Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09MOSCOW879
2009-04-06 13:10:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Moscow
Cable title:  

RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH HOLDS ALL CARDS IN

Tags:  PGOV PHUM PINR PREL SOCI KIRF RS 
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VZCZCXRO0492
RR RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHPOD RUEHSK RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHMO #0879/01 0961310
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 061310Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2759
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 MOSCOW 000879 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PREL SOCI KIRF RS
SUBJECT: RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH HOLDS ALL CARDS IN
HISTORIC GOLDEN RING

REF: MOSCOW 689

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 MOSCOW 000879

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PREL SOCI KIRF RS
SUBJECT: RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH HOLDS ALL CARDS IN
HISTORIC GOLDEN RING

REF: MOSCOW 689


1. (SBU) Summary. A recent trip to the Russian "Golden
Ring" cities of Sergiyev Posad, Suzdal, and Vladimir
indicated that despite the existence of four official Russian
religions (Orthodoxy, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism),the
country's traditional religious center is firmly Russian
Orthodox. While an ROC representative painted a picture of
perfect tranquillity, local officials in Sergiyev Posad
blamed the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) for only looking
after itself. In Suzdal, the leader of the schismatic
Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church (ROAC) despaired at the
loss of 13 church buildings to the Russian government, and
pointed a finger at the Federal Security Service (FSB) for
meddling in ROAC affairs. In Vladimir, non-Orthodox
confessions enjoyed differing levels of prosperity contingent
on their congregation sizes and property holdings. Vladimir
Oblast officials suggested that all organizations existed in
harmony and trumpeted the government's forced consolidation
of local human rights groups as a way to control civil
society. End Summary.


2. (SBU) Our visit to the Golden Ring to learn more about
the ROC's relationship with the government, community, and
other religious groups occurred against the backdrop of a
landmark Duma proposal to return a significant amount of
property and assets to all religious organizations in Russia.
This bill would grant religious organizations ownership of
all historical property -- currently owned by the Russian
federal government -- in each respective organization's use,
according to a February 24 article in Russian daily
Kommersant. Should Russian lawmakers adopt and implement
this proposal, it would cede the Russian Orthodox Church up
to 7.41 million acres and make it one of the nation's largest
landowners, according to an April 5 Associated Press release.
Forum 18 religion reporter Geraldine Fagan believed the
proposal to be fraught with problems, including significant
resistance from the Russian Ministry of Culture. She told us
on March 22 that the ROC's current property disputes with
Baptists in Lipetsk, Old Believers in Moscow region, and the

ROAC in Suzdal were all complicated and presented no easy
solutions. Russian journalists also have speculated about
the reasons and financial consequences for such a large
property transfer, arousing suspicion about the proposal's
architect.

Russian Orthodox Insulated in Sergiyev Posad
--------------


3. (SBU) ROC representatives in Sergiyev Posad painted a
picture of cooperation and strong religious revival on a
local level. Head of the Academic Board of the Russian
Orthodox Theological Academy Archpriest Pavel Velikanov
offered diplomatic overtures on our March 18 visit to the
Sergiyev Posad Lavra, the religious center for Russian
Orthodoxy just 60 miles from Moscow. After providing a short
tour of the campus which includes one of the ROC's two
seminaries, an academy for higher learning, and several
churches open to visitors, Velikanov posited close ties
between the ROC and the city and federal governments.
Praising Patriarch Kirill's efforts to strengthen the ROC's
appeal across the country, Velikanov gave little attention to
interaction with other religious communities in Sergiyev
Posad. When asked about the Lavra's economic situation during
the economic crisis, he pointed to the possible return of
religious property from the Russian government to the
respective confessions as a big plus, believing that the ROC
had ample funding to properly maintain its assets. That
said, he could not address questions on the source of Church
funding.


4. (SBU) Deputy Head of Sergiyev Posad Municipal District
Vladimir Prokopenko offered a different perspective,
criticizing local ROC representatives for not doing enough in
the local community and for offering preferential treatment
to the Church's own people. Prokopenko told us on March 18
about two ROC projects in Sergiyev Posad which helped the
local economy, but at the expense of those not affiliated
with the ROC administration. In one case, the ROC financed
the construction of an apartment building near the city's
downtown area, providing top-notch accommodations to visiting
ROC officials. In the same building, however, local
residents rented apartments with insufficient accommodations
for their money, creating an atmosphere of animosity between
the have's and have not's. With regards to the Duma proposal
to return property and assets to religious organizations,
Prokopenko doubted that the Church would suffer any economic
strain should the government follow through on this plan, and
adamantly felt that the Church would never seek financial
assistance from the city of Sergiyev Posad. In a separate

MOSCOW 00000879 002 OF 004


meeting, former Sergiyev Posad City Council Deputy and
current President of the Inter-regional Foundation of
Ombudsmen Sergey Kryzhov told us on March 18 that he had been
denied registration for upcoming mayoral elections, and he
blamed poor relations with the ROC for his troubles. Perhaps
because of his affiliation with the opposition Yabloko party,
Kryzhov added that he would not be "surprised" if local
Sergiyev Posad Orthodox powers had leaned on the appropriate
people to block his bid for public office.

