PRAY!

A samizdat document dated Autumn 1981 contains details about the Russian Orthodox priest, Fr. Joseph Mikhailov from the city of Ufa (Bashkir ASSR). The document states that Fr. Joseph (b. 1931) was arrested for a letter he addressed to the United Nations, protesting against the interference of Soviet authorities in Church life. Since 1971 he has been held in the special psychiatric hospital in Kazan. For ten years he has been subjected to drug treatments which, according to witnessses have affected him very badly One of his doctors there has a reputation for cruelty. Fr. Joseph has been told that drug treatment will be halted if he renounces his faith. This he has refused steadfastly to do. The document states that Fr. Joseph has retained true Christian humility in the face of his trials despite the fact that he cannot preach or serve in church.(KNS – 111)WRITE!

Having completed 15 years of imprisonment, Igor Ogurtsov (see “Orthodox Ameri ca”, July, 1981) has begun 5 years of internal exile in the town of Mikun in the Komi ASSR (approx. 750 miles northeast of Leningrad). Letters should be sent to the poste-restante (“Na Vostrebovanie) until it is known where Ogurtsov has found lodging. The address is:

USSR 169160
[etc.]