February 28, 2001

Tolstoy Excommunication Reviewed

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

OSCOW -- The Russian Orthodox Church's excommunication of Leo Tolstoy, which the author's great-great-grandson has asked to be lifted, was not a condemnation but a reflection of differing views, a church spokesman was quoted as saying Wednesday.

The comments by Father Vsevolod Chaplin could indicate that the church will not repeal the excommunication, which was pronounced in 1901.

The author's descendant, Vladimir Tolstoy, has asked the church to reconsider, saying he should be forgiven in the name of national reconciliation. ''Russian people are forced to choose between a national genius and the national religion,'' he said Monday.

Tolstoy rejected the authority of the church and developed his own version of Christianity, emphasizing that people can affirm the good in themselves through self-examination and reformation.

''I think all people in our country, including the (Orthodox) believers, respect Tolstoy as a writer,'' Chaplin said, according to the news agency Interfax.

But because Tolstoy ''expressed views contradicting the church's teaching and spirit, the church naturally had the right to say that these views could not be considered orthodox,'' he was quoted as saying.

The excommunication ''should not be taken as an anathema'' -- an official condemnation -- ''but the attestation that the writer's beliefs very seriously disagreed with Orthodox teaching,'' Chaplin said, according to Interfax.

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