Schismatics Outmatched in Suzdal
--------------


5. (SBU) Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church (ROAC)
Metropolitan Valentin told us on April 1 that his church
faced serious obstacles in Suzdal, including FSB interference
and government confiscation of ROAC property. During a tour
of the ROAC's church museum, filled with icons and artifacts
from the 18th to 20th century, Valentin complained that the
Russian government had deprived the ROAC, formerly connected
to the Russian Orthodox Free Church, of 13 religious
properties (11 churches, two bell towers) in Suzdal. He
handed us a letter dated October 20, 2006, in which the
Federal Agency for the Administration of Federal Property
announced the creation of a committee in Vladimir Oblast to
review the origins of property currently occupied by the
ROAC. Valentin explained that he had restored over 20 church
buildings in Suzdal since 1977, all of which had been
abandoned or used for things like grain storage during the
Soviet era. By raising funds in the United States through
the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCA),Valentin and his
colleagues rebuilt the majority of Suzdal's religious
structures, helping to turn the town of 12,000 into a tourist
center. He eventually broke from the ROC in 1990,
complaining that he had been forced to report his foreign
connections to the KGB, after serving as the official host
for all foreign tourists to Suzdal since the early 1970s.


6. (SBU) Forum 18 religion expert Geraldine Fagan provided
more details on Valentin's situation, telling us on February
12 that Valentin had actually made a deal with KGB agents in
the late 1970s to "acquire" several churches in Suzdal, in
large part because of his desire to become independent from
the ROC. However, the official ROAC-ROC split did not occur
until October 1998. She believed that the ROAC might have
registered the buildings improperly, and now faced the
consequences of "stealing" the churches (Note: the Russian
Orthodox Free Church was ROCA's official body in Russia until
1995, after which Valentin declared his independence and
renamed his Free Church as ROAC). The efforts to recoup
Suzdal church property from the ROAC could also be rooted in
the government's past perception that Valentin served as a
U.S. government spy.


7. (SBU) After receiving a letter in February 2009
explaining the government's intention to take ownership of
the properties in five days, ROAC church members attempted to
remove precious icons, crosses, and other assorted religious
items from the churches. As they prepared to transport the
objects, a FSB officer approached and forbade the transfer.
Despite Valentin's protests that the officer had no right to
prevent the ROAC's use of private property, he gave in to
avoid additional troubles. All of the ROAC's belongings
remain in the churches, just as they were before Valentin
received official notice of the government's plan to take the
property.


8. (SBU) While Valentin would not postulate about the
architect of the initiative, journalist for the online
newspaper "TOMIKS" Natalya Novozhilova bluntly told us on
April 1 that the FSB organized the activity against the ROAC.
Valentin freely noted that FSB officials had ruined his
reputation by labeling him a pedophile and crook in 2002,
making him especially cautious in any interaction. He
admitted that any number of groups could be behind ROAC's
problems, but hesitated in giving any concrete thoughts.
Novozhilova later explained that several priests in the
Suzdal and Vladimir region were deeply involved in corruption
(another possible connection to Valentin's problems),and
that she was working on a story which would expose several
high-ranking officials for being involved in activities "not
suitable for a religious leader."


9. (SBU) Officially, Suzdal experienced no significant
problems between religious groups or between the government
and religious organizations. Suzdal Mayor Sergey Godunin
told us on April 1 that minority religious confessions did
not maintain a presence in the city, and that his office
strove to keep an open door to all Suzdal residents.
Acknowledging the difficulties which the ROAC had

MOSCOW 00000879 003 OF 004


experienced, Godunin suggested that Valentin work with the
federal authorities on the matter as it was not his
jurisdiction. In addition, he made a special effort to
separate Vladimir Oblast Governor Nikolay Vinogradov from his
Communist Party affiliation, saying that the ROAC's problems
are not a throwback to Soviet times.

Vladimir Government: Everything is Fine
--------------


10. (SBU) In the city of Vladimir (Vladimir Oblast),public
officials insisted that the government existed in complete
harmony with all local human rights and religious
organizations. Human Rights Commission Chairwoman Lina
Yakusheva touted the most recent accomplishment in Vladimir
Oblast: the consolidation of human rights groups. Yakusheva
explained to us on April 1 that the centralization was
"necessary" because "we didn't know who these social
organizations even were." As a result, she proudly stated
that the government will be able to coordinate "controlled
public events" much more effectively than in the past. Her
colleague, Chairwoman for the Committee on Public Relations
and Mass Media Anna Payevskaya, added that the Oblast
government accepted and encouraged the free observation of
all religious beliefs. Payevskaya called the current level
of state-religious organization interaction "excellent",
evidenced by recent round tables and public fora held by the
Vladimir Oblast government. Unsolicited, she mentioned two
problematic issues in the Oblast involving the Russian
Orthodox Autonomous Church (ROAC) and the Muslim community
(see below),placing the responsibility for troubles on their
noncompliance with the law. Payevskaya concluded her
thoughts by denying any suggestion that the ROC was held in
higher regard than other religious groups, as "we value all
organizations equally."

