NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      MOSCOW, MAY 4 (ZENIT).- The Russian Ministry of Justice's refusal to register the Jesuits has caused concern among religious communities throughout the world. It is possible that the Russian authorities will disallow the registration of Catholic religious congregations and orders.

      According to 'VID,' the religious communities' information service, the Franciscans and Salesians in Russia have had to "play games" to be able to operate. Consequently, they have decided not to register as independent orders, and have found other ways to avoid the hundreds of obstacles the law places as, for example, having to demonstrate that they have been in the country for at least fifty years, and have a minimum of three communities, with at least ten Russian members in each one.

      The Salesians decided to register their l7-student seminary as part of the jurisdiction of a local parish on the outskirts of Moscow. Salesian Father Wladyslaw Kloch, professor of English and Latin, has said they are in no hurry to present the petition for registration as an independent congregation.

      As regards the Franciscans, Father Grigory Cioroch, superior in Poland, has disclosed that the conventual friars of Moscow decided to register as the Catholic Community of Saint Francis in 1998. They have not called themselves an order, which avoids a lot of problems. "From the practical point of view, there is no difference," the religious explained. ZE99050403

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