Friday, April 30, 2010
USCIRF Report 2010
The United States Commission of International Religious Freedom has included in its Annual Report the cases of persecution against True Orthodox Christians in Russia, including the church of St. Elizabeth.
We should like to remind our readers that USCIRF was one of the addresses of our Petition, which was sent to its Chair - Mr. Leonard Leo. Whether it was through the Petition that the USCIRF was informed about the details of harassment of St. Elizabeth's church of not, is really besides the point. The important thing is that the case of persecution of ROAC and of its community in St. Petersburg, was specifically mentioned in this year's report.
Excerpt:
"Another case involved properties of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church (ROAC),
which is not affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate, in the town of Suzdal. In February 2009, a regional
court ordered that 11 of the ROAC’s historic churches must be returned to the state; one year later, three
more churches in the Suzdal region were removed. Reportedly, the ROAC may be forced out of its Saint
Petersburg church (i.e. St.Elizabeth's, Ed.)."
http://www.uscirf.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2260
Sunday, April 18, 2010
"Oppression of 'alternative' Orthodoxy" is part of "authoritarian drive" of Patriarch Kirill
Window on Eurasia: Having Moved Against Church Liberals, Patriarch Kirill Now Moves Against Conservatives
Paul Goble
Vienna, April 14 – Having moved against a web site that was frequently critical of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill has now moved against another that has been slavishly loyal to it, the latest indication that the church leader wants to build a power vertical on the Kremlin model, gathering all power into his hands while avoiding any responsibility.
Vienna, April 14 – Having moved against a web site that was frequently critical of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill has now moved against another that has been slavishly loyal to it, the latest indication that the church leader wants to build a power vertical on the Kremlin model, gathering all power into his hands while avoiding any responsibility.
In an article posted on AN-SPB.ru yesterday, Dmitry Savvin who writes frequently about religious affairs, says that these two events, instead of being contradictory as many may assume, are in fact part of an internally consistent effort, albeit one that will do little to help the cause of Orthodox Christianity in Russia (www.apn-spb.ru/publications/article7170.htm).
Widespread hopes among Russian believers that “the new course of new Patriarch Kirill would bring something different in the sphere of church-state relations still have not proved out. On the contrary,” Savvin says, church and society “continue to receive signals that everything not only will remain as it was but moreover that the screws will be even further tightened.”
Evidence of that has been provided not only by Kirill’s moves last month to shut down or at least curtail Portal-Credo.ru which has been critical of his policies but also and even more by his latest moves against “Russkaya liniya,” a portal that has positioned itself as totally supportive of church conservatives and the power of the Patriarchate.
While to many Kirill’s moves against the latter loyalist site must seem entirely “unexpected,” the Russian commentator argues, they in fact are completely “logical,” the result of the entire course the patriarch has pursued since he assumed that position a little more than a year ago.
As he has written before, Savvin points out that Kirill had a choice when he was elevated. On the one hand, and from “the Orthodox Christian point of view,” the better one would have been to “distance himself from the current regime” which becoming ever more totalitarian and thus heading toward collapse.
Or on the other, Kirill could choose as he has to “fuse [the Church] ever closer and more tightly with the current ‘power vertical’ and though this guarantee the strengthening of [the hierarchy’s] own position.” In the short term, Savvin acknowledges, this was “the simpler” choice, but in the longer run, he insists, it is “the most likely” to lead to disaster.
Such a choice permits “the current church leadership” to avoid “all possible unpleasantness at the present moment.” It “guarantees [Orthodoxy] the semi-official status of the first confession in the state, and so on and so forth.” But Savvin argues,” the regime is doomed; when it collapses, the Moscow Patriarchate will be viewed as one of [its] chief collaborators.”
Not only will the church lose financially, but “the saddest thing” will be that “such a course of events will inevitably lead to the alienation of a very significant part of society from Orthodoxy (and not only from the Moscow Patriarchate). And that in turn very possibly will bury all hopes for a genuine Orthodox rebirth in Russia.”
Tragically, Savvin continues, “it is becoming ever more evident that [Kirill and the Moscow Patriarchate] are taking the second path.” And just as the powers that be in the civil regime are relying ever more heavily on force to maintain their position, so too are the religious ones.
