Covering Religion
Study Tour
Itinerary, March 13 - 24, 2002

Thursday, March 13
4 p.m. Depart New York, JFK, aboard Lufthansa Flight 401

Friday, March 14
5:35 a.m. Arrive Frankfurt
8:30 a.m. Leave for Moscow aboard Lufthansa Flight 3250
1:25 p.m. Arrive Moscow
Bus to Renaissance Hotel, where we will stay for five nights
7 p.m. Shabbat Dinner at the Renaissance

(RENAISSANCE Hotel; Olympijskiy Prospect 18/1, Moscow 129110, Russia Telephone: 7-095-931 9000)

Saturday, March 15
Breakfast at the hotel (served 7 to 12 on weekends; 6:30 to 11 weekdays)

10:30 a.m. Depart for Sabbath prayers at Maryina-Roshcha Synagogue
1 to 2 Lunch at Synagogue with Chief Rabbi Berl Lazar and Rabbi Avraham Berkowitz

3 to 4:30 Tour of the Cathedral Mosque and the Religious Board for European
Russia's Muslims. Meeting with Dr. Farid Asadullin or one of his aides.

5 p.m. Vespers at Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church (optional)

Evening Free

Sunday, March 16
(Orthodox Day)
7:15 a.m. Depart hotel (we will take box breakfasts from the hotel) for the Old Believers' church at Rogozhskoye cemetery.

7:45-8:30 a.m. Tour of the Old Believer's church and have orientation regarding the modern-day life of the Bielaia Krinitsia Communion in Russia (The Metropolia of Moscow and All Russia of the Russian Orthodox Old Ritualist Church),
conducted by the metropolitan's press secretary Ramil Khrustaleyov

8:30-9:30 a.m. Observe the first part of the Divine Liturgy (from the back or the balcony)
Depart by bus for St. Tatiana's

10 a.m. -1p.m. The Divine Liturgy at St. Tatiana Chapel of the Moscow State
University (The Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church).
Students can also opt to attend their own Sunday worship service at area churches

2-4 p.m. Lunch at a pizzeria overlooking the Christ the Savior Cathedral followed by optional excursions to Pushkin Museum

4-6p.m. Tour of the Christ the Savior Cathedral (including a visit to the
observation deck at the foot of the dome and the museum of the
Cathedral which tells the story of its construction, destruction and
Reconstruction)

Depart by metro for the Petrovich Club restaurant

7 p.m. Petrovich Club. Dinner with Russian religion reporters, correspondents and young religious Moscovites of various faiths at one of Moscow's most lively
and popular restaurants (Cost for students: $20)

Monday March 17th
(non-Orthodox day)
8-10 a.m. Breakfast in the Minsk Dining Room
Roundtable discussion with representatives of three New Christian movements
- Natasha Kim, Jehovah's Witnesses
- Andre Filiminov, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
- Jeff Scoggins, Seventh-Day Adventists

11:15 a.m. Visit Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception for tour by Olga Karpova, a correspondent for the Russian Catholic newspaper Svet Evangelia

1 p.m. Meeting to discuss story ideas

2:30 p.m. Lunch on the run

3 - 4 p.m. Tour of Choral Synagogue and visit with Mountain Jews

Optional visits to the newsrooms of the Moscow Times and the New York Times Bureau

Optional Evening activities: Bolshoi Ballet, Seventh-Day Spirituality and Health Seminar or Purim synagogue service(s).

Tuesday March 18

Reporting Day.

Wednesday March 19

9 a.m. depart by bus for the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Monastery in
Sergiev Posad.

Stop on the way at Radonezh (the birthplace of St. Sergius of Radonezh, the founder of
the monastery). Visit village church to get a taste for a "less intellectual" type of
Orthodox worship.

11 a.m. - 5 p.m. A tour of the Russian Orthodox Church's main Theological Seminary and Academy, the monastery's magnificent churches, offered by the director of the Seminary's museum, a Lenten lunch (strictly vegetarian and most likely highly untasty), and a meeting with a group of English-speaking seminarians.

6 p.m. Dinner in Sergiev Posad or Moscow (up to students)

9 p.m. return to Renaissance

Thursday, March 20

Reporting Day

5 p.m. Depart by bus for Moscow Train Station for overnight train to Kazan

Friday, March 21

7 a.m. Arrive Kazan and depart by bus for Tatarstan Hotel for early check-in, showers and breakfast

10 a.m. Depart Tatarstan Hotel for Juma'a prayer at Marjani Mosque to talk with Valiullah Yakub, deputy mufti of Tatarstan

1 p.m. Lunch

2 p.m. Meet with Rafik Mukhamedshin, a professor at Kazan's Russian- Islamic University for tour of Kazan including Kazan State University and Kazan kremlin

Evening Free

(TATARSTAN Hotel; Pushkina Street 4, Kazan 420107, Russia; General Manager Mrs. Alfiya Shafikovna Gizatulina; Telephone: 7-8432-388 379)

Saturday, March 22

R&R: Reporting and Relaxing Day

7p.m. Farewell Dinner at Jolly Roger

Sunday, March 23

8 a.m. Depart by bus for Raifa Monastery to visit with Abbott Archmandrite Vsevolod Zakharov and orphans

3 p.m. Tour of Belibezvoda, a Muslim village near Raifa Monastery to visit with Mayor Sergei Ushenin

5 p.m. Tour of Temple of All Faiths conducted by Ildar Khanov, a Tatar artist and faith healer.

6 p.m. Return to Tatarstan Hotel

Evening Free

Monday, March 24

5 a.m. Depart by bus to Kazan airport

7:50 a.m. aboard Lufthansa Flight 3281
Stop in Samara Continue on to Frankfurt
5:05 p.m. Depart Frankfurt aboard Lufthansa Flight 404
7:30 p.m. Arrive New York JFK

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