The New Party Card? Orthodoxy and the Search for Post-Soviet Russian Identity

Problems of Post-Communism

Volumn 47, Issue 6, 2000, Pages 29-38

  Gvosdev, Nikolas K ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 0013139370     PISSN: 10758216     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/10758216.2000.11655906     Document Type: Article

References (81)

1. Sanford Kessler, "Tocqueville on Civil Religion and Liberal Democracy," Journal of Politics 39, no. 1 (February 1977): 120.
2. ITAR-TASS (June 1, 2000).
3. Valerii Kichin, "Ordered to Believe," Izvestiia (January 15, 2000), archived at www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews.
4. Marshall Johnston, "Heavenly City/Heaven on Earth: A Comparison of the Augustinian City of God with the Eusebian Model Embodied in the New Rome" (paper delivered at Baylor University's Scholars' Day), February 23, 2000; see also Deno J. Geanakoplos, "Church and State in the Byzantine Empire: A Reconsideration of the Problem of Caesaropapism," Church History 34, no. 4 (1965): 385.
5. Marshall Johnston, "Heavenly City/Heaven on Earth: A Comparison of the Augustinian City of God with the Eusebian Model Embodied in the New Rome" (paper delivered at Baylor University's Scholars' Day), February 23, 2000; see also Deno J. Geanakoplos, "Church and State in the Byzantine Empire: A Reconsideration of the Problem of Caesaropapism," Church History 34, no. 4 (1965): 385.
6. Cited in Alexander Schmemann, The Historical Road of Eastern Orthodoxy, trans. Lydia Kesich (New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, 1963), pp. 214-15.
7. As noted in the Sixth Novella attached to his Civil Code in 535. Cited in John Meyendorff, Imperial Unity and Christian Divisions (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1989), p. 209.
8. Telegram to Mikhail Kasianov, May 18, 2000, archived at the official Web site of the Russian Orthodox Church, www.russian-orthodox-church-org.ru/ne005183.htm.
9. The Russian Orthodox Church strictly respects the canonical boundaries of its Georgian sister-church. Although the Russian government has been accused of supporting the separatists in Abkhazia, the Moscow patriarchate has not sought to reorient the loyalty of the Orthodox churches in Abkhazia away from their proper canonical dependence on Tbilisi. Archbishop Daniel, in exile in Tbilisi, said that Patriarch Aleksei of Moscow "had not given his blessing" to the Abkhaz Orthodox who apparently tried to join the Moscow patriarchate. Interfax (September 26, 1997), translated in World News Connection, Daily Report: Central Eurasia [hereinafter, WNC:SOV] (September 26, 1997).
10. Aleksandr Shchipkov, "Interreligious Relations in Russia after 1917," in Proselytism and Orthodoxy in Russia: The New War for Souls, ed. John Witte, Jr., and Michael Bourdeaux (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1999), pp. 81, 92.
11. Andrei Zolotov, "As Russians Prepare to Elect New President, Putin Shows Interest in Religion," ENI Bulletin, no. 1 (January 26, 2000): 7. Because the Russian Orthodox Church follows the Julian calendar, Christmas was celebrated on January 7, 2000.
12. See Michael Radu, "The Burden of Eastern Orthodoxy," Orbis (spring 1998), regarding the importance of the non-Russian Federation parishes to the Moscow patriarchate.
13. In 1996, the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew, in his Tomos reactivating the metropolitanate of Estonia, intimated that changes should take place in the structure of the Moscow patriarchate because of the changed political situation in the former Soviet Union. "Patriarchal and Synodical Act Concerning the Reactivation of the Patriarchal and Synodical Tomos of 1923 Regarding the Orthodox Metropolitanate of Estonia," Protocol no. 201 (February 20, 1996), archived at www.oca.org/ crisis/Estonian-Church/PEC-prot-1996-201.html.
14. Quoted in Harold J. Berman, "Freedom of Religion in Russia: An Amicus Brief for the Defendant," in Wittte and Bourdeaux, ed., Proselytism and Orthodoxy in Russia, p. 279.
15. "Religiia Rossian," ROMIR report (October 1999), archived at www.romir.ru/socpolit/socio/october/religion.htm.
16. Ibid.
17. "Politika i Religiia," ROMIR report (February 2000), archived at www.romir.ru/socpolit/socio/02_2000/p&r.htm.
18. Ibid.
19. Ibid.
20. "Otnosheniia Rossian k Religii" (Attitudes of Russians Toward Religion), ROMIR report (January 2000), archived at www.romir.ru/ socpolit/socio/01_2000/religion.htm.
21. Ibid.
22. Ibid.
23. Vsevolod Chaplin, "Active Neutrality," Nezavisimaia gazeta (November 10, 1999), archived at www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/ 9911a.html#04.
24. ITAR-TASS (November 20, 1999), at www.itar-tass.com.
25. Cited in Nikolas K. Gvosdev, "Orthodoxy and a Pluralist Democracy," in The Balkans: A Religious Backyard of Europe (Ravenna: Longo Press, 1995), p. 137.
