Friday 5 March SALVATION ARMY FIGHTS FOR OFFICIAL RECOGNITION IN RUSSIA by Geraldine Fagan, Keston News Service Despite well-organised and wide-reaching aid programmes throughout the CIS, the Salvation Army was relieved not to have been chosen as one of the distributors for 625 million dollars of US aid to Russia, Captain JENNIFER FAGERSTOM, a young American officer, told Keston News Service on 9 February. The efficiency of this worldwide Christian movement is evident from the scale on which it provides solace to the people of Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia: according to its estimates for a single year, the organisation materially assisted over 23,000 families; visited almost 14,000 housebound elderly or invalids; made over 40,000 hospital and prison visits and counselled over 18,000 individuals and 6,000 children faced with problem such as abandonment or family break-up. Every day 2,200 homeless and refugees are given a hot meal through its feeding programmes. Yet despite such a high profile in the region the Salvation Army sometimes has to fight to gain acceptance for its work: Captain Fagerstrom described how most foreign-based humanitarian aid is now confined to Moldova and Georgia as a result of customs complications in Russia. 'We have to make sure that we get the approval of Russian customs before the ship leaves, as sometimes they won't let it enter when it arrives. Much depends on the individual customs agent. We don't have the staff time to lobby to change this - we've acquiesced to them.� The principal problem appears to be that the authorities fear the aid will be sold, so great effort has to go into proving that it will be given away. For this reason financial donations are preferred - 'it becomes an investment in their economy' - rather than gifts in kind, such as a recent huge donation of soup cups to St Petersburg. By contrast, it is still possible to import medical supplies, such as crutches or zimmer frames, to Moldova without obstacle, something which would be problematic in Russia. One way to gain acceptance might be to be seen as an indigenous organisation, and Captain Fagerstrom says that although most of the Salvation Army's funding comes from international sources, there are concerted efforts to transform it into a national organisation: 'We are now trying to get funds from inside Russia. In time we will leave and nationals will take over - at present it is 50-50.� Another problem is obtaining accreditation from the authorities. Keston News Service has reported that the Salvation Army's lawyers advised them to register solely as a charity following the passing of the 1997 law on religion, (See KNS, Salvation Army Continues Its Work in St Petersburg, 24 February 1998) but Captain Fagerstrom says that the organisation is currently simultaneously going through the process of becoming a registered religious organisation and the process of gaining a charity passport. 'If you register as a charity you cannot do religious work. If you register as a religious organisation first, you can do both. We want to be registered as both so as to be able to do more.' Charitable status is not strictly necessary, but Captain Fagerstrom says there is so much concern about the number of bogus charities that 'if we are registered, it means that we do what we say we do'. There are also tax benefits on donations for registered charities. Captain Fagerstrom is confident that the Salvation Army will receive registration as a religious organisation within the next few months: 'The process is almost complete... but there has been a lot of bureaucracy in making sure that the wording in the application is right.� She believes that once the organisation is registered in three cities it will receive all-Russian status in accordance with the 1997 law and thus be exempt from the requirement to reregister new branches. The Salvation Army had trouble getting official recognition in Russia before the Bolshevik Revolution. When the first missionary, a Swede, started preaching in St Petersburg in 1890 he was promptly sent to Siberia, and in a meeting on 6 April 1909 in Buckingham Palace, the Russian Empress Mariya Fedorovna told Salvation Army founder William Booth that she feared the Salvation Army's presence in Russia signified the formation of a new Christian sect in conflict with the Russian Orthodox Church, which the Russian authorities viewed as extremely undesirable. It was only following the February Revolution of 1917 that the Salvation Army was able to function legally in Russia, and they were asked to leave in 1923. They were not invited back until 1991. Despite this history, Captain Fagerstrom believes that the Salvation Army will have no problem in obtaining registration. She thinks it will be easy to find documentation proving that the organisation was active in Russia before the communist clampdown, and she does not consider threats of expulsion from two meeting halls in St Petersburg immediately after the new law was passed to be significant (See KNS, St Petersburg Authorities Crack Down on Salvation Army, 15 October 1997). Why was she so confident about the favourable attitude of the authorities? 'The government has never praised us - but, unlike some other organisations, they have not tried to obstruct us; one organisation told us that they had been constantly harassed. Because we have never had problems we take that to mean "We know you're credible".' The Salvation Army describes itself as 'an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church', but under the new law it will be registered as its own denomination. However, according to Captain Fagerstrom it cooperates with many other groups, both secular and religious, including - albeit unofficially - Orthodox in central and outer Moscow. However, she refused to give any further details for fear of creating trouble for her Orthodox partners: 'The Moscow Patriarchate would never admit that it is happening, and the individual parishes would not like to be advertised.� Was it any particular kind of parish that was prepared to work alongside the Salvation Army in activities such as soup distribution? 'No, it depends upon the situation and openness of the particular priest.� Keston asked what the reaction of the Salvation Army had been to the US government's recent decision to grant 625 million dollars of humanitarian aid to Russia in the knowledge that it will be distributed partly by the Russian Orthodox Church. Surely the Salvation Army had the necessary expertise to distribute such aid? Did they feel overlooked? 'We have mixed feelings about it. It would require huge amounts of time and staff. In another sense it was a disappointment - no reasoning was given as to why the groups that were chosen had been chosen. They haven't been open about the decision-making process: Our representative did attend the planning meetings and gave a presentation, but the decision still surprised us'. Overall, however, she concluded that it was a relief not to be responsible for distributing the aid: 'We have limited personnel to do such a huge distribution'. When asked whether she thought the Russian Orthodox Church would be able to do the work any better, Captain Fagerstrom was clearly reluctant to criticise the Moscow Patriarchate. 'Some of their programmes are very limited, but they have churches and existing programmes everywhere. We have nothing in Siberia, for example, where they already have that contact made�. She concluded that it was indeed doubtful that the Russian Orthodox Church had the experience of the Salvation Army, but added diplomatically, 'that doesn't mean they can't do a good job.' (END)