Authorities persecute uncontrollable communities of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church
“What is happening in the museum capital of the ‘Golden Ring’ of Russia increasingly resembles the bloody anti-religious campaigns of the late 1930s.” This statement by the hegumen of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church (ROAC) Ioann was key at a conference held on May 13 at the capital’s Independent Press Center, dedicated to the conflict over churches in Suzdal that previously belonged to the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church (ROAC) – a religious structure independent of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.
The press conference titled “Authorities Seize Churches from ROAC Communities in Suzdal. Is a ‘Forceful Scenario’ Possible?” was attended by the secretary of the ROAC Bishops’ Synod, hegumen Feofan, and independent expert Valery Nikolsky; also speaking was member of the Moscow Helsinki Group, Soviet-era “prisoner of conscience” priest Gleb Yakunin.
As noted in the press release distributed by the event organizers, “The court process, which resulted in the disgraceful for modern Russia expulsion of Orthodox Christians from Orthodox churches, began in 2007 after an order by the Presidential Envoy to the Central Federal District to ‘check’ the monuments transferred to ROAC communities and the ‘legality’ of the ROAC itself. In execution of that order, inspections of the condition of the Suzdal ROAC churches were carried out, concluding that the churches had been restored and were being used for their intended purpose.
However, the Territorial Administration of the Federal Property Management Agency in Vladimir Oblast filed a lawsuit with the arbitration court, twice changing the grounds for its claim during the process. On February 5 of this year, the Vladimir Arbitration Court decided that protective easement contracts are not grounds for using the churches, and the churches are subject to seizure from the believers.
In late April – early May, the First Appellate Arbitration Court in Vladimir upheld these decisions. The forceful operation to expel the believers, who intend to defend their holy places “to the last,” could begin any day – the decisions have entered into “legal force.”
As human rights activists stated, particular concern is raised by the readiness of local authorities, who speak of the possible sale of seized churches to private individuals, to use force against believers, up to and including riot police (OMON). In particular, the head of the Territorial Administration of the Federal Property Management Agency in Vladimir Oblast, Vladimir Gorlanov, made such a statement to the ROAC.
Hegumen Feofan noted that the court, which issued such unprecedented acts in the spirit of the 1930s, never clarified what specific rights of the owner – the Russian Federation – were violated by the ROAC believers who received the churches (or, in most cases, their ruins) under contracts from the state, restored them at their own expense, and used them for prayer. “The believers are resolutely determined,” reported the secretary of the Bishops’ Synod. “We will not surrender the churches, and we will use all lawful methods of resistance. And we will stand until blood is shed.”
At present, the ROAC has received the first official texts of the appellate court’s decisions on the seizure of churches and is preparing cassation appeals against them to the Federal Arbitration Court of the Volga-Vyatka District. Among the immediate plans of the Church leadership are counterclaims against the Territorial Administration of the Federal Property Management Agency, appeals to the prosecutor’s office, international human rights organizations, and a challenge to the enforcement proceedings, related to the fact that the seized churches contain personal property of citizens, and the Church retains its obligations to protect the monuments and its rights to use the land plots on which they stand. The court decisions, the ROAC notes, not only create a precedent for the seizure of property from religious organizations but also give rise to a host of legal collisions.
Andrey Ivochkin
“Novaya Gazeta”
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