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Russian Orthodoxy, Russian Nationalism, and Patriarch Aleksii II

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Zoe Knox
Zoe Knox*
Affiliation:
Center for the Study of Cultures, Rice University, U.S.A. zknox@rice.edu
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Extract

The Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) is a highly visible institution in Russia, and arguably the most prominent and influential religious or cultural body. The Orthodox Church figures prominently in various discussions as the driving force behind Russia's post-Soviet renewal and recovery. Surveys show that Russians trust the Orthodox Church more than any other public institution, including law courts, trade unions, mass media, the military, the police and the government. Estimates of the number of self-identified Orthodox adherents range from 50 million, which amounts to slightly more than one-third of Russia's population, to 70 million, or roughly one half of the population. A leading newspaper consistently ranks Patriarch Aleksii II, head of the Moscow Patriarchate, the governing body of the Orthodox Church, in the top 15 of the country's most influential political figures. These indicators confirm that the Orthodox Church has a significant role in Russia's post-Soviet development. This is widely accepted by commentators both within and without the Orthodox Church, and within and without Russia.

Type
Articles
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 33 , Issue 4 , December 2005 , pp. 533 - 545
Copyright
Copyright © 2005 Association for the Study of Nationalities 

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References

Notes

1. Hereafter the terms ‘Russian Orthodox Church’ and ‘Orthodox Church’ are used interchangeably to refer to the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate). There are other Russian Orthodox churches registered in Russia: the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church; Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia; True Orthodox Church; Russian Orthodox Free Church; and Old Believers' churches. Of these, the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) is the only jurisdiction recognised by the Eastern Orthodox leader, Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch.Google Scholar

2. See the table in Kimmo Kääriäinen and Dmitri Furman, “Religiosity in Russia in the 1990s,” in Matti Kotiranta, ed., Religious Transition in Russia (Helsinki: Kikimora, 2000), p. 60.Google Scholar

3. Mikhail Tul'skii, “Vakhkhabity v Rossii pobezhdaiut umerennykh musul'man?” Nezavisimaia gazeta , 19 June 2001, p. 8.Google Scholar

4. See, for example, Aleksandr Komozin, “100 vedushchikh politikov Rossii v mae,” Nezavisimaia gazeta , 10 June 2001, p. 11.Google Scholar

5. See, for example, statements by this broad range of commentators: James H. Billington, Russia in Search of Itself (Washington D.C. Woodrow Wilson Center Press; Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004), p. xv; Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, cited in Elena Tsivileva, “Vosstanovlenie sviatyni zaversheno,” Nezavisimaia gazeta, 6 October 2000, p. 2; Irina A. Papkov, “The Resurgence of Russian Orthodoxy and Its Implications for Russian Democracy,” in Christopher Marsh, ed., Burden or Blessing: Russian Orthodoxy and the Construction of Civil Society and Democracy (Boston: Institute of Religion, Culture and World Affairs, Boston University, 2004), p. 38; Nicolai N. Petro, “The Orthodox Are Coming!” New Europe Review, Vol. 2, No.1, 2005, pp. 11–13; Julia Sudo, “Russian Nationalist Orthodox Theology: A New Trend in the Political Life of Russia,” Political Theology, Vol. 6, No. 1, 2005, p. 67; and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Sluzhba kommunikatsii OVTsS MP, “Prezident Rossii V.V. Putin vruchil gosudarstvennye nagrady sviashchennosluzhiteliam,” (16 January 2002), <http://www.russian-orthodox-church.org.ru/nr101161.htm> (accessed 24 March 2005).+(accessed+24+March+2005).>Google Scholar

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14. The other instance was when Patriarch Aleksii II stated that the introduction of individual tax numbers should not concern believers despite fears that it would impose the number of the Antichrist (666) on them. Stella Rock, “‘Militant Piety’: Fundamentalist Tendencies in the Russian Orthodox Brotherhood Movement,” Religion in Eastern Europe, Vol. 22, No. 3, 2002, p. 7.Google Scholar

15. The other chief contender, Metropolitan Filaret, has since established a rival Orthodox jurisdiction, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kiev Patriarchate). For an overview of Patriarch Aleksii II's activities in international ecumenical organisations, see DECR Communications Service, “Aleksii II, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia: A Biographical Note,” <http://www.mospat.ru/text/e_holiness/id/178.html> (accessed 25 March 2005).+(accessed+25+March+2005).>Google Scholar

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23. Pospielovsky, “The Russian Orthodox Church in the Postcommunist CIS,” p. 72, n. 47.Google Scholar

24. For further discussion of liberal clergy and laity in the Orthodox Church see Zoe Knox, Russian Society and the Orthodox Church: Religion in Russia after Communism (London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2005), pp. 91–99.Google Scholar

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30. For analysis of the law's provisions and its implications for religious pluralism see Knox, Russian Society and the Orthodox Church , pp. 2–4; 167–172. For the full text see Rossiiskaia Federatsiia Federal'nyi zakon, “O svobode sovesti i o religioznykh ob'edineniiakh,” Rossiiskaia gazeta, 1 October 1997, pp. 2–3.Google Scholar

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32. DECR Communications Service, “The Russian Orthodox Church Today,” <http://www.russian-orthodox-church.org.ru/today_eng.htm> (accessed 8 February 2001).+(accessed+8+February+2001).>Google Scholar

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34. See Pospielovsky, “The Russian Orthodox Church in the Postcommunist CIS,” p. 74, n. 63.Google Scholar

35. Sluzhba kommunikatsii OVTsS MP, “Sviateishii Patriarkh Aleksii vstretilcia s gruppoi radiozhurnalistov dlia traditsionnoi zapisi Rozhdestvenskogo poslaniia i otvetil na ikh voprosy,” <http://www.mospat.ru/text/news/id/8359.html> (accessed 1 January 2005).+(accessed+1+January+2005).>Google Scholar

36. The Ukrainian branch of the Union of Orthodox Brotherhoods opposed Viktor Yushchenko's candidacy in the 2004 Ukrainian presidential elections, warning that his election would be a victory for anti-Orthodox forces and result in Catholic expansionism in Ukraine.Google Scholar

37. This point is make in Billington, Russia in Search of Itself p. 52Google Scholar

38. Ziuganov also referred to the KPRF's “respect” for Orthodoxy, the need to protect the Church from foreign interlopers, and Orthodoxy and the Russian Idea. O. Nikolsky. “The Path of Goodness and Righteousness (Pravda Rossii, 5 October 1995, p.2),” Current Digest of the Post-Soviet Press, Vol. 97, No. 41, 1995, pp. 4–5. The interview was first printed in Pravoslavnaia Moskva (OrthodoxMoscow).Google Scholar

39. Reuters, “Putin Lauds Church Role as Patriarch Marks 10 Years,” Johnson's Russia List (#4359). [Email bulletin], 9 June 2000.Google Scholar

40. Cited in Beth M. Admiraal, “Failing Freedom: Parties, Elites and the Uncertainty of Religious Life in Russia,” in Christopher Marsh, ed., Burden or Blessing: Russian Orthodoxy and the Construction of Civil Society and Democracy (Boston: Institute of Religion, Culture and World Affairs, Boston University, 2004), p. 18.Google Scholar

41. Pospielovsky, The Orthodox Church in the History of Russia , pp. 376–377.Google Scholar

42. Verkhovsky, “The Role of the Russian Orthodox Church,” p. 333.Google Scholar