Keston News Service Summary: Georgia, Lithuania, Romania, Russia & Turkmenistan
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Subject: Keston News Service Summary: Georgia, Lithuania, Romania, Russia & Turkmenistan
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Keston News Service Summary: Georgia, Lithuania, Romania, Russia &
Turkmenistan
KESTON INSTITUTE, OXFORD, UK
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KESTON NEWS SERVICE – SUMMARY 1-5 October 2001
Summaries of recent reporting on violations of religious liberty and
on religion in communist and post-communist lands.
______________________________________
SUMMARIES:
GEORGIA: PATRIARCHATE MONOPOLY ON STATE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION (2 Oct).
Georgia's main government official in charge of religious issues
denies that the Orthodox Patriarchate has a monopoly on state
religious education, but no-one else Keston News Service spoke to on
this subject in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, agreed with this view.
The Patriarchate is already among the bodies with which the Ministry
of Education develops syllabuses for state schools, and the as yet
unsigned spring 2001 draft constitutional agreement between the state
and the Orthodox Church goes further in giving the Patriarchate sole
initiative for such programmes.
GEORGIA: PATRIARCHATE VETO ON ALTERNATIVE ORTHODOX CONSTRUCTION (2
Oct). The parish of the breakaway Orthodox Church in Georgia in the
western town of Kutaisi is still unable to build a church despite
having purchased private land to do so, the dean of the Church's four
communities in Georgia told Keston News Service on 19 September. When
the parish lodged a building application in March 2000, both Kutaisi's
chief architect and deputy mayor informed them that permission was
required from the local Patriarchate bishop (see KNS 9 March 2001). It
seems the authorities are already following the draft provisions of
the as yet unsigned concordat between the state and the mainstream
Georgian Orthodox Church.
LITHUANIA: WILL CATHOLIC CANDIDATE FOR RELIGIOUS ADVISER BE CHOSEN? (1
Oct) More than six months after the resignation of the Lithuanian
government's religious affairs adviser, three candidates for the job
have emerged, the personnel office of the government told Keston News
Service from Vilnius. One of them is the choice of the Catholic
Church, the major faith in Lithuania. The successful candidate is
likely to be chosen on 11 October. However, controversy continues
about what role the adviser should play - and whether the government
should have such an adviser at all (see separate KNS article).
LITHUANIA: WHO SHOULD ADVISE GOVERNMENT ON RELIGION? (1 Oct) As the
Lithuanian government is poised to choose its new religious affairs
adviser (see separate KNS article), discussion continues - especially
among minority religious communities - about how the government should
structure its relations with the country's religious faiths. Is a new
religious affairs department necessary? Should the government be
advised by an individual or by a voluntary committee of
representatives of different faiths?
ROMANIA: PREFECT CHANGES PROPERTY RESTITUTION CRITERIA (2 Oct).
Despite protests from local Romanian Greek Catholic leaders, the
prefect of Alba county in north western Romania has refused to
overturn a directive he issued two months ago directing the land
restitution commissions in his county to return former Greek Catholic
property confiscated when the Church was banned in 1948 not to its
original owners but to divide it between the Greek Catholics and
Orthodox in line with their current numbers. The prefect was
repeatedly ‘unavailable’ to discuss his decision with Keston News
Service.
RUSSIA: SALVATION ARMY TO APPEAL AGAINST LIQUIDATION RULING (5 Oct).
The lawyers representing the Moscow branch of the Salvation Army in
its battle to remain active in the Russian capital finally received
the written ruling of the 12 September liquidation hearing (see KNS 20
September) on 28 September. They told Keston News Service that the
church’s appeal against this ruling would probably be lodged on 5
October. The Salvation Army’s international leader said on 4 October
that he had been surprised by the ruling: ‘I would have hoped that
after ten years the Salvation Army would have proved to any wise
observer that it is a useful thing to have around.’
TURKMENISTAN: JEHOVAH'S WITNESS FAMILY LOSES SUPREME COURT APPEAL (4
Oct). The threat of eviction of Jehovah's Witness Maria Segzekov and
her family from their rented home in the Turkmen capital Ashgabad has
loomed closer after they lost their appeal in the Supreme Court
against earlier court rulings that they be evicted for using their
home for religious meetings. The Supreme Court found the earlier
rulings to be ‘legal and well-founded’. Jehovah's Witness sources told
Keston News Service on 3 October that the authorities had not yet
taken steps to evict the family. The Segzekovs intend to appeal
against the decision. (see full article below)
Thursday 4 October
TURKMENISTAN: JEHOVAH'S WITNESS FAMILY LOSES SUPREME COURT APPEAL
by Felix Corley, Keston News Service
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For the full text, see http://www.keston.org/knsframe.htm
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