Christianity.

[TsarSamuil]

Religion of peace strikes again...more info here,
02varvara.wordpress.com/

Murdered Russian priest received death threats - paper.



A Russian Orthodox priest who carried out missionary work among immigrants from ex-Soviet republics received over a dozen death threats before his murder on Thursday, a Russian paper said.

Daniil Sysoyev, 34, was shot dead by a masked gunman in St. Thomas Church in southern Moscow on Thursday evening. The killer entered the church, asked for Sysoyev by name, and opened fire with a pistol at close range. The priest was hit in the head and died later in hospital. His assistant was badly wounded in the attack.

"The main theory is that religious motives are behind the crime," a spokesman for the investigating committee of the Prosecutor-General's Office said in comments broadcast on the Rossiya state-run TV channel.

The Komsomolskaya Pravda paper said on Friday that Sysoyev had revealed in a recent interview with one of its journalists that he had received 14 death threats by phone and email.

"They've threatened to cut my head off 14 times," the paper quoted the priest as saying. "The FSB [Federal Security Service] got in touch with me a year ago to say they had uncovered a murder plot against me."

Sysoyev also told the paper that in the past year, his church had "christened 80 Muslims, among them Tatars, Uzbeks, Chechens and Dagestanis."

He was also quoted as saying that other Orthodox priests were "afraid" to carry out missionary work among Muslim immigrants.

"They are afraid of revenge from the Muslim world," he said.

Sysoyev also worked with people seeking to quit religious sects, and Russian State Duma MPs asked on Friday for more information on the groups involved.

MOSCOW, November 20 (RIA Novosti)

His vids,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJNPSyh4zFk

[White Cossack]

I guess that's what Putin means by the "multinational" nature of Russia.

May his soul rest in peace.

[TsarSamuil]

World Russian People's Council to monitor global Christianophobia.

Moscow, June 20, Interfax - The World Russian People's Council is going to publish regular information on global Christianophobia.

"The Russian Orthodox Church is starting the program to protect Christians who have recently become the most afflicted religious group. The Council's Human Rights Center will make public information on the facts of grave offences committed against Christians," Roman Silantyev, director of the Center, told Interfax-Religion Monday.

According to him, the analysis will show the general situation including all Christian areas worldwide.

This monitoring will cover only grave crimes against all Christians, including homicide and threat of homicide, rape and battery, robbery, massacre, arson and death penalty for Christian faith.

[boroslav]

Jun 22, 2011 0:40:28 GMT -5 TsarSamuil said:

"The Russian Orthodox Church is starting the program to protect Christians who have recently become the most afflicted religious group.

In times when the Christian world is totally superior in regard to arms.

[Dushko]

Like I said here before many times, Islime is an enemy to all of mankind and all who practice it must be eradicated like a disease or cockroaches.

[TsarSamuil]

Vid,
rt.com/news/christianity-orthodox-russia-ukraine-belarus/

Adoption of Christianity marked in three capitals.

RT.com
28 July, 2011, 09:50

Orthodox Christians from three post-Soviet nations – Russia, Ukraine and Belarus - are marking a very important religious holiday: the Christianization of Russia over a thousand years ago.

The main celebrations are taking place in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, the former center of the ancient state of Rus, at the site from where the Orthodox message started to spread across the nation.

It has been exactly 1023 years since Kievan Russia adopted Orthodox Christianity. In 988AD, Prince Vladimir, who reigned over Kiev at the time, baptized the first citizens to become Orthodox Christians, choosing this religion over Islam and Judaism.

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, has arrived in the Ukrainian capital to take part in the celebrations along with his counterpart from Georgia and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, Patriarch Vladimir.

There is a large-scale celebration being held in the three capitals of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia: Kiev, Minsk and Moscow respectively.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Orthodox Church in Ukraine has split into several parts. The Moscow Patriarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church undoubtedly has the largest representation.

Over the last year there were calls that the Church must be united in Ukraine, but so far the efforts to make a single Church have been fruitless.

When Patriarch Kirill arrived to deliver the liturgy at the monument to Prince Vladimir in central Kiev, dedicated to adoption of Christianity in Russia, the Russian Patriarch was greeted by tens of thousands of people chanting that “our Patriarch is Kirill.”

[TsarSamuil]

Turkey to return properties confiscated from Christian, Jewish minorities.

By Associated Press, Published: August 28

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s government is returning hundreds of properties confiscated from the country’s Christian and Jewish minorities over the past 75 years in a gesture to religious groups who complain of discrimination that is also likely to thwart possible court rulings against the country.

A government decree published Saturday returns assets that once belonged to Greek, Armenian or Jewish trusts and makes provisions for the government to pay compensation for any confiscated property that has since been sold on.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was scheduled to announce the decision formally later Sunday when he hosts religious leaders and the heads of about 160 minority trusts, at a fast-breaking dinner for the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, officials said.

The properties include former hospital, orphanage or school buildings and cemeteries. Their return is a key European Union demand and a series of court cases has also been filed against primarily Muslim Turkey at the European Court of Human Rights. Last year, the court ordered Turkey to return an orphanage to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate.

Some properties were seized when they fell into disuse over the years. Others were confiscated after 1974 when Turkey ruled that non-Muslim trusts could not own new property in addition to those that were already registered in their names in 1936. The 1974 decision came around the time of a Turkish invasion of Cyprus that followed a coup attempt by supporters of union with Greece and relations with that country were at an all time low.

Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted government seeking to promote religious freedoms has pledged to address the problems of the religious minorities. In the past few years, it amended laws to allow for the return of some of the properties, but restrictions remained and the issue on how to resolve properties that were sold on to third parties was left unsolved.

The decree overcomes those restrictions and helps scupper further court rulings.

“There was huge pressure from the European Court of Human Rights which has already ruled against Turkey,” said Orhan Kemal Cengiz a human rights activist and lawyer who specializes in minority issues.

“It is nevertheless a very important development,” he said. “With the return of properties and the compensations, the minority communities will be able to strengthen economically and their lives will be made easier.”

The country’s population of 74 million, mostly Muslim, includes an estimated 65,000 Armenian Orthodox Christians, 23,000 Jews and fewer than 2,500 Greek Orthodox Christians.

Religious minorities have often complained of discrimination in Turkey, which had a history of conflict with Greece and with Armenians who accuse Turkish authorities of trying to exterminate them early in the last century. Turkey says the mass killings at that time were the result of the chaos of war, rather than a systematic campaign of genocide. Few minority members have been able to hold top positions in politics, the military or the public service.

Turkey is also under intense pressure to reopen a seminary that trained generations of Greek Orthodox patriarchs. The Halki Theological School on Heybeliada Island, near Istanbul, was closed to new students in 1971 under a law that put religious and military training under state control. The school closed its doors in 1985, when the last five students graduated.

---------------

Vid, but we won't understand what's said there though..
www.amna.gr/webtv.php?id=2070

Turkey gives up seized property.

ekathimerini.com , Monday August 29, 2011 (22:45)


Erdogan tells patriarch authorities will return assets taken from minorities

In a significant move that appears to meet European Union demands, Turkish authorities have announced that they intend to return properties confiscated from religious minorities since 1936, and pay compensation for seized assets that have since been sold to third parties.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the decision Sunday ahead of a dinner in Istanbul marking the break of the Ramadan fast that was attended by representatives of the city’s Christian and Jewish communities - including Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios.

A government decree was issued during the weekend in the face of opposition from the Kemalist CHP and smaller nationalist parties.

“This is not about doing a favor; this is about rectifying an injustice,” Erdogan said of the landmark decision, which concerns hundreds of hospitals, schools, cemeteries and orphanages as listed in a 1936 census.

The European Union, which has regularly scolded Ankara for its treatment of minorities, has set the assets’ return as a condition for membership of the bloc.