Savvin offers several additional examples of this authoritarian drive, including new attacks on “the right opposition” among the clergy, increased state oppression of “alternative” Orthodoxy and in particular of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church, and the introduction of church censorship.
He devotes particular attention to censorship. While the mechanisms for that were put in place long ago, they were not consistently employed. Now, the Publishing Council of the patriarchate has been given responsibility for this, and Savvin says that there are three reasons for real concern.
First, the council will not make public the findings of expert reviewers, thus opening the way for abuse. Second, the reviewers themselves will remain anonymous, another possibility for manipulation. And third, the council’s first decisions are disturbing, with the works of Father Kucher found to be “extremist” while those of Archpriest Kurayev are recommended.
In short and in ways that suggest “the synchronization” of the regime’s power vertical and one in the Church, Kirill and his supporters are clearly seeking to “concentrate in their hands all power by depriving the laity and the ‘lesser clergy’ of all rights and thus to avoid any responsibility” to the latter.
They may succeed for a time, Savvin suggests. After all, attacking first the left and then the right has often helped leaders rise in Russian and Soviet history. But this approach, which might be acceptable among political figures, cannot be acceptable when it is adopted by church leaders. And they will ultimately pay a price for it.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Excerpts from the Interview of Bishop Gregory (Lourie) on Radio Liberty.
March 27, 2010.
RL: I ask bishop Gregory to tell us about the history of his parish, and about causes of current attacks against him by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
BG: I would say that while there is indeed an attack, it is not an attack from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It is coming from, well, I don't *know* exactly from who, but it's coming from those people who organized that smear campaign in the media. As for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, they are currently doing their routine job, and are not interfering with the life of our parish.
Now, a brief introduction to the history of our parish. It started in 1997, when our parish, with a newly-built church, left the Moscow Patriarchate. After that, in the same year 1997, a tragedy happened, when our rector was murdered, and I, as a second person after him in the parish, became the first. After some time, in 1999, I was ordained a priest by the Metropolitan Valentine of Suzdal, and since then our church became a part of Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church (ROAC), to which it belongs to this day. This church is an officially registered religious organization in Russian Federation. And our parish is a local religious organization within ROAC, and we also have the official registration.
We serve on the same grounds, as far as outside observers are concerned, as any church in Moscow Patriarchate. But there is a sign on the doors of our church, which says which jurisdiction we belong to, so there is no "anonymity" here. Not to mention that if someone takes Communion in our church, he takes Communion only in our Church, and not in Moscow Patriarchate. This is the matter of choice for a believer. That sums up the history of our parish.
Further circumstances led to my ordination as Bishop of Petrograd and Gdov in 2008. It's the same title as the one held by the last Metropolitan who we consider to be canonical, Metropolitan Joseph of Petrograd, who was executed in 1937. He is revered as a holy Martyr in our Church, but not in Moscow Patriarchate.
And now about our current problems. There are multiple levels here, but to speak in general, right now in our country there are changes in the political system with regards to religious affairs. We all see that Moscow Patriarchate, the Russian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate, is becoming a quasi-state structure. Of course, it can not become one de jure, but de facto this is what is happening. And, naturally, different officials and representatives of the state have started to treat the interests of Moscow Patriarchate as, more or less, interests of the state. And they organize their own workings accordingly. This is what our story is connected with.
I should like to emphasize two levels in this story. On the first level are these actual criminal cases which were opened, certain charges made against us, and the work of "E" Department, that created a base for those charges. And then there is a higher second level, this campaign in the media, unprecedented by its scale. TV shows alone numbered a dozen, including main state channels, I just can't remember when anything like that has ever happened before in connection to religious issues...
RL: Your Eminence, what is this "E" Department?
BG: It is a special department within the Ministry of Internal Affairs, created recently for the purpose of combating extremism. It has its own structure, which is the same in all the regions of the country. And that structure includes a wing for combating religious extremism. There are also other wings for other kinds of extremism. But we can't really say the religious extremism is the same in all the regions of the country, can we? We might say that in Russia today combating religious extremism would largely amount to catching Islamic militants. But what to do in St. Petersburg, where there aren't many Islamic militants? Not to mention that Federal Security Bureau is also actively catching them (i.e. Islamic militants).
