I have often been asked the following questions, I seek to answer them to the best of my knowledge and information. Representatives of the Soviet Government or of religious groups from the Soviet Union may not agree with everything I say,
1. Is there freedom for religious practice in the Soviet Union?
Article 52 of the Constitution (Fundamental Law) of the USSR lays down the law as follows:
"Citizens of the USSR are guaranteed freedom of conscience, that is, the right to profess or not to profess any religion, and to conduct religious worship or atheistic propaganda. Incitement of hostility or hatred on religious grounds is prohibited,"
"In the USSR, the church is separated-from the State, and the school from the church.“
The right to profess any religion and to conduct religious worship is thus guaranteed by the constitution, and implemented in actual practice.
2. Which are the main religious groups in the Soviet Union?
There are no official statistics on this matter since the Soviet Census forms do not ask citizens to declare their religious affiliation or lack of it. The main religious bodies are:
a) Orthodox, Protestant and Roman Catholic Christians,
b) Shiite, Sunni or Ismaili Muslims
c) Buddhists
d) Jews
3. Where do the Buddhists live?'
Mostly in the-Buryat Autonomous Republic in the far east of the Soviet Union, around Lake Baikal. The Buddhist Association of the USSR has its head quarters in the newly rebuilt Monastery, in Ivolga, near Ulan Ude capital of Buryat. There are Buddhists in the Kalmyk and Tuva Autonomous Republic and in the Chita and Irkhutsk regions.
4. How many Buddhists are there in the soviet Union?
A modest estimate is half a million. There may be more, perhaps 800,000.
5. Are there Buddhist viharas and monasteries (lamaseriais) in the Soviet Union?
Yes there are several. A new Buddhist temple has been recently built in the Ivolginsky lamaserai which serves as the headquarters for Soviet Buddhists and where the Hamba Lamo lives. Indian Buddhists have visited several of these monasteries and have written about them in the Maha Bodhi.
6. What is your estimate of the total number of Muslims in the Soviet Union? Where are they?
An informed estimate is 30 million Muslims in the Soviet Union. The historically Islamic areas are in Central Asia, Uzbekistan, Kazakstan, Tajikstan, Azerbaijan, Kirghizia, Turkmenia, Tataria, Bashkiria, Kabardino-Balkaria, Daghestan, Checheno-Ingushetia, and Karachai-Circassia. There are functioning mosques in all these area, In addition, there are large numbers of Muslims living in all Soviet cities. Impressive mosques are functioning in Moscow,Leningrad, Ulyanovsk, Rostov-on-the-Don, Gorki and Kuibshev. There are mosques in Armenia and Georgia also, as well as in the Mordovian, Udmurt and Chuvash autonomous republics.
7. How are the mosques and their Imams supported? Do they get their salaries from the government?
The mosques and their staff are supported entirely by the voluntary contributions of Muslim worshippers. The annual collections are sufficient not only for the budgets of the mosques, but also for the central staff, for publications and other expenses like training the clergy.
8. which are the institutions other than mosques?
There are four central boards:
1) Central Asia and Kazakhstan. HQ.Tashkent(Uzbekistan)
2) Europeans USSR and Siberia. HQ. Ufa(Bashkir)
3) Northern Caucasus. HQ. Buinaksk(Daghestan)
4) Transcausasia. HQ. Baku(AZerbaijan)
These boards have administrative responsibilities over mosques and other institutions in their area. They also take care of the repair and maintenance of mosques and the construction of mosques. They organise forums on international issues and invite Muslims from other countries. Eight such international gatherings have recently been held. They organise visits of Muslim leaders abroad, and take care of the dozens of visiting Islamic teams which come to the USSR every year.
9. Where do the Muslims train their leadership?
There are two major institutions for training Muslim leadership. They are the Mir_Arab Madrasah of Bukhara and the Tashkent Higher Muslim School. The Mir-Arab admits students with a secondary school(secular) education and through a competitive entrance examination system and gives them a seven year training in Quran reading, Tafsir (interpretation of the Quran), the Hadith, the Shariat, Islamic History and Arabic, as language and literature, Graduates may be sent abroad for further study at Islamic universities like Al-Szhar in Cairo, El-Beida in Libya or universities with Islamic departments in Morocco, Amman or Damascus. Sheikh Abdulghani hbdullaev is a graduate of both Tashkent and Al-Azhar and now teaches in the Tashkent Higher Muslim School.
