Religion today

Kazan is a city of numerous faiths. There are more than 20 mosques, Orthodox churches, a Lutheran church, a Catholic chapel, a Synagogue and other religious establishments in the city. The Orthodox Theological Seminary and Russian Islam University work here. Since 1989 the Kazan bishopric is headed by the bishop (since 1966 – arch-bishop) Anastasiy (Alexander Mikhailovich Metkin). After the newly-established Mari bishopric separated from the Kazan bishopric on June, 11, 1993, Anastasiy acquired the title of Kazan and Tatarstan Bishop.

In Kazan up to 1989 there were only two functioning churches. In 1989 the bishopric got back the Peter and Paul’s Cathedral, in 1991 – Raifsky Monastery, in 1994 – Varvarinskaya and Sofijskaya churches, in 1996 – Makarievsky Monastery and Tikhvinskaya church (it was given to the community of Kryashen people, who before the Revolution were called old-christened Tatars), Sedmiosernaya hermitage, Sviyazhsky Uspensky Monastery and Evdokiinskaya church.

In September 1997 there was opened Kazan Theological School, which in 1998 was transformed into Theological Seminary – higher educational establishment. Since 1999 the Seminary has University Extension. The Seminary periodically organizes All-Russia Religious-Scientific conferences; in April 2000 they restarted printing religious-scientific magazine “Orthodox Interlocutor”. In 1993 in Naberezhniye Chelny appeared the newspaper “Good News”, which in 1995 was reorganized into “Kazan Bishopric Bulletin”.

Since 1997 have been broadcast monthly TV programs “The Way” (channel “Tatarstan”, the author is A.V.Zhuravsky) and “The Orthodox Kazan” (channel “Ether”, the author is priest Roman Modin). By the beginning of 2000 in Tatarstan had been registered more than 140 Orthodox congregations.

The national congregations (Kryashen and Chuvash) of the Kazan bishopric are developing. They also actively study the lives of the new Kazan martyrs. The evidence of this work was the decision of the Jubilee Clergy Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, which took place in Moscow in 2000.

In the times of the Soviet Union almost all 14500 churches of the country were closed. In the 1980-s in Russia there were functioning only 90 mosques, and only one in Kazan – it was “Al-Mardzhany”.

Together with the beginning of Perestroika the old mosques of Kazan were opened and the new ones were built. During 10 years the number of mosques in Tatarstan reached 1000 and soon exceeded it. In 1992 there was opened Theological Moslem Department, in 1998 – Russian Islam University. Besides, in Kazan work 13 high schools (medrese) which train professional clergymen.

Kazan gains back the traditions of an important Moslem center.  Different religious publishing houses are working in the city nowadays. In 1998 Gusman khazrat Iskhakov was elected the Mufti of the Republic Tatarstan.