The European Court of Human Rights, moreover, has previously condemned the seizures as illegal.

Istanbul’s Greek Orthodox population is today estimated at 2,500 people. Up to 1,500 properties are to be returned to some 70 Christian trusts according to a Kathimerini report, while the Turkish Sabah daily puts the number at 350.

Apart from Turkey’s Christians - about 120,000 people - the Armenian, Jewish and Assyrian communities are also expected to benefit from the campaign.

Erdogan’s previous attempts to ensure the return of confiscated buildings in 2002 and 2008 had come up against domestic opposition.

“Like everyone else, we also do know about the injustices that various religious groups have been subjected to because of their differences,” Erdogan told the minority officials. “The times when a citizen of ours would be oppressed due to his religious, ethnic origin or different way of life are over,” he said.

----------

What about!?

[TsarSamuil]

Interview

Escalation of Christianophobia in the Middle East is a threat to Orthodoxy.

interfax-religion.com
08 August 2011, 13:19

Is there a threat to Orthodoxy in the Middle East? Is there a need to revise statuses of Orthodox Primates? What is the way to avoid division between Orthodox Churches and to make all Orthodox Churches recognize the Orthodox Church in America as soon as possible? Head of the Synodal Department for External Church Relations Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk answers these questions in his interview with Interfax-Religion.

- Recently, reports have spread all over the world about the events in Egypt's Giza where radical Muslim groups killed people and set on fire two Christians churches. Are there real threats to Christianity in the Middle East?

- The Middle East is the cradle of Christianity. The history of Orthodoxy is inseparably linked with this region. There are four old Orthodox Patriarchates there, those of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, and the old Archdioceses of Cyprus and Sinai. In history, the eastern Mediterranean repeatedly became an arena of political and religious wars, and Christians were often victims of those conflicts.

Christians and non-Christians managed to achieve peaceful coexistence in some countries of the region, and Egypt was considered one of the examples of such coexistence between the Muslim majority and the Christian minority. However, the tragedy of the last months, beginning from the terrorist attack committed at the Coptic church in Alexandria during the night of January 1, 2011, to the recent arsons in Giza, have stirred up anxiety and pain among millions of believers around the world.

Today's developments in Egypt are only a part of the more global process affecting the life of Christians in a number of countries. If the authorities in the Middle East states do not take special measures to protect Christians we will soon see another wave of their emigration.

The escalation of Christianophobia in some countries of the Middle East is fraught with very serious consequences for Orthodoxy since it threatens the life of the oldest Local Churches and dooms them to a life without any rights. There is great anxiety about the preservation of common Christian shrines concentrated in those primordially Christian territories. But the greatest pain is over people's ruined life, over those who have had to flee from oppression or to suffer from persecution and sometimes even death at the hands of extremists.

I would like to underscore that by no means radical Islamism and extremism under Islamic slogans should be identified with Islam which preach tolerance between people of different religions. I had an occasion to see it a few days ago when I met with the president, professors and students of Al-Azhar, the world largest Islamic university. This university sets as its principal tasks to educate young Muslims in the spirit of tolerance.

I was also deeply moved by a letter sent by Farid Salman, chairman of the Council of Ulemas under All Russia's Muftiate, to the president of Al-Azhar, expressing sincere concern over the forced exodus of Christians from Muslim lands. This letter states in particular, 'The continued exodus of Christians from the Middle East countries, attacks on churches and monasteries, the killing of clergy and the hostage-taking of Christians is the best present that could be given to overt and covert enemies of Islam'.

Radicalism, fundamentalism and extremism are common enemies for both Christianity and Islam. And the priority task of the leaders of traditional religions today is to educate their flock for not just tolerance towards people of different views and different faith but for love of them. It is only through common efforts that we can stop the wave of extremism which has engulfed the Middle East posing a threat to the very survival of Christianity in some countries in that region.

- Recently it has become known that Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople intends to invite the primates of the five old Churches to a special conference on the situation of Orthodoxy in the Middle East. What does the Russian Orthodox Church expect from this gathering?

