RUSSIA RELIGION NEWS


Russian church defends its place in public education

RPTs: SOME NEWS MEDIA DISTORT WORDS OF HEAD OF OVTsS REGARDING CHURCH-STATE RELATIONS

RIA Novosti, 25 November 2015

 

The director of the Communication Service of the Department for External Church Relations [OVTsS], priest Ilia Kosykh, considers that the distortion by a number of news media of the words of the chairman of OVTsS, Metropolitan of Volokolamsk Ilarion, regarding the principle of the separation of church from state is the result of attempts by journalists to find a sensation where it does not exist.

 

According the information of the synodal Information Department, which distributed on Wednesday a statement by priest Ilia Kosykh, a number of news media distorted words of Metropolitan Ilarion, which he expressed on 20 November in a joint session of the Federation Council and State Duma devoted to issues of the struggle with terrorism. The OVTsS chairman's speech was presented as if he literally "called for renunciation of the principle of the separation of the church from the state and schools as such" for the sake of prevention of terrorism.

 

"It is difficult to ascertain what stands behind such an interpretation: a desire to find a sensation where it does not exist or ignorance of basic principles of church-state relations set out in the Foundations of Social Concept, which was adopted by the Russian Orthodox Church in 2000. I would like to call representatives of news media to the required professionalism relative to their own service, recalling that the costs of such distortions are not only social divisions but also personal confidence for each journalist or respected news media," Kosykh's statement says.

 

He said that Metropolitan Ilarion sees in a "radical" understanding of the principle of the separation of church from the state an impediment on the path to prevention of terrorism, and therefore he declared that "it is time, finally, to reject such an understanding of the separation of church from the state and of schools from the church that posits that religion should not be directly present in secular educational space."

 

"It is evident that this call contains the thesis that the principle of the separation of church from the state should not prevent the development of a state system of teaching an understanding of religion, not that it should remove it," the priest explained.

 

He also recalled that in conversation with journalists—both Russian and foreign—the OVTsS chairman has frequently emphasized that at the base of church-state relations in modern Russia lies the principle of mutual noninterference of church and state in the internal affairs of one another, while there is cooperation in those areas where it is possible and necessary. These areas include the sphere of education, while in accordance with the European Convention on Protection of Human Rights, parents are guaranteed the right to teach their children in accordance with their religious and worldview convictions (Protocol 1). (tr. by PDS, posted 25 November 2015)

 

RPTs SUGGESTS RETURNING TO PREREVOLUTIONARY SYSTEM TO COMBAT TERRORISM

Lenta.ru, 20 November 2015

 

The head of the Department for External Church Relations of the RPTs, Metropolitan of Volokolamsk Ilarion, called for rejecting the separation of the church from the state for the sake of preventing terrorism, Interfax reports.

 

"It is time, finally, to reject such an understanding: the separation of the church from the state and of schools from the church, which posits that religion should not be directly present in the secular educational space," the metropolitan declared.

 

The representative of the RPTs [Russian Orthodox Church] advised rejecting "the liberal cliches," noting that one should fear not religion but ignorance in matters of religion. "It is necessary to fear not proverbial clericalism, with which westerners frighten our public, but what can happen if our children and our youth were to be cut off from the sources of genuine knowledge of religion," he thinks.

 

The clergyman noted that religious terrorism does not exist. "The people who launched this war have not earned the right to call themselves believers. They are satanists, because they fulfill the will of the devil, bringing people grief, death, and destruction," Metropolitan Illarion said, adding that religious leaders of all confessions, along with common people, curse the terrorists.

 

In early October, Patriarch Kirill declared that upon the results of the war in Syria will depend the "welfare of Sacred Rus." In his turn, the head of the synod's Department for Relations of Church and Society, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, called the Russian operation in Syria sacred. "Russia has always felt a responsibility and it has always tried to cooperate in the establishment of a just peace within various regions of the planet. For our country this is, of course, a moral and sacred obligation, which is deeply rooted in the mentality of our people," he noted.

