The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1905-05-06
None Might Leave.

true TO the religion OF thelr 1atnefS,
but were forbidden to make prose
lytes
None Might Leave.
Every body might enter. but none
might leave the orthodox church with
cut f5rteting all civil rights, including
ti>e Tigrt 10 inherit crown property,
end IN the train OF that policy perse-
cutions of every conceivable charac-
ter were directed against the Ras-
kolnilli or dissident sects, and especial
ly the old believers. Among the Ras-
lalniki are numbered q thousand and
one queer and rustic heresies bred of
the great Schism caused by reform of
the ancient liturgy and augmented by
the suppression of the paJriachate by
Peter the Great. The old believers.
who clung to the cid liturgy and made
the sign Of the cross with three fingers
instead Of two. was broken up into nu-
Elercus sects, some discardinG priests
and sacraments. and some trending to-
ward free love and immoral practices.
while others instituted an epiScopate
and priesthood of their own and dealt
with all innovations from the west as
inventions Of the anti-Christ eschew-
ing tea. coffee aud sugar and consid-
e7ing shaving wicked.
Victims of Persecution.
These latter survived countless per-
secutions for years. without legal rec
ognition of marriages conducted by
their priests but nevertheless became
commercially the ablest class in Rus
sia. Morality and wealth were the Sc
crets Of their strength. This branch Of
the old believers includes merchant
princes of Moscow rivaling those OF
America. but they have never ceased
To be regarded as apostates from the
orthodox church and have been sub |
jected to all sorts of legal prosecutions |
as such.
Some Worshipped Napoleon.
The humber dissenters have had a |
much harder time being hunted down |
until secretly they gave rise to a horde /
OF strange sects. One preached redemp |
zion by suicide and fiery or bloody /
baptism: others Worshipped images of |
Napoleon as the Messiah. believing that |
he escaped to Siberia and would return |
some day and establish reign Of JUS /
tice and peace and still others. like
the Flagellants, Eunuchs. Jumpers and !
Adamites. which are now practically
wiped out. indulged IN most licentious
rites. The Studists and Molkans of
southern Russia. now the principal
non -conformists. who might be de-
sclibed as the Quakers of Russia. have
made tremendous progress in recent
years in spite Of prosecutions which
often have driven them eastward and
made them pioneers of Russian colo
nization. There are in all about 12,-
600 OF these dissidents.
Millions Are Affected.
The enperor's act win also affect
about 100000 belonging to alien
faiths. such as the Jews. Catholics and
lutherans of Poland and the Baltic
provinces: the Protestants Of Finland
ana the followers of Islam and Budda
i'm the Urals. She Crimea. the eau
casus. Turkestan and Central Asia.
These figures are only approximate. as
probably millions who are nominally
orthodox secretly profess other reli-
gions Whole villages Of Mussulmans
baptized into the orthodox communion
by a ruse petition in vain to be per
mitted to return to Mohammendan
ism.
While the emperor's approval of the
action Of the committee of the minis
ters distinctly holds to orthodoxy as
the state religion, and creates the
usual commission to work out many
details i'm connection with the off
spring of mixed marriages during mi
nority, legitimiZation of marriages and
registration of deaths and births. il
a lso vescinds a number Of acts aimed
J
fahlishes the principle OF absolute free
dom Of worship and the right of every
Russian who becomes Of age to change
his confession of faith. i'm which the
assurance of religious freedom lies.
IT also contemplates relief of Cath
olics and Poles from the present yeX-
atious restrictions as TO preaching the
catechism. the Russian language, etc.
Complete Reversal,
Logically the emperor's action in
wolves a complete reversal of the Rus
sian policy Of seeking national unity
IN conquered provinces in religious
unity. He has accepted the axiom of
the Metropolitan Antonius: You can !
rot hold strange children in the church
against their will and recognizes in
variety good for the nation :
as well as for the church itself, y
which, if acknowledged po-
itieally, would mean federated Rus