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Jehovah's Witnesses to Hold 4-Day Conference

At a time when Russia is moving to curtail the evangelical activities of foreign religious organizations, the Jehovah's Witnesses, one of the leading international religious groups espousing missionary activity, is preparing to open a major international conference in Moscow.


The four-day session beginning Thursday brings together 12, 000 foreign Jehovah's Witnesses and about 25, 000 Russian ones, organizers said Tuesday.


The highlight is set for Saturday with the scheduled baptism of 1, 000 new Russian members in the Lokomotiv Stadium on Moscow's northeast side. The primary theme of the conference is how to make members better teachers of the Bible, organizers said.


The church, which has been at the center of numerous American constitutional lawsuits involving freedom of religion, was founded in the United States a century ago and centers on a belief in the second coming of Christ. Their members, all considered ministers, engage in active house-to-house canvassing to spread the word.


It is that kind of evangelical activity that is banned under a draft law that was passed by parliament last week and that is now awaiting President Boris Yeltsin's signature, according to Father Vyacheslav Polosin, a Russian Orthodox minister and legislator who authored the measure.


The law would require all foreign-based religious organizations - even those run here by Russian citizens - to accredit themselves with the government.


But even once accredited, groups would not have the right to seek to convert Russians, or to publish religious materials, Polosin said at a news conference.


Article 14 of the draft law states: "Foreign religious organizations and their representatives and persons who do not have citizenship of the Russian Federation do not have the right to pursue missionary, publishing or advertising activities".


Polosin said: "Missionary activity means not just expansion, but recruiting new members, so the law is introducing limits on recruiting new members in Russia". He said that existing members are guaranteed the right to continue worshipping.


However, missionary work is the fundamental mission of Jehovah's Witnesses.


Vasily Kalin, organizer of the Moscow conference, said Jehovah's Witness membership in Russia has swelled to about 38, 000 now. He could not provide a figure for previous membership but said in Moscow, there are now 17 congregations, each with between 100 and 180 Russian members compared with eight such congregations a year ago.


"Of course it is one of the main activities of every Jehovah's Witness to share the happy faith we have", Kalin said.


Kalin, a Russian, said that he felt the law would not affect Jehovah's Witnesses because the group has registered with the Justice Ministry specifically as a Russian organization, although American Jehovah's Witnesses lead many of the group's activities.


Matthew Kelly, a Chicago native, heads the 12 St. Petersburg Jehovah's Witness congregations.


"We imitate the example that Jesus set and go house to house or to places of work - any chance that offers itself for conversation and sharing information", Kelly said while manning the convention's information booth in the Rossiya Hotel, where 4, 000 foreign Jehovah's Witnesses are staying during the convention.


Registration through Russian individuals poses a legal gray area and a potential loophole to the new law, Polosin acknowledged Monday. But he said it would be up to the government to see that the law's intent is enforced.


Registration with the government will no longer be enough, he said. All foreign-based religious groups, old and new, will have to seek accreditation under the law, he added, even those with Russian branches.


Kalin, 45, expressed some nervousness about the new regulations. As a child, his family was exiled to Siberia from Ukraine because of their commitment to remaining Jehovah's Witnesses.


"Our organization existed here in the country even in those days when it was not possible for us to be legally registered", he said. "The government knows about our activities and so therefore we are not concerned".


The new rules come at a time when the Russian Orthodox Church is rebuilding following the collapse of communism. With the opening of religious freedom, however, has come competition for new faithful.


Large Western religious groups with hard currency are buying broadcast time and printing sophisticated books and pamphlets, activities the Orthodox Church cannot afford, according to Polosin. Jehovah's Witness publications have been published in Russian and sent here since the mid 1980s, organizers said.

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