RL: (Regarding the accusations about funeral services in the nearby morgue, which were made by priests not of Moscow Patriarchate)
BG: Indeed, in Petersburg there is this established practice of performing funeral services in morgues. But in that morgue near our church, as a rule, funeral services were performed by a priest from Moscow Patriarchate. And only in rare cases, only occasionally, they were performed by our priest. But contrary to what "E" Department stated, we never claimed to be priests from Moscow Patriarchate. What is true is that there is a sign on the wall that funeral services in this morgue started with a blessing of Metropolitan John. It hang there ever since that blessing was given. But that services in the morgue are performed specifically by Moscow Patriarchate priests, or that the morgue chapel belongs to Moscow Patriarchate - none of that is true, and it can't possibly be true, because that chapel is, quite literally, a property of the morgue. So when people come, and they want an Orthodox funeral service for their relative, they typically mean an Orthodox service, not a Moscow Patriarchate presence. Putting a question like that is substituting the question of Orthodoxy with a question of being under the jurisdiction of Moscow Patriarchate.
Today Moscow Patriarchate tries to claim that it "issues" some kind of a "certificate" of Orthodoxy. And without it you find yourself in some kind of a non-certified high seas of fraudulent pseudo-orthodoxy. But we have same legal rights for performing the same services.
RL: (Regarding the murder of Father Alexander Zharkov, as it is presented in the "Moskoski' Komsomolets" article)
BG: This time all the facts were presented correctly, which is not always the case. The investigation still continues. And from my recent conversations with officers from Ministry of Internal Affairs - not those who chase virtual extremists, but those who actually catch murderers - I can conclude that they still have hope to solve the case.
Of course, we have some hypotheses. And this case will not be closed due to the time limitation. But at this point, the case is not solved.
And the reasons here are not, of course, that someone could get killed for transferring to ROCOR (Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia). The thing is that Father Alexander didn't just transfer to ROCOR, but he had done it in such a way that the church building didn't stay with Moscow Patriarchate, where it never belonged legally anyway.
And when it became clear that Moscow Patriarchate, without Father Alexander, the new rector (who was assigned to the church) could not perform the services in the parish, the church was closed by the construction company, who were owners of the building at the time. And legally, nothing could be done with that decision, they tried to appeal against it, and learned that nothing would come out of it. And shortly after, Father Alexander was killed. Now, if we look at the case from purely legal point of view, we have nothing but questions marks, and I really can't say anything else. But, of course, I have my own hypotheses about what actually happened.
RL: Is this year's Pascha any different for you compared with previous years? How are you encouraging yourself and your parishioners?
BG: For me it's not at all different from previous years. All these years we knew that attack on our church will come. We never imagined that there will be a guarantee, that we will live to next Pascha in our church. And I have never had even the slightest doubt that such a situation will come, with criminal charges against me - such are the unwritten rules of these games. So now, when the story reached a more or less determined phase, I even feel some relief.
RL: I ask bishop Gregory to tell us about the history of his parish, and about causes of current attacks against him by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
BG: I would say that while there is indeed an attack, it is not an attack from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It is coming from, well, I don't *know* exactly from who, but it's coming from those people who organized that smear campaign in the media. As for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, they are currently doing their routine job, and are not interfering with the life of our parish.
Now, a brief introduction to the history of our parish. It started in 1997, when our parish, with a newly-built church, left the Moscow Patriarchate. After that, in the same year 1997, a tragedy happened, when our rector was murdered, and I, as a second person after him in the parish, became the first. After some time, in 1999, I was ordained a priest by the Metropolitan Valentine of Suzdal, and since then our church became a part of Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church (ROAC), to which it belongs to this day. This church is an officially registered religious organization in Russian Federation. And our parish is a local religious organization within ROAC, and we also have the official registration.