10. Do Soviet Muslims publish any journals? Can they get the Quran and other Islamic religious books?
Yes. Sheikh Abdulghani Abdullaev is also the Editor in Chief of the Magazine Muslims of the Soviet East, which is now published in five languages:Uzbek, Arabic, Persian, English, and French. It is distributed widely within the USSR and also in some countries abroad. Six editions of the Quran has been published recently, mostly under the auspices of the Muslim Religious Board of Central Asia and Kazakhstan, The Hadith or the teachings of the great Ulemas of the past are also printed and distributed.
l1. Are Soviet Muslims free to make the pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina?
Yes, Every year pilgrims of all Soviet nationalities gather together and fly to Saudi Arabia, given a festive send-off by their fellow Muslims. They are also received festively on their return.
l2. What about pilgrimages within the country?
There are several monuments and historical holy places in Soviet Central Asia which attract pilgrims from within the country as well as from abroad. For example, the Kussam ibn Abbas mausoleum, built in the llth century, houses the tome of Kussam, cousin of Prophet Muhammad, and one of the first disseminators of Islam in Central Asia. Several mausoleums of Muslim saints were added to the tomb in later centuries, and today the ensemble Shah-i-Zinda is an impressive tribute to Islamic history and architecture. The city of Samarkhand is worth visiting, if only to see the Shai-i-Zinda ensemble. There are many other centres of pilgrimage in Central Asia and many pilgrims go there Every year.
l3. Which are the main Christian Churches in the Soviet Union?
The following list is not exhaustive, but covers the most important groups,
l)The Russian Orthodox Church, by far the largest. HQ Moscow.
2)The Armenin Apostolic Church. HQ Etchmiadzin, Soviet Armenia.
3)The Georgian Orthodox Church. HQ Dbilisi(Tiflis), Soviet Georgia.
4)The Union of Evangelical Christians - Baptists. HQ Moscow.
5)The Roman Catholic Church, in Lithuania, Latvia etc,
6)The Lutheran Church (Augsburg Confession) in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania,
7)The Reformed Church in Lithuaniaand Transcarpathia
8)The Old Believers, Popovtsi (with ordained orthodox priests)
9)The Old Believers Beglopopovtsi (run-away priests)
10)The Old Believers Bespopovtsi (without ordained priests) '
11)Jews. (in major cities, in Georgia, Central Asia etc)
12)Seventh Day Adventists,
13)Jehova's Witnesses,
14. How many churches are open and functioning in the Soviet Union?
The official government figure is 20,000 places of worship of all religious groups together, now open and functioning:
"In the USSR there are more than 20,0 functioning Russian Orthodox, Old Believers, Georgian, Armenian, Roman Catholic, and Lutheran Churches, Synagogues, Buddhists lamaseries, prayer-houses of the Evangelical-Christians -- Baptists, and Seventh Day Adventists etc. and 19 monasteries and convents of the Russian Orthodox Church,"
(Vladimir Kuroyedov, Church and Religion in the USSR, Novosty, Moscow, 1932) p. 31)
15. Do you think the official estimate exaggerates the situation?
No, It is quite accurate, in so far as it says more than 20,000. According to my own estimate, the number of Russian Orthodox churches open alone comes to about 20,000. When we add the other denominations and the Muslims, Buddhists and Jews, the number must be much larger.
16. Are the churches, mosques and synagogues fairly well attended?
My own experience is that wherever I have gone in the Soviet Union, the churches were full to capacity. There is a larger proportion of women than men, more older people than young people, and few children. On feast days, all the churches overflow their capacity.
17. How is the Russian Orthodox Church organised? What is your estimate of its total membership?
Estimates are difficult. Present estimates vary from 40 million to 70 million members in the Russian Orthodox Church. That makes it the second largest church in the world next only to The Roman Catholic Church. The Russian Orthodox Church is organised in 76 dioceses with that many Bishops, each diocese having hundreds of parishes in it. Outside the Soviet Union it has three exarchates-- Western European, Central European, and Central and South American, with parishes & Bishops and priests in all these areas.
