By Oleg Shchedrov

MOSCOW, July 17 (Reuter) - The Russian Orthodox Church urged President Boris Yeltsin on Thursday to sign into law a bill that would favour its registration above minority religions and which the Catholic Church has strongly criticised.

A statement by the leadership of the Orthodox Church, quoted by Itar-Tass news agency, asked Yeltsin to approve the draft saying: ``We are sure that a rejection of the draft law would lead to a further spiritual destabilisation in Russia.''

Russia's parliament approved earlier this month the bill entitled ``On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Association,'' which would give a few major confessions, such as Orthodoxy, Islam, Judaism and mainstream Buddhism, strong advantages over minority religions.

Yeltsin can either sign it now or veto it, but his veto could be overruled by a two-thirds majority in each chamber of parliament.

The authors of the draft have said that it was prompted by the need to defend the traditional confessions, undermined by decades of atheistic communist rule, in the face of aggressive sects operating from abroad.

Under the new legislation, only religions which have operated in Russia for more than 15 years have the chance to be registered and gives strong advantages for groups which have more than a 50-year history in Russia.

Foreign religious activists will only be able to work in Russia if invited by one of the registered religious bodies.

The new legislation has prompted angry reaction in the West as well as among Russian liberal campaigners.

Russian liberal groups insist that the draft violates the constitution by curbing human rights and introducing double standards. They vow to challenge it in the Constitutional Court.

Pope John Paul told Yeltsin on Thursday that the bill threatened the survival of the Catholic Church in Russia.

In a letter released by the Vatican, the Pontiff said he was ``seriously worried'' by the bill and urged Yeltsin to change it.

``This text...would constitute for the Catholic Church in Russia a real threat to the normal development of its pastoral activities and even its survival,'' he said.

The U.S. Senate voted earlier this week to cut off aid to Russia if Yeltsin signed the measure.

The threatened curb on new assistance was approved as an amendment to the $13.2 billion foreign aid bill now moving through the Senate. The bill contains about $200 million in funds for Russia.

But the communists, who dominate the lower chamber of parliament, the State Duma, appeared unimpressed.

``There is a clear attempt to squeeze out the Russian Orthodox Church,'' said on Thursday communist Viktor Ilyukhin, a senior member of the Dumas.

``The presence of Western confessions with enormous funding is a serious threat to Russian confessions.''

``The West is using religion as a means to influence the minds of the Russian people, in fact as a means to control the people,'' said Ilyukhin, who heads the Duma security committee.

A Kremlin spokesman said he had no comment and added that Yeltsin had not signed the bill yet.

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Johnson's Russia List

#1059

18 July 1997

djohnson@cdi.org