YELTSIN DEFENDS STAND ON RELIGION

By Sergei Shargorodsky

Associated Press Writer

July 25, 1997

MOSCOW (AP) -- A day after he was chastised by Russia's Orthodox Church, President Boris Yeltsin defended his rejection of legislation that would restrict ``nontraditional religions,'' including evangelical Christianity and Roman Catholicism.

``A democratic state cannot encroach upon the interests of minorities for whatever seemingly noble motives,'' Yeltsin said today in a nationwide radio address.

Calling the measure an unconstitutional threat to religious freedom, Yeltsin refused earlier this week to approve the legislation, which would have given special status to the Russian Orthodox Church. He sent it back to Parliament for redrafting.

A church spokesman, Metropolitan Kirill, in turn warned Yeltsin that his rejection of the measure threatened the fabric of Russian society.

In his radio address today, the Russian president reiterated his objections to the bill, saying it violates human rights standards and Russia's international obligations.

``It was a difficult decision. The law was supported by the majority of State Duma deputies, the Russian Orthodox Church and others,'' Yeltsin said.

Trying to assuage his critics, Yeltsin praised the overall thrust of the bill, saying he could understand the church's concerns and the need to protect ``the moral and spiritual health of the Russians'' from ``radical sects.''

Controversy over the Russian Orthodox-sponsored bill threatens to open a rift between the president and Patriarch Alexy II, whose church is dominant in Russia and strongly backed Yeltsin's re-election bid last summer.

Alexy, meeting today with Lithuanian Orthodox and Catholic church leaders in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, voiced regret about Yeltsin's decision and said the bill ``does not trample upon anybody's rights,'' the Interfax news agency reported.

``The bill would have brought to order all the fake missionaries and destructive orders which, unfortunately, have flooded Russia and its closest neighbors,'' said the patriarch, apparently referring to the Protestant evangelical groups that have proliferated in Russia in recent years.

While the Orthodox church and most Russian legislators back the bill, it has drawn strong opposition from Pope John Paul II and the United States, which has threatened to cut aid to Russia if it becomes law.

Islam, Buddhism, Judaism and other ``traditional'' religions would be pledged ``respect'' under the proposed law. All other religious groups would be required to register with the government to own property or conduct public worship, and could not do so until they had been in the country for 15 years.

Orthodox leaders argued that the Roman Catholic Church would face no restrictions, because it could prove it has been present in Russia for 15 years. But that did not mollify Catholic leaders, who had expressed alarm at the bill and relief at Yeltsin's decision to reject it.

Alexy is head of the world's largest Orthodox church, with an estimated 80 million followers. There are 15 patriarchs in the Orthodox faith.

The Christian church split into Orthodox and Roman Catholic branches in 1054.

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Johnson's Russia List

#1083

25 July 1997

djohnson@cdi.org