The Church of Latter-day Saints, more commonly known as the Mormons, has erected a glimmering 42-meter high granite temple on the outskirts of Kyiv – the first in Eastern Europe and 134th worldwide. A church spokesperson refused to reveal the cost of the building project, but Mormon elder Alexander Manzhos said it would serve 31,000 believers from as far away as Kazakhstan and Armenia. The first Mormon congregation in Ukraine was launched in 1991, the year the country gained independence, and now numbers over 10,700 baptized members, over sixty congregations and numerous meeting houses and chapels throughout the country. In an exclusive interview with the Kyiv Post, Manzhos fields questions about other church real estate, financial matters and the Mormons’ position in Ukrainian society.
KP: Why a temple in Ukraine?
AM: Largely due to geography. Mainly, the temple will be for those church members worldwide who can access it for certain rights. For example, Armenia. For people living in Armenia, it’s more difficult to access our temples in Germany or Finland because they have to get visas.
KP: Why on the outskirts of the city?
AM: If you noticed, the temple takes up five hectares. It’s very hard to find in the center of Kyiv or of any other city a five hectare plot.
KP: Were you pressured out of the center by the authorities?
AM: No, there was no pressure. On the contrary, we think that the authorities treated us with sufficient tolerance and even facilitated, to a certain degree, the building of the temple.
KP: How about the Ukrainian Orthodox Church?
AM: Well, we haven’t noticed an outstretched arm (laughs), let’s say, but we would at least like to see this, because we are Christians, and one of the commandments is to help those in need. We think that we could unite if not in theology – because we have purely religious disagreements – then in general things that characterize all Christians, such as the desire to help those in need, other humanitarian programs that we could do together. Society would only be the better for this.
KP: Are there any influential Ukrainians in your church?
AM. We have a church member who was in the former government in the position of deputy minister of transport in charge of aviation, Alexander Davydov, and now he’s a Kyiv city councilman.
KP: Your web site says that the church has been active in charity in Ukraine, can you put a monetary figure on this activity?
AM: For 2009, we delivered aid worth $9 million.
KP: Where did this money go?
AM: It could be the purchase of medical equipment. But more often than not in recent years we haven’t done this much because of complicated legislation regarding the certification of medical equipment to be used here. However, we often donate such things as wheel chairs, which don’t require certification, or expendable goods such hospital beds, bandages, blankets and simply medical instruments.
KP: What did you do before you became a Mormon?
AM: I was an atheist, a member of the Communist Party, and I was even until 1984 the secretary of the party organization where I worked.
KP: What do you say to those who accuse the Mormons of enticing converts with material success, as if to say – we are Mormons and therefore successful – like you, for example, dressed in a nice suit?
AM: This suit I am wearing, for your information, I bought in America for $120 – a lot less than I would have paid here.
KP: Is the average Ukrainian Mormon middle class?
AM: We never carried out a survey but I can say for sure that when the church was formed here there was no middle class in Ukraine, and people were mostly poor.
KP: You don’t help [poor church members]?
AM: We help, but our help is very specific. I can give you an example. During the 1990s, the economic situation was difficult, in the east mines were closed, and the miners couldn’t feed their families because they knew no other work. So if a church member found himself in such a situation, we supported their families at the expense of other church members, so that they could buy the most basic food and clothing. But if anyone could work in the family he was given the chance to learn a new trade.
KP:Can you give me a figure for your total assets in Ukraine?
AM: I can’t give you a precise figure off hand, but we mostly rent the premises that we use – perhaps as much as 60%.
KP: Is this the property of the world church?
AM: No, it’s the property of the [church’s] religious administration in Ukraine.
KP: Why do you emphasize real estate so much? Why don’t you just meet in each other’s homes? After all, you don’t have so many church members?
AM:When the church just began, we really did just meet in each other’s apartments, when we had five or six people. But when we had eight people, then we started renting bigger premises.
KP: Have you ever been the victims of intolerance or violence in Ukraine?
AM: In Russia, there have been some such incidents. In Ukraine, there have been incidents of property damage, but it’s not clear whether the intention was theft or something else.
KP: You have over 10,000 members in Ukraine after nearly 20 years, do you see further growth in the church?
AM: I think that it is increasing. All our experience shows that the church is growing.
Kyiv Post staff writer John Marone can be reached at [email protected]
