Ideological Complementarity or Competition? The Kremlin, the Church, and the Monarchist Idea in Today's Russia

Slavic Review ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 345-364
Author(s):  
Marlene Laruelle
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
The Past ◽  
Historical Figures ◽  
Societal Actors ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

In 2018, Russia's last tsar, Nicholas II, was the most popular of all Russian historical figures of the twentieth century; the fame of White officers such as Alexander Kolchak and Anton Denikin was also on the rise. Obviously, broad sympathy for the last Romanov does not imply support for a potential restoration of the monarchy, yet the past few years have seen the activation of several monarchist lobbies, especially around the Russian Orthodox Church and in some well-connected Kremlin circles that seek the ideological hardening of the Putin regime. In this article, I use the case study of the monarchist idea to explore how the Kremlin manages the production of a large and diversified set of ideologies. I explore how the relationship between state authorities, ideological entrepreneurs, and some societal actors such as the Church is articulated along a continuum of permanent complementarity and competition in the production of ideologies.

scholarly journals The Economy of the Temples of God in the Turmoil of Changing Russia

2014 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Detelina Tocheva
Keyword(s):  
Social Stratification ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian State ◽  
Moral Boundaries ◽  
Moral Valence ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

AbstractThe liberalisation of religious practice after the fall of the Soviet regime and the support by the Russian state to the Russian Orthodox Church have contributed to the enormous growth of the church economy. Controversies within and without the Church interrogate commercial and gifting practices. The relationship between the expansion of church commerce and the operation of moral boundaries, underlined by critical stances, has been determined by culture and history, with the post-Soviet transformation having played a key role in shaping popular notions of selflessness and profit-seeking. Moreover, as people participate in the church economy they mobilise perceptions of the differential moral valence of gift and commerce in order to communicate concerning the power of the Church, its controversial image, Russia’s social stratification, and to deploy ethics of equity and honesty.

scholarly journals Political Events of February 1917 in the Diocesan Periodicals of Western Siberia

2020 ◽  
pp. 227-238
Author(s):  
A. A. Valitov ◽  
D. Yu. Fedotova
Keyword(s):  
Western Siberia ◽  
The Political ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Historical Justice ◽  
Political Events ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

The events of February 1917, presented on the pages of the church periodicals of Western Siberia, is examined in the article. The relevance of the study is due to the fact that for the first time in Russian historiography the political upheavals of this period have been analyzed on the basis of materials from regional diocesan records. The authors note that the diocesan records are an important historical source. A detailed analysis of the content of articles of Omsk, Tobolsk, Tomsk periodicals (“Diocesan Gazette”) on the presentation of the political events of February 1917 in them is carried out. The novelty of the research lies in identifying the attitude of the regional clergy to the revolutionary events in the period from February to April 1917. The presented results of the comparative analysis can be grouped according to the chronology and significance of the events that took place. The article concludes that it was during this period that one could hear the opinion of the Russian Orthodox Church on political changes in the country. It is noted that of particular interest were the issues of the relationship between the Church and the Provisional Government, this topic remained the most acute after the fall of the monarchy. It is shown that the representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church wanted to restore historical justice and receive autonomous government and independence from the secular authorities.

scholarly journals The Belarusian Orthodox Church and Its Role in the Belarusian Regime

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Avanesová
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
The Other ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
The One ◽  
Favorable Conditions ◽  
Church Organizations ◽  
The Church

This text, conceived as an interpretative case study, deals with the role that the Belarusian Orthodox Church plays in the contemporary Belarusian regime. In light of the fact that the Belarusian Orthodox Church is an exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, the author will also look at whether the Belarusian Orthodox Church can actually be considered an instrument of Russian in Belarus. Within the research, the author will show that on the one hand, there are favorable conditions for the development of the Belarusian Orthodox Church. But on the other hand, although the state declares the de facto independence of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, any opposition activity on its part is seen as a threat to the state, which allows the state to interfere with its policy. This leads church organizations in such systems to become significantly weakened within this “cooperation with the state”, even though they have an influence on society and thus a legitimizing potential. As a result, the church is strongly dependent on the state and limited as an actor in civil society within the Belarusian regime. In addition, the author will also conclude in the study that it is difficult to consider the Belarusian Orthodox Church to be a tool of the Kremlin’s influence.

