Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin – No. 290 – Wed 22 Sep 2004

————————————– RUSSIA: RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IS SHRINKING ————————————–

(By Anneta Vyssotskaia)

There is now a growing trend towards a closer connection between the Russian state authorities and the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), even though according to the Constitution religion is separated from the state. This tendency is obviously not explained by a growing faith in Jesus Christ, as on the whole Russia still remains a godless state with most of population not believing in God and considering religion a cultural thing. It springs rather from a desire to see a strong state church supporting the government. Government representatives often participate in different activities of the Russian Orthodox Church and speak publicly in support of it.

Recently, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov criticised the federal government at a meeting of leaders in Kursk region for failing to co-operate with religious organisations over social problems. He sees unity between the state and the Russian Orthodox Church as the solution to problems like drug addiction. He said, ‘Together we are power, together we will win.’ Promoting Russian Orthodox culture as the basic one for the country was another reason for the state to focus on its relationships with the church. Luzhkov said, ‘It becomes very important and concerns the issue whether we remain the original Russia or the processes of globalisation will overflow us and make us to be the same as the rest of the world.’

Similar support for the Russian Orthodox Church can be seen in education. Many more state schools are including Basics of Orthodox Culture in their curriculum. Although taking this subject is supposed to have the consent of the students and their parents, that requirement is mostly not even discussed. More universities are preparing ‘theologians’ and ‘religion specialists’, with an emphasis on Russian Orthodox history and doctrine. Often Russian Orthodox priests are teaching these students who will graduate to work in schools and government offices as specialists in religious issues. This leads to prejudicing them towards other Christians like Protestants or Catholics.

In official reports and the mass media – even in universities – only Lutherans, Reformers and Anglicans tend to be regarded as Protestants, and others like Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostals and Presbyterians are labelled as sects. But sometimes the religion specialists and state officials can be so prejudiced that they publicly call even Catholics and Lutherans ‘foreign sects’. (Three other so-called ‘traditional’ religions – Islam, Judaism and Buddhism – are recognised, but mostly within specified regions.)

In some regions of Russia, restrictions on missionary and evangelistic activities have been observed this year. This is of great concern because in Russian history non-Orthodox Christians were in most cases severely persecuted when the state supported the Russian Orthodox Church. During Communist times all believers were persecuted, but now it seems with the Russian Orthodox Church once again becoming the only one officially recognised, non-Orthodox Christians are being restricted and may face real persecution in the near future.

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY FOR:

* the Russian government to stop trying to use the Russian Orthodox Church as a political tool and that the equal rights of all believers and religious organisations will be observed.

* spiritual revival in Russia and especially that all church members may have a deep spiritual hunger to know God and his word and live by it.

* the growth of unity, acceptance and true Christian love amongst all the Russian Christian churches.

* true information in the mass media about Protestant churches and positive changes in the public’s attitude to them.

* continuing freedom to share the Gospel and for a good response to it.

~~~~

SUMMARY TO USE IN BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE:

————————————————————

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM SHRINKING IN RUSSIA

Because the Russian government wants the support of a strong ‘state’ church, closer links are growing between state authorities and the Russian Orthodox Church, even though the Constitution separates religion from the state. Recently, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov promoted Russian Orthodox culture as the basic solution to preserving the ‘original Russia’ in the face of globalisation that would ‘make [Russia] the same as the rest of the world’. State schools are teaching Basics of Orthodox Culture, and university courses for ‘religion specialists’ emphasise Russian Orthodox history and doctrine. In Russian history, non-Orthodox Christians were usually severely persecuted when the state supported the Russian Orthodox Church. With that church once again becoming the only one officially recognised, non-Orthodox Christians are being restricted in their outreach and may soon face real persecution.

——————-

Anneta Vyssotskaia is a guest writer for RLP. Elizabeth Kendal, our regular researcher and writer, is on sick leave, recovering (well) from surgery.

Related Articles:

• SUDAN & BURMA: CHRISTIAN REFUGEES IN PERIL
• Pray for the World 6 February 2012
• PRAYER OF A HUMBLE SERVANT
• Prayers for Help in Times of Trouble
• Pray for the World (January 31, 2012)

This work, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Australia License.