Moldova: New Religion Bill Worries; Ukraine: Pentecostal Church Closed

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Moldova: New Religion Bill Worries; Ukraine: Pentecostal Church Closed

By Rowland Croucher and others ⋅ January 5, 2003 ⋅ Post a comment

church closed

KESTON INSTITUTE, OXFORD, UK ______________________________________

KESTON NEWS SERVICE, 20.00, 18 December 2002. Reporting on violations of religious liberty and on religion in communist and post-communist lands. ______________________________________

I. MOLDOVA: RELIGIOUS MINORITIES WORRIED BY DRAFT RELIGION BILL Members of a number of religious minorities have complained about the new draft religion law that was circulated to registered religious communities last week ahead of its finalisation and presentation to parliament, which some expect before the end of December. “I think it is very bad and most of the religious organisations which were recognised by the independent country of Moldova since 1992 are shocked by this religion bill,” Bishop Victor Pavlovski of the Pentecostal Union told Keston. Valeriu Ghiletchi, head of the Baptist Union, was equally unhappy about the draft law. “I believe it is directed at new religious groups that have come into Moldova since independence,” he told Keston. “It is also directed at increasing state control over all religious activity.”

II. UKRAINE: COURT ORDERS CLOSURE OF PENTECOSTAL CHURCH A Pentecostal Church in the southern town of Kherson was ordered closed by a local court for conducting public services without prior consent from the municipal authorities. The Church of Christ, which is led by Pastor Pavel Kudashev, was ordered to halt its activity by the court of the town’s Suvorov district on 10 December, the religious news website RISU.org.ua reported, citing the All-Ukrainian Centre of Religious Security and Assistance to Victims of Destructive Sects. The court ruling declared that the public events organised by the church “were repeatedly held in June and July 2002 without permission from and agreement with the local authorities”. Ukrainian law requires such permission for public religious events.

I. MOLDOVA: RELIGIOUS MINORITIES WORRIED BY DRAFT RELIGION BILL

by Felix Corley, Keston News Service

Members of a number of religious minorities have complained about the new draft religion law that was circulated to registered religious communities last week ahead of its finalisation and presentation to parliament, which some expect before the end of December. “I think it is very bad and most of the religious organisations which were recognised by the independent country of Moldova since 1992 are shocked by this religion bill,” Bishop Victor Pavlovski of the Pentecostal Union told Keston News Service from the Moldovan capital Chisinau on 18 December. Valeriu Ghiletchi, head of the Baptist Union, was equally unhappy about the draft law. “I believe it is directed at new religious groups that have come into Moldova since independence,” he told Keston from Chisinau the same day. “It is also directed at increasing state control over all religious activity.”

“The draft law is far from democratic principles and is directed at destabilizing the structures of the religious groups recognised by the state,” the Pentecostal Union declared in its response to the State Service for the Affairs of Cults. “It clearly envisages priority for the activity of the Orthodox Church.”

Ilia Lyakhu, head of the Adventist Church in Moldova, was more restrained. “We don’t agree with several points in this draft law,” he told Keston on 18 December. Bishop Anton Cosa, head of the Catholic Church in the country, believed the text was “positive in general”, although he too had a series of concerns over registration procedures. “Although we Catholics don’t see many points that could obstruct our work, one can find points that won’t be good for other religious communities.”

The draft was initially drawn up by the Justice Ministry, but was handed on to a special commission within the State Service for the Affairs of Cults (as religious communities are known in Moldova). The State Service, which is headed by Sergei Yatsko, handed the draft to religious communities last week, asking for their comments by 19 December. Keston tried to reach Yatsko on 18 December, but he was unavailable.

The draft law lays down three levels of religious organisation, only the higher two of which can gain legal status. Communities of at least 15 adult citizens, a “religious group”, can meet and spread their faith, but are ineligible to apply for registration. A “religious organisation” must have at least 50 adult citizen members to be able to register and must have existed for 25 years or be part of a registered centralised religious organisation. At the highest level, a centralised religious organisation must have existed for 25 years and have at least 25 member congregations. All religious communities must undergo compulsory re-registration by 31 December 2003. The draft law does not outlaw unregistered religious activity. Foreign citizens coming to work in Moldova at the invitation of a registered religious community will – if the draft law is adopted – also require permission from the State Service before they enter the country.

