Pray for It: Religious Freedom in Russia

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Five years ago on the occasion of the first visit of a Soviet head of state to the Vatican, Mikhail Gorbachev promised Pope John Paul 11 that his policy of perestroika or reconstruction would entail a new era of religious freedom in the Soviet Union. There was a great irony in this, for 1988 was the year in which Nikita Khrushchev had promised to display "the last living priest." Gorbachev kept his promise; in 1990 he signed a new statute that protected religious freedom in the Soviet Union. That represented major progress alter seven decades of Communist rule that did its level best to impose atheism as the official state religion and to eliminate all exercise of other religious convictions. Shortly thereafter the Russian Federation adopted its own statute, which was even more protective of religious freedom. With the collapse of the Soviet Union it is this statute that now governs in Russia.

Recently, however, word has drifted westward that changes were being contemplated in this important statute. For example, an article last month in Isvestia blasted the creation of a new Experts' Consultative Council on religious matters. Melropolitan Kirill of Smolensk condemned the draft outright, while the apostolic administrator of the Catholic church in Russia. Thadeus Kondrusiewicz, took more focused aim at new provisions requiring registration of religious associations with the council and regular reporting of their activities.

As it turned out, I was one of several legal scholars lucky enough …