Orthodox Russians see red over plans for 'Hindu Vatican' in Moscow

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Orthodox Russians see red over plans for 'Hindu Vatican' in Moscow

 

Nick Paton Walsh

Wednesday October 22, 2003

The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,2763,1067931,00.html

 

Alfred Ford, a great-grandson of the motoring legend, Henry, has outraged the

conservative Russian Orthodox Church with his plans to build a huge centre for

Hare Krishna and Vedic religion worshippers in the centre of Moscow.

 

The Orthodox Church, whose influence in Russia is rocketing since the fall of

Communism eased religious worship, is furious at the prospect that a building

big enough to hold 8,000 Hindu worshippers would be built, a few miles from

Red Square. The

first stone was supposed to be laid in November when the Indian

prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, visits Moscow. However,

that ceremony is in doubt because of the outcry over the centre.

Prominent Russian Orthodox figures have called the church

"open religious expansion".

 

Valentin Lebedev, head of the Union of Orthodox Citizens of

Russia, said: "We know that in India, Christianity is persecuted.

"According to the teaching of the Orthodox Church, Hinduism is

considered one of the most anti-Christian cults and we do not

understand why such an enormous church and cultural centre is

necessary in Moscow."

 

He said the Vedic religion already had one centre in Moscow

and that was enough.

 

Yesterday the union wrote to the Moscow mayor, Yuri Luzhkov,

demanding that plans for the centre be scrapped. Mr Lebedev

launched a personal attack on the centre's financier, Mr Ford,

who is expected to spend about $10m (£6m) on the domed

structure, which would be the largest of its kind in Europe and

has already been nick-named by some the "Hindu Vatican".

Father Mikhail Dudko, secretary of the Commission for Church

and Society for the Orthodox Church, said the church did not

react to "declarations of intent". But he added that the union's

position would closely resemble that of the public, and that the

church "always takes into account the positions of the public".

The head of the executive committee of the Krishna

Consciousness of Russia, Sergei Zuyev, said Mr Ford had

lobbied for the project with Moscow government officials. "He

told us that he would like to support the building of such a

cultural centre in Moscow." Yet Mr Zuyev said as soon as Mr

Ford had made his intentions known, "the Orthodox groups

made a fuss".

 

He added: "The Orthodox Church, from our point of view, is one

of the most totalitarian sects in the world which in Russia

disguises itself as a state religion.

"It is the source of intolerance and mixing the Orthodox belief

with nationalism is a really explosive and dangerous mixture."

Vedic believers say they are 90,000 strong in Russia.

Mr Ford, during a visit to Moscow last week, said: "For me the

most important thing is to spread the Hindu knowledge about

the soul. This is more important than any other knowledge and

is my main priority".