Turning Outwards or Turning Inwards? The Russian Orthodox Church Challenged by Fundamentalism

2007 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 853-879 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Walters
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Perceived Threat ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Social Stability ◽  
Traditional Religion ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
The Public ◽  
Traditional Religions ◽  
Religious Extremism ◽  
Peace And Reconciliation

The 1997 Russian law on religion recognizes Orthodoxy, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism as the “traditional religions” of Russia. These religions see themselves as having an important role to play in achieving social stability, and particularly in overcoming religious “extremism” and the perceived threat it poses to society. “Traditional'” religions stand shoulder to shoulder, explaining that the values they champion tend towards the creation and preservation of peace and reconciliation in society, and that, moreover, these are shared values, common to all “traditional'‘ religions. Indeed, the primary criterion for identifying a “traditional'” religion in Russia today may be that it is “noncompetitive” with other religions. The Moscow Patriarchate rejects the idea, for example, that Orthodox Christians should proselytize among Muslims. The fact that each religion sees itself as having possession of the “truth” does not endanger the cooperation, harmony and mutual respect among the traditional religions in Russia at the level of official and institutional interaction. Regarding the controversy over the school textbook, Foundations of Orthodox Culture, which human rights activists accused of constituting pro-Orthodox propaganda, an Orthodox priest and a Muslim chief mufti filed a joint claim against those who initiated the case, and a Protestant leader came out in support of the use of the textbook in the public schools.

The Public Image of Eastern Orthodoxy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather L. Bailey
Keyword(s):  
Public Relations ◽  
Public Image ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Crimean War ◽  
The West ◽  
Eastern Orthodoxy ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
The Public ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
Public Relations Campaign

Focusing on the period between the revolutions of 1848 to 1849 and the First Vatican Council (1869–1870), this book explores the circumstances under which westerners, concerned about the fate of the papacy, the Ottoman Empire, Poland, and Russian imperial power, began to conflate the Russian Orthodox Church with the state and to portray the Church as the political tool of despotic tsars. As the book demonstrates, in response to this reductionist view, Russian Orthodox publicists launched a public relations campaign in the West, especially in France, in the 1850s and 1860s. The linchpin of their campaign was the building of the impressive Saint Alexander Nevsky Church in Paris, consecrated in 1861. The book posits that, as the embodiment of the belief that Russia had a great historical purpose inextricably tied to Orthodoxy, the Paris church both reflected and contributed to the rise of religious nationalism in Russia that followed the Crimean War. At the same time, the confrontation with westerners' negative ideas about the Eastern Church fueled a reformist spirit in Russia while contributing to a better understanding of Eastern Orthodoxy in the West.

scholarly journals Social and Political Consequences of the Pandemic for the Russian Orthodox Church

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 547-558
Author(s):  
Roman N. Lunkin
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Political Consequences ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
Cyber Space ◽  
The Church

In the article analyzed the social and political consequences of pandemic of coronavirus for the Russian Orthodox Church in the context of the reaction of different European churches on the quarantine rules and critics towards the church inside Russia. The author used the structural-functional and institutional approaches for the evaluation of the activity of the Russian Orthodox Church, was analyzed the sources of mass-media and the public claims of the clergy. In the article was made a conclusion that Orthodox Church expressed itself during the struggle with coronavirus as national civic institute where could be represented various even polar views. Also the parish activity leads to the formation of the democratic society affiliated with the Church and the role of that phenomenon have to be explored in a future. The coronacrisis makes open the inner potential of the civic activity and different forms of the social service in Russian Church. In the same time pandemic provoked the development of the volunteer activity in the around-church environment and also in the non-church circles among the young people and the generation of 40th age where the idea of the social responsibility for themselves and people around and the significance of the civil rights was one of the popular ideas till 2019. The conditions of the self-isolation also forced the clergy to struggle for their parishioners and once again renovate the role of the church in the society and in the cyber space.

scholarly journals World Russian People’s Council and Interreligious Council of Russia: New Formats of Interreligious and Interethnic Dialogue in Post-Soviet Russia at Turn of 20th — 21st Centuries

2021 ◽  
pp. 355-370
Author(s):  
Yu. Yu. Ierusalimskiy ◽  
A. B. Rudakov
Keyword(s):  
Russian Federation ◽  
Interfaith Dialogue ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Traditional Religions ◽  
The World ◽  
Independent States ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Soviet Russia

The article is devoted to the study of the role of the World Russian People’s Council and the Interreligious Council of Russia in establishing interfaith dialogue in post-Soviet Russia. The speeches of delegates at council meetings and sessions of the World Russian People’s Council are analyzed. The importance of interfaith dialogue at the site of the World Russian People’s Council was confirmed by the participation of the highest clergy and clergy of different confessions of the Russian Federation and the Commonwealth of Independent States at the cathedral meeting “Russia: the path to salvation” (1998). The importance of the agreement on the establishment of the Interreligious Council of Russia (1998) for the representation in it of the “traditional religions” of the Russian Federation: Orthodoxy, Islam, Buddhism and Judaism is noted. The assessments of publicists and researchers in relation to the Interreligious Council of Russia, including critical ones, are given. It is noted that the interaction of the Russian Orthodox Church with representatives of other confessions continued at the 5th and 6th World Russian People’s Councils in 1999 and 2001. The conclusions indicate that the activities of the World Russian People’s Council and the Interreligious Council of Russia at the turn of the XX—XXI centuries showed the importance of cooperation and respectful relations between representatives of Orthodoxy, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism and other confessions.

