RUSSIA RELIGION NEWS


 

Kremlin official says church should not use legal system to settle dispute with opera

INSTEAD OF COMPLAINT, CHURCH COULD PRONOUNCE ANATHEMA ON DIRECTOR OF "TANNHAUSER"—HEAD OF COUNCIL FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Interfax-Religiia, 25 March 2015

 

The head of the presidential Council for Human Rights, Mikhail Fedotov, denied Orthodox believers the right to complain to the prosecutor's office against the Novosibirsk production of "Tannhauser."

 

"What do the prosecutor's office, court, and investigation have to do here?" M.Fedotov said to Interfax. He thinks that representatives of the Russian church should not turn to law enforcement agencies but resolve a problem by means of dialogue.

 

"In the conflict between the diocese and the opera theatre, the diocese did not use methods that are proper to religious organizations and inherent to them in accordance with their nature. Instead of turning to the prosecutor's office, the diocese could use its own instruments, for example, appealing to the feelings of their parishioners," the head of the Council for Human Rights said.

 

"The church could address parishioners with a recommendation not to attend this production. They could resolve the question about excommunication of the director from the church; they could issue an anathema against him," M. Fedotov said.

 

He suggests that art has its own laws, and religion has its own, and "it is unacceptable for directors to indicate to hierarchs of the church how they should conduct religious services. Just as the other way round is unacceptable."

 

He said that the incident over the performance of "Tannhauser" will be among things that the Council for Human Rights will discuss in a special session on 30 March. (tr. by PDS, posted 26 March 2015)


Russia Religion News Current News Items

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/.