MOSCOW (AP) — Human rights activists say that religious freedoms are being rapidly curtailed throughout Russia as the Orthodox Church seeks to boost its dominance.
The independent Moscow-based Liberty of Conscience Institute presented a report on Monday outlining what it describes as a systematic crisis in the freedom of religious expression.
The report says President Dmitry Medvedev’s recent initiatives to restore a military priesthood and introduce religious education classes in school harm the idea of Russia as a secular state.
The Russian Orthodox Church counts more than 100 million people in Russia in its flock and has millions elsewhere. Polls show only about 5 percent of Russians are strict followers.
