OCR Text |
Show RUSSIAN CHURCH GOES TO PIECES Requisition of Treasures Seems to Have Split Heirarchy MOSCOW, July 1 The great Rus-I slan orthodox church, which for con j furies was probably the most Import' ant BO del factor und 6ns of the tnostt i important politically in Russian life, j seems to have eone bo pieces Itself. I rather than to have had any effect upon the Bolshevik government, in Its first direct conflict with the soviet regime, SCORES LRRESTED. Whatever may have been the un-derlylng un-derlylng iurpose of tlx Communist government in directiug the requisition requisi-tion of church treasures for relief ofi the famine sufferers, the r-iUi8itiin 'ltelf has succeeded In splitting the chun-h Scores of priests are under arrest and revolutionary tribunals throughout the country are trying them for counter-revolution or theft! and secretion of church valuables without anv particular resentment on the port of the parlshohers. .'atrl-arch .'atrl-arch Tikon. the head of the church. abdicated when faced with trial by! te civil courts on the charge of op-! I posing the requisition. One of the j men he suggested as his possible suc-j I cessor, the .Vlotropollta n Benjamin, ofi P-trograd, Is also to b put on trial. I and In the meantime the control of Church affairs has been turned oven i to a group known popularly as the reel clergy. This group, pledged lo o'ollfy tho hurch services and to work In harmony har-mony with the Bolshevik government already has taken over a number of churches. It is headed by Bishop An-onln. An-onln. nf Moscow, who early In the conflict that developed over the requisition requi-sition of treasures, volunteered to assist as-sist the soviet government. Now An-tonln An-tonln Is planning tn secure close cooperation co-operation between church and sta'e bj appointment in the Russian cabinet cabi-net r.r a commissar for church af-f af-f l i r ( The actual value of church treas-j ures of Russia probably wax several' hundred million dollars. but tho requlsitloners obtained ut a small j proportion of this amount. They .secured .se-cured tons of silver. mu li gold und thousands of precious stones, but fori every diamond studded mltrc. the requlsitloners found one or two ehu- ilar articles listed as stolen or miss-; intr For th- theft of these and for! open agitation B gainst requisition there Is scarcely a province in RuBSifl where churchmen have not been arrested. ar-rested. In addition to the- eight priests, one woman and two laymen sentenced lo death al Moscow, ami tho four sentenced at ShUya, other death, sentences are being Imposed Except at Shuya, however, none has been i KV carried out, and it Is generally & - 'B?-' .-, in MOSCOW 'hit most of those onvloted Will be pardoned or recen t ErV reduced senteni es. General Brussi- I I loff, one of the heroes of the Russian I war against Germany and At 1 iEf.'1, , interceded ". his daughter-in-law, H Mi- Bar bars ivanovs Brusslloff tii woman sentenced to death in 1,1. .Moscow trial. 1 ld residents of Moscow have mu H the correspondent that the arrest! of BfT the clergy were not resented because I Russians ordinarily had very liti.l. respect for the priests, The were .1-- lBB"- their chqrCfa worship but re- j garded the clergy, particularly in the I vlllagee, ns men wlo charged them H for all Th- services the church re'n- I dered, making l hem pay for birth-, B marriages and deaths. OO H |