The Russian Orthodox Church and the Secret Chancellery in the Context of Reforms of Peter the Great

2020 ◽  
pp. 37-45
Author(s):  
Aleksandr R. Pavlushkov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Peter The Great ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Established Relationship ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

Based on various sources, this article attempts to determine the scope and nature of the relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Secret Chancellery during the reforms of Peter I. The chronological framework of the period under study is limited to 1718–1725. It should be noted that the number of works on this topic is rather small. The article dwells on the various aspects and forms of the relationship between the penal body and the Church as a whole. The starting point is the case of Tsarevich Alexei, which exposed the dissatisfaction of the clergy with the reforms of Peter I and initiated the strengthening of punitive policies, involving the tools of the Church. According to the author, the established relationship between the Church and the Secret Chancellery cannot be called sporadic, since there had been a certain unity of mutual interests between the parties. It is emphasized that contradictions had been accumulating between them, related to the violation of the secrecy of confession, lack of legal regulation of official relations, and structural vagueness of the institutions of the Most Holy Synod that had contacts with the Secret Chancellery. Nevertheless, in practice there had been developed a certain procedure for coordinating various issues, which both sides refrained from violating. Further, the author analyses the case of Tsarevich Alexei and the role of the first chief procurators of the Most Holy Synod in the context of the development of the relationship between the Church and the Secret Chancellery. Further, the article indicates the reasons for not only mutual interest, but also the subsequent crisis in their relationship that occurred in 1725. The author concludes that the relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Secret Chancellery was in line with the policy of forming a police state.

The Don and Kuban Regions During Famine: The Authorities, the Cossacks, and the Church in 1921–1922 and 1932–1933

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 569-584
Author(s):  
Evgeny Krinko ◽  
Alexander Skorik ◽  
Alla Shadrina
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Survival Strategies ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Historical Phenomenon ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church ◽  
Stavropol Krai

AbstractThis article studies the famine of 1921–1922 and 1932–1933 in the Southern Russian regions. Famine as a socio-historical phenomenon is considered in the context of the relationship of state power, the Cossacks, and the Church. The authors reveal the general and special features of the famine emergence and analyze the differences in the state policies of 1921–1922 and 1932–1933. Considerable attention is paid to the survival strategies of the Don, Kuban and Terek populations. Slaughtering and eating draft animals, transfer from the state places of work to the private campaigns and cooperatives, moving to shores and banks, and eating river and sea food became widespread methods of overcoming famine. Asocial survival strategies included cannibalism, abuse of powers, bribery, and more. In 1921–1922, the Russian Orthodox Church fought actively against the famine. In 1932–1933, the Church was weakened and could not provide significant assistance to the starving population. The article was written based on declassified documents from the state and departmental archives, including criminal investigations and analytical materials of the Obedinjonnoe gosudarstvennoe politicheskoe upravlenie [Joint State Political Directorate] (OGPU) recording the attitudes of minds. Also used are personal stories—namely, interviews with eyewitnesses of the famine of 1932–1933, recorded by the Kuban folklorists in the territory of the Krasnodar and Stavropol Krai.

scholarly journals “Saratov font”: Complication of church-state relations in the USSR in the late 1940s (based on materials from the Saratov Volga region)

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 403-409
Author(s):  
Yana Yu. Guseva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Volga Region ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Saratov Region ◽  
Subsequent Publication ◽  
State Relations ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

The article reveals the relationship between the Soviet state and the Russian Orthodox Church (the ROC) in the late 1940s on the territory of the Saratov Volga region. After several years of a forced truce, the state began to tighten its religious policy again and resumed an active anti-religious campaign. One of the reasons was the scandal in the Saratov region in 1949, connected with the mass bathing on the Epiphany holiday and the subsequent publication of I. Ryabov’s feuilleton called “Saratov font” in the Pravda newspaper. The anti-religious campaign that followed these events revealed multiple manifestations of religiousness in the Saratov region of both the ordinary population and representatives of the authorities. It turned out that many people participated in the sacraments of the Church, wore crosses and provided all possible assistance to the Church. As a result, a wave of administrative punishments started again: believers were expelled from the party, fired from their jobs. But a complete rupture of relations between the state and the church did not happen, which was associated with the intense foreign policy activities of the ROC and its participation in the struggle for peace.

scholarly journals Problems of Misionarity in the Works and Decisions of the Local Council of 1917-1918

2020 ◽  
pp. 226-242
Author(s):  
Сергей Александрович Пименов
Keyword(s):  
Past Century ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Detailed Consideration ◽  
Local Council ◽  
Church Mission ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Church

