Christian University in Moscow Opposed by Russian Orthodox Activists

A plan for building a private Christian-orientated university in Moscow has triggered protests by some local citizens, including Russian Orthodox activists, according to the Interfax news agency.

On Tuesday, around 100 local residents and members of the Orthodox Citizens Union picketed a district assembly building. They demanded the termination of the building project of the Christian university. They demanded for more Russian Orthodox churches to be built in the neighbourhood in northern Moscow as there are not enough Russian Orthodox churches in the residential areas, reported Interfax.

"This Baptist educational institution is completely out of place in an area where the majority of the population is Orthodox," Interfax quoted Orthodox Citizens Union spokesman Kirill Fedoto.

The centre of the anger is the Russian-American Christian University (RACU), which is founded and directed by President John Bernbaum from the US. The RACU is not affiliated with any church. The faculty and students include Christians of all traditions - Protestants, Catholics and Russian Orthodox.

The idea of the Christian campus was in fact initiated at the request of the Russian Minister of Education to build a "Christian liberal arts university" in Moscow in October 1990. About two years later, an American Working Group was formed to develop the Christian college. Now after five years, the concept has become a reality.

From the RACU’s official website, the mission statement reads, "This University offers to Russian students an educational program that trains them to be productive citizens in the Russian Federation, in their neighbourhoods, in their churches, and in the marketplace."

The RACU first started with some language courses in 1995. In 1997, the Russian Ministry of Education awarded RACU an operational license with the right to grant undergraduate and graduate degrees. Operating for about 8 years till now, the Russian Ministry of Education has granted RACU full accreditation for five years - the first school of its kind to receive state approval.

President of the RACU John Bernbaum said now the University is waiting for some documents from the Moscow authorities to start the construction of the campus. He hopes the university can break ground this summer.

RACU has two campus locations: one facility, which RACU partially owns, that houses administrative offices, and a second, leased facility where the classrooms, computer lab and offices are situated. Both of these campus buildings are in the southwest section of Moscow.

The strong opposition that has been seen from some members of the country's dominant Russian Orthodox Church against the RACU has come about due to some churches seeing the new proposals as being an encroachment of foreign faiths and branches of Christianity into the area, say the Associated Press.