A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY
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| Volume 6 Number 20 - Tuesday, May 18th, 2004 |
A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY |
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The Orthodox Christian News Service |
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Russian justice ministry reviving soviet reporting systemBIOGRAPHICAL DATA ABOUT BELIEVERS TO BE REQUIRED OF PRIESTS IN SAMARA by Aleksei Borovskikh Samara Today, 7 May 2004 - Information about who, how, and to whom one prays is not simply the personal affair of each person but also a question of importance to the state. Thus, in Cheliabinsk, the directorate of the Ministry of Justice has demanded from religious organizations lists of parishioners. In the event of refusal, they are threatened with closure of their churches. In Samara such a significant development has not occurred, but even here, where interconfessional wars have not been reported throughout history, there is reason for alarm. Statistics know all. Especially in our country.
In various years matters of reporting for religious organizations have been transformed into an object of political bargaining and even of totalitarian pressure. From 1929 until the 1990s churches, mosques, and synagogues had to present personal information about parishioners to responsible agencies. That requirement disappeared with the breakup of USSR. And suddenly a questionnaire from the directorate of the Ministry of Justice of Russia arrives at the headquarters of religious associations. Point number 8 states: provide for participants (members) of religious organizations this information: family name, personal name, patronymic, age, place of residence. An uproar ensued.
Archbishop of Samara and Syzransk Sergei of RPTs: "If this is registration such as occurred in soviet times, when information about baptisms was reported to the executive committee and then came an interrogation, then that is genocide of the nation and a violation of human rights."
Archbishop Sergei is not the only one who thinks that a census of parishioners is a violation of the right and freedoms of citizens. The instruction from the Ministry of Justice arrived at all of the headquarters of traditional Russian confessions. The congregation of Evangelical Christians-Baptists in Samara is more than 100 years old. There are about 20 churches in the province. Here they say that the time when the word "Baptist" was used to frighten children has passed. The assistant to the ruling bishop of the union of Evangelical Christians Baptists [EKhB], Viktor Riaguzov, once suffered himself from the obligatory reporting. He was expelled from the medical institute as a hopeless "sectarian."
Viktor Riaguzov, assistant to the ruling bishop of the Russian Union of EKhB for Samara and Ulianovsk provinces: "I do not think that we as pastors would submit such lists. We know what that is about."
The Christians of Evangelical Faith [KhVE} are considered one of the fast-growing protestant movements. In the years of militant atheism they were underground. The bishops of KhVE considered registration under the conditions of the soviet authorities to be criminal and they did not provide lists of parishioners. Thus the church came out of the underground only after 1990.
Vasily Liashevsky, bishop of Christians of Evangelical Faith for Samara region: "A country that wants to talk about democracy must not rule over faith but be concerned with acts. Gambling and debauched institutions are being opened freely. Does the government really have nothing more to do than to just control the church?"
The Samara mosque is considered the largest in Europe. In the past Muslims huddled in a tiny house of worship. In those times advertising one's faith was not done. Today the regional Ecclesiastical Board of Muslims of Samara province unites dozens of religious organizations and a madressa is operating. Here the aforementioned letter of the Ministry of Justice is treated with caution. At point eight they either draw a dash or write "look in the laws of the Russian federation."
Minnakhmet Sagirov, executive secretary of the regional Ecclesiastical Board of Muslims of Samara province: "We did not provide information and we will not. This is a deeply personal affair of each person. The Ministry of Justice should not be involved in surveillance activity."
In Samara, as in almost any self-respecting provincial city, there is a synagogue. Here Jews conduct their rituals, make ethnic food, and tell stories of Jewish holidays. The inspiration for the community is Rabbi Shloma Doich. Ten years ago he arrived from Israel and thinks of Samara as the promised land.
Rabbi Shloma Doich: "Everything is getting better and better and better. That there will be a turnaround I do not believe. I myself wear my hat and nobody mocks me. For me it is just grand here."
Echoes of the past or a reverse of the future. After seventy years of militant atheism religious circles are accustomed to paying attention to even a rustle. And the famous Hemmingway phrase, "do not ask for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for you," expresses in the best possible way the mood of many clergy.
Vasily Liashevsky, Bishop of Christians of Evangelical Faith for Samara region: "Today we have declared that if the state ever demands submitting personal information about Christians, we will go into the underground."
Minnakhmet Sagirov, executive secretary of Muslim ecclesiastical board: "We will meet them in court. Let the court decide the degree of legality of their demands."
Archbishop of Samara and Syzransk Sergei: "It is important to maintain order, but not in a way that harms human rights and freedoms."
The time has arrived to call on stage the authors of the controversial instruction. At the Chief Directorate of the Ministry of Justice of Russia for Samara province, the deputy chief, Aleksei Shashkov, commented on the situation: "We are not considering those who attend ceremonies. We are interested in participants. We are not talking about a census of parishioners."
But the federal law on freedom of conscience does
not provide for a distinction between
participants, founders, and members of a religious
organization. So it turns out that interpretation
remains in the hands of bureaucrats and what they
have in mind for their own instructions remains
each time only something to be guessed. (tr. by
PDS) |
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