Church wants to be legally distanced from ‘foreign agents’ bill

Published time: July 09, 2012 14:51
Edited time: July 09, 2012 18:51
Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Moscow (RIA Novosti / Alexander Vilf)

The Russian Orthodox Church has asked to State Duma to make amendments to the bill that tightens the screws on foreign-funded NGOs so that the legislation would not affect religious organizations.

The document introducing ‘foreign agent’ status to non-governmental organizations that are financed from abroad and engage in political activity was approved in the first reading by the lower house on Friday.

A senior church member, Archpriest Georgy Roshchin pointed out that the bill still lacks clarity on some issues. In particular, the Church is concerned about judicial nuances related to foreign funding.

“Even though the church is not engaged in any political activities, we think the bill can still be used in order to falsely accuse the Church of such behavior,” he said.

However, “Overall, the Russian Orthodox Church supports the legislation on NGOs,” Roshchin told Itar-Tass.

Comments (1)

Religious masks is the most effective way to spread foreign ideas into Russia (unregistered) 09.07.2012 15:06

Before the onset of the age of the NGOs, missionary missions were the most effective way to spread colonial and imperialist ideologies throughout the world. Today that agenda did not change ( see what endless Christian fundamentalist missionaries and Muslim Salafists are doing to the world )- only the new the NGOs have become an additional layer to that old colonial structure. Thus no exception shall be mode for religious organizations if their funding comes from foreign sources. In fact- extremist influences are entering Russia under the guises of race and religion and both agenda have the objectives of creating internal strife and unrest in Russia. Islamic agencies which receive money from Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries should be listed as foreign agents- likewise any Christian mission which receive foreign money should also be labelled as a foreign agency. You cannot have one without the other.

+9

Undo

Add comment

By posting your comment, you agree to abide by our Posting rules

Log in to comment in full, or comment anonymously under character-limit restriction.

100 Text

– required fields

Register or

Name

Password

Show password

Register

or Register

Request a new password

Send

or Register

To complete a registration check
your Email:

or Register

A password has been sent to your email address

Edit profile

Name

New password

Retype new password

Current password

Save

Cancel

Follow us