In January, Patriarch Alexy II spoke out categorically against the idea of ​​creating a state agency for religious affairs. He stated that the religious policy of the state should be formed with the participation of religious leaders, not officials.

Alexander Zhuravsky in the article Religious extremism: reality or fiction? defines religious extremism as an extreme (and optional) form of development of religious fundamentalism. Extremism can develop into terrorism, but the author is still not sure that terrorism can be considered religious.

Yelyashiv Kaplun, rabbi of a synagogue in Rostov-on-Don, was deported from Russia for violating the passport and visa regime. On April 20, he flew with his family to Tel Aviv. The decision to deport was made by the court of the Leninsky district of Rostov-on-Don. E. Kaplun, who arrived on the Don from New York and served in the Rostov synagogue for seven years, did not renew his visa on time.

Russian Minister of Education Vladimir Filippov during his visit to Chelyabinsk said that the subject "Fundamentals of Orthodoxy" would not be introduced in schools. According to him, it is planned to introduce a course on the basics of Orthodox culture, designed primarily to familiarize schoolchildren with the work of Russian painters, musicians and sculptors.

On April 19, answering journalists' questions in Rome about the likelihood of John Paul II stopping in Kazan on his way to Mongolia, where the pope plans to visit in August, Mikhail Kasyanov said that "the governments of Russia and Italy are helping to which hinders the interaction of the two Churches has been removed." According to Nezavisimaya Gazeta , the prime minister's statements indicate that "the question of the visit ...

The exhibition "Beware of Religion!", held in January 2003 at the Museum. Sakharov and the pogrom that accompanied her caused a large number of responses in the press. The subject of discussion was the question of the relationship between the artist's freedom of expression and religious norms. O. Belyakov in the article "Humble resistance" tries to assess what happened from the point of view of the secular, religious and "religious-secular".

According to the site "Islam.ru" , the city authorities are preventing the restoration of an ancient mosque in the city of Bislan (Republic of North Ossetia-Alania), recently handed over to believers. The restoration is being carried out with the money of one of the community activists, in whose economic activity the city administration has shown an increased interest.

On the evening of April 20, an explosion was prevented in Moscow at the synagogue of the Lubavitcher Hasidim, located on Bolshaya Bronnaya Street. According to IA "Rosbalt" , a resident of one of the nearby houses Petr Yartsev, while walking his dog, noticed that a young man dressed in a black jacket was running away from the place near the wall of the synagogue where his car was parked.

As Anna Pugacheva, lawyer of the public movement "For the right to live without a TIN" (St. Petersburg), Anna Pugacheva, said in an interview with the Samara Orthodox newspaper "Blagovest", anyone who does not want to receive a TIN has the opportunity to demand from the tax authorities at the place of residence a certificate stating that his refusal to assign a TIN is recorded in the database of the automated information system (AIS) "Tax".

On April 17, the creation of an Interdepartmental Commission on religious objects subject to repair and restoration was announced. Mikhail Men, Deputy Mayor of Moscow in the Moscow Government, has been appointed Chairman of the Commission.

On February 10, the head of the Information and Publishing Department of the Yekaterinburg Diocese, Hegumen Dimitri (Baibakov), published an article in which, in particular, he categorically rejected the idea of ​​creating a "Ministry of Religious Affairs." In his opinion, "it will be one of the most conflict-prone ministries," since officials who are ideologically far from issues related to religious worldview will work in it.