26. Evgenii Strelnik, "Religious Rhetoric in the Context of the Election Campaign," Sobornost (December 16, 1999). Reprinted in News About Religion in Russia (December 1999), at www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/ relnews/99126.html.
27. Evgenii Strelnik, "Religious Rhetoric in the Context of the Election Campaign," Sobornost (December 16, 1999). Reprinted in News About Religion in Russia (December 1999), at www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/ relnews/99126.html.
28. Professor Christopher Marsh, "Russian Church and Soviet State: The Smolensk Example" (lecture delivered at the J. M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies, Baylor University, October 26, 1999), archived at www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/5357/bbmarsh.html. Another poll, by the Public Opinion Foundation in 1997, gave the church a 54 percent rating, the highest confidence rating for any institution in Russian society. "Russia: Russian Poll Measures Trust in Institutions," Interfax (June 26, 1997), reprinted WNC:SOV (June 26, 1997).
29. Professor Christopher Marsh, "Russian Church and Soviet State: The Smolensk Example" (lecture delivered at the J. M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies, Baylor University, October 26, 1999), archived at www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/5357/bbmarsh.html. Another poll, by the Public Opinion Foundation in 1997, gave the church a 54 percent rating, the highest confidence rating for any institution in Russian society. "Russia: Russian Poll Measures Trust in Institutions," Interfax (June 26, 1997), reprinted WNC:SOV (June 26, 1997).
30. Chaplin, "Active Neutrality."
31. Ogonyek (August 24, 1998), archived on the patriarchal Web site at www.russian-orthodox-church.org.ru/ce040881.htm.
32. Pravoslavie (February 24, 2000), archived at www.orthodoxnews .com/stories/STET3042000101547.shtml.
33. When asked about attending church, Putin said he has been "visiting church from time to time" and that he wanted to introduce his children to church life. Komsomolskaia pravda (February 11, 2000), 5.
34. Interfax (January 6, 2000), archived at listserv/indiana.edu/archives/ orthodox.html.
35. ITAR-TASS (April 27, 1998), reprinted in WNC:SOV (April 27, 1998).
36. "Department of Orthodox Culture Opened at the Military Univer-sity in Smolensk," Press Service of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, March 17, 2000. Reprinted in News About Religion in Russia (March 2000), at www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/ relnews/0003b.html.
37. Lecture by Professor Brad Owens in course "Free Institutions in the Post-Soviet World," Baylor University, March 21, 2000.
38. Interfax (August 6, 1997), reprinted in WNC:SOV (August 7, 1997).
39. Nezavisimaia gazeta (January 14, 2000), archived at www.stetson/ edu/~psteeves/relnews/0001b.html.
40. This trend is not limited to Russia, but can also be seen in other traditionally Orthodox countries. The newly elected president of Macedonia, Boris Tajkovski, is a Methodist lay preacher. Nevertheless, he declared, "I emphasize that the Orthodox Church of Macedonia is also my church, because I am a Macedonian." ENI News Service (March 24, 2000), as posted on Orthodox News, www.orthodoxnews.com/stories/ ENI3262000215724.shtml.
41. Reuters (June 9, 2000), cited in News about Religion in Russia (June 2000), at www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/.
42. See the text of the interview between the patriarch and Sergei Cherepov on April 28, 2000, for Profile magazine, published by the communications department of the Moscow patriarchate, at www.russian-orthodox-church.org.ru:81/nr004281.htm.
43. Such attitudes are reflected in the new Russian national security policy, which states, in part, "The spiritual regeneration of society is impossible without preservation of the role of the Russian language as a factor in the spiritual unification of the peoples of the multinational Russian state and the language of intergovernmental communication of the peoples of the states constituting the Commonwealth of Independent States." Nezavisimaia gazeta (January 14, 2000).
44. ITAR-TASS (September 7, 1997), reprinted in WNC: SOV (September 7, 1997).
45. Nezavisimaia gazeta (March 1, 2000), reprinted in News About Religion in Russia (March 2000), at www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/ 0003a.html.
46. Nezavisimaia gazeta (March 1, 2000), reprinted in News About Religion in Russia (March 2000), at www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/ 0003a.html.
47. Interfax (December 4, 1999), reprinted in WNC: SOV (December 5, 1999).
48. ITAR-TASS (June 9, 2000), reprinted in Russia Religion News (June 2000), at www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/.
49. ITAR-TASS (June 16, 1995), reprinted in WNC:SOV (June 16, 1995).
50. Jonathan Luxmore, "Russian Patriarch Calls for Reform of World Council of Churches," ENI News Service (September 30, 1998), archived at alt.religion.christian.east-orthodox.
51. ITAR-TASS (December 25, 1998), reprinted in WNC:SOV (December 29, 1998).
52. ITAR-TASS (November 23, 1999), reprinted in WNC:SOV (November 23, 1999). A complete text of the mufti's remarks can be found at www.russian-orthodox-church.org.ru/ne912151.htm.
53. Ibid.
54. ITAR-TASS (July 10, 1999), reprinted in WNC:SOV (July 10, 1999).
55. ITAR-TASS (January 26, 2000), reprinted in WNC:SOV (January 26, 2000).
56. See, for example, his appeal during his speech before the Finnish parliament. Reuters (September 22, 1994).
57. Interfax (April 26, 1999), reprinted in WNC:SOV (April 26, 1999).
58. Text of the patriarch's remarks as provided by the communications service of the Moscow patriarchate, at www.russian-orthodox-church.org.ru:81/nr004172.htm.
59. Mykola Kravets, "The Conception of the State Religious Conjoining of Ukraine" (report adopted at the open meeting of the Foundation for the Spiritual Conjoining of Ukraine, Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, October 16, 1998), archived at www.ukma.kiev.ua/pub/FSCU/concept.htm.
60. Question-and-answer session, on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada's Web site, at uocc.ca/answers/moscow.htm.
61. ITAR-TASS (January 28, 2000), as posted on Orthodoxia List Archive, platon.ee.duth.gr/data/mailist-archives/orthodoxia/2000_1/ msg00152.html.
62. Interfax (March 10, 2000), reprinted in WNC:SOV (March 10, 2000).
63. Novye izvestiia (September 26, 1998): 1.
64. Interfax (December 4, 1999), reprinted in WNC:SOV (December 5, 1999).
65. ITAR-TASS (April 16, 1999), reprinted in WNC: SOV (April 16, 1999).
66. Rossiisakaia gazeta (October 1, 1994): 5.
67. This process is well under way, for example, in both Armenia and Georgia. See Nikolas K. Gvosdev, "Is Symphony Returning to the Caucasus?" Orthodox News (June 12, 2000), at www.orthodoxnews.com.
68. See Evgenii Strelchik, "Aman Tuleev Becomes Orthodox," Vechernaia Moskva (July 8, 1997), and Igor Lavrenkov, "Aman Tuleev Sentenced to Death for Apostasy," Segodnia (July 13, 1997);
69. See Evgenii Strelchik, "Aman Tuleev Becomes Orthodox," Vechernaia Moskva (July 8, 1997), and Igor Lavrenkov, "Aman Tuleev Sentenced to Death for Apostasy," Segodnia (July 13, 1997);
70. both in News About Religion in Russia, July 1999, at www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/ 9907c.html.
71. Moscow News (January 21, 2000), at www.themoscowtimes.com.
72. Subbotnik-NG (May 6, 2000), at saturday.ng.ru/tv/2000-05-06/ 4_virtual.html.
73. Kommersant-Vlast, no. 13 (excerpts), posted May 15, 2000, at News About Religion in Russia (May 2000), at www.stetson.edu/~pdsteeves/ relnews/.
74. "Torzhestvom v Ramenskom" (Triumph in Ramenskoe), press release of the Moscow patriarchate, at www.russian-orthodox-church.org.ru/ nr007144.htm.
75. Maksim Shevchenko, "Kak stroitsia natsionalnaia ideologiia Rossii?" (How to Build the National Ideology of Russia), NG-religii (May 17, 2000), at religion.ng.ru/facts/2000-05-17/1_build_an_ideology.html.
76. Oleg Nedumov, "Birth of Orthodox Party Culminates in Scandal," NG-Religii (July 12, 2000), cited in News About Religion in Russia (July 2000), at www.stetson.edu/psteeves/relnews.
77. Oleg Nedumov, "Birth of Orthodox Party Culminates in Scandal," NG-Religii (July 12, 2000), cited in News About Religion in Russia (July 2000), at www.stetson.edu/psteeves/relnews.
78. Sergei Sentsov, "Russian Orthodox Church Has Worked Out a Social Doctrine," Segodnia (July 22, 2000), cited in News About Religion in Russia (July 2000), at www.stetson.edu/psteeves/relnews.
79. Sergei Sentsov, "Russian Orthodox Church Has Worked Out a Social Doctrine," Segodnia (July 22, 2000), cited in News About Religion in Russia (July 2000), at www.stetson.edu/psteeves/relnews.
80. One of the ways this can be achieved is by linking the spiritual and cultural identities of the regions together in a national context. During his visit to the Valaam monastery in Karelia (an important regional center of Orthodoxy that in times past was closely tied to Finno-Karelian Orthodoxy) on July 10, 2000, the patriarch thanked the president of the republic, Sergei Katanandov, for his support of restoration work, and expressed his hopes that Valaam would be revived as a "northern outpost of holiness" for pilgrimage, not just for visitors from the area, but for those from all of Russia and from the "near abroad." Cf. the official press release of the Moscow patriarchate, "Vizit Predstoiateliia Russkoi Pravoslavnoi Tserkvi v Sankt-Peterburg i Valaam" (Visit of the Head of the Russian Orthodox Church to St. Petersburg and Valaam), at www.russian-orthodox-church.org.ru/nr007172.htm.
81. Remarks of the mufti as contained on the Web site of the Russian Orthodox Church, at www.russian-orthodox-church.org.ru/ne912151.htm.