New cult raises alarm among Russian Orthodox

by Cristina Odone
AS THE POPE warned Catholics this week about the dangers of New Age spirituality, news came from Moscow that the Russian Orthodox hierarchy is up in arms about a spiritual guru holding "sexual healing sessions".
Thousands are flocking to the Moscow-based group "sessions". conducted by New Age faithhealer Boris Zolotov as part of his "Golden Way" method. Orthodox Churchmen, alarmed by the popularity of the self-styled healer, have denounced as "evil" and "satanic" his sessions, which involve Zolotov sending "telepathic" messages to his "clients" to bring about what one observer described as "feverish ecstasy".
Zolotov, who claims that his courses can heal the sick and teach people how to improve personal relationships, has been accused by Orthodox officials of destroying the family and creating a personal cult.
The seminars, which have been attracting mainly women, cost about f15 (a considerable sum in poverty-stricken Russia). With thousands of Russians joining unorthodox movements such as Zolotov's, a parliamentary sub-committee in Moscow is now considering drafting a law to forbid entry to religious groups or charitable groups without explicit invitations from a registered body in Russia.
Many Russian Church leaders suspect "these movements of being inspired by and financed by New Age bodies in America", Russian Orthodox priest Fr Sergey Hackel told the Catholic Herald this week .
"These groups are cropping up in increasing numbers in Russia. plaguing not only the Orthodox Church but also the Catholic Church there," Fr Sergey said. But Catholics all over the world have been warned by the Pope to steer clear of new "parareligions" because of their "denial of eternal life and of the irrevocable consequences of human action for good or evil". Addressing a group of US bishops in Rome this week, the Pope explained that sects owed their popularity today to society's new search for spirituality. But they were guilty of "ambiguous" practices, incompatible with the Christian faith. he warned. The Pope went on to single out New Age spirituality for particular criticism as promoting a "vague vision of the world expressed in myths and symbols".
At the Information Network Focus on Religious Movements (INFORM), Kathy Walsh said that she doubted groups such as Zolotov would find "great following here in England. Certainly concern about such groups spreading in this country are unfounded, going by previous experiences." Ms Walsh maintained that the "excesses " reported in other countries among followers of such self-styled spiritual leaders as Zolotov "do not generally appear over here".
'Fr Sergey, who denounced Zolotov's Golden Way as a "terrible by-product of the present chaos in Russia," agreed that the Zolotov phenomenon would be unlikely to "catch fire over here".