From RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol 1, No. 94, Part I, 13 August 1997

Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, who heads the Moscow Patriarchate's department on foreign Church relations, has said the religion law recently vetoed by President Boris Yeltsin would not limit the rights of Catholics or Baptists in Russia, Russian news agencies reported on 12 August.

Kirill described the Catholic and Baptist Churches as "traditional confessions" that have a 150-year history in Russia. (The law would give more rights to religious groups that can prove they have existed in Russia for at least 15 years.)

Kirill argued that he had never seen a "more liberal" religion law, despite "stylistic problems" which made the law appear discriminatory. He also asked why Russia is "afraid" to mention the special historical role of the Russian Orthodox Church in the law's preamble, given that "nobody is offended when some countries say they are Catholic countries."

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Johnson's Russia List

#1125

14 August 1997

djohnson@cdi.org