c. 1998 Religion News Service

UNDATED _ The Red Sea had parted and they had been delivered from slavery, but it didn’t take long for some of the ancient Israelites to start grumbling about how much better life was back in Egypt, where food and work were more certain.

As the economic situation in Russia worsens, Orthodox Church leaders are referring back to the biblical Exodus to provide their flocks with perspective on that country’s remarkable journey since the fall of communism and the Soviet Union.

“It may well take 40 years in the wilderness before something new and stable emerges,” said the Rev. Leonid Kishkovsky, ecumenical officer for the Orthodox Church in America (OCA).

The independent OCA, based in Syosset, N.Y., traces its origins to Russian Orthodoxy, first brought to North America by Russian fur traders in the late 18th century.

Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who insists he will not resign, is under considerable pressure from nationalist hard-liners and communists who oppose his plan for economic reforms.

Monday (Aug. 31), hard-liners and communists in the Duma, the lower chamber of the Russian parliament, overwhelmingly rejected Yeltsin’s choice for prime minister, Viktor Chernomyrdin. And Yeltsin’s opponents again called for his resignation.

The Duma’s action threatens a $22.6-billion support package from the International Monetary Fund that Russia needs to help stabilize its faltering economy.

As the crisis deepens, the Russian Orthodox Church, emerging from decades of oppression, also is striving to find its way through the political maze as it attempts to ease the suffering caused by the economic crisis, church officials and observers say.

Part of that role, similar to the function played by agencies such as Catholic Charities in this country, is to fund soup kitchens and hospitals, and meet other basic needs that the government cannot.

“People have gone from one regime to the next, everyone promising them some kind of utopia that can never come to pass,” said the Rev. Irinej Dobrijevic, national church liaison for the Baltimore-based International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC). “So the only institution they can trust is the church.”

The IOCC is a relief agency supported by more than nine Orthodox church jurisdictions, including the OCA.

In the political realm, the Orthodox Church in Russia has generally supported Yeltsin, although its interests have gravitated more toward nationalist parties in pressing for restrictions on evangelical groups and other religious movements attempting to gain converts in Russia since the end of the Soviet Union.

Church leaders also share nationalist concerns that Western influences may contribute to growing immorality in the country.

Some Orthodox priests even supported communist candidates in the last election, noting with some Russians that at least basic food and housing needs were met under the old system, Kishkovsky said.

Orthodox Christians in the United States have broadened ties with the Russian Orthodox Church over the last 10 years, establishing sister-church relationships with Russian congregations and contributing millions in humanitarian aid.

Dobrijevic said IOCC is discussing a special fund-raising appeal to address the current crisis. With the economic collapse, some people can no longer afford food and housing, while small businesses will need loans to get back on their feet.

IR END BRIGGS