Property Holdings Determine Protestant Success?
-------------- --


11. (SBU) Assistant Dean of the Roman Catholic Church of
Vladimir Ivan Kolesnikov told us on March 31 that his church
must support the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and Patriarch
Kirill during the current transition, noting that Kirill is
the only figure who could attract Russia's youth back to
religious practice. Based in a 19th-century church in the
center of Vladimir, the Catholic community only boasted 500
members in the entire oblast, with about 200 attending Easter
Sunday services and only 20 parishioners coming on an average
Sunday. Because of their low membership and attendance,
Kolesnikov worried about the financial situation of the
Catholic community, saying that he could barely manage to pay
for heat and water at the church under current conditions.
Should the federal government follow through on the Duma
proposal to return government-owned church property to the
different confessions, it would create an enormous burden for
smaller groups (but not for the ROC). Past donations from
Catholic brethren in Italy and the United States have kept
the church afloat, but more financial help would be needed to
survive the long term, according to Kolesnikov.


12. (SBU) In contrast to the financial difficulties facing
the Catholics, the Wesleyan Protestant Church in downtown
Vladimir appeared to be thriving, even during the current
economic crisis. Pastor Anton Dmitriyev told us on March 31
that his organization owned the 40-room building, a former
government kindergarten that the Wesleyan Church bought in
1994, in which he conducted Sunday services. Some of the
reasons for the organization's success were its casual
atmosphere, use of modern Russian in worship services
(Orthodox services are conducted in Old Church Slavonic),and
its focus on youth activities, according to Antonov. He
indicated that his chapter has attracted over 100 local
people (mostly youth) for Sunday services, with many
participating in church choir performances and leadership
forums. The Wesleyan Church of Vladimir also maintained
close relations with Wesleyan branches in the United States
(its former pastor was an AmCit) and other regional
Protestant groups, including the Baptists. Antonov pointed
out, however, that city government officials denied the
Wesleyan Church's recent applications to hold church-related
functions in centrally-located city parks, instead offering
them space in Victory Park on the outskirts of town (the same
alternative offered to anti-government and human rights
demonstrators, he noted).

Small Jewish Community Pushes Holocaust Education
-------------- --------------


13. (SBU) Acting Director of the Vladimir Jewish Community
Center Marina Krol told us on March 31 that their greatest

MOSCOW 00000879 004 OF 004


success in the past ten years has been convincing the
Vladimir city administration to conduct Holocaust education
in its public schools as part of the greater curriculum, the
only such program in the entire country. Because of her
strong connections with Holocaust Foundation Director and
Public Chamber member Alla Gerber, she and her colleagues had
pressed upon the city government the importance of discussing
the Holocaust legacy in order to reduce anti-Semitism in
Russia. Additionally, in the course of soliciting U.S.
government financial support, she bragged that the Jewish
community owned its own community center, a building replete
with a small temple, offices, kitchen, dining hall, and
library (the small number of books were donated by oligarch
Roman Abramovich, according to Krol). She pointed out that
the community's 2000 members consisted of a devout minority,
plus a majority that strove to continue its observation of
traditional Jewish customs. Her small community had not
experienced any problems with other confessions, city
officials, or the regional government, but had been
vandalized by "hooligans" in recent years.

Vladimir Muslims Move Forward Without Mosque
--------------


14. (SBU) Vladimir Oblast Head Mufti Vafa Hazrat told us on
March 31 that approximately 60,000 Muslims lived in the
oblast, most of whom comprised the region's significant
Azerbaijani diaspora and Tatar community. Hazrat explained
that the Vladimir Oblast government previously denied the
Muslim community permission to build a new mosque in the
region. The absence of real opportunity to build a "proper"
house of worship forced him to purchase additional property
abutting a home owned by the community on the outskirts of
Vladimir, which the community now uses for prayer. The
Muslim community built modest additions to the home, with a
multi-floor worship area that included a women's prayer area
on the bottom floor (men's prayer area on 2nd floor) where
volunteer teachers regularly conduct free Arabic and Tatar
language classes. The mufti stressed the importance of these
classes since the regional government had failed to teach
students about ethnic minorities, nor about any religion
other than Russian Orthodoxy.

Comment
--------------


15. (SBU) The ROC appears to be gathering steam under
Kirill's guidance (reftel),although conversations in the
Golden Ring suggest that the ROC is not overly interested in
religious unity despite Kirill's efforts on interfaith
dialogue. The troubles besetting the schismatic ROAC could
result in Kirill regaining control of Suzdal's highly-visited
churches in the near future, a symbolic triumph of religious
dominance over the ROAC. On the other hand, forced property
ownership would burden smaller religious organizations with
poor financing, potentially closing the door on some
Protestant groups that espouse beliefs different from the ROC
unless they secure sufficient means from diaspora groups and
overseas affiliates. Should the GOR take aim to prevent
foreign financial influence in the religious sphere,
non-mainstream denominations could suffer greatly.
BEYRLE