 

In 2013, Patriarch Kirill spoke about the impermissability of merging the church and the state, since the bloody events of the early 20th century and the subsequent persecutions of the church, in his words, to a great extent were the results of the enslavement of the religious institution by the state. "Every form of merger of the church and the state is dangerous for the work of God. Only preaching in a free church sounds loudly and convincingly," Interfax quoted the words of the head of the RPTs.

 

The secular character of the state and freedom of religious confession were confirmed in the Russian constitution.

 

The church was subsumed into the vertical of authority under Peter I. The separation of the church from the state and of the schools from the church was effected in 1918 after the adoption of the pertinent decree by the Council of People's Commissars. In 1990, after the adoption of the law of the RSFSR "On freedom of religious confession," the decree was declared to be invalid. (tr. by PDS, posted 25 November 2015)

 

ILARION: IT IS NECESSARY TO CREATE COALITION OF SECULAR AND RELIGIOUS LEADERS

RIA Novosti, 20 November 2015

 

The Russian Orthodox Church called leading world powers to postpone political contradictions and come together in the struggle against terrorism, creating a realistic mechanism for combating this threat on a global level.

 

"The entire world community should come together in the struggle against terrorism. Events of the past week have demonstrated the acute necessity of the immediate creation of a realistic mechanism for combating terrorism on the global level; actions and needed, not words. And the contradictions between states and disagreements on political matters should now be set off into the background," said the head of the Department of External Church Relations (OVTsS) of the Moscow patriarchate, Metropolitan of Volokolamsk Ilarion.

 

Speaking at a joint session of the Federation Council and State Duma of the RF, the representative of the RPTs noted that "Russia today has declared war on the criminal terrorist grouping calling itself 'the Islamic State' and having become infamous for monstrous atrocities throughout the world."

 

"Besides the destruction of already existing gangs, the most important task is the prevention of terrorism. And here it is necessary to create yet another coalition, one that would unite secular and religious leaders," the metropolitan noted.

 

He said this coalition is needed first of all in order "to protect our people, especially youth, from the influence of a criminal ideology hiding under religious slogans." "This war with terrorism is a war on the spiritual level and the main frontline passes through the souls of people. Therefore we must fight against terrorism not only in the theater of military actions but principally on the field of battle for souls and hearts," the RPTs hierarch said.

 

"The incident involving the woman student of the largest state institution of higher learning, who was recruited by terrorists (Barbara Karaulova), should serve for all of us as a serious warning signal. If we do not take extraordinary measures, such male and female students could soon be much more numerous," Ilarion said. (tr. by PDS, posted 25 November 2015)

 

CHURCH PROPOSES EXPANDING TEACHING RELIGION IN SCHOOLS TO PREVENT TERRORISM

Metropolitan Ilarion calls for "rejecting liberal clichés"

Interfax-Religiia, 20 November 2015

 

The role of religion in Russian society should be strengthened for preventing terrorism, among other reasons, thinks the head of the synod's Department of External Church Relations, Metropolitan of Volokolamsk Ilarion.

 

"It is time, finally, to reject such an understanding: the separation of the church from the state and of schools from the church, which posits that religion should not be directly present in the secular educational space," the metropolitan declared on Friday in a joint meeting of the Federation Council and State Duma on issues for combating terrorism.

 

He suggests that "today as never before the teaching of the foundations of religious culture in the schools is needed, and this experience should be expanded."

 

Metropolitan Ilarion also thinks it necessary to complete work on the creation in the secular educational space of a scientific field of "theology," including the right of receiving scientific degrees recognized by the state in this specialty.

 

"In the Russian context, theology is not secular and not supraconfessional, like they try to impose on us along the western model, but it is tied to traditional religious confessions and can become a unique area for cooperation among the traditional religions of our country," he is sure.

 

The hierarch called for "rejecting liberal clichés."

 

"It is necessary to fear, not religion, but ignorance in matters of religion. It is necessary to fear not proverbial clericalism, with which westerners frighten our public, but what can happen if our children and our youth were to be cut off from the sources of genuine knowledge of religion," he declared. (tr. by PDS, posted 25 November 2015)


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