During interviews last week to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his ministry as a bishop, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, who heads the Moscow Patriarchate’s department of external relations, suggested that Russia adopt what is known here as the “German model” of church-state relations, under which the churches receive a proportion of taxes collected from Christian taxpayers by the German federal government.
The church leader made the suggestions as the church tries to cope with major difficulties in its funding.
In interviews on March 21 and 22, Metropolitan Kirill said that the government should either return to the church some of the property confiscated after the Bolshevik revolution or pay part of the national income tax to the church, to finance the social service work it provides to Russian citizens.
Several observers have pointed out that the proposal is a timely reminder that the Orthodox Church has no strong financial base in Russian society. It also raises, for some, the need for clearer regulations on the relationship between church and state.
“In no way are we talking about raising taxes,” Metropolitan Kirill said in an interview on Ekho Moskvy radio. “We are talking about a situation in which part of [the present level of] income tax would be channeled to those social programs that the taxpayer wants to support. If someone wants to support other religious organizations—Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish or others recognized as such by the state—he can do so. If he doesn’t want to do so, this money will go to the state [for the government’s social programs]. We would thus create an alternative: There should be state social programs in society, and there should be private and church ones.”
The metropolitan’s remarks imply that only the Orthodox Church and the main representatives of the Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist faiths—all regarded under Russian law as national religions—would be able to receive the government money. This would in effect prevent Protestant and Catholic churches in Russia from being eligible.
The Russian Orthodox Church, the metropolitan said, did not have the means to meet the expectations of society. “We are told: ‘Why do you not go to prisons as much as is needed, why do you not build orphanages, why do you not work for the rehabilitation of alcoholics and drug addicts’?” Metropolitan Kirill said. “If society expects this of religious organizations, it should give its consent to the funding of these programs. … It is a matter for discussion. I have raised this problem so that society knows about the forms and methods of financing for the social activities of religious organizations [abroad]. … But it is important to choose one form. Otherwise the church will be consigned to the social ghetto, unable to solve the tasks facing it and unable to meet society’s expectations.”
Metropolitan Kirill said a church tax would give the state the right to audit the church’s finances.
Alexander Morozov, an expert on church-state relations and a commentator for the Sobornost Internet magazine, told ENI that the idea of tax was first raised by presidential administration officials last August, after the church’s Council of Bishops in effect declared the church bankrupt and sent a letter to President Vladimir Putin asking for the restitution of church property.
However, restitution is a controversial subject at the Kremlin where officials are afraid to trigger massive demands for restitution, and not only from the church, of property confiscated under communism.
“I don’t think there is any serious intention behind Metropolitan Kirill’s statements to introduce a church tax,” Morozov told ENI. “It is much more likely to be a sort of public relations act to attract public attention to the problem of church finances and to himself. But the problem [of funding] is there, and it is acute.”
The Tax Ministry said it had not received any official request from the Moscow Patriarchate to consider a church tax. “This is Metropolitan Kirill’s private position,” a spokeswoman, who did not wish to be named, told ENI. “If the church has an official position on this matter, it should formally apply to the State Duma, the government and Finance Ministry.”
The Vedomosti newspaper quoted Galina Vafina, an official with the Finance Ministry’s tax department, who said that at present taxpayers could have a tax deduction of up to 25 percent of taxable income when they donated money to charity.
The deputy chairman of the Duma committee on public and religious organizations, Alexander Chuyev, who heads the small Christian Democratic Party and is a member of the pro-Kremlin Unity faction, cautiously welcomed the idea. “Not today, of course, but inevitably we will have a church tax,” he told ENI. “It is very important to ensure that it is done on a voluntary basis, so that atheists are not forced to fund the activities of religious organizations.”
Mufti Nafigulla Ashirov, co-chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia and spiritual leader of Siberia’s Muslims, told ENI that although well-intentioned, Metropolitan Kirill’s proposal was potentially dangerous as it would increase the state’s role in regulating religious activities. It could also foster tension between religious organizations forced to compete for government funds.
“A Muslim is expected to donate money in a discreet manner,” Ashirov said in a telephone interview with ENI. “Such a system would be very complicated for Muslims because we don’t have a formal centralized structure.” He added that for Jews there could be rivalry for funds between two leading rabbis. And even breakaway Orthodox groups could try to divert money from the Moscow Patriarchate.
“It would lead to the government’s intervention in the affairs of religious organizations, which is against the Constitution, and would cause a new wave of conflict between religious organizations, not only Muslim ones.”
Copyright © 2001 ENI.
Related Elsewhere
Andrei Zolotov also wrote an article on this topic for The Moscow Times: ” Will Kremlin share taxes with church?“Russia Religious News from the Stetson University’s Department of History not only links to articles about religion in Russia and the former Soviet republics, but also translates and reposts them.
Previous Christianity Today stories about religious freedom in Russia include:
Federal Ruling May Mean Salvation Army’s Moscow Problems Are Over | Church able to register as “centralized” religious organization, but leaders say Moscow decision must still be overturned. (Mar. 6, 2001)
Russia Recognizes Salvation Army as a Religious Organization | Officials say that doesn’t restore status to the Army’s Moscow branch. (Feb. 28, 2001)
Will Putin Protect Religious Liberty? | Freedoms may be in danger in the new Russia. (July 26, 2000)
A Precarious Step Forward | Loosened rules in Russia may mean better times for religious freedom. (Feb. 3, 2000)
Russia’s minority churches welcome liberal ruling on religion law | 1997 ruling against ‘sects’ upheld, but religious groups claim victory. (Dec. 30, 1999)
Stepping Back from Freedom | The new law restricting religion is part of Russia’s struggle to redefine itself. (Nov. 17, 1997)
New Religion Law Fraught with Potential for Abuses | (Nov. 17, 1997)
Jehovah’s Witness Verdict Stalled | (April 26, 1999)
