On Emergence of Institute of Commissioners of Council for Religious Cults under the Council of People’s Commissars of the RSFSR in 1944–1945

The article deals with Muslim religious fi gures (imams, seyids, abyzs, muezzins, mullahs) of the Tatar Sloboda of Moscow, located in the Zamoskvorechye district, of the 17th-18th centuries. Many names and details of the life of religious fi gures are for the fi rst time described by means of use of documents of the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts and the Central Historical Archive of Moscow. The Council for Religious Aff airs under the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR, created in May and June 1944, faced a number of problems from the very beginning of its work. One of them was the creation of new posts in the regions those authorized by this Council. Some of the leaders of the regions of the USSR believed that such positions were not necessary. In many respects, this attitude resulted in diffi culties in the work of the authorized representatives of this Council: delays in the allocation of specially equipped offi ces, sending on long business trips not related to the performance of duties, failure to comply with the decisions of the state leadership on the payment of salaries to the authorized representatives, which should have corresponded to their position. Despite the measures taken from the fi rst days by the leadership of the Council, relying on the leadership of the USSR, many of the problems associated with the commissioners, primarily with the staffi ng of their staff , both in quality and quantity, in the 1940s became chronic and did not were resolved during these years. In many ways, a signifi cant part of the diffi culties in the work of the commissioners arose from ignorance and failure to comply with a set of offi cial documents, including service letters and instructions. Analysis of various aspects of the activities of the authorized representatives of the Council for Religious Aff airs is not only purely theoretical, but also of great practical importance for the authorities at all levels, which interact with religious organizations in their daily work.

Confessional policy of the Bolsheviks in the Сrimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in the 1920-1930s

The article examines confessional politics in one of the most diffi cult periods for religious organizations that are the 20–30s of the XX century. At this time, active anti-religious work was carried out, so there were created some special organizations supposed to get rid of any manifestations of religious consciousness among the Soviet citizens. All the diversity of this policy is discussed on the example of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. The policy that revealed the relation to the Orthodox and Muslim populations and took into account the national specifi cs of the region varied from relatively loyal attitude towards religious organizations in the 1920s to the events of the Great Terror of 1937–1938. The Crimean ASSR was multi-confessional. The authorities faced the need to compromise between the fi ght against religion and the desire not to aggravate confl icts with national minorities. The anti-religious policy was not supposed to confl ict with the policy of indigenousization. Throughout the pre-war twenty years, anti-religious work in the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was not fully implemented and was poorly organized. The slowdown in the implementation of the anti-religious line was caused by both unsuccessful selections of the personnel and insuffi cient funding of the anti-religious activities carried out.

Key Models of Religious Institutions’ Interaction in the Context of the State-Church Relations in Russia and Egypt

The article reveals and comparatively analyses the peculiarities of the state-church relations in Russia and Egypt. Currently, the role of religion and religious institutions in world politics is actively increasing, as well as the process of secularization of public life is being redefined. Religion still often becomes the cause of discrimination, persecution of certain groups of society; the level of Islamophobia in Western countries and Religiophobia in the whole world is not decreasing. In these conditions, the importance of state-church relations within key international actors is also growing. The purpose of the study is to provide comparative analysis of the specifics of the state religion policy of Russia and Egypt in order to develop recommendations for the use of Russian religious institutions to strengthen Russias position in the Middle East. Russia and Egypt were chosen as research objects, since these countries have a rich history of interaction in the religious sphere, which could become a basis for the future cooperation between religious institutions of the two countries. In addition, Egypt is one of the key states in the Middle East, where Russian influence has never been dominant, but where exactly religious organizations such as the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) most actively and successfully pursued Russias interests. Methodologically, the article is based on historical and empirical institutionalism, as well as comparative analysis and historical-genetic method. The study is quite novel, as it identifies four models of interaction between religious communities, which are based on two criteria: a) presence of religious institutions representing the interests of a particular community; b) status of religion in the state (dominant / minority religion). The practical significance of the study lies in its attempt to make recommendations for improving the use of religious organizations in Russia to promote state interests in Egypt on the basis of the highlighted features of state-church relations in Egypt.

Kontrowersje wokół armeńskiej ustawy o wolności sumienia i organizacjach religijnych

The article discusses the basic legal act on the right to religious freedom The Law of the Republic of Armenia on the Freedom of Conscience and on Religious Organizations, which was enacted in Armenia in the early 1990s and which, in a slightly modified version, is still in force today. In Armenia, the close link between ethnicity and religious affiliation (Armenian Apostolic Church) makes it difficult to adopt legal solutions that would guarantee the full realization of the right to religious freedom. The Armenian Apostolic Church considers religious freedom as an anti-national provision, and therefore qualifies all other religious organizations as "sects" and anti-national structures. The article provides a detailed analysis of the Religious Denominations Act, indicates which of its provisions are most controversial and shows how the adopted legal solutions differ from the international standards.

