ONCE YOU'VE BUILT MOSQUE, TIME FOR CHURCH

The room did not smell of incense. Well, the smell was there, but it wasn't very distinct. The walls were lined with paintings from «The Life of Saint Father Sergy». In the reception area, a secretary was busy sending faxes or checking e-mails that were sent to the Russian Orthodox Eparchy in Kazan. Archbishop Anastasis, Metropolitan of Kazan and Tatarstan, disengaging from discussing seemingly never-ending problems on the phone, suggested that I start asking my questions, and I immediately jumped at the chance.

ONCE YOU'VE BUILT MOSQUE, TIME FOR CHURCH

— Could you name the main problems involved in the fact that you are a Metropolitan of Tatarstan, and, possibly, its main advantages?

— Probably, the main problem involves the economic difficulties experienced by the Eparchy. These problems exist all over Russia, but perhaps they are more easily solved in other places. I just got back from Yelansk, we have a convent there. A mother superior from Chuvashia is staying there right now. I asked her how are they handling financial problems. She replied: «I don't know, the Ministry of Culture just allocated three million for restoring the cathedral, and it is not a problem any more». We are currently finishing construction of the second Seminary block, because the block that we have right now cannot fit everybody in, and the new one we have been trying to complete for three years already. Of course, all of this is very difficult. Although President Putin made financial infusions several times, but these infusions lasted only for a month or two, and then we had to rely on our own funds again. Our advantage is probably that when there is a serious problem in Islam we always say: «Let's look at some problems of the Orthodox Church as well, because population in the republic is split about 50x50». That's why if you've built a mosque you have to build an Orthodox church as well. For example, probably the most beautiful and biggest mosque in Almetiyevsk was built about two years ago, I was present at the opening ceremony, it really was a celebration for the whole town. About a month ago, we founded a church in Almetiyevsk, and it will be the biggest one in our eparchy. It is going to be more than a church as there would be premises for parish schools and other administrative facilities. By the way, we have noticed that the Orthodox Church is better supported in the regions with Tatar administration than in the regions with Russian administration. And vice versa».

— You are saying that if not for this support shown to the Islam, the Orthodox Church wouldn't have been supported either?

— Probably, yes. And this is not all. We have such a relationship with the Muslims, especially with the clergy, that in difficult times we always try to resolve our problems together. This was true during the Soviet times, as well as during the Perestroika. Problems are the same everywhere, therefore we always consult with the Muslim clergy before making important decisions, and we would never try to make the Muslims to adopt Christianity, while the Muslims are not trying to convert the Russian-speaking population into their faith. Voluntarily — yes, sometimes the Tatars adopt Christianity, and this is not a rare occasion. Mixed marriages also can be the reason for someone adopting Islam, for example, under the pressure from the wife, or vice versa.

— How effectively does the Republican Administration with the help of the Council of Religions regulate the relationship between confessions in the region?

— I think that such intervention has not been practiced since Perestroika. Right now, their activities are aimed at finding joint solutions to various problems. In addition, we would like the Committee on Religions to play the role of an intermediary in resolving the questions that our religious organizations have to face. Tatarstan is a special republic, with two main confessions: Islam and Christianity, but there is also a number of other religious associations here. While in other parts of the country it seems to be easier to resolve similar issues, because Christianity is dominating and small sects and organizations exist only nominally, in Tatarstan we have to consider the interests of the main confessions. We have Judaism here, Catholicism, Lutheranism...

— Therefore in general you are saying that this Council is useful?

— I think so, yes, but we are also insisting on it having even more functions, not only the consultative one. We would like its representatives to be able to deal with all state agencies so that they would be able to resolve certain problems. Because right now all they can do is to recommend something to the Cabinet of Ministers, to the Head of Administration, but their advice is not always acted upon. Consequently, the majority of our problems are resolved faster and easier when I myself talk to the Head of Administration of a particular town or region.

— Do you agree that the world views Tatarstan as an Islamic political formation?