- As far as we know, the proposed meeting will have as its subject the situation of Orthodoxy in the Middle East - the place of four old Patriarchates and the Archdiocese of Cyprus which traces back to the apostolic times. In this regard, the meeting in Constantinople will be another one, similar to the meeting which took place last year in Cyprus on the initiative of Archbishop Chrysostom of Cyprus. That meeting was attended by the Primates of the Churches of Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem and Cyprus.

In the recent months the political situation in the Middle East has become more tense and the problem concerning the situation and prospects of Orthodoxy in the region has become more acute. The urgency of such a meeting in face of so serious a threat is quite understandable.

At the same time, there are reports that the agenda of the proposed gathering has also included pan-Orthodox issues arising in the course of preparations for the forthcoming Great Council of the Orthodox Church. And the inclusion of pan-Orthodox issues has been motivated by a special role played by the Churches whose autocephaly is confirmed by Ecumenical Councils and who constitute, as it were, 'the pillar' of the world Orthodoxy.

We hold the authority of the old Patriarchates in special respect. But if the matter is common affairs then it is necessary to deliberate all together in accordance with the commonly accepted principles of pan-Orthodox cooperation. Indeed, our common goal is to consolidate the efforts of all Local Churches, regardless of the history of their emergence, in the face of various challenges of our time.

And we certainly cannot agree that a particular group of Churches is regarded as 'the pillar' of world Orthodoxy on the grounds that their autocephaly is older than that of other Churches, for in this case there is a threat of dividing Orthodoxy into first-rate Churches and second-rate Churches. If the Pan-Orthodox Council is to be prepared and conducted properly we should be guided by the ecclesiological concepts which unite Orthodox Churches rather than create new concepts capable of bringing in division and trouble.

- In this connection, how would you comment on the recent claims of Archbishop Chrysostom of Cyprus to the fifth place in the order of Orthodox Primates?

- In the pre-Council process, the representatives of the Church of Cyprus have advocated the principles of ancience for many years now and proposed that it be put in the basis of the diptych. It is clear however that a consistent use of these principles would result in a radical review of the order of the Primates. In this case, the first place would have to be given to the Patriarch of Jerusalem as head of 'the Mother Church' to be followed by the Primates of Antioch and Cyprus since the apostles' preaching in these Churches is recorded in the New Testament. The next one would be the Pope of Alexandria whose throne came into prominence in the first three centuries of Christianity. The next one would be the Patriarch of Constantinople and the rest.

The canonical tradition of the Church knows of other principles of ordering the diptych, whereby Archbishop of Constantinople, considering the ecclesio-political significance of the capital city of the Byzantine Empire, was placed in the 4th century above the heads of the Churches of Alexandria and Antioch, apostolic as they were in there origin. In the same century Jerusalem, restored on the ruins of the ravaged Jewish capital, was given the fifth place to become the fourth after the rupture with Rome in 1054.

Should we today subject to a radical review the legacy of the holy fathers of the Ecumenical Councils? As a reminder, the same patristic principles guided the fathers of the Constantinople Councils of 1590 and 1593, which not only granted the title of Patriarch to the head of the Russian Church but also confirmed his fifth place in the diptych for all the centuries to come.

Relying on the words of St. Paul, who said, 'No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval' (1 Cor. 11:19), I am convinced that the matter of ordering the diptych cannot in any way influence our traditionally friendly relations with the Archdiocese of Cyprus and its Primate. This is precisely the reason for the existence of councils in the Church so that all arising perplexities may be resolved in the spirit of peace and fraternal love and preferences may be given to those who have God's approval.

At the same time, it would be the most important thing for the people of God to manifest our unity and to show to the world that the Orthodox have not lost the Spirit of Christ and are still capable of living up to the commandments of the One Who said, 'By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another' (Jn. 13:35) and 'It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant' (Mt. 20:26).

