World religions. Рахимбергенова М.Х. - 14 стр.

genocide in relation to the Church. Departure from the totalitarian system signi-      been trying to reanimate old prejudices and awaken one people’s suspiciousness
fied people’s return to the faith of their fathers, and a search for the road to the   of another.
Church. However, it is not society’s sound forces alone that have shaken off the            – At the nearest Synod we shall necessarily speak about the importance for
fetters, everything unkind that there is in man – aggressiveness, brutality, vanity    a church hierarch to weigh each of his words. Someone will gladly jump on this
– has come to the surface as well. Some politicians – pleasing their ambitions         dubious passage and say: look, the Church engages in antisemitic activities.
and neglecting the interests of ordinary people – have begun isolating them-           And he will be driving a wedge between the Church and society. The ROC,
selves off from the world and announcing the sovereignty of the territory or           however, is free from racial prejudices. To whom is it not clear that it is mad-
spiritual space on any occasion. There has arisen the real threat of a split, disar-   ness to foment inter-ethnic strife in the chaotic times? And let me repeat the
ray and disruption of all ties – economic, human and national. What must be            opinion of one official is not the opinion of the Church.
done to guard ourselves against this terrible calamity? The Russian Orthodox                – A religious war – this has a sinister ring.
Church has found that particularly great in these conditions is the danger of               – We flatly reject the inevitability of inter-religious wars, between any de-
plunging ourselves into the stormy waves of political passions. A clergyman            nominations. It is even more pointless to look for some incarnated carriers of
cannot belong to any party – this will hinder him from taking an impartial atti-       evil in our country. As a pastor, I know that evil thoughts nestle in the hearts of
tude towards all parishers, and listening to everyone with similar attention and       people, and there is nothing more complicated and more important than to cure
sympathy. A politicized Church is an inevitable source of discord, whereas the         the human heart. Peacekeeping has been and is a major activity for the Russian
Church’s most important function is reconciliation and unification. We have            Orthodox Church. This is perhaps the only domain where a clergyman has a
strongly advised clergymen to stay away from political battles. That’s the rea-        right to intervene in the spheres of politics. No matter where I may go, I con-
son why the Patriarchate reacted to Gleb Yakunin’s decision the way it did –           stantly call upon people (all people) to reach accord. And I hope that I will be
despite our advice – to run for the State Duma.                                        heard. Recently I visited the Mari Republic where a half of its population is Or-
     – But only quite recently Metropolitan Ioann of St. Petersburg and Ladoga,        thodox and the other half is heathen. I was asked: would not the arrival of the
member of the Holy Synod, publicly gave his blessing to a political movement           Orthodox patriarch spark confrontation between heathenism and Orthodoxy? I
known as Accord in the Name of Russia. The newspaper, which published his              replied: if we begin dividing people on the basis of religion – but Christianity
opinion, was very pleased: “For the first time a church hierarch of such a high        and heathenism have old scores to settle and old mutual injuries – this will lead
rank has interfered in politics, moreover, on the side of the “left-of-centre oppo-    to internal war. God forbids. But apprehensions of this kind will be groundless
sition”.                                                                               if people see that we treat the faith of everyone with respect. We must build our
     – The position of the Rev. Ioann has baffled many people. It is strange, of       society on the basis of toleration, particularly relevant in our country, which is
course: the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) takes part in draft-        so rich in denominations and religions.
ing a Memorandum calling for unity among all of the country’s political forces,             – You are being criticized for the fact that in the recent past the ROC’s
but at the same time Metropolitan Ioann supports and blesses the political             peacekeeping activities had been merely a screen for the closed, aggressive
forces opposed to the Memorandum. It should be kept in mind, however, that             state.
no matter how high a position the Rev. Ioann may hold in the church hierarchy,              – This is not so. Even in those times our thoughts were clean and at that
he cannot speak on behalf of the Church. This is only the right of the Local and       time we managed to do quite a lot although, indeed, quite often this activity had
Bishop councils. In the intervals between the councils this right is vested solely     a formal, showy character. Not so now. When I interrupted my visit to the USA
in the Holy Synod and the Patriarch, or in anyone whom the Synod will author-          last October at the time of the events in Moscow, I did not even think that I
ize to voice its opinion. Nobody gave such an instruction to Metropolitan Ioann.       would have to take part in negotiations. Simply at that trying hour I understood
     – One more oddity: judging by the recent statements of the Rev. Ioann, the        that I had to be with my people, with my Church. Very soon it became obvious,
core of world cataclysms is the “religious war” between Judaism and the Chris-         however, that the Church alone, and confidence in it, could bring the opposing
tian Church. Reconciliation, Metropolitan Ioann believes, is impossible here:          forces together at the negotiating table – Voronin and Filatov, Abdulatipov and
“The spiritual principles of the two sides are directly opposed and irreconcil-        Luzhkov. On the night of October 3 we were near an accord. But subsequent
able”. Metropolitan Ioann’s statements can hardly be placed among theological          events divided people. In those dark days I clearly came to understand – and I
research studies or among searches for truth. Avowedly and persistently he has         spoke about this - that the Motherland was threatened with two terrible threats:

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