The pastor of the United Methodist Church of Smolensk appealed to the prosecutor's office regarding the implementation of educational activities by Orthodox parishes

On March 22, the pastor of the United Methodist Church of Smolensk, Alexander Vtorov, sent a second appeal to the prosecutor of the Smolensk region, Verkhovtsev Yu.

"The Russian Orthodox Church of the Smolensk-Kaliningrad diocese, not being an educational institution, carries out educational activities in the Sunday schools it created, which are not registered as legal entities, do not have the necessary license for such activities, for this educational process the parents of Sunday school pupils are charged and the pupils of these Sunday schools at the Smolensk Orthodox churches do not have the written consent of both parents or persons replacing them," the document says.

A. Vtorov points out in his appeal that the United Methodist Church of Smolensk was liquidated on the basis of the existence of a Sunday school in it. “In this case, the prosecutor’s demand for the complete liquidation of the Protestant Church on the grounds that it has a “Sunday school” is de facto discriminatory in comparison with another religious organization, in particular, the Orthodox Church, which also has Sunday schools. The prosecutor, using his official position, actively ignores my first appeal! Such a discriminatory approach with the use of one's powers, depending on one's attitude to religion, is unacceptable and is similar to genocide," the pastor says in his appeal.

In May, the prosecutor's offices of the Smolensk, Ivanovo, Lipetsk, Kaluga and Kursk regions notified A. Vtorov about the start of checking Orthodox Sunday schools for compliance with the legislation on education and licensing of educational institutions.

Sources

• Document. Appeal of the pastor of the United Methodist Church of Smolensk Alexander Vtorov on the liquidation of Orthodox parishes for the creation of Sunday schools // Slavic Legal Center. 2008. April 23.
• Protestant Pastor Initiates Prosecutorial Checks on the Legality of Sunday Schools Without a License at Orthodox Parishes in Five Regions of Central Russia // There. May, 23rd.