— Not in the least. I've mentioned already that here the two main confessions — Christianity and Islam — are developing on parity basis. In our Kremlin, we have both the Annunciation Cathedral and a mosque. And the Presidential Palace is located between the two buildings. I think that everything here is so balanced that there is no way to change anything in favor of Islam or in favor of Christianity. The current parity should be maintained. Maybe there is a false image of Tatarstan in the world, but we think that Kazan is a Christian city, and it is filled with Christian Orthodox culture monuments. There are 18 functioning churches in Kazan, 2 convents. A third monastery is being returned to the Church right now, next year it will be completely cleared out and renovation works are already under way. At the same time, there are several dozen mosques. Sometimes Orthodox churches and mosques are built a 100 m from each other, and this is good, because this means that people wouldn't treat each other aggressively. Its not right when people sit in different corners, like animals. This leads to sad results.

— How interested in the local affairs is Patriarch Alexy?

— After visiting Kazan 5 years ago the Patriarchs attitude towards the republic completely changed. I think that Kazan impressed him because the city managed to maintain its traditions. Maybe the Patriarch did not have any idea how many functioning churches there are here. He was overwhelmed with the greatness of the Peter and Paul's Cathedral; he liked our Sviyazhsk, the Raif Monastery. He highly regards the help extended by the Tatarstan Government for renovating and restoring architectural monuments, as well as the possibility that the Annunciation Cathedral would be returned to the Church. The Patriarch was very warmly welcomed at the Cathedral Mosque. Therefore, I think that the Patriarch has a good impression of Christianity in Tatarstan. We believe that by the 1000th anniversary of Kazan he will visit us again, considering that the President invited him to participate in baptizing of the Kremlin Cathedral. Furthermore, at the same time with the 1000th anniversary of Kazan we are celebrating 450 years from the foundation of our eparchy, which was established right after conquering Kazan.

— How does the Orthodox Church in general and the Kazan Eparchy in particular view the figure of Ivan the Terrible?

— You know, we cannot judge the actions of a monarch who was 22 years old at the time of conquering Kazan. We are probably not the ones to judge because history is history, and everything that happened we should accept the way it is. And there is no sense in re-evaluating certain events by either party.

— What does the Orthodox Church in Kazan think about the idea of mounting a monument to the defenders of Kazan?

— There have been many projects, but all of them were turned down for some reason. The President thinks that the Kul-Sharif Mosque dominating the downtown Kazan should serve as the monument. Maybe this is right. Some time ago we used to have a problem raised by the nationalistic forces in Tatarstan, having to do with the crescents under the crosses, the idea was that this was a symbol of victory of Christianity over Islam. We were trying to prove that this is not true, the crescent symbolizes an anchor, and the cross is a ship at this anchor. These crosses appeared back in the 4th century in the Byzantine, but you know how hard it is to convince these people. So in order to pacify everybody we agreed to mount the old Orthodox eight-pointed crosses on the Annunciation Cathedral. They steel nothing from the beauty of the Cathedral.

— What do you think about the fact that the Muslim holiday Kurban-Bayram is an official holiday in Tatarstan, just as the Orthodox Christmas, although it is not so in other parts of Russia?

— I think there is some sense to it. The legal side of this depends on the Russian Government. I think that since this territory is densely populated with the Tatars this situation is normal and acceptable. It wouldn't be right if the Muslims had to go to work on the day of their main holiday. I even think it might be the right thing to do to make this holiday a day off all over Russia.

— How salient in Tatarstan is the problem that Orthodox families usually have one or two children, while Muslim families tend to have much more kids?

— This problem really exists. Entire Russian Orthodox villages, for example, Derzhavins native village Derzhavino might cease to exist after awhile. The majority of their residents right now are old people. That is why we pay so much attention to our Orthodox Seminary. This is our future. If we disregard our youth, we will simply lose them and our churches would be deserted, and we cannot let that happen.

By the way, the seminary mentioned by the Archbishop at the end of the interview is located close to the Eparchy building. Archbishop Anastasis walked us through the hallways of this institution, we looked into the study rooms where one of the seminarians noticed that the professor was distracted with the guests and started copying his notes from the crib under the desk. They were taking a test in Ancient Greek. I wonder what tests would the seminarians have to pass after they leave these walls? Would the Archbishop always be there for them to give advice at the right moment?

Mikhail DOVZHENKO