The Fifth World Russian People’s Council

THE FIFTH WORLD RUSSIAN PEOPLE’S COUNCIL

The Fifth World Russian People’s Council took place on December 6-7, 1999, at St. Daniel’s monastery in Moscow. It was chaired by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia and was devoted to the theme “Russia on the Eve of the 2000th Anniversary of Christianity. Faith. People. Power”.

His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II addressed the Council at its opening session (the address was published earlier; the text is available at the DECR communication service). Messages of greetings were received from President Boris Yeltsin, Chairman of the Government Vladimir Putin, Chairman of the Federation Council Yegor Stroyev, and Chairman of the State Duma Gennady Seleznev.

Among the speakers were Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, WRPC head and chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations; Archbishop Herman of Volgograd and Kamyshin; Moscow Mayor and leader of the Otechestvo movement Yu. Luzhkov; foreign minister I. Ivanov; interior minister V. Rushailo; leader of the Communist Party faction in the State Duma G. Zyuganov; leader of the Liberal Democratic Party V. Zhirinovsky; leaders of electoral blocs: Ms. A. Fedulova (Russia’s Women), V. Chernomyrdin (Our Home is Russia), M. Men (Yabloko), S. Baburin (Russian People’s Union), A. Molotkov (bloc of A. Nikolayev and S. Fyedorov), Ms. E. Pamfilova (For Civic Dignity), A. Panfilov (Kedr), as well as WRPC deputy leaders: V. Ganichev, chairman of the Russian Writer’s Union Board, Ms. E. Panina, chair of the Russian Provincial Movement; academicians D. Lvov, A. Chuchalin, R. Ilkaev; writers V. Rasputin, V. Krupin; sculptor V. Klykov; Sepreme Mufti Talgat Tajuddin and other prominent people in Russia.

Among the participants were bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church, leaders of state bodies, representatives of non-Christian religious communities, prominent scientists, cultural leaders and educators, leaders of public organizations, and leaders of the regional WRPC branches. There were delegates from 20 regions in Russia and Russian communities in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Lithuania, Armenia and France.

In the course of the Council, the most active workers of the WRPC were awarded Patriarchal decorations. The Russian Medical Society joined the WPRC as a corporate member. The Council resolved to set up an expert commission for evaluating text-books and curricula.

The participants adopted a final document, the full text of which is given below.

The Fifth World Russian People’s Council
December 6 – 7, 1999, Moscow

The Final Document

RUSSIA ON THE EVE OF THE 2000TH ANNIVERSARY OF CHRISTIANITY
FAITH. PEOPLE. POWER

The participants in the Fifth World Russian People’s Council, at their meeting in the old St. Daniel monastery at a time when one can count the days until the great Jubilee of the 2000th anniversary of the Nativity of Christ, discussed the theme of relationships between the people and power so dramatically important for Russia. We have heard the voice of representatives of supreme government bodies, regional leaders, leaders of factions and groups in the State Duma, leaders of electoral blocs, Orthodox bishops and theologians, representatives of the traditional non-Christian religious communities in Russia, scientists, the military, writers, artists, physicians and public leaders.

The speeches of well-known politicians were complicated and dissenting; so were their evaluations of the past and of what is going in the country today. Our hearts were pained by the testimonies about the people’s hardships, voiced by the men of science and art who leveled impartial criticism at the authorities.

However, despite all the differences in political views, we are united in the awareness that the Jubilee that takes us into the third millennium after the Nativity of Christ should be remembered by our descendants not only as an occasion for joy, but also an opportunity for discussing the basic problems of our life. According to His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, “The Lord has given us to witness the turn of a century so that we could evaluate our own successes, achievements, failures and vices and think how to act in the future so that sin may be defeated and virtue may be multiplied”. The Jubilee is called to become for us a moment of sobering and changing, a time of repentance and purification, a landmark with which we will begin restoring the Fatherland on the perennial foundations of faith, good and truth.

Hoping and working for a better future so longed for by our much-suffering and patient people, we testify: authority in Russia has often proved to be unworthy of this people. In various periods of history the state has openly neglected the needs of ordinary people and abused their sincerity, forgiving nature and moral purity. After a long period of forced godlessness, the authorities have not only failed to help citizens recover the moral foundations of life, but made their confusion and despair ever more aggravated. The social disorder, extreme poverty, rampant crime and corruption, terrifying penury of social morality – all this a weight sitting heavy on the conscience of the powers-that-be. The concentration of power in the hands of a narrow circle of people, which is fraught with great upheavals, magnifies times over their responsibility before God and history, before the people’s conscience.

