A 300-strong unregistered Baptist community in Moscow is
searching for a new place to worship after being informed that they can no
longer rent premises at a public library near the world-famous Tretyakov
Gallery, Forum 18 News Service reported March 13.
For the past six years the congregation has been holding several meetings a
week after opening hours at the Ushinsky Public Library, pastor Aleksei
Kalyashin told Forum 18 in Moscow. In mid-January, the library's administration
unexpectedly informed the Baptists they could no longer use the premises and
returned an advance rental payment for the first quarter of 2003.
Kalyashin told Forum 18 he does not believe the library administration is
behind the move. "They were always very well-disposed towards us," he
said from his home in mid-February, noting that they had not previously
experienced interference of any kind there. "Pressure from above" was
the only explanation given for the termination of the congregation's verbal
rental agreement, he said, and the library's administrator would not elaborate.
On Jan. 12, Forum 18 observed what would be one of the Baptists' last meetings
at the library, where there was standing room only for two visiting Dutch
preachers.
As in the early days of perestroika in the late 1980s, Kalyashin said the
congregation is currently forced to meet at up to seven different private homes
at a time.
Because of a lack of space, Kalyashin recounted, a decision was made to divide
the congregation into two groups in 2000. The 100-strong subgroup soon began to
experience difficulties not encountered by those at the Ushinsky Library.
"Pressure from above" was similarly cited by library administrators
when the subgroup had rental agreements terminated three times in the course of
the subsequent two years, he said.
Kalyashin told Forum 18 he supposes that the congregation was expelled because,
as an unregistered religious group, they do not have legal status according to
Russia's 1997 law on religion. The congregation is a member of the
International Council of Churches of Evangelical Christians/Baptists, which
broke away from the mainstream Baptist Union over issues of cooperation with
the atheist Soviet state in 1961.
Kalyashin argued that under the 1997 law on religion, which supersedes local
legislation, a religious group may rent property through the physical person of
an individual group member. The law states that "premises and property necessary
for the activities of a religious group are to be provided for the use of the
group by its participants." The official commentary to this provision
determines that such premises may be either the property of a member or be
rented or used by them on a temporary basis on other grounds: "... an
organization where a participant works may be made available to them, for
example."
Without confirming the existence of municipal legislation prohibiting
individuals from renting public property, the press relations officer at Moscow
City Council's Committee for Relations with Religious Organizations told Forum
18 Feb. 21 that such a practice was indeed followed. Konstantin Blazhenov,
referencing the religion law, said members of a religious group may make available
for its worship only such property that is at their personal disposal. He also
noted that "plenty of religious organizations" rented cinemas and
other public premises in Moscow without hindrance.