In keeping with the agreement, which, according to the Patriarchate's press service, has been signed for an "indefinite period," there are plans to revive chapels at stations and mobile churches in railway cars. Missionary and enlightenment activities will also begin on long-distance trains. Clergymen and railroad staff will combat "pseudo-religious organizations that are dangerous to society." This means people handing out fliers for sects will be driven away from trains.
However, it would be wrong to forget that modern Russia, as distinct from the pre-revolutionary era, is a country where believers and atheists, Buddhists and Muslims, Catholics and Protestants, Orthodox believers and Krishnaites have equal rights. Another question is whether or not the Russian Orthodox Church's plans are tantamount to censorship on the wheels.
None of the "traditional" religions pursues the practice of signing agreements either with ministries or with organizations such as the railway service. But the Russian Orthodox Church began signing agreements on the federal and regional levels in the early 1990s. In 1996, it signed a cooperation agreement with the Interior Ministry on joint work to reform convicts and improve law and order, and in 1999 it put pen to paper on an agreement with the Russian Academy of Sciences. It also has agreements with the education, justice and culture ministries. Moreover, the Patriarchate has contractual obligations with all groups of armed forces.