The seed of discord which has been sown in the hearts of Russians in an era of complex changes has brought its offspring, hampering social accord. Today we are especially concerned for the extreme exacerbation of the political struggle in the State Duma election campaign. Amoral and sinful methods used in this struggle can undermine the people’s confidence in power and politicians once and for all. We call the electoral associations to remember that there are values which are above power, above personal or party ambitions. These are peace in society, survival of the nation, its spiritual independence, that is ultimately its future. The confrontation among politicians may destroy the country, but we believe the people will not let them do it.

Authority is strong when it is respected and supported by the people, who choose not programs but people, appraising their actions and moral make-up. Morality has always been based on faith. Not only Russian but also world history has convincingly shown that the success of public and economic building and the place of a nation in the world are determined not by the quantity of material values, nor by brute force, but by the strength of the people’s spirit. This is why it is so important that the spiritual revival of the Fatherland should be realized as a common task for the authorities, the Church, all the traditional religious communities, political and professional unions, schools, creative intelligentsia and mass media.

The spiritually risen Russia will certainly become a worthy participant in European and world processes. Even in face of new global challenges, such as alienation of economies from real labour, attempts at informational and cultural dictate, rapid development of self-sufficient technologies, our country has something to say to the world, for it possesses the universally significant moral feeling that can save it. We may be not rich today, and our place in the building of a global future is challenged by many opponents. It is clear to us that without Russia the world will lose perhaps the most important thing which is the appeal to God and to conscience.

National building can be accomplished only in the unity of the people and power. Russians, building on their internal spiritual reserve, has always responded to the calls of statesmen, especially in times of danger and historical change. In response to this sacrificial readiness, power is called to place itself at the service of the people, abandoning strife and egoism. The ideal of such a service is embodied in the images of Minin and Pozharsky, defenders of the Fatherland and defenders of the people, who never claimed power after their heroic achievements.

“Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to thy name give glory, for the sake of thy steadfast love and thy faithfulness” (Ps. 115:1). These biblical words reflect the spirit of those rulers whose hearts are filled with faith. May God give us such people through the intercession of the Church, both earthly and Heavenly, and through the wisdom of the people who are again to choose their destiny today.

May the approaching Jubilee of Christianity become for our Motherland a sign of returning to the path of peace and truth, a sign of a beginning spiritual revival, which, we believe, will build a new life in Russia on the basis eternal values.

The Council sent the following message to the Russian President B. Yeltsin and the Byelorussian President A. Lukashenko:

“The participants in the Fifth World Russian People’s Council, which took place on December 6-7, 1999, at St. Daniel’s monastery in Moscow, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, support your efforts for the reunification of the two fraternal countries and nations.

The signing of a Treaty on the Union State on the eve of the great Jubilee of the Nativity of Christ is an act marking the beginning of a creative conciliar process on the sacred lands of the united Fatherland.

We, servants of the Church, scientific and cultural workers, educators, military, representatives of public and political organizations, who took part in the work of the Council, warmly welcome your decision to sign the epoch-making document and declare our readiness to promote by all possible means the implementation of its provisions as meeting the needs and expectations of our compatriots”.

The Council also adopted the following Statement on the Situation in Kosovo:

“The World Russian People’s Council at its meeting on December 6-7 in Moscow, which has gathered clergy, statesmen, politicians, scientists, cultural workers, expresses brotherly compassion for the faithful of the Serbian Orthodox Church who are experiencing misery and deprivation in Kosovo.

The mass expulsion of these people from their own land, murders and other crimes against them, the destruction and defilement of churches – all this does not only contradict any norms of morality and law, but also compromises the peace process in Kosovo, for it brings to naught its original aims.

Extending our sincere support to His Holiness Patriarch Pavle of Serbia and all the Serbian Church, we appeal to the Russian Government, UN, OSCE and UNESCO to take immediate measures to stop as soon as possible the suffering of the Serbs and other non-Albanians in Kosovo and to preserve the religious and historical heritage there.

Only a peace based on dignified life for all is just and therefore lasting. If the international community does not realize it, the crisis in the Balkans will never cease”.