RUSSIA & RELIGION

Hokitika Guardian, 18 February 1930, Page 6

RUSSIA & RELIGION

CRUSADE AGAINST RUSSIA.

[United Press Association —By Electric •" * Telegraph—Copyright.]

LONDON, Feb. ,16

Shaw Desmond; an a much disp[ay- ■ ed■ streamer,, h<ead lined special,in . the, , ‘‘Siunday Express”, ask-s: Are Ave to see the call for a new war of bru/sades (hgainst; Bolsfieyik r-j-rl believe >ve are; M. Stalin., the ruthless dictator of a tiny foul minority of a quarter of a million, which holds 140 minion Russians in its grip, which slaughters priests at the altar and worshippers in churches, made his first vital mistake that may leacl to the destruction of the Soviet republic and may find, as others have done, no 1 antagonist so dreadable as a united Christendom. Christian churches Europewide this moment are finding "a common platform and cause. W fiat Stalin and fellow- tyrants do -not realise however disunited they may think the world outside Russia, the world is Still uhite'd WW; wd©Mpinfill their own way. The Pope_is no longer a pnsouer inutile Vatican, lie Js_ suj)reme_ i Untr'm Church' ion 4»rttij. arid;-! hqs ‘Only;)/ {to- . make . m, W®*) to the hew* crtisade frorh woricl-Wid^. Moscow has stirred u,p forces, which Avdn’t he able to alhiyt’w-A.-. ! •:.■ 0: J S W ••■>”;-E i S* l % MMLTIC PARTY.

■fv^R^ARE mmD&ltf fttJSSjIA ;■

LONDON, February 15/ The Labour ‘‘Daily Herald”., de.scribes the Sergius interview as ‘‘a dramatic, unequivocal reply to the religious persecution stories.” The Moscow' correspondent of the “Daily Herald” says: “The Bolsheviks are .very sensitive .when an outside Power interferes with their domestic affairs. A British or any bther foreign. J demarche • would - only provoke a rejoinder like. ;--.M.a Uityip off’s in' connection with Majicl.iuria, The Russians recall., the,, protests against the execution of the Prelate Butkevitfch, in 1928? Which served as-' a? preliminary:, tfor: the C'urxojii., avltimqtjim. . They have, asked whether religion is not being exploited in order to stir up aii’ti-Riissian feeling “fii •Britain. Meanwhile, the British. Cam--paign, the recent events in Paris and in' Berlin,- and the Soviet: rupture with' Mexico, under United States influence, are. all augmenting a new war scare. A belief--is spreading that a united anti-Soviet movement is developing throughout Europe. There is a fear of foreign,attacks via Poland, Romania and China.” ' ' ‘ ” '

INTERVIEW DISCREDITED

AS NOT AUTHENTiC. -"

LONDON, February 16. The Riga correspondent of “The Times” reports: “According to the news from Moscow, the protests of Pope ap'd); of’the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, have proioundly disturbed the Sovieters, but apart from M. Rykoff’s outburst, this has not been publicly expressed until the Sergius interview of February, loth. The phraseology of this interview is so. similar to the ordinary Communist propaganda that its genuineness is doubted. It is recalled that Sergius and other high eccliastiecs were lengthily imprisoned, and that they were released only under conditions that have never been satisfactorily explained. Sergius was liberated in 1927 when he publicly declared his promise to support the Schset.” -i ‘ ‘The 'TipiesV con’ti nues .^ 1 ! -Arehbishop'; '‘John, the Head of the Latvian Orthodox Church, and ex-Bishop of Russia, is familiar with events at Moscow. He regards the Sergius declaration as being of very deubt'ful authenticity. He recalls that tlie Sovieters similarly represented Tikhon.

“What Sergius really said.” adds the; corF.espqfidept. [ ‘‘fit isJtliffioult to tell.rbp't itycbuldknot be' W'hat is ascribed him. It is notable that, despite the widespread destruction of the monasteries- and bells, the burning of thousands of ikons, and the closing of the churches—which must have wounded the souls of Orthodox Russians—not a single protest has been permitted in the newspapers. Consequently, these opinions of Bolsheviks—that they required -to paralyse the foreign religious protests—cannot he a true ex pression of the Orthodox views. The tragedy is that the:, Orth.bclpx Russians will not he allowed to publish a denial thereof.” • .

U.S.A. BISHOP’S ACTION

NEW YORK, February 17

Bishofi Manning, from the pulpit of the Cathedral of St. John, the Divine, referred to the Pope’s and the Arcliibishop of Canterbury’s protest against the alleged religious persecution in Russia.. • ; Hq announced special services at the Cathedral on March 16. for the members of all sects to “pray and'make intercession on behalf of those who are suffering.”