Patriarch Alexy responds to an appeal from Chechens

PATRIARCH ALEXY RESPONDS TO AN APPEAL FROM CHECHENS

His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia received a letter from an initiative group of people from Chechnya, which included 24 prominent Chechen scientists, public figures, Muslim clergy and Great Patriotic War veterans. Standing first in this list is the name of Abdurakhman haji Arsanov from the Shalagi village.

The petitioners asked His Holiness to support the efforts for settling the situation in Chechnya and bringing the republic back to creative peaceful life.

“The Chechen people wish to live and work in one common home – Russia, enjoying the freedoms given by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, to see the guarantor of it in the Russian President V. V. Putin and to support the Administration of the Chechen Republic… We are convinced that a word from Your Holiness and your efforts to help stop the war in Chechnya will be wise and beneficial”, the letter states.

Here is the full text of the response from the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church:

To Mr. Abdurakhman haji Arsanov

Dear Mr. Abdurakhman haji Arsanov,

Thank you and other members of the initiative group for the letter concerning the situation in Chechnya. I can testify to the profound compassion for the civilians in the republic who sometimes encounter unjust attitude and have to bear all the burdens of the tragic events.

The Russian Orthodox Church fully shares the concern for the situation in North Caucasus. We are convinced that the state authorities are taking resolute measures for this very purpose of stopping the criminal actions of numerous terrorist groups in the Russian territory. To our great regret, this brings about bloodshed involving victims, suffering and people’s grief.

The developments in Chechnya could not pass the Holy Authority of the Russian Orthodox Church, which set forth it position in a number of official statements.

In my statement of November 12, 1999, I spoke of the need for the army and authorities to be utterly attentive to the needs of the civilians. One cannot say that this appeal remained unheard. As far as I know, the government exerted much effort to evacuate Chechen civilians from the hostilities areas in good time. There are reasons to believe that Chechen civilians have been cynically used by the militants as a sort of shield. In this situation, we declare that innocent people should not become victims of the struggle with crime. Only justice and mercy can be means of restoring law in the Russian land.

I can assure you that the Russian Orthodox Church is doing all that depends on her to help people survive the hard times and return to creative work and to make peace and tranquility return to the much-suffering Chechen land.

We are interested in constant contacts with members of the initiative group you represent, so that we may have first-hand knowledge of the problems and concerns of the Chechen civilians. I can assure you of our readiness to convey this concern to the Russian state authorities.

With respect and sincere good wishes,

+ALEXY, PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA