_WORLD WATCH______________________________
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Russia
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New signals of papal visit
Putin seen putting pressure on Orthodox Church
Russian President Vladimir Putin has told a Polish daily that the Catholic Church should pursue ecumenical dialogue with the Russian Orthodox Church carefully, laying the proper groundwork before planning a visit by Pope John Paul II to Moscow.
The Russian leader told Gazeta Wyborcza that relations between the Russian government and the Holy See are cordial, and there would be “no problem” with a papal visit from the government’s perspective. However, he said, such a visit would be productive only if there is “a stabilization of relations with the Russian Orthodox Church—and that doesn’t depend on me.” Putin said that “this is a situation in which there should be less talk and more action, always with an emphasis on tact and patience.”
The Russian Orthodox Patriarch Aleksei II responded to Putin’s statement with his own, saying that he hopes to have Pope John Paul II visit Moscow soon. In a January 29 statement, Patriarch Aleksei said that he hoped that the February visit to Moscow by Cardinal Walter Kasper could help “substantially” to improve relations between the world’s two largest Christian churches. The Patriarch’s statement came well before the Vatican’s establishment of four Catholic dioceses in Russia: a move that drew an angry outcry from the Moscow Patriarchate. [See story, page 22.]
In recent months, Patriarch Aleksei has frequently issued public statements suggesting that he hopes the Pope will visit Moscow. These statements have generally been followed by other, tougher pronouncements demanding Catholic concessions in response to complaints from the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Patriarch’s public statement came at a time when the Russian media were producing stories about tensions between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Putin administration. Putin is reportedly putting heavy pressure on the Orthodox leadership to allow a visit by Pope John Paul.
Along with Alexei’s statement, the Patriarchate also issued a summary of the discussion that took place when Pope John Paul II met with two Russian Orthodox bishops on January 25, after the inter-religious day of prayer at Assisi. According to that account, the Pontiff indicated that he hoped to travel to Moscow, and that on his visit he would return the prized icon, Our Lady of Kazan, to the Orthodox Church.
During that audience, the Orthodox Bishop Hilarion reportedly complained about the “inadequate” Catholic response to Orthodox complaints about Catholic “proselytizing” in Russia, and the activities of the Eastern-rite Ukrainian Catholic Church—the two familiar complaints that have been advanced by Russian Orthodox spokesmen for several years.
The icon of Our Lady of Kazan was painted in the 13th century, and was brought to Moscow in 1612 when the Russian people were praying for deliverance from Polish invaders. Soon after the icon arrived in Moscow, the Polish forces were driven out. The icon was later moved to St. Petersburg, and was sold to a private trader. After passing through several owners, the icon was finally recovered by Pope John Paul II in 1991, when he discovered it in a Byzantine church in Portugal. (There are some historians who question whether the icon now lodged in the papal apartments is the original icon of Kazan.)
Deferments for seminarians
Orthodox Church applauds policy; others cautious
Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a presidential decree authorizing
the deferment of military conscription for young clerics and seminary students.
Military service is compulsory for all able-bodied young men in Russia, although deferment may be granted on grounds of health, family circumstances, or full-time higher education. The new decree for the first time specifically extends the right of deferment to the clergy.
The Russian Orthodox Church hailed the decree as “reasonable, timely . . . and above all in the interests of society.” However, the Church’s leaders would like to take the issue further. There is a huge shortage of Orthodox priests in Russia, and the Church leadership had felt it a waste that young clerics are drafted to serve as ordinary soldiers. The Church would like to revive the practice of the pre-Communist era, and allow the clerical draftees to serve as military chaplains.
Opponents of the idea of Orthodox military chaplains argue that this would put conscripts of other faiths at a disadvantage. However, Orthodox Church officials argue that 80 percent of all Russian citizens belong to the “Orthodox culture”—stopping short of the claim that they practice the Orthodox faith.
New rules for religious groups
At issue: the definition of “traditional”
Early in February, the Russian government unveiled a new law regarding the
treatment of “traditional religious organizations.”
The Keston News Service reported that Aleksandr Chuyev, the vice-chairman of a special committee charged with the creation of new legislation governing religious groups, would introduce the bill to the Duma, or parliament.
The proposed law would define a “traditional religious organization” as one that had been active for 50 years or more on Russian territory—or in a particular geographic location within Russia. Such groups would be recognized as “an inalienable part of the historical, spiritual, cultural heritage” of the Russian people.
Religious groups which achieved such designation would be given opportunities to set up schools, administer charitable programs, and broadcast programs on the electronic media—all with possible subsidies from the government—Keston reported. However, in order to attain that status they would be required to register with government agencies.
Chuyev, the chief architect of the new bill, told Keston that the legislation “would not limit freedom of conscience for anyone.” But Father Igor Kovalevsky, the chancellor of the Moscow Catholic archdiocese, argued that any form of preferential treatment would be “the crudest violation of the constitution.” He told Keston that “all confessions should have the same rights.”
The treatment of Catholic organizations under the new law could cause an unusual legal arrangement. The proposed bill recognizes representatives of “foreign traditional religious organizations,” if those groups are acknowledged by the country in which their headquarters is located. Since the Russian Federation does not have diplomatic relations with the Holy See, the implementation of that provision of the new law could require Moscow to seek certification from the Italian government that the Catholic Church is a traditional religious organization.
The Russian government routinely acknowledges four traditional religions: Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism. The government has been slow to recognize Christian groups other than the Russian Orthodox Church, and the Patriarchate of Moscow has zealously guarded the unique status of the Orthodox Church.