Winning the Battle by Losing the War: The Lautsi Case and the Holy Alliance between American Conservative Evangelicals, the Russian Orthodox Church and the Vatican to Reshape European Identity

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pasquale Annicchino
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
European Court ◽  
Grand Chamber ◽  
Pyrrhic Victory

The compulsory display of crucifixes in Italian public schools does not violate the European Convention on Human Rights. The victory before the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in the Lautsi judgment of a variegated coalition of actors ranging from the strong alliance between the Vatican and the Italian Government to the Russia of the New Orthodoxy as well as to American Conservative Evangelicals, promises to change our understanding of church-state relationship in Europe and signals the emergence of a ‘new ecumenism’ in which the religious groups of different traditions work together toward common political goals. But was this judgment a real success for the Holy Alliance that successfully overturned the first Lautsi decision? I will argue that the March 2011 decision may result in a pyrrhic victory. The continuous reliance on State support to defend majority religious privileges may endanger, rather than benefit, religious vitality.

scholarly journals Konflikty pamięci? — O interpretacjach historii Gułagu

2010 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 23-40
Author(s):  
Zuzanna Bogumił
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Public Memory ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Historical Experience ◽  
The Public ◽  
Social Transitions ◽  
History Of

Until the end of 1980s, the topic of Soviet persecutions was tabooed in the USSR. Political and social transitions that took place in that period finally eroded the wall of silence. The stories about Gulag past started to appear in the newspapers and the witnesses finally spoke. The reconstruction of the history of the Gulag, proposed at that time, became the cornerstone of the public memory of this historical experience. In my paper, I use Michel Foucault’s concept of anti-history in order to analyse the methods of interpretation and commemorating of these tragic events of the 20th century by the Memorial Society and by the Russian Orthodox Church. It was these two institutions who were the most active in the process of forming the contemporary perception of the Gulag. The interpretations proposed by them are comprehensive constructs that explain the Gulag system in all its complexity. On the basis of materials gathered during field research in Russia, I deconstruct the significance of secular and religious anti-history discourses and analyse their influence on the perceptions of the Soviet persecutions in today’s Russia.

scholarly journals Russian Orthodox Church in Armenia: General Points of Activity

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-15
Author(s):  
Kseniya Makarova ◽  
Michael Kazakov
Keyword(s):  
Public Diplomacy ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
The Public ◽  
Historical Method ◽  
Current State ◽  
Special Part ◽  
Analysis And Synthesis ◽  
Favorable Conditions

The present research featured the public diplomacy of Russia in Armenia. The paper focuses on the activity of the Russian Orthodox Church as an institute of civil society in the context of Russian public diplomacy. It describes mechanisms and instruments used by religious organizations in Armenia. The research objective was to analyze the presence of the Russian Orthodox Church in Armenia as a special part of Russian public diplomacy mechanism. The authors employed analysis and synthesis to get a complex presentation of the subject, as well as induction and deduction to interpret facts. The historical method was used to study the phenomenon in its development. The network approach was used to study the current state of the phenomenon. The activity of the Russian Orthodox Church in Armenia is represented as part of Russian public diplomacy, which creates favorable conditions for achieving Russian foreign diplomacy goals. The results of the research can be used for studying principles and mechanisms of Russian public diplomacy. In conclusion, the authors claim that involvement of the Russian Orthodox Church in Russian public diplomacy can decrease the tension in Armenian public sphere. The tension is caused by various pseudo-religious movements that interfere with the restructuring of the local confessional space. Therefore, there is a growing need in a closer interaction between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Armenian apostolic church.

Activities of Bishop Porphyrius Uspensky as head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem (1847–1853)

2021 ◽  
pp. 169-175
Author(s):  
Andrey N. Allenov ◽  
Oleg Y. Levin
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Arab Population ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Missionary Work ◽  
Theological School ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
Charitable Activities

We analyze the missionary activity of the Bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Porphyrius (Konstantin Aleksandrovich Uspensky) in the territory of Palestine, which was part of the Ottoman Empire in the period under study from 1847 to 1853. Porphyrius’s preliminary explora-tion of these lands to justify the expediency of establishing a Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in the region, and the patronage of this idea among the authorities of the Russian Empire, including the Chancellor Count Nesselrode and Emperor Nicholas I, are shown. We consider the educational and charitable activities of Bishop Porphyrius among the local Orthodox population, including the provision of financial assistance in the creation of public schools and a theological school for the training of clergy from the local Arab population. It is noted that along with missionary work, re-search activities were extremely important for the bishop. As an orientalist, Porphyrius described local church folklore, collected relics and copied manuscripts, and described his observations. It is noted that his colleagues also sought to reveal to the Russian society the history and culture of the Middle East; in particular, the seminarian Solovyov made sketches of the area. The relations of the bishop with the Russian and Austrian consuls are described.

