(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Shura Collinson – November 29, 2014) The Russian Orthodox Church is to get a total of 2 billion rubles ($40 million) from the federal budget for the creation of spiritual enlightenment centers, a news report said Friday. Deputy Culture Minister Vladimir Aristarkhov said earlier this month that 958 million rubles ($19.4 million) would be allocated […]
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(Interfax – November 4, 2014) Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has criticized the West over attempts to play havoc with the minds of the Russian people through the sanctions it had imposed against Russia, Gazprom-owned Russian TV channel NTV reported on 4 November. “One should make the economic situation worse to play havoc with minds. We are now […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber – YASNAYA POLYANA, Tula Region – October 3, 2014) When they were in their 50s, Elaine and Alfred Podovinikoff packed up their lives in their native Canada and emigrated to a muddy, provincial Russian settlement with a single paved road and freely roaming chickens. The Podovinikoffs resettled just south of Tula – an […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexey Eremenko – September 3, 2014) On the last day of summer, a Russian Orthodox priest imposed against his parishioners who had fought in Ukraine’s “fratricidal war” a 20-year ban on receiving communion. Those deemed to have only promoted the conflict raging in Ukraine’s east, either verbally or in writing, will be hit with an […]
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MOSCOW. Aug 15 (Interfax) – Members of far-right groups disrupted a religious service being conducted by Priest Volodymyr Navozenko at the Church of the Holy Intercession in the village of Chervona Motovylivka outside of Kyiv. A video posted on YouTube shows several dozen people entering the church holding Ukrainian flags and symbols of the far-right party Svoboda (Freedom) and the […]
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MOSCOW. Aug 14 (Interfax) – The election of Metropolitan Onufry as head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church indicates that the majority of the bishops of the Moscow Patriarchate adhere to “Russian world” ideas and puts an end to the idea of creating a local Church of Ukraine, the self-proclaimed “Kyiv Patriarchate” said. “Despite the hopes for the furthering, especially in […]
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MOSCOW. Aug 1 (Interfax) – Metropolitan of Chernivtsi and Bukovina Onufry, the locum of the Kyiv Metropolia, has accused the Ukrainian military of pressuring Orthodox Christians in Donbas. “I have to state violations of the rights and freedoms of believers and interference in the work of parishes of the Donetsk diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church by the militant contingent […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ali Sar – HOLLYWOOD, April 22, 2014) An image of young women clad in colorful outfits peeping through ski masks while being detained and clobbered by the police has been a part of evening newscasts in the U.S. for some time, most recently during the Sochi Olympics. Casual viewers have little understanding of the motivation […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Tom Balmforth – KYIV – April 20, 2014) Lyudmila, 60, a newspaper copy editor, and Yelena Andreyevna, 75, a pensioner, have a lot in common. They have lived most their lives in Kyiv. They are both ethnic Russian. And they are both practicing Orthodox Christians. On Easter Sunday they both prayed for peace and understanding in Ukraine amid fears of […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, March 31, 2014) Sergey Ivanov, head of the Kremlin administration, is stressing the importance and relevance of Russia drawing up a state cultural policy: the scenario in Ukraine, which led to the abandoning of traditional values and a division of society provoked from abroad, must not be allowed. “The latest events in Ukraine show just how grave […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Katerina Azarova – February 28, 2014) Sunshine and pancakes: If you ask me, it doesn’t get any better than that. That’s what Moscow is all about this week, because it’s Maslenitsa time! The delicious, gluttonous week of sweet and savory pancakes before Lent is finally upon us, and you should definitely take advantage of all […]
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[“Russians Return to Religion, But Not to Church” – Pew Research – pewforum.org – February 10, 2014 – http://www.pewforum.org/2014/02/10/russians-return-to-religion-but-not-to-church/] The Pew Forum examines data on Russian religious trends. The number of Russians declaring an affiliation with the Russian Orthodox Church and other faiths has risen, but church attendance is low. Over the past two decades, since the collapse of the […]
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Subject: On Mark Adomanis in JRL #28 Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2014 12:48:37 -0600 From: David Stone <stone@ksu.edu> Mark Adomanis’ piece from Forbes (http://www.forbes.com/sites/markadomanis/2014/02/09/why-pussy-riot-failed-in-one-chart/) that you included in JRL 28 uses Russia’s increasing religiosity to explain Pussy Riot’s failure. I don’t buy it. Adomanis refers to a study from the Levada Center (http://www.levada.ru/24-12-2013/rossiyane-o-religii) which measures Russians’ REPORTED religiosity. As should […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Marina Obrazkova, RBTH – February 3, 2014) RBTH talks to Muslims in Russia and searches for the reasons behind the country’s apprehensive attitude toward Islam. Muslims are the second largest religious denomination in Russia, and they have peacefully coexisted with Orthodox believers over many centuries. However, in recent decades, Russians have started behaving […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Andrei Shary and Claire Bigg – January 9, 2014) A prominent theologian who claims to have outed a powerful “gay lobby” within the Russian Orthodox Church says he now fears being defrocked over his allegations. The allegations by Deacon Andrei Kurayev, a firebrand missionary who taught at the Orthodox Moscow Theological Academy, are potentially damaging and […]
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Moscow, January 7, Interfax – The Western model of society cannot cope with modern challenges, head of the Synodal Department for Church and Society Relations Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin has said. “To my mind, Western civilization still cannot realize that its model of social order is shared by the minority of people in the world and is typical of only that […]
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Moscow, January 7, Interfax – Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has greeted Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia on Christmas, the government website reported on Tuesday. “This holiday presents the light of faith, the warmth of love and the happiness of hope. It consolidates the moral foundations of our society helping people to learn Christian values of kindness, mercy and […]
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Moscow, January 7, Interfax – President Vladimir Putin has greeted Orthodox Christians, all Russian citizens celebrating Christmas, the Kremlin press service reported on Tuesday. “This lightsome holiday nourishes the kindest of feelings and intensions and serves to unite millions of people on the basis of common spiritual values and historical traditions of which mutual respect and accord, mercy and care […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 28 (Interfax) – Requests to conduct an inquiry into the production of the play An Ideal Husband at the Chekhov Moscow Art Theater