Russian Patriarch Questions New Civil Code

Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, sent a letter to President Vladimir Putin asking him to guarantee the church’s right to acquire public land free of charge. The letter is a reaction to the pending second reading of numerous amendments to the civil code scheduled for this fall. Certain amendments, which the legislature approved in a first reading last spring, have met with the clergy’s disapproval. According to the letter, the draft “affects the legitimate interests of religious organizations,” including the right to own the land under churches, mosques and synagogues. In most cases, these lands are government- or city-owned, and as of 2010, can be transferred into the ownership or long-term lease of religious organizations free of charge. The drafted bill, says the letter, could deprive them of this opportunity.

http://en.rian.ru/papers/20120911/175898024.html