(31 January 1994) RUSSIAN PRESS ON FOREIGN MISSIONS
AND OTHER  RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS:
JANUARY, 1994

PATRIARCH ALEXY ON THE FOREIGN MISSIONS

"Rossiyskaya gazeta" ("Russian gazette") published an interview with Patriarch Alexy on January 6 (Christmas in Russian Orthodox Church is on January 7th). The Patriarch said:

"The period of immense interest to religious problems in Russia is close to an end. Recently thousands of people went to listen to foreign preachers; now people  are becoming more and more skeptical towards them. Our people have a strong feeling of what is good. Missionaries can give presents to listeners costing millions of dollars, but I am sure that people still understand what is the spirit of such "missions", playing on material interests. Only a man with a dirty soul can sell his soul. My compatriots don't go to missionaries who are bribing them, and that is very good...Certainly, our Church today is not as rich as foreign missionaries. The latter can buy  time on television, pay millions of dollars for commercials, speculate with humanitarian help...We have no means and forces. And yet I believe that Russian Orthodoxy will flourish in Russia due to the strength of Christ's Truth."

The Patriarch didn't say a word about the possible prohibition of foreign missionaries. But he said everything which is necessary for Parliament to issue such a prohibition. That the attempts to promote such a prohibition will be made can be seen from the publication of Andrey Kurayev, who says openly what the Patriarchy is thinking.

Andrey Kurayev (a deacon) in "Literaturnaya gazeta" repeats the ideas which he actively defended during last year's discussion of the prohibition of foreign missions. "Now there is no Act with amendments, but the problem remains; and we shall put this problem to the new parliament." He says that the prohibition in its proposed form was very "profitable" for the Russian Baptists, not to the Russian Orthodoxy: "Billy Graham does not just come to Russia, but first he pays the Moscow Baptists, and they will make a campaign for him with this money -- certainly, with some profit for themselves". The moral problems, connected with such "baksheesh" are not mentioned by Kurayev. "Our Protestants suffer themselves from the numerous dissenters from the United States, who sometime ago organized their own sects and now return". Maybe he is speaking about Peter Deyneka or the Salvation Army or Pentecostals or some other American missionaries of Russian origin?

Kurayev states that the campaign against the religious amendments has two goals. Journalists want to show that the rights of man are crushed. Protestants from the West appeal to compatriots asking for more money: "We are persecuted, help us." He writes: "Today it is nice to think about the elementary defense of human rights against too large an interference of some preachers." It is necessary to create a concordat between the Russian Orthodox Church and the state. "We mustn't forget that the equality of all religions before the Law doesn't mean their equality before the history and culture of Russia."

The chauvinistic newspaper "Russky Vestnik" ("Russian Messenger") reported on the press-conference of Metropolitan of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas Nicolay (No 50-52, December 1993, p. 9). The Metropolitan "expressed great anxiety because Nizhny had become the arena of an attack on Protestant priests (sic! not "pastors"!!). "All the streets of the ancient Russian Orthodox town are covered by the bright announcements of foreign preachers, who pretend to have some exclusive knowledge of God's word. They receive the best halls, because they pay with dollars."

Avdotya Valeryeva in the article "The caste of Satan Attacks the Country" ("Pravda", 15.01, p.4) gives an interview with a girl who is pretending to be a member of a satanic sect. Most interesting is not the interview which may be fake but the introduction: Valeryeva is sure that mass-media ignores this theme "as if someone ordered this." This is reminiscent of the old idea of "Pravda" about the government being a puppet of Jew-masons, inspired by Satan. Another example of such a tendency  in the news  ("Pravda" 14.01) concerns the crucifixion of a dog in front of a church in the Moscow suburb, Grebnevo. The dean of the church stated that this was an act of satanists. At the end of the article these satanists are categorized with foreign missionaries: "Magicians, foreign missionaries and satanists of all kinds took in their hands television, stadiums, halls. Isn't it time for our "democratic" mass-media to think a little bit about what they are bringing to people?" From such a statement it is very easy to go the next step and ask the government "to regulate" such activities of satanists and missionaries.

A funny accident occured with Metropolitan Cyrill. His show on TV wasn't transmitted by the Ukrainian television on the grounds that the Metropolitan is a "foreign prophet." Actually, he became the victim if the Ukrainian nationalism -- funny, because he himself is calling for a prohibition for "foreign prophets" in Russia.

Vladimir Kuzmischev (The Assault on Russia -- "Rossiyskaya gazeta", 15.01) states that Christianity must be "revived" as a basis of the new "state ideology". "Those who are on top seem to understand this, but their visits to temples don't give them political dividends as far." He criticised the Church whose priests "don't go and don't preach except for money, but are waiting for those who will come by chance to the temple and try to understand the hieroglyphics by which the priests separated themselves from modernity."

The tragedy in Dushanbe (Russian Orthodox deacon and a family of Baptists of German origin were killed) is the obvious evidence both of the degree of nationalism in former Russian colonies and of the unwillingness of Russians both in Russia and in the colonies to think about their future in these former colonies. One detail which was mentioned in "Izvestia" (5.1) only: the deacon Fr. Sergy was killed on December 30th after December 20th when he took part in the rite of sanctification of the 201st Russian division. The presence of the division in Dushanbe is in itself a sign of Russia's unwillingness to leave this country to its own fate. The rite sanctification in the state organization violates the Russian Religious Freedom Act and the principle of separation between State and the Church. But to conduct the Russian Orthodox rite in  Muslim territory is an open challenge to the native population! Mind also that the deacon was transported to his home by one of the army cars -- wasn't this an act repulsive to nationalists who think about Russians as occupants?

Russian powers want to preserve the old order of things in Asia, Asian powers want to get the economic and military support of Russia to aid the struggle with poverty and Muslim ultra-nationalists. The majority of the native population hates Russians; Russians are underestimating the level of this hatred and hoping to remain in these areas. They don't think about themselves as colonists, so the native population will teach them to reconsider this with the help of knives and guns. Russia is going to repeat and deepen all the mistakes of the British in India before World War II. The Russian Church will be one of the victims of this stubborness.

Alexander Petrov in the article "The Road to God is Unique to Each Person" ("Trud", 11.01) criticizes the Ministry of Education for collaborating with Christian preachers (from USA, mostly). The practise of distributing the missionary materials in schools violates the separation of Church and State, the right of a person to choose his faith. The violence of the Ministry or even of parents over the student mustn't be permitted.

"Trud" ("The Labour") informs about the trial of an Army officer in Vologda (Russia's North). A women volunteer from the United States came to Vologda to help in the restoration of an ancient monastery and was raped by the officer. He was put into jail for 5 years.