#15
Miami Herald
December 25, 2001
Old church takes on a modern role in Russia
BY DAVE MONTGOMERY
Herald World Staff

MOSCOW -- Growing up in Western Ukraine, Valentina Kasatkina was warned against even glancing at the shuttered church near her home. Every Soviet authority figure -- from schoolteachers to youth league directors -- constantly reminded her that practicing religion was an affront to the state.

Ten years after the collapse of the atheistic Soviet regime, the 61-year-old pensioner no longer hides the deep religious beliefs she concealed as a child. So last week, undaunted by subzero temperatures and ankle-deep snow, she trekked enthusiastically to a familiar refuge -- Church of the Deposition of the Robe in south Moscow.

``Whenever I feel bad, I go to this church,'' she explained as she left St. Nicholas Day services with her 22-year-old daughter-in-law and her 16-month-old granddaughter. ``It's amazing. It makes all the difference.''

At Christmas time, the Moscow church embodies the surge of religious expression that has spread across Russia since the Soviet Union officially ceased to exist on Dec. 25, 1991.

No longer fearful of arrest or official harassment, millions of Russians have found their spiritual voices. The Russian Orthodox Church, the dominant faith in Russia, now has more than 19,000 parishes in the country and other parts of the former Soviet Union, nearly triple the number in 1988.

Although critics accuse Russian Orthodox leaders of suppressing ``imported'' religions, a directory of Moscow houses of worship offers a diverse roster of beliefs, including Protestants, Roman Catholics, Muslims, Jews, Christian Scientists, Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses.

FIVE CUPOLAS

With five brownish-gray cupolas towering over a working-class neighborhood, the Russian Orthodox Church of the Deposition of the Robe is a touchstone for hundreds of parishioners. Struggling retirees, middle-aged breadwinners and teenagers with only vague memories of communism all find escape from their secular burdens within its icon-encrusted interior.

The church, which was erected in 1701, somehow withstood decades of Soviet persecution, which destroyed thousands of other churches throughout Russia. The stately terra-cotta structure is a beacon of reassurance in Moscow's Shabolovka section -- both to the religious and nonreligious.

``This church has been standing here since the 18th century,'' said Natalia Savelyeva, a 29-year-old opera singer who regularly attends services there. ``I can't imagine the neighborhood without it, and I can't imagine what would happen if we didn't have it.''

The Rev. Vasily Blankovsky, the 64-year-old head priest, says his congregation has grown steadily since communism collapsed, including a noticeable number of young people struggling for direction in Russia's bumpy political and social transition.

``They have temptations, and they have questions,'' said the gray-haired, bearded priest. ``People are not completely satisfied with what they have outside the church. They are very unstable.''

As in the West, attendance swells on major holidays and tapers off at other times. At least 60 percent of Russians consider themselves members of the Russian Orthodox Church but little more than 5 percent attend church more than once a month.

Services to honor St. Nicholas, one of the most revered saints, drew several hundred. In Russian Orthodox tradition, they stood for more than two hours as priests delivered the liturgy in Church Slavonic, an ancient form of Russian.

``There is something inside me that propels me to get up and go to church,'' said Andrei Vlasov, 33, who has built a Moscow advertising company that employs nine people. He was christened ``late in life,'' shortly after communism collapsed.

Ivan Ivanin, a 73-year-old pensioner who walks with a cane, began going to church in the early 1990s to pray for the souls of dead relatives. ``A lot of people turned to religion when democracy started,'' he said. ``I feel like a great burden was lifted off of me. When I come to church, I feel so good.''

RELIGION BANNED

Many recall firsthand experiences of Soviet-era religious oppression. Some defied the ban on religion and worshiped secretly. Others buried their beliefs until the post-Soviet constitution permitted religious freedom.

During World War II, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin entered into a begrudging alliance with the Russian Orthodox Church to build support for the war effort, enabling the Church of the Deposition of the Robe and selected other churches to stay open under rigid state control. Priests were ostracized nevertheless and subjected to repressive measures.

``Back then we were outcasts,'' Father Vasily recalled. ``Life was much more difficult but I stood up to it.''

Father Vasily was born into a family of Russian Orthodox believers in the Soviet republic of Georgia and was summoned ``by some inner impulse'' to become a priest. While serving in the army, he was ``asked a number of times to drop the church altogether,'' but he persisted. He has been head priest at the Shabolovka church since 1993. He is married with two grown children -- the Orthodox Church permits married priests.