We serve on the same grounds, as far as outside observers are concerned, as any church in Moscow Patriarchate. But there is a sign on the doors of our church, which says which jurisdiction we belong to, so there is no "anonymity" here. Not to mention that if someone takes Communion in our church, he takes Communion only in our Church, and not in Moscow Patriarchate. This is the matter of choice for a believer. That sums up the history of our parish.
Further circumstances led to my ordination as Bishop of Petrograd and Gdov in 2008. It's the same title as the one held by the last Metropolitan who we consider to be canonical, Metropolitan Joseph of Petrograd, who was executed in 1937. He is revered as a holy Martyr in our Church, but not in Moscow Patriarchate.
And now about our current problems. There are multiple levels here, but to speak in general, right now in our country there are changes in the political system with regards to religious affairs. We all see that Moscow Patriarchate, the Russian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate, is becoming a quasi-state structure. Of course, it can not become one de jure, but de facto this is what is happening. And, naturally, different officials and representatives of the state have started to treat the interests of Moscow Patriarchate as, more or less, interests of the state. And they organize their own workings accordingly. This is what our story is connected with.
I should like to emphasize two levels in this story. On the first level are these actual criminal cases which were opened, certain charges made against us, and the work of "E" Department, that created a base for those charges. And then there is a higher second level, this campaign in the media, unprecedented by its scale. TV shows alone numbered a dozen, including main state channels, I just can't remember when anything like that has ever happened before in connection to religious issues...
RL: Your Eminence, what is this "E" Department?
BG: It is a special department within the Ministry of Internal Affairs, created recently for the purpose of combating extremism. It has its own structure, which is the same in all the regions of the country. And that structure includes a wing for combating religious extremism. There are also other wings for other kinds of extremism. But we can't really say the religious extremism is the same in all the regions of the country, can we? We might say that in Russia today combating religious extremism would largely amount to catching Islamic militants. But what to do in St. Petersburg, where there aren't many Islamic militants? Not to mention that Federal Security Bureau is also actively catching them (i.e. Islamic militants).
RL: (Regarding the accusations about funeral services in the nearby morgue, which were made by priests not of Moscow Patriarchate)
BG: Indeed, in Petersburg there is this established practice of performing funeral services in morgues. But in that morgue near our church, as a rule, funeral services were performed by a priest from Moscow Patriarchate. And only in rare cases, only occasionally, they were performed by our priest. But contrary to what "E" Department stated, we never claimed to be priests from Moscow Patriarchate. What is true is that there is a sign on the wall that funeral services in this morgue started with a blessing of Metropolitan John. It hang there ever since that blessing was given. But that services in the morgue are performed specifically by Moscow Patriarchate priests, or that the morgue chapel belongs to Moscow Patriarchate - none of that is true, and it can't possibly be true, because that chapel is, quite literally, a property of the morgue. So when people come, and they want an Orthodox funeral service for their relative, they typically mean an Orthodox service, not a Moscow Patriarchate presence. Putting a question like that is substituting the question of Orthodoxy with a question of being under the jurisdiction of Moscow Patriarchate.
Today Moscow Patriarchate tries to claim that it "issues" some kind of a "certificate" of Orthodoxy. And without it you find yourself in some kind of a non-certified high seas of fraudulent pseudo-orthodoxy. But we have same legal rights for performing the same services.
RL: (Regarding the murder of Father Alexander Zharkov, as it is presented in the "Moskoski' Komsomolets" article)
BG: This time all the facts were presented correctly, which is not always the case. The investigation still continues. And from my recent conversations with officers from Ministry of Internal Affairs - not those who chase virtual extremists, but those who actually catch murderers - I can conclude that they still have hope to solve the case.
Of course, we have some hypotheses. And this case will not be closed due to the time limitation. But at this point, the case is not solved.
And the reasons here are not, of course, that someone could get killed for transferring to ROCOR (Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia). The thing is that Father Alexander didn't just transfer to ROCOR, but he had done it in such a way that the church building didn't stay with Moscow Patriarchate, where it never belonged legally anyway.
