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English Language Page Note that individual religious behavior should not insult the feelings of patients who exercise a different religion or are atheists. In this respect the law requires administrations and medical personnel of institutions to “establish and clarify rules for religious patients which in the interests of other patients of the psychiatric institution must be complied with when exercising religious rites or inviting a representative of the clergy” (Article 39), as well as “facilitate the implementation of the right to freedom of conscience of believers and atheists.” Availability of prayer rooms and the right to invite a clergyman Close cooperation with the church has been lately considered an indicator of a special care that leaders of psychiatric institutions take of patients’ spiritual life. Many head physicians show initiative and invite representatives of the (first of all, Christian Orthodox) clergy to their clinics. This results in a situation when communication with a priest is imposed upon patients; it becomes a fashion of pastime that has no alternatives. Meanwhile inviting a clergyman to the clinic must meet patients’ demands and correspond with their request to meet a representative of the clergy of a particular religion. In addition, such meetings should be organized in such a manner so as not to insult religious feelings of other patients and prevent them from perceiving it as interference with their personal lives. In order for confessional life at institutions to not contradict religious and other preferences of patients special prayer rooms isolated from other premises of the department are needed. The monitoring has shown that eight of the surveyed clinics have functioning Christian Orthodox churches on their territories (Kostroma regional psychiatric clinic, Central Moscow regional psychiatric clinic #1, Pskov regional psychiatric clinic #1, Sverdlovsk regional psychiatric clinic #1, etc.). The Novgorod regional psychiatric clinic has an Orthodox Christian chapel on its territory where regular services are held. The Sverdlovsk regional psychiatric clinic #1 has special rooms on its premises for patients of other confessions. Leaders of the Smolensk regional and Novgorod regional clinics also reported that they provided conditions to accommodate religious needs of patients representing other confessions. In a multi-confessional society the connection of a psychiatric institution with only one religion may be justified only by organizational difficulties. Special prayer rooms have been set up only in 16 of the surveyed institutions. Prayer rooms of the Krasnodar territorial psychiatric clinic, Kursk regional psychiatric clinic, Penza regional psychiatric clinic named after Yevgrafov, Tula regional psychiatric clinic, etc. can only be used by Orthodox Christians. The Kaliningrad city psychiatric clinic and St. Petersburg psychiatric clinic named after Kaschenko take into account the interests of both Orthodox Christians and Catholics. The Republican psychiatric clinic of Bashkortostan has set up two prayer rooms which are visited weekly by a Mullah and an Orthodox priest. Leaders of the majority of psychiatric institutions that have no facilities for religious communication mentioned during their interviews that their clinics were regularly visited by Orthodox Christian priests. Some of them even complained that the church did not pay enough attention to their requests to assign permanent priests to their clinics (for example, the Oryol regional psychiatric clinic). Due to the lack of special prayer rooms priests conduct their services and rites in rooms that are designed for common use, for example in meeting rooms (Belgorod regional psychiatric clinic, Vladimir regional psychiatric clinic #4, and some others), recreation rooms (Dankovskaya psychiatric clinic of the Lipetsk region, Orenburg psychiatric clinic #2, etc.) or even in a corridor (Republican psychiatric clinic of Khakassia). Some of the departments have set up so called “worship corners” on their premises (Krasnodar city psychiatric clinic, Orenburg regional psychiatric clinic #2, and some others). On one hand, when administrations of psychiatric institutions invite representatives of the clergy they strive to facilitate the implementation of their patients’ right to freedom of conscience and fulfill requests of the patients who desire religious communication. On the other hand the lack of rooms specifically designated for such purposes, the crowded conditions in psychiatric institutions result in the fact that participation in religious rites is imposed on every patient indiscriminately; it does not take into account the interests of those who practice religions other than Orthodox Christianity, as well as atheists. For example, at the Dankovskaya psychiatric clinic of the Lipetsk region a worship corner is set up in the canteen — a place that first, has no religious designation, and second, is attended by everyone regardless of their religious preferences. Representatives of 25 of the surveyed psychiatric institutions reported that they did not have a permanent relationship with any of the religious organizations, they tend to invite representatives of the clergy whenever they receive a sufficient amount of requests, they do not restrict their patients to communication with representatives of only one confession (first and foremost, Orthodox Christian) and that they tend to rely on patients’ relatives when it comes to this issue. For example, the Krasnoyarsk territorial psychiatric clinic #1 is visited by a clergyman three or four times a year whenever “a sufficient amount of patients’ requests” is accumulated. The Republican neuro-psychiatric dispensary of Buryatia invites Orthodox priests and lamas on the “basis of requests of patients and consent of their relatives.” A representative of any religion may come to the Moscow psychiatric clinic #13 and Smolensk municipal psychiatric clinic but only if such is the wish of a patient. While in the majority of cases the exercise of religious convictions is complicated by the lack of facilities at psychiatric institutions that would enable patients to practice religion, as well as initiatives of some head physicians that result in the restriction of rights of representatives of other confessions and atheists, some clinics have lists of forbidden religious organizations. For example, the Central Moscow regional psychiatric clinic #1 has put together such a list with participation and approval of the Council of the Moscow Patriarchate and the regional Ministry of Health Care. Representatives of religious organizations that are members of this list are not allowed on the clinic’s premises even if a patient insists upon it. Here the individual right to practice a certain confession is controlled by a particular church and a number of bureaucrats. The right to religious rites and religious paraphernalia Administrations of the majority of the surveyed institutions do not create obstacles for patients to exercise religious rites. At the same time no actions are undertaken as a rule to enable believers to observe certain religious requirements, for example pabular ones during lent. And although head physicians insisted that their institutions were able to provide all conditions to observe lent, their statements are questionable. Clinics are not always in a position to provide dietary nutrition to patients whose health conditions require it (for example, patients with diabetes or digestion pathologies), let alone — to organize nutrition in compliance with lent requirements. Patients are able to adhere to their religious convictions and rules primarily due to external support as long as administrations of institutions allow them to receive it. Thus, the rights of believers who have not lost social connections are provided for by the support of their relatives. Nevertheless, scarce funding and the poor material status of clinics render patients’ religious life dependent on administrations of departments and even external support is not always capable of amending this situation. For example, representatives of the Republican psychiatric clinic of Tatarstan reported that they were unable to meet the needs of their Muslim patients who requested a possibility to exercise ablution five times a day. The right to possess religious paraphernalia and books can be restricted at the decision of attending doctors. Considerations of patients’ safety sometimes force personnel to deprive patients of certain cult objects. Special care must be taken when doing so in order to not insult religious feelings of believers. Nevertheless, a case was registered during the monitoring when a new patient was forcefully deprived of their necklace with crucifix in the admission room — the admission personnel kept telling the patient that if unwilling to give it up now the crucifix would be “taken away when the patient is in the department anyway.” |
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