c. 1997 Religion News Service

`Compromise’ Russian religion bill reportedly no improvement

(RNS) A so-called “compromise” bill to regulate religious expression in Russia is no better than an earlier version of the controversial legislation, which was widely denounced by U.S. Christians, according to the Keston Institute’s Moscow representative.

Lawrence A. Uzzell, Moscow representative of the British institute that monitors religious freedom in communist and former-communist nations, said the new bill sent by President Boris Yeltsin to the Russian Duma, or parliament, Thursday (Sept. 4) “includes only slight changes” from the original legislation, some of which represent a “hardening” of earlier positions.

Yeltsin vetoed an earlier version of the bill in July, saying it unconstitutionally restricted religious freedoms. But he also said he saw the need for a law to protect the Russian Orthodox Church and other “traditional” Russian faiths from the host of western churches and other religious groups that have gained ground in Russia since the Soviet Union’s collapse ended decades of restrictions on religious expression.

Uzzell noted that the new bill includes proposed restrictions on foreign religious bodies operating in Russia that “would virtually wipe out the complex of western churches’ missionary and charitable activities.”

“The new `compromise’ is hostile to the idea of spreading religious faith to those who are not already believers,” Uzzell said.

Uzzell also said in a report distributed Friday (Sept. 5) by the Keston Institute that the new bill retains the vetoed legislation’s tiered system of extending official recognition and rights to religious groups. Under the plan, the Russian Orthodox Church would stand above all others, with Judaism, Islam and Buddhism also receiving official sanction.

All other faiths _ including Roman Catholic and Protestant churches _ would be classified as “groups” that would have to re-register annually with the government for 15 years before they would be eligible for full official recognition.

Fully recognized faiths could also be forced to limit the geographic areas in which they operate and religious “groups” would be allowed to hold worship services only in member-owned facilities, precluding them from renting public buildings for larger gatherings.

The Russian parliament is expected to take up the new bill late this week, perhaps Thursday (Sept. 11), according to Uzzell.

Yeltsin vetoed the earlier bill following widespread protests by U.S. Christians and political leaders, including President Clinton.

Ecumenical News International, the Geneva-based religious news agency, reported Saturday (Sept. 6) that Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexii II backed the “compromise” bill. ENI also reported that representatives of some other Russian Christian organizations _ including the Roman Catholic Church _ may end their opposition to the bill.

Although still not happy with the bill, the churches reportedly fear that local Russian laws regulating religious expression will be even more restrictive. Some 20 regional religious expression laws would be superceded by the federal legislation now before the Duma.

END RNS