Russia's NGO Law Burdens Religious Organizations

Reuters reports that church leaders in Russia are asking the government for an exemption from the country's Law on Non-Governmental Organizations enacted earlier this year. The law, which takes effect in April 2007, requires NGOs to register with a special state agency and supply details of membership, sources of finance and a record of all meetings. Moscow's Catholic Archbishop says this means it would need to report the number and names of attendees at every Mass the church conducts. The Russian Orthodox church says the new requirements are reminiscent of the Soviet era. The Moscow Orthodox Patriarchate told Interfax last week that a number of the provisions of the law are impossible to observe. It suggests that religious organizations should be exempted from the requirement to report on the number of members.