UPTs CRIMEAN DIOCESE OFFERS
RUSSIAN AUTHORITIES CLOSER AND MORE CONSTRUCTIVE COOPERATION
Religiia
v Ukraine, 24 June 2015
On 11 June a session of a round
table on issues of inter-ethnic and interconfessional relations
and inter-ethnic peace and harmony on the peninsula was held in
the prosecutor's office of the Russian-annexed republic of
Crimes, under the chairmanship of the prosecutor general of the
republic, Natalia Poklonskaia. Under consideration were issues
of mutual respect for various peoples and confessions of Crimea
and the impermissibility of the spread of religious extremism
and destructive sects, Religiia v Ukraine reports with reference
to the website of the UPTsMP diocese of Simferopol and Crimea.
Participants in the discussion of
these questions included a deputy chairman of the council of
ministers of Crimea, Ruslan Balbek, and representatives of the
Ministry of Education, law enforcement agencies, and religious
and national-cultural organizations.
In particular, a report was
delivered by the secretary of the UPTs diocese of Simferopol and
Crimea, rector of the Sts. Peter and Paul cathedral church, and
secretary of the interconfessional council of Crimea "Peace is a
Gift of God," Archpriest Alexander Yakushechkin. With the
blessing of Metropolitan of Simferopol and Crimea Lazar, a
suggestion for harmonizing state-religion relations was
introduced, which was voiced by Archpriest Alexander in his
speech.
"In our speeches and sermons, we
testify that people who sincerely profess religious ideals of
good always strive not for upheavals and revolutions but for
mutual understanding and cooperation. And today, taking into
account changes in the political situation on our peninsula,
such cooperation in the sphere of state-religion relations
should take on new forms and directions," Archpriest Alexander
Yakushechkin said. He noted that "we are obliged" to do this by
the order of Russian President V. Putin regarding measures for
the rehabilitation of several peoples who suffered from the
soviet regime. Thus, on 15 May of this year, in order to achieve
the provisions of this order, the Interconfessional Council of
Crimea adopted a joint appeal with resect to the deportation of
Crimean peoples in 1941-1944. Also the attention of the Crimean
council of ministers was called "to the necessity of adopting
immediate measures for restoring historical justice and
cooperation in the social and spiritual regeneration of Crimean
peoples who were repressed in the past."
"Especially important for the
church and state may be the program for restoration of medieval
Christian caves monasteries of Crimea: The Annunciation caves
monastery of Mt. Mangup (Bakhchisarai district), the skete of
Anastasia the Liberator (Kachi-Kalon, Bakhchisarai district),
the Holy Martyr Theodore the Commander [Stratelates] near the
village of Maloe Sadovoe, Bakhchisarai district, and the unique
sacred monuments of other traditional confessions," the
representative of the UPTs Crimean diocese said.
"With a goal of strengthening
state-religion relations and in connection with the transfer of
a number of objects from Ukrainian state ownership to republic
of Crimea ownership, it would be useful to develop a plan for
returing to religious organizations real property for religious
purposes that is in state or municipal ownership," the UPTs
priest continued. "In order to take into account the opinions of
the religious sphere of Crimea, it would be appropriate to
consider the question of including in the membership of the
Public Chamber of the republic of Crimea representatives of
traditional confessions of the peninsula, as is the case in the
Public Chamber of Russia, and also in the Commission of Issues
of Pardons on the territory of the republic of Crimea. In order
to impliment the right of parents of schoolchildren to free
choice in the study of modules of the 'Foundations of religious
culture and secular ethics' ('Foundations of Orthodox culture,'
'Foundations of Muslim culture,' 'Secular ethics,' etc.), to
recommend to the administrations of educational institutions to
invite clergy of traditional confessions (in accordance with
existing subject modules) to participate in and conduct parents'
meetings. To consider as impermissible the practice of a
school's principal making a unilateral (without consultation
with the parental community) decision with respect to choice of
a module of the 'Foundations of religious culture and secular
ethics.'"
In its turn, "the Simferopol and
Crimea diocese is prepared for closer and more constructive
cooperation with agencies of government in the sphere of
conducting cultural and educational projects on the history and
culture of the peoples of Crimea," the priest said.
On the basis of the results of discussion, specific suggestions were developed aimed at helping confessions and communities to operate within the Russian legal field, to protect their interests, and to raise the level of their participation in building a common model of the development of the peninsula. (tr. by PDS, posted 24 June 2015)
Editorial disclaimer: RRN does
not intend to certify the accuracy of information
presented in articles. RRN simply intends to certify the
accuracy of the English translation of the contents of the
articles as they appeared in news media of countries of
the former USSR.
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/.