scholarly journals Social and Political Practices of Adjusting the State-Religious Relations in Russia at the Turn of the 21st Century

2020 ◽  
pp. 121-132
Author(s):  
Valentina S. Slobozhnikova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
The State ◽  
Religious Organizations ◽  
Traditional Religion ◽  
Periodical Press ◽  
Religious Policy ◽  
The Public ◽  
Traditional Religions ◽  
Legal Frameworks ◽  
Spiritual Problems

The article analyzes the public desire to adjust the state-religion relations at the turn of the 21st century. It has been provoked by the fact that Russia is still looking for its own model of relations alongside with the development of traditional religiosity. The aim of the study is to identify the forms of social and political practices aimed at changing the state-religion relations existing in the past. The study reflects the results of the periodical press analysis. Lots of periodicals covered social and political discussions of the issue: draft laws and research works within historical, neo-institutional, and comparative approaches. The author identifies significant institutional changes that triggered social and political practices related to SRR at the turn of the 21st century. Special federal and regional agencies responsible for religious policy appeared within the governmental system. The creation of the Interfaith Council of Russia as well as the adoption and publication by the leading religious organizations of their social and political doctrines also fell within the tendency. Social and political practices were unfolding within the two main trends: (1) Russia is a secular country, and the state should consider secularism as a strategy of its religious policy; (2) the crisis typical of the period triggered the search for additional resources and governmental mechanisms. There were disagreements in the public opinion. Some people were actively trying to save and protect the former relations that meant the exclusion of the state from the religious sphere regulation (separation SRR model). Others were proponents of the new cooperation SRR model, but its content was interpreted in different ways. The crisis contributed much to social and political practices which approached the traditional religions problem as one of the options for finding mechanisms to restore control over the country and solve social and spiritual problems. The traditional religions problem became a social and political one. This fact stirred the religious world up and in fact split it apart. The State Duma was one of the bodies involved in state-religion relations. At the turn of the 21st century, its Committee on Public and Religious Organizations was actively promoting the idea of traditional religions. Those who supported the idea to include the concept “traditional religion” into the political and legal frameworks were trying to implement it in their lawmaking practice. They came out with several bills. The most debatable of them were the ones named after their authors (Shandybin’s bill, Chuyev’s bill, Glazyev’s bill, etc.). There were also drafts of the Religious Policy Concept. The study describes unsuccessful attempts (by bills and SRR concept drafts) to turn traditional religiosity into a normative element of Russian social and political frameworks. It was a big challenge for the state and the public.

scholarly journals Analysis of Modern Systems of Announcement Before Baptism in the Russian Orthodox Church

2019 ◽  
pp. 136-145
Author(s):  
Михаил Васильевич Крикота
Keyword(s):  
Religious Education ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Material Base ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
The Public ◽  
Church Life ◽  
The New Testament

В данной статье рассматриваются огласительные системы катехизации перед Крещением. По рекомендации современных катехизаторов следует разделять курс предкрещального оглашения на несколько бесед, в рамках которых нужно обучить оглашаемых основам христианского вероучения. Несмотря на то, что методики и подходы к оглашению у каждого катехизатора разные, все они, однако, отмечают, что в обязательном порядке проходящие катехизацию должны ознакомиться с главными событиями Ветхого Завета и Нового Завета, заповедями, содержанием церковных таинств и основными дисциплинарными нормами жизнедеятельности христианина. Большое внимание авторы катехизационных систем уделяют выяснению истинных причин Крещения оглашаемого, а также призывают строить общение с аудиторией в форме диалога. Знакомство с самыми примечательными практиками оглашения наших дней позволило определить, что самой полной и подходящей к современным условиям церковной жизни являются системы оглашения, рекомендуемые Синодальным отделом по религиозному образованию и катехизации, поскольку они предлагают вариативность в структуре огласительного процесса, а также насыщены широкой материальной базой. On the recommendation of modern catechists should be divided into a course of pre-baptismal announcement of several conversations, in which you need to teach the basics of the Christian faith announced. Despite the fact that the methods and approaches to the announcement of each catechist are different, all of them, however, note that it is mandatory for the catechists to become familiar with the main events of the old Testament and the New Testament, the commandments, the content of Church Sacraments and the basic disciplinary norms of Christian life. Much attention is paid to the authors of catechetical systems to clarify the true causes of the Baptism of the public, as well as call to build communication with the audience in the form of dialogue. Familiarity with the most remarkable practices of the announcement of our days made it possible to determine that the most complete and suitable to the modern conditions of Church life are the systems of the announcement proposed by the Synodal Department for religious education and catechization, as they offer variability in the structure of the announcement process, as well as a wide material base.

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