Meltha Magazine Online

| | | | |

2002 May Conference page 18

Assyrian Church of the East in Contemporary Russia (1992 -2002)

Roland T. BIDJAMOV

For the past 10 years Assyrian Church of the East in Russia has followed its path from establishing the first religious community of Saint Apostolic Cathedral Assyrian Church of the East in Moscow to erecting the first on the territory of Russia temple to Maria the Virgin (mat Mariam) in Moscow and creating the first religious communities of the Church in Rostov-on-Don and Krasnodar integrating them in Centralized religious organization, registered in December 2001 in Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation.

Originality of Assyrian Church of the East in Russia is that it is, on the one hand, a response to spiritual expectations of the part of Russian Assyrians, who's been keeping memory of their fathers' Church, their firm wish to return to its bosom, and, on the other hand, it represents a mission, in a sense, but unlike others, not occupied by proselytism but addressed only to its children. For the first time in Russian history Assyrian Church performs as a religion officially recognized in the country .

It's essential to mention that the faithful of Assyrian Church of the East continued keeping historical memory of their fathers' Church which was not long ago led by a patriarchy-martyr Benjamin Mar Shimmun, honored by them. Practice of celebrating holidays and saint memory days, connected with tradition of Church of the East, keeping the fasts, customary to it, contributed to preservation of confessional awareness.

Epochal were patriarchy Mar Dynkha's IV visits to the USSR in 1982 and 1988. But only in 1992, at the time of reforms happening in the country , Mr. Mukhattas Shmovel organized the first in Russia community of Assyrian Church of the East in Moscow, and in 1993 he registered it. It gave an opportunity to invite clergyman from abroad to OKOpMHTb the faithful and arrange parish life. At present the Assyrians of Krasnodar are building a temple in the name of Saint George in this city. A church community of Rostov-on-Don also achieved accordance of aground area to build a church.

The future of Assyrian Church of the East in Russia depends on many factors and first of all on deliberate willingness of the Assyrians of Russia themselves to restore spiritual constituent of their ethnic heritage, and on the ability of the Church itself to support missionary service.

A phenomenon of reviving its spiritual identity after 70 years of forced anabiosis testifies to inexhaustible spiritual reserves of the Assyrian ethos, a distinctive feature of which at all stages of history is a striking ability to regenerate and reappear from non-existence.