And when it became clear that Moscow Patriarchate, without Father Alexander, the new rector (who was assigned to the church) could not perform the services in the parish, the church was closed by the construction company, who were owners of the building at the time. And legally, nothing could be done with that decision, they tried to appeal against it, and learned that nothing would come out of it. And shortly after, Father Alexander was killed. Now, if we look at the case from purely legal point of view, we have nothing but questions marks, and I really can't say anything else. But, of course, I have my own hypotheses about what actually happened.
RL: Is this year's Pascha any different for you compared with previous years? How are you encouraging yourself and your parishioners?
BG: For me it's not at all different from previous years. All these years we knew that attack on our church will come. We never imagined that there will be a guarantee, that we will live to next Pascha in our church. And I have never had even the slightest doubt that such a situation will come, with criminal charges against me - such are the unwritten rules of these games. So now, when the story reached a more or less determined phase, I even feel some relief.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Mother Xenia's Interview on Radio Liberty
WATCH OUT FOR YOUR RELICS
Felix Shedkovsky, March 19, 2010.
Amidst aggressive attacks in printed and electronic media, charges of fraud were filed against priests of St. Elizabeth's Orthodox parish, under the jurisdiction of Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church (ROAC).
In the center of the scandal which the church of St. Elizabeth found itself in, stands ROAC Bishop of Petrograd and Gdov Gregory (Lourie). Nearly eight identical reports appeared on March 16 and 17 on five Russian television channels. These reports were discussed in great detail on Portal-Credo.ru - a website that on April 1st loses its funding, because of the pressure on its supporters (some of whom are members of ROAC) from the side of the Moscow Patriarchate. These reports were followed by two more on March 17. Federal channel NTV made its report at prime-time, at 19:10, during the news show “Today” (repeated at 23:21). Another, “Channel 5”, which also recently had become federal, aired a report at 19:19, titled “Gang of mummers”. NTV journalist Ilya Fedosov made his report from the street next to the St. Elizabeth's Hospital morgue chapel, where a search was actually done by the police, but did not enter the chapel, nor the nearby church of St. Elizabeth, actually using the police footage, and only revealing this with the words “police footage” written briefly on the screen, at the very end of the report.
The Parish Secretary of St. Elizabeth's church, nun Xenia, gave an interview to Radio Liberty.
RL: What do you think is the goal of this campaign?
NX: The takeover of the church building. Our church, ROAC, is not a part of the official Russian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate (ROC MP). Recently in Suzdal, 10 church buildings were taken from ROAC by ROC MP. Also there is an active process of “sweeping up” in the Vladimir Region, where they are trying to take several more. And now it is our turn. The trend is quite obvious. All these church buildings are given to MP. So far we are being questioned only as witnesses in the case of fraud. No one is arrested, but its a typical police practice, to engage future victims as witnesses at first. It's a rather curious point - Department “E” of Main Department of Internal Affairs, whose task is to fight extremism, has all of a sudden “found” a group of fraudsters.
RL: This fraud your parish priests are accused of... Reportedly, some of your priests were claiming to be priests from ROC MP for services held at the chapel, which is affiliated with the morgue of the nearby St. Elizabeth Hospital. Is that possible? Are they next to each other, and the church belongs to ROAC, while the chapel belongs to MP?
NX: The chapel (of the morgue. ed.) is located on the Hospital grounds, and does not belong to any jurisdiction, but almost all the ceremonies there are mostly performed by MP clerics. Sometimes, although rarely, people from other jurisdictions, not just ours, perform rituals there. As for our church, the building is close to the Hospital, but outside its territory, and so when they did a search in there as well, we were told that they suspected that our church is somehow linked to the chapel. But criminal charges are filed in connection with the chapel.
RL: The second part of the fraud case is the question of fake relics.
NX: Yes, they have, allegedly, discovered fake relics in the church. Of course, it is very interesting, that our police now is also an expert in establishing the “authenticity” of relics of the Saints. The official website for Main Department of Internal Affairs has this humorous line posted: “We wonder where did those poor souls go,after having had their memorials services performed by fraudsters”. Imagine that, what pious matters our police is now concerned with! Police, anti-extremist units ( they should add firefighters as well!) - all wondering: "where did those poor souls go?"