The Pentecostal Union declared that congregations of between 15 and 49 adult citizens “will be deprived of legal protection” and that their rights will therefore be harmed. The Baptist Union objected to the increase in the threshold for registering an individual religious community, fearing it will make it difficult for smaller churches. It also was unhappy that the state would check up each year that every congregation had not fallen below the 50-member threshold. “This is in effect annual re- registration,” Ghiletchi told Keston.

The Baptist Union – which has some 520 congregations – also questioned the requirement for a religious association to have existed and been legally registered for 25 years and to have 25 member congregations. “There is no foundation for this at all,” he complained. “It will not be a problem for the Baptist Union, but it will be for others.” Such concerns were echoed by the Pentecostal Union.

Ghiletchi said the phrasing of the final provisions – which some interpret as meaning that groups which already have registered status will not lose it in the compulsory re-registration – remains unclear. He said that if re-registration under the new norms is required, groups such as the Catholics will lose their status as a religious association. However, Bishop Cosa believed the final provisions meant that the Catholic Church – which has one diocese with eleven parishes – will retain its registration as an association even though it does not meet the new criteria.

Both the Pentecostal and the Baptist Unions objected to the new permission from the State Service required to invite foreigners to Moldova or to send Moldovan citizens abroad for religious work. The Pentecostal Union pointed out that other laws cover foreigners’ rights and responsibilities in Moldova. “No other extra conditions are needed.”

At a press conference in Chisinau on 16 December, representatives of the Bessarabian Metropolitan Church (which is under the jurisdiction of the Romanian Orthodox Patriarchate and which only gained legal status this summer under Council of Europe pressure – see KNS 31 July 2002) criticised the new draft law. Christian Democratic parliamentary deputy Vlad Cubreacov, who is on the Church’s Council, told journalists that the draft law clearly favoured the Moldovan Orthodox Church under Moscow. “There is no logic,” he declared. “Moldova itself was founded as a state 11 years ago, so how do they expect us to demonstrate that our organisation is at least 25 years old?” (END)

II. UKRAINE: COURT ORDERS CLOSURE OF PENTECOSTAL CHURCH

by Felix Corley, Keston News Service

A Pentecostal Church in the southern town of Kherson was ordered closed by a local court for conducting public services without prior consent from the municipal authorities. The Church of Christ, which is led by Pastor Pavel Kudashev, was ordered to halt its activity by the court of the town’s Suvorov district on 10 December, the religious news website RISU.org.ua reported, citing the All-Ukrainian Centre of Religious Security and Assistance to Victims of Destructive Sects. The court ruling declared that the public events organised by the church “were repeatedly held in June and July 2002 without permission from and agreement with the local authorities”. Ukrainian law requires such permission for public religious events.

Keston News Service has learnt that a criminal case has also been lodged against the church. The procurator’s office of the Suvorov district told Keston from Kherson on 18 December that it had not lodged any case. Irina Fokina, assistant to the Kherson regional procurator, refused to tell Keston if her office had lodged the case, but implied that it had. “We give no information on forthcoming legal cases by telephone,” she told Keston on 18 December.

The case against the church was lodged by the Kherson regional administration. At the 10 December hearing, the chief psychiatrist of the Department of Health at the regional administration and other witnesses testified that the church’s religious rituals caused some members of the community “psychological disorders” and damaged their health.

Keston tried to reach Aleksei Kholodnikh and Katerina Grigina of the religious affairs department of Kherson region on 18 December, but their telephones went unanswered.

Keston was also unable to reach Pastor Kudashev on 18 December. His church is not a member of any of the Pentecostal Unions in Ukraine. Members of other Protestant churches in the town contacted by Keston – who were familiar with the court-ordered closure – expressed unhappiness at some of the church’s teaching, but were reluctant to specify their concerns. “Their teaching is not healthy and some people do suffer,” one Protestant declared. (END)

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