18. How is the administration carried out?
The highest authority is the ‘Local Council‘, headed by Patriarch Pimen of Moscow and All Russia, with all Bishops, and.representatives of the clergy and laity. The Holy Synod is the Executive Body, with five permanent members and three temporary members chosen to attend for six months each. The Holy Synod chooses Bishops for the dioceses, supervises their consecration (one hundred and twenty nine Bishops consecrated in l945-71, and about 50 since). Under the Holy Synod there are the following bodies: .
a) The Chancellery of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, responsible for general administration of the whole church, headed by Metropolitan Aleksy of Tallinn and Estonia,
b) The Department of External Church Relations, headed by Metropolitan Filaret of Minsk and Byelorussia,
c) The Gommission on Christian Unity, headed by Metropolitan Filaret of Kiev and Galich, Patriarchal Exarch of the Ukraine,
d) The Publishing Department of the Moscow Patriarchate, headed by.Archbishop Pitirim of Volokolamsk: publishes, worship manuals, church calendars, theological hournals and books, produces films, cassettes and other recordings about the church,
e)The Economic Management Department, headed by Protopresbytcr Matfei Btadnyuk, in charge of manufacturing candles, church utensils, restoration of churches etc,
f) The Educational Committee, also headed by Metropolitan Aleksey, supervises theological education and training of the clergy,
g) The Pensions Committee, in charge ct pensions for older priests and families of deceased priests.
All together, these establishments constitute several hundreds of full time workers.
l9. How is each parish administered and financed?
Each parish is administered by the parish assembly. The smaller parish council, consisting of a church warden, his assistant and a treasurer, carries out the daily management and pays the parish priest and other employees, There is also an auditing council to check accounts every year. The churches are all financed by voluntary contributions of members.
20. What institutions exist for the training of clergy, and do young people come forward in sufficient numbers to serve the churches?
There are three seminaries: in Moscow, Leningrad, and Odessa, and two higher theological academies, in Moscow and Leningrad. Except in Leningrad, the institutions are located in monasteries and follow the monastic discipline. The first year candidates are grouped into separate classes because of large numbers.
There are seven such classes in the three seminaries. The Seminary programme is four years, and the academy another four years, The number of students who apply each year are much more than can be accommodated, and there are several hundreds of candidates who take the course by correspondence. More than a thousand have graduated from these institutions in the past few years. There are also foreign students at these institutions, from some 20 different countries. The Leningrad Academy has an excellent library with more than 200,000 volumes, in many languages.
2l. What are the major publications of the R O C?
Printing the Bible and liturgical books is a first priority, Four editions of the Russian Bible have recently been published, and a fifth elaborate illustrated one, with the best Church art of the 13th to 19th centuries is now in preparation, 20 volumes of Theological Studies have been published in 1960-80 and more are being printed. The monthly Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate is published in Russian and in English. There are several books and.booklets published each year. A comprehensive and well illustrated book on The Russian Orthodox Church was published by Progress Publishers (a secular publishing house) in 1982, and provided interesting information on all aspects of the life of the Russian Orthodox Church (254 pages).
22. Is there religious prosecution in the USSR?
The Western media have always tried to give that impression. The fact of the matter is that the Government does not take any action against anyone on account of his or her religious belief. In all the publicised eases, it is clear that the persons arrested have violated Soviet law, and have been charged under a distinct provision of the law. Article 34 of the Fundamental law (Constitution) is very clear:
"Citizens of the USSR are equal before the law, without distinction of origin, social or property status, race or nationality, sex, education, language, attitude to religion, type and nature of occupation, domicile or other status. The equal rights of citizens of the USSR are guaranteed in all fields of economic, political, social and cultural life."
Quite often, a religious cover is used to disguise political activity, detrimental to the Soviet State. Most of the prosecutions are on grounds of political offenses, and are tried and disposed on that basis and not on the basis of one's religious affiliation.