RL: TV reports showed that entrance sign, the one on the morgue chapel, where it is written that it belongs to Moscow Patriarchate. And they claimed your church used that sign to lure simpleminded people in you church.
NX: Well, first of all, there were no signs on the chapel. There used to be a sign, then it fell off the wall, and it was lying there somewhere in the corner, so that's what they found during the search. But we have nothing to do with that sign. In any case, that chapel is where MP clerics are performing their rituals, so the sign is quite truthful in that regard. And what it literally says, is that services in the chapel are performed with the blessing of Metropolitan John of St. Petersburg and Ladoga. He did bless the chapel long ago . He died in 1995.
RL: To prove that the sign is a part of the fraud, reporters say that it has a wrong name, not the name of the current metropolitan.
NX: Well of course, it's just a historical sign. It has the name of the Metropolitan who blessed the chapel. It is true that now there's a different metropolitan, since the previous one is long dead. So even if that sign was hanging there, there would be nothing wrong with it.
RL: And what does the entrance sign of your church say?
NX: “The Church of St. Elizabeth, Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church”. When they were conducting the search, they asked me what this meant. I explained that our parish is officially registered, that we are not just some random people or fraudsters, and that our official registry entry says “Church of St. Elizabeth under jurisdiction of ROAC”. The parish is properly registered. The church is still under construction. I will repeat once more – the goal of ROC MP is to take away our church.
RL: And were you present when TV reporters came with cameras?
NX: There were no TV crews with cameras – video shown on TV was just police footage. Here are two more interesting details. In order to make the search of the church, the police came with officials from Department “E” (Anti-Extremist Unit, Ministry of Internal Affairs) which does not file charges. All they do is gather evidence. So Department “E” folks brought all the detectives and officers from the regular police - the people who actually opened the case - and were ordering them around. And the chief of the “E” unit was very annoyed that TV reporters did show up. You see, they had planned on publicizing their operation and for the sake making the picture more dramatic, they even brought a Special Forces squad, who were all lined up outside, with their backs to the church. And alas, despite all their efforts, the images of their operation did not make it to the TV screens.
RL: What about (police) detectives and officers, did they act professionally?
NX: Yes, no complaints about them. The “E” unit people tried to provoke them to make more fuss, but they were very professional, did not do anything wrong, no violations. And here is a second interesting detail. One of these “E” officers was walking around in the church with his hat on, and when he was told that it is not proper for a man to be in the church with his head covered, he replied: "Your" church is not a church, so here it is allowed”. Department “E” is infamous. Instead of fighting against extremism, it has been frequently used for doing such dirty jobs.
RL: So, at this point, none of your clerics are arrested, they are just witnesses. But has anybody been actually charged?
NX: No, we are all witnesses in the case of fraud, which was allegedly carried out by unidentified perpetrators.
RL: On TV they said that “fraudsters” took very big payments for funeral services. It was meant to be a proof of their connection to your church, because, allegedly, MP churches all take just 50 roubles for that, while in your church the price is a 1000.
NX: No, nowhere is the price as low as 50 roubles. I don't know exact prices, but they are more or less the same in all the churches. Now, in the morgue chapel, where MP clerics were performing their services, prices could be different. It is typical for all morgues, that their services there are significantly more expensive.
RL: But is there a difference in what your church charges, compared to prices in that chapel?
NX: Yes, our church has higher prices for candles, conmemoration, it just happened to be this way, historically. On the other hand, baptisms, weddings and funeral services in our church are all free. At any rate, we did not receive any accusations concerning our church yet, except for that ridiculous one, about the fake relics. But we have to wait - accusations will come. They documented all the relics, and claimed they were fake. They asked us if we have “certificates” that our relics are true. We told them to go to any church out there and ask about the certificates. As for our church our church... well, if they really want to, they will take it from us, with or without the relics, even if everything is perfectly registered and documented. There is always something to quibble about. So far, detectives did not mention the church itself, but the scenario is likely to follow the events of Suzdal. They will open criminal cases and will wait to see if we will give up. I don not know how it will happen. We shall see. It looks like the orders came from someone very high up.
Source: http://www.svobodanews.ru/articleprintview/1988639.html
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