It seems that the Russian Orthodox Church is becoming increasingly tied with the regime of Vladimir Putin:
MOSCOW — Sergei Privalov, a soft-spoken priest who heads the Russian Orthodox Church’s Department for Cooperation with the Military, Law Enforcement and the Security Services, is a busy man.
Everyone wants a patron saint.
“It’s like a wave we are witnessing,” he said. He pulled out a recent letter from the church’s patriarch, Alexy II, approving a request from Rus, a special forces police unit long involved in controversial counterterrorism operations in Chechnya, that the legendary 13th-century military commander and saint Alexander Nevsky be named its patron.
Nevsky was already the patron saint of the FSB, Russia’s internal security service. Meanwhile, the Strategic Rocket Forces, which oversee Russia’s land-based nuclear missiles, have Saint Barbara, the tax police have Saint Anthony, the Border Guards have Saint Ilya Muromets and the Ministry of Interior’s troops have Saint Vladimir, among dozens of other examples.
Moribund during the Soviet era, the Orthodox Church has been reborn as a powerful force in Russian life, building congregations across the country. The church has also become increasingly identified with a strand of patriotism that celebrates a strong centralized state and is skeptical of Western notions of democracy, human rights and pluralism. Its most prominent adherent is President Vladimir Putin, whose faith is part of his public persona.
The church’s increasingly close relationship with the state and the adoption of Orthodox symbols by public entities have unsettled followers of some of Russia’s other traditional religions, particularly its large Muslim population.
Some critics contend that Orthodoxy is becoming a state religion by sleight, through such steps as making the teaching of Orthodox culture mandatory in some regions this school year. The move violates the separation of church and state required by the Russian constitution.
There seems to be something symbiotic going on here. Putin has clearly adopted the outward appearance of being an adherent of Russian Orthodoxy, or at least he has appeared to, as part of his broader appeal to Russian nationalism. The Church has increased its ties to the state for obvious reasons, to ensure its survival and dominance. If history is any indication, though, this won’t end well for the Church.