Поместный Собор 1917-1918 гг., имеет для истории Русской Православной Церкви огромное значение, т. к. несмотря на прошедший век, отделяющий нас от событий той эпохи, его роль не до конца осмыслена и оценена. Его наследие нуждается в серьезном и вдумчивом исследовании, а многие из идей, высказанных тогда, были бы полезны и востребованы сегодня. Одна из основных проблем, которая была поставлена на повестке заседания Поместного собора 1917-1918 гг. - это Миссионерская деятельность Церкви. Начиная с XVIII в. этот вопрос стаял в России краеугольным камнем, т. к. в церковной миссии ощущался явный упадок. Это было связано, прежде всего, с тем, что Церковная миссия не имела централизованной организации, с помощью которой бы данная деятельность носила бы не эпизодический, а регулярный характер. Целью данной статьи является подробное рассмотрение миссионерской проблематики в работах и решениях Поместного Собора 1917-1918 гг. В ходе исследования автор выделяет проблемы Православной Миссии в России в нач. XX в., проводит анализ основных документов и постановлений Собора, относящихся к данной тематике, и ставит вопрос об их жизнеспособности на сегодняшний день. The local Council of 1917-1918 is of great importance for the history of the Russian Orthodox Church. Despite the past century separating us from the events of that era, its role is not fully understood and appreciated. His legacy needs serious and thoughtful research, and many of the ideas expressed then would be useful today. One of the main problems that was put on the agenda of the meeting of the local Council of 1917-1918 is the Missionary activity of the Church. Since the XVIII century this question had bacame the cornerstone in Russia because the Church’s mission became noticeable decline. This was due to, first of all, the fact that the Church mission did not have a centralized organization, with the help of which this activity would be not episodic, but regular. The aim of this article is a detailed consideration of missionary issues in the works and decisions of the local Council of 1917-1918. In the course of the study, the author highlights the problems of the Orthodox Mission in Russia in the early XX century, analyzes the main documents and resolutions of the Council relating to this topic, and raises the question of their viability today.

Ukrainian Orthodoxy: historiosophical comprehension of the phenomenon

1996 ◽  
pp. 8-17
Author(s):  
Oleksandr N. Sagan
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
National Culture ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Progressive Development ◽  
Cultural Phenomenon ◽  
Special Direction ◽  
The Church ◽  
Objective Study

The term "Ukrainian Orthodox" I "has long been known to religious scholars. But in the sense of a special direction Orthodox "I, which has significant differences from other of its national forms in the ritual, religious, and even theological spheres, it is used relatively recently. It was introduced into the scientific circulation by I. Ogienko. Only the understanding of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as a specific spiritual and cultural phenomenon is a prerequisite for the objective study of the Orthodox history in Ukraine and its role in preserving and developing national culture. It should be noted that by upholding the theory of a single progressive development of the "Russian" Orthodox Church, I from the X to the twentieth century, the theologians of the Russian Orthodox Church, and, together with them, secular scholars of the reign of the royal and Soviet times, inevitably came to reelection the facts. Conclusions, which are characteristic for a certain territory, they were presented as having an "all-Russian significance". One of the examples of this can be the statement of Soviet scholars that, following the decisions of the Stogolavy Sobor, "Russian painting more strictly obeys the church canons"

PROBLEMS OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH HISTORY IN THE SCIENTIFIC WORKS OF POLISH RESEARCHERS

2021 ◽  
pp. 78-98
Author(s):  
Oksana Babenko ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Church History ◽  
The State ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

The review examines the works of Polish researches in which the problems of the history of the Russian Orthodox Church are analyzed. The relationship along the lines of «church-state» and «church-intelligentsia» is presented. The conclusions of Polish historians boil down to the fact that the church and the state in Russia interacted in order to turn Orthodoxy into the state religion.

scholarly journals Interaction of the Synod and Its Institutions with the Secret Chancellery in the First Half of the 1720s

2021 ◽  
pp. 14-23
Author(s):  
Aleksandr R. Pavlushkov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Church Administration ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Joint Activities ◽  
Mechanism Of Interaction ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Addition Facts ◽  
The Church

This article studies the mechanism of interaction of the Synod, its institutions and bodies of the central church administration with the Secret Chancellery during the first half of the 1720s. The analysis is based on the documents of the Synod containing correspondence with the Secret Chancellery. This study is a continuation of the research on the relationship between the Secret Chancellery and the Russian Orthodox Church, whose resluts had been published earlier. A deeper immersion in the topic provided greater insights into the joint activities of the synodal institutions and Russia’s main penal body at the time, as well as revealed the details of the most important contacts and pertinent problems. Of particular importance is the activity of the Chancellery of the Most Holy Synod, through which official correspondence with the Secret Chancellery and control over the implementation of its decisions as well as defrocking of priests before the start of investigation were carried out. Further, the paper describes the categories of convicts who were sent to the Synod from the Secret Chancellery and looks into the differences in their position. Contrary to the prevailing opinion about the absence of relations between the Synod and the Secret Chancellery, the author concludes that in practice there was a certain mechanism of interaction, which concerned investigations regarding the accused from among the clergy and their commital, as well as granting official requests from both parties, sending ecclesiastical experts, and enforcing sentences of the Secret Chancellery. In addition, facts are considered that testify to extremely complex and contradictory relations between the Synod and the Secret Chancellery. The author concludes that the relationship between these institutions was not systemic, but developed in the context of the state’s general advance on the church and subordination of the latter and the clergy to state interests. The mechanism of interaction between the Synod and the Secret Chancellery was formed in line with this trend as well.

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