Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Russia

Exile Orthodox To Decide Whether To Embrace Moscow

A Russian Orthodox service (file photo) (ITAR-TASS)

May 11, 2006 -- The Russian Orthodox Church Abroad -- long exiled in the United States -- votes today in San Francisco on whether to embrace the Moscow-based church it left after the 1917 communist revolution.

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May 11, 2006

For his part, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow, Patriarch Aleksy II, is actively encouraging the Church Abroad -- which has bishops in the United States, Germany, Australia, Russia, and elsewhere -- to end the long division.

Yet many church officials are wary about embracing the Russian Orthodox Church, noting that many clergy collaborated with the Soviet-era KGB secret police.

(Reuters)

Panel On Religious Freedom

Russian President Vladimir Putin celebrating Orthodox Christmas (CTK, file photo)

RELIGION AND SOCIETY: On December 21, 2005, RFE/RL's Washington office hosted a panel discussion on issues related to religious freedom in the former Soviet Union. Panelists included CATHERINE COSMAN, a senior policy analyst for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom; FELIX CORLEY, editor of the Forum 18 News Service; and JOHN KINAHAN, Forum 18 assistant editor.
Cosman argued in her presentation that the Russian Orthodox Church receives preferential treatment from the government. She also expressed concern about the estimated 50,000 skinheads active in Russia. Corley focused on Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, arguing that many governments in the region "fear institutions they can't control." Kinahan's presentation concentrates on the Uzbek government's assertions that Islamist extremists were behind the May uprising in Andijon.

LISTEN

Listen to the complete panel discussion (about 90 minutes):
Real Audio Windows Media

Central Asia: Regional Leaders Try to Control Islam

Unholy Alliance? Nationalism And The Russian Orthodox Church

THE COMPLETE STORY: A thematic webpage devoted to issues of religious tolerance in RFE/RL's broadcast region and around the globe.

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