THE STRUCTURE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE POLITICAL AND LEGAL DOCTRINE OF I.L. SOLONEVICH

In this article, based on the analysis of the works of I.L. Solonevich, the relevance of his political and legal views on the structure of civil society is substantiated. It is concluded that its main elements should be trade unions, local self-government bodies and religious organizations.

The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE)

This chapter describes the work of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE), its evolving relationship with central institutions of the European Union, and with its partners in the Catholic world. The chapter then considers particular challenges, both intrinsic (arising from the character of COMECE itself) and extrinsic (focusing on those entailed by the EU’s culture of secularity). For example, the Treaty of Lisbon assures religious organizations, like non-religious ones, both access to and dialogue with EU institutions. COMECE’s advocacy, however, is necessarily grounded in Catholic beliefs and principles, in particular those of Catholic social thought. Such foundational principles cannot be coherently articulated in the language of secularity alone.

Active Complicity in the Activities of an Undesirable Foreign or International Organization

Federal Law No. 292-FZ adopted on July 1, 2021, amended Article 284.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The procedure expanded the term of active complicity in that part of the Criminal Code that is aimed at early prevention of crimes that may affect the constitutional foundations and security of Russian society, e.g. development of destructive tendencies among the population under the influence of foreign organizations. The research objective is was to determine the limits of liability for 1) participation in the activities of a foreign or international organization recognized as "undesirable" on the territory of Russia (Part 1 of Article 284.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation); 2) complicity by financing such an organization (Part 2); 3) organizing the activities of such an organization on the territory of Russia (Part 3). The authors defined a set of criteria for distinguishing "undesirable" international or foreign religious organizations from those recognized in Russia as extremist. The article introduces the authors’ vision of the three forms of active complicity. The authors explain the technical and legal flaws in Article 284.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and propose their own variant.

Fenomena Intoleransi Antar Umat Beragama Serta Peran Sosial Media Akun Instagram Jaringan Gusdurian Indonesia Dalam Menyampaikan Pesan Toleransi

In the 20th century, in the midst of the active flow of communication technology, which is increasingly active, it provides many conveniences and benefits to the community, especially when accessing information related to religion and da'wah that anyone wants to access. This phenomenon has an impact on various religious understandings by some sects and religious organizations in Indonesia. As we know, there are some of the largest religious organizations that have existed in this country for a long time, namely, Nahdatul Ulama', Muhammadiyah, etc. With the many religious notions that are studied and embraced by some Indonesians, it gives a lot of influence in understanding the religious concept of difference. This can lead to conflict between communities and religious organizations because they have diverse and different religious understandings. Intolerance is a scourge that is very difficult to eliminate in this democratic country. It is proven by the many cases of intolerance that often occur in our country. In recent years, religious issues have become the object of discussion to cause inter-religious conflicts that are spread through social media. with the existence of the Indonesian Gusdurian Network community, it has a very significant influence in countering and also educating the social media world about tolerance between religious communities. Social media is the main tool to provide education and also the importance of understanding differences in diversity with the spirit of maintaining tolerance between religious communities.

USLUGE CRKAVA I VERSKIH ZAJEDNICA

In this paper the author points to the significance of churches and religious organizations in all domains of social life and to the numerous services they offer to interested parties, not only to individuals, but to legal entities as well. This relationship between church and state has not always been the same, nor has the scope of the services which church and religious organizations offer to those in need. It has depended (and will continue to depend) mostly on the fact whether they perform their services in monarchies or republics and whether there is a separation of church and state. Nevertheless, it is undisputable that there are numerous fields in which various services can be offered by religious organizations - the scope has widened particularly after the collapse of socialism at the end of the 20th century. It is not a rare case that church dignitaries play an important role in the functioning of a particular social community, even in political life. The scope of this paper is not large enough to identify and analyze all the activities and versatile services which church and religious organizations offer to those in need, the most important being education and upbringing of young people, the spread of culture’s practices and beliefs, perseverance in preserving and protecting traditional values, holding masses and liturgies, spiritual growth of the believers, charity and humanitarian work, building and restauration of houses of worship, establishing educational institutions, organization of lectures in the field of religious education from elementary schools to higher education institutions, etc.