That is why I believe that any review of the diptych whatsoever should not be initiated now. Any further discussion on this theme can only put off the convening of a Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church, while this Council is what our flock expect from us. And the people of God not at all expect from us a decision as to the order in which Primates of our Church should be placed in the diptych. They rather expect from us a powerful and inspired witness to the truth of Christ; they expect answers to the questions of how the Orthodox Christian should live in the modern world. Let us hold the Council and show to the whole world that we are united and unanimous and that we are capable of responding to the challenges of our time 'with one mind and one voice'. And let us leave the question of which of the Primates should take which place for the post-Council time.

- Beside the problem of order, are there any differences in the number of primates included in the diptych of various Local Churches? And what are the reasons for these differences?

- The reason is recognition or non-recognition of the autocephalous status of the Orthodox Church in America. Along with the Russian Orthodox Church, the one who granted autocephaly to the former American Metropolia in 1970, this status of the Church in America is recognized by some other Local Churches.

Nevertheless, regardless of recognition or non-recognition of the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church in America, nobody challenges the canonicity of her archpastors and clergy. It enables her to be a full-fledged participant in the common life of the Church by sending her representatives to numerous inter-Orthodox meetings. The more bishops and priests of this Church participate in common church events, the sooner, I believe, this matter of the pan-Orthodox recognition of her status will be settled.

And it is very important that the Primate of this Church, equally with Primates of other Local Orthodox Churches, should participate in inter-Orthodox events every time when invited. Indeed, the presence of the Primate of the American Church in inter-Orthodox events will be the most eloquent testimony that this Church is serious about her autocephaly and makes efforts to have this autocephaly recognized by other Local Orthodox Churches as well.

[TsarSamuil]

Iranian ambassador in Warsaw summoned over condemned priest.

MSZ, IAR, Radio Free Europe
30.09.2011 11:34

The Iranian ambassador has been summoned to Poland's Foreign Ministry, following international condemnation surrounding the planned execution of a Christian pastor in Iran.

Islamic (sharia) law stipulates that a Muslim who converts to another faith is liable to face the death penalty.

Poland’s Foreign Ministry has its expressed “concern” over the Iranian government’s failure to unhold “fundamental human rights”.

Yusef Naderkhani, now 33, initially converted to Christianity in 1997. He was arrested in 2009, while acting as pastor at a church in the city of Rasht, northern Iran.

He was initially sentenced in 2010, and now the supreme court has upheld the sentence.

The court specified that it would show mercy id Father Naderkhani recanted his Christian faith, but the defendant was unforthcoming.

Iran's ambassador in Warsaw has been summoned to the Foreign Ministry by Undersecretary of State, Jerzy Pomianowski.

As the Foreign Ministry noted in a statement, Pomianowski feels “great concern” about what is “another example of Iranian courts failure to uphold fundamental rights, including civil and political liberties, which authorities in Teheran are obliged to comply with under international agreements.”

On behalf of Poland, Pomianowski is appealing to Iran “to respect fundamental human rights.”

According to the pastor's lawyer, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, himself a noted human rights advocate, no one has been executed for apostasy – abandoning one's original faith – for some twenty years.

The lawyer has appealed against the Supreme Court's ruling, and a final verdict is due to be announced over the coming days. (nh/pg)

[boroslav]

Iran doesn't make it easy to consider him as ally.

[TsarSamuil]

Faith declines only slightly in Poland.

TheNews.pl
10.11.2011 12:07

Ninety five percent of Poles declare themselves as Roman Catholics and more than a half of them say they are practicing church goers.

According to a survey by the CBOS Institute, the level of both religiousness and religious practices in Poland remains very high by European standards but there has been a steady decline the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005.

The number of believers has fallen by 2 percentage points, while of those who describe their faith as ‘deep’ has declined by 4 percentage points.

Fiftenn percent of the respondents say that they go to church vary rarely, mostly to attend weddings, baptisms and funeral celebrations.

Three in every four Poles claim they make regular financial donations for their parish, but the number of those who do not make any contribution has increased from 20 to 25 per cent over the past three years.

The CBOS survey also shows that most Polish Catholics have no say in the decision-making at parish level.

Only 12 per cent of respondents claim that they have some influence on the decision-making process, but as many as three in every four Poles say they have no voice on how their parish is run and have no aspirations to have any. (mk)

[TsarSamuil]

Vid,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCasuaAczKY

Cossacks to Guard Churches Against Pussy Riot.

15:40 27/02/2012
MOSCOW, February 27 (RIA Novosti)

Activists of a Cossack society in Moscow will guard all Orthodox Christian churches in the city’s southeast after a provocative stunt was staged by feminist group Pussy Riot in a downtown cathedral.

“Cossacks are setting up patrols by every church in the district,” the district administration cited the group as saying on Monday .

The Cossack group, called Southwest, also demanded that the Pussy Riot group be put on trial by church believers, the report said.

Pussy Riot radicals shocked the Christian community last week, when five masked members of the female group stormed the Christ the Savior Cathedral to perform a “punk prayer” attacking the church for its ties to the Kremlin. Churchgoers were too stunned to prevent them from escaping, while a video of the stunt became a hit on YouTube.

Church spokesman Vsevolod Chaplin demanded to make blasphemy a criminal offense following the incident. Lawmakers did not react but city police opened a case on hooliganism charges, punishable with up to seven years in prison.

Details of Cossack involvement in church protection remained unclear on Monday. Earlier this month, representatives of the Cossack community voiced plans to form “vice squads” to enforce a controversial ban on 'gay propaganda', currently being considered by the St. Petersburg city legislature.

Pussy Riot first made national headlines in January, when they performed an anti-government song on Lobnoye Mesto, a spot on the Red Square where executions are believed to have taken place in tsarist times. Two activists were detained but got away with fines of 500 rubles ($17).

-----------

'Pussy Riot ' feminists face 7 years in jail.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRu3r4xoSKo

primetimeru on Mar 13, 2012

Two members of the now notorious "Pussy Riot" punk band have been charged with hooliganism. The women face up to 7 years in jail for their performance of an anti-Putin song in Christ the Saviour cathedral.

-----------

Amnesty Calls on Russia to Free Pussy Riot Suspects.

16:40 04/04/2012
MOSCOW, April 4 (Marc Bennetts, RIA Novosti)

Amnesty International has urged the Russian authorities to release three young women detained after an anti-Putin protest by the punk group Pussy Riot at Moscow’s largest cathedral.

“Amnesty International calls for the immediate and unconditional release of three young women arrested by the Russian authorities as members of the punk group Pussy Riot,” the human rights organization said on its website.

“Even if the three arrested women did take part in the protest, the severity of the response of the Russian authorities… would not be a justifiable response,’ the statement issued late on Tuesday read. “They would therefore be prisoners of conscience.”

Five members of the group, clad in bright balaclavas, knelt and crossed themselves as they sang an acapella version of a song entitled “Holy Sh*t” at the downtown Moscow Christ the Savior Cathedral, which hosts Orthodox Christmas services attended by Russian leaders. The lyrics included lines such as “Holy Mother, Blessed Virgin, chase Putin out!” The protest came amid unprecedented mass demonstrations against Putin’s rule.

“The broader political context surrounding the anti-Putin protests at the time – and the anticlerical, anti-Putin content of the activists’ message – have clearly and unlawfully been taken into account in the charges that have been brought against them,” Amnesty said.

But Orthodox Church spokesman Vladimir Vigilyansky told RIA Novosti the decision was an “insult to those genuine prisoners of conscience who have suffered under totalitarian regimes such as China, Iran, the Soviet Union and Hitler’s Germany.”

He also accused Amnesty of fulfilling an “anti-Russian, anti-Putin and anti-Church order” as part of an “international political struggle.”

Suspects Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich were detained in early and mid-March and face up to seven years in jail on hooliganism charges. They have been remanded in custody until their trial later this month. All the suspects admit being part of the Pussy Riot collective, but deny taking part in the cathedral performance. Both Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova have small children.

Some 10,000 people attended a rally condemning the group's action in the south Russian city of Krasnodar on Sunday, according to police. Pussy Riot supporters held a series of pickets outside Moscow's central police station last month.

Pussy Riot said the performance was a response to Orthodox Church head Patriarch Kirill’s “support” for President-elect Vladimir Putin in the run-up to his landslide March 4 election victory and accused him of “believing in Putin,” rather than God. Putin’s press secretary has said the president-elect reacted “negatively” when told of the group’s protest.

But Vigilyansky denied that the patriarch had offered his support for Putin prior to the presidential vote. The patriarch thanked Putin at a televised meeting in early February for his “huge role” in helping Russia survive the economic and social uncertainties of the 1990s.

“He was just saying obvious things,” Vigilyansky said. “He did not call on anyone to vote for Putin."

Vigilyansky's comments come after the Orthodox Church's Supreme Council said in a statement on Tuesday that it was under attack from unspecified "anti-Russian forces."

The Russian Orthodox Church has enjoyed a dramatic rise in influence since the collapse of the atheist Soviet Union. But it has faced mounting criticism from opposition supporters over its deepening ties with Russia's leaders.

Pussy Riot’s lawyer welcomed Amnesty’s decision.

“I’m not sure that it will have any influence on the court, but it’s important that the political element of the case has been recognized by Amnesty,” Nikolai Polozov told RIA Novosti. “This will take the discussion of the case to a new level.”

He also said he would visit his clients later this evening and that he hoped the news would “raise their spirits.”

The most recent Russian to be named a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International was Left Front opposition leader Sergei Udaltsov in August of last year. Udaltsov has been repeatedly detained on protest-related charges. Jailed former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev were conferred the status in May 2011 after facing a new set of what Amnesty said were “politically motivated” economic charges.

The head of Amnesty International’s Russian branch, Sergei Nikitin, called the decision to recognize the Pussy Riot suspects as prisoners of conscience “a signal to Russian society.”

He also said that while “no one ever admits to it officially, lawyers say that when one of their clients is recognized as a prisoner of conscience, this makes a big impression on all participants at court proceedings.”

A number of religious figures have urged leniency for the suspects, including Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, who oversees relations between the society and the Orthodox Church.

But Patriarch Kirill hit out at those who he said seek to "justify and downplay this sacrilege" in an address to believers in March. "My heart breaks from bitterness that amongst these people there are those who call themselves Orthodox."

Pussy Riot first hit the headlines in January, when they raced through a musical diatribe against Putin on a snowy Red Square, calling for “Revolt in Russia!” and chanting “Putin’s got scared” before being detained by police.

[TsarSamuil]

Ten years ago or so, I landed in Heathrow Airport, England, I saw Sikhs, employees wearing Turbans!

It's true what the UN says, Christianity is the #1 discriminated religion in the world.

------------------

Strasbourg Court Should Protect Christians - Russian Church.

20:39 20/03/2012
MOSCOW/STRASBOURG, March 20 (RIA Novosti)

Hegumen Philip Ryabykh, the Russian Orthodox Church’s representative to the Council of Europe, said on Tuesday Russia would do what it can to help British Christians banned from openly wearing crosses at work defend their right to do so.

“I hope very much that the [Strasbourg] court will make a just ruling and protect the right of Christians in Britain and across Europe to openly profess their faith,” Hegumen Philip said.

The issue of wearing crosses at work recently came to the foreground again, when British newspapers The Sunday Telegraph and The Daily Mail a week ago reported that the European Court of Human Rights is poised to start considering the cases in spring of British Airways check-in clerk Nadia Eweida and Shirley Chaplin, a nurse.

Eweida was suspended from work in 2006 after she refused to take off her cross at work. The airline, which initially claimed the cross breached its uniform code, backed down after the case was widely condemned. However, Eweida, 58, has been campaigning to cement the rights of Christians to wear religious emblems, a right she says is not denied to other faiths.

Fifty-six-year-old Chaplin was barred from working at her hospital in Exeter, southwest England, when she refused to remove or hide the cross she wore.

British courts turned down the women’s claims that their right to wear crosses was guaranteed by European human rights rules but the women have been backed by the Equality Commission, headed by former Labour politician Trevor Phillips.

Government lawyers are set to follow Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone’s line to argue that “in neither case is there any suggestion that the wearing of a visible cross or crucifix was a generally recognized form of practicing the Christian faith, still less one that is regarded as a requirement of the faith.”

The British government said “no pressure was placed on either applicant to change their religious views and both were told that they could wear the cross or Crucifix provided that it was covered when dealing with customers or patients.”

The government’s position has received an angry response from prominent figures, including former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey, who has accused ministers and the courts of “dictating” to Christians.

Hegumen Philip said the representation of the Russian Orthodox Church in Strasbourg will closely follow the case and employ all available means to “seek ways to provide arguments in defense of British believers.”

He said wearing a cross is mandatory for Orthodox Christians as well as for believers of some other Christian churches.

Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance.”

However, the government says wearing a cross is not a “requirement of the faith” and therefore does not fall under the remit of Article 9.

“The irony is that when governments and courts dictate to Christians that the cross is a matter of insignificance, it becomes an even more important symbol and expression of our faith,” Lord Carey said.

Hegumen Philip also criticized the British authorities’ position on other issues, which are important for Christians, including “demands by atheists that religious schools be closed and dismissals of employees for their traditional views on family.”

[TsarSamuil]

Report shows Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world.

[TsarSamuil]

Political Correctness Can Destroy Europe – Priest.

21:01 10/04/2012
MOSCOW, April 10 (RIA Novosti)

A prominent hierarch in the besieged Russian Orthodox Church has warned that political correctness can lead to “the physical destruction of European nations.”

“The godless liberal ideology dominant in many Western countries does not just harm religions, it targets such foundations of human existence as family values,” said metropolitan Ilarion, who heads the foreign ecclesiastical relations department at the Moscow patriarchate.

The problem is “propaganda of homosexuality” and single-sex marriage, which are the causes of the demographic crisis that has gripped Europe, Ilarion said in an interview.

Legislators in St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-biggest city, banned “gay propaganda” in February despite protests from domestic and foreign LGBT activists. A nationwide ban was proposed in March, with the bill pending review in the State Duma.

“The mania of political correctness is spreading in many Western countries, including Great Britain, like manic psychosis,” Ilarion said.

He cited as examples the recent crackdown on Christian symbols in England, where the government is seeking to allow employers to prohibit their staff from wearing crosses around their necks, even under their clothes.

“If Great Britain follows the Soviet Union’s ideological dictate of militant secularism, it will not be the most flattering comparison for a country that calls itself democratic,” the priest said.

Bans on religious symbolic are aimed at instilling peace between various confessions, but it is the atheists, not the believers, who are irritated by such symbols, Ilarion said.

He also conceded that anti-church sentiment is rising in Russia, but put it down to “church opponents who are mounting such campaigns in our society same as in the Western one.”

Illarion was referring, in particular, to the recent scandals involving a “punk prayer” in a Moscow cathedral and criticism of Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, over his prestigious residence in the country’s capital.

Five masked members of the female punk rock group Pussy Riot performed a short song lambasting the government and its ties with church near the altar of the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow in February.

Three of them were detained and face up to seven years in prison over hooliganism charges, prompting Amnesty International to recognize them prisoners of conscience.

Church leaders, including Kirill, have repeatedly criticized the “sacrilegious” stunt and refused to pardon the Pussy Riot members or plead for a soft punishment for them.

Meanwhile, Kirill himself came under fire in the media over his posh apartment in downtown Moscow and a lawsuit demanding 20 million rubles ($670,000) from another priest, his neighbor, who allegedly ruined Kirill’s collection of old books during repairs in his own apartment.