861.404/483: Telegram
The Chargé in the Soviet Union (Henderson) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 10—9:30 a.m.]
443. 1. The Soviet Government is apparently continuing to develop its policy of recognizing the church and clergy as a factor in Soviet life.
2. The naming of Nikolai, Metropolitan of Kiev, as a member of the Extraordinary State Commission for Ascertaining Offenses of the German Fascists, as reported in the Embassy’s 982, of November 5, 1942 from Kuibyshev, represents the first appointment since the revolution of a churchman to an important governmental position.
[Page 477]3. Greetings to Stalin on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the revolution from three prominent churchmen have been published during the last 2 days in the Moscow Pravda.
Metropolitan Sergei of Moscow and Kolumna,60 who describes himself as “Guardian of the Patriarchal Seat” and who is generally regarded as the head of the old Orthodox Russian Church stated that: “On behalf of the clergy and all believers of the Russian Orthodox Church, I sincerely and devoutly congratulate you as the God-chosen leader of our armed and cultural forces. God bless your great deeds for the fatherland with success and glory.” Nikolai of Kiev congratulated Stalin on behalf of the Ukrainian believers and asked him to accept from them “their ardent and devout wish that the Almighty send you good health for many years to come.” Kalistrat, Catholicos Patriarch of all Georgia, telegraphed that he had asked God “who has in his hand the power and might” to prolong Stalin’s life for many years and to preserve the firmness of his spiritual [apparent omission] and strength.
4. The Soviet press is not limiting its discussion of religious matters to Christianity. The Moscow News of October 24 published an interview by a Soviet journalist with the “Iman of the Moscow Moslems, assistant to the ninth Mufti, Rosulev Habdrahman, the spiritual headquarters of the Moslems in the Soviet Union.” In this interview the Iman denounced Hitler for the manner in which the Germans have treated mosques in German occupied territories, asserted that Moslems in the Soviet Union were sending their sons to the front with blessings to fight for their country and for Moslems the world over against the Fascists, and insisted that the freedom of worship in the Soviet Union was not in any way limited.
5. Although the greetings of the churchmen occupied an insignificant space on the back page of the papers, their publication as well as the appointment of Nikolai has caused a sensation among the Russian people. It is believed that for the most part even those elements of the population who have no personal interest in religion are hoping that the friendlier attitude of the Government toward the church is sincere and that it bodes a general increase in tolerance. People are again beginning to hope, as they did in 1936 when the new constitution was first announced, that they may live to enjoy personal freedoms under a more benign regime.
- The Most Reverend Sergey, Acting Patriarch and Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomenskoye, Guardian of the Patriarchy.↩