PROHIBIT EVANGELISTIC ACTIVITY OF RUSSIAN CITIZENS?
Response of the Russian Ministry of Justice to Evangelical Christians-Baptists' appeal

No. 15-6153, 14 December 2009

Your appeals to the president of the Russian federation, D.A. Medvedev, the chairman of the government of the Russian federation, V.V. Putin, and Russian Minister of Justice A.V. Konovalov regarding the issue of the draft of a federal law "On introducing amendments into the federal law 'On freedom of conscience and religious associations' and the Code of the Russian Federation regarding Administrative Violations of Law" (hereafter, "draft law") have been reviewed by the Department for Affairs of Noncommercial Organizations of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian federation.

As to the substance of the conclusions contained in your appeal, we think it necessary to explain that on the whole the draft law derives from the constitutional principle of the permissibility of restriction on human rights and freedoms of citizens only by means of federal laws whose goals are the protection of the bases of the constitutional structure, morality, health, rights, and legal interests of other persons, and guaranteeing the defense of the country and the security of the state (part 3, article 55 of the constitution of the Russian federation).

In conformity with the resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian federation of 23 November 1999, No. 16-P, on the matter of determining the constitutionality of paragraphs three and four of point 3 of article 27 of the federal law of 26 September 1997, "On freedom of conscience and religious associations" in connection with appeals of the religious society of Jehovah's Witnesses in the city of Yaroslavl and the religious association "Christian Church of Celebration," the state has the right to prohibit evangelistic activity (including the problem of proselytism) if it is incompatible with respect for the freedom of thought, conscience, and religion of other persons and for constitutional rights and freedoms, and is specifically accompanied by the offer of material or social benefits with the goal of recruiting new members into a church, and illegal influencing of people who are in need or in poverty, psychological pressure, or threat of the use of violence.

In addition, in accordance with the decision of the European Court on Human Rights of 24 November 1998 in the case of "Larissis and others v. Greece," concerning the practice of performing evangelistic activity, article 9 of the Convention on Protection of Human Rights and Basic Freedoms "does not protect all action motivated or inspired by religion conviction. It does not protect impermissible phenomena of proselytism such as offering material or social benefits or exerting impermissible pressure with the goal of drawing new members into a church."

The provisions of the draft law do not extend to activity of physical persons for the dissemination of their own religious convictions. They are directed to the regulation of the procedure for conducting a special kind of activityÑevangelistic activityÑonly in the name of religious associations (religious organizations, registered in the capacity of a legal entity, and religious groups, who have informed the territorial agency of justice of their creation and beginning of activity).

We call to your attention that restrictions proposed in the draft law on recruitment into religious associations and teaching of religion to minors pertain only to cases where such recruitment occurs despite the wishes of the children and without the consent of their parents. These provisions fully agree with provisions of international law. In particular, they agree with article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 10 December 1948 that parents have the right of priority in the choice of the form of education for their own children; in accordance with article 5 of the Declaration on Liquidation of all Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination on the Basis of Religion or Convictions of 25 November 1981, every child has the right of access to education in the area of religion or convictions in accordance with the wishes of his parents or in appropriate cases legal guardians and is not compelled to education in the area of religion or convictions despite the wishes of parents or legal guardians, in keeping with the guiding principle of the interests of the child.

On the question of the exercise by foreign citizens of the right to conduct evangelistic activity it is necessary to note that the proposed amendments do not extend to foreign citizens who have entered and are present on the territory of the Russian federation on legal bases, with a private visa. The draft law is intended to regulate evangelistic activity of foreign citizens who have entered the territory of the Russian federation in accordance with the procedure provided in point 2 of article 20 of the federal law on 26 September 1997, "On freedom of conscience and religious associations," in accordance with which religious organizations have the exclusive right to invite foreign citizens for purposes of professional training, including the preaching and religious activity of the given organizations. The obligation of foreign citizens to observe the goals of entry into the Russian federation is established by the federal law of 25 July 2002, "On the legal condition of foreign citizens in the Russian federation."

It is necessary to note that work on the draft law has still not been completed. Reasonable and constructive comments regarding the draft law will be considered by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian federation.

Zh.A. Dzhakupov,
Acting Director of the Department for Affairs of Noncommercial Organizations

(tr. by PDS, posted 8 January 2010)

Russian original posted on Portal-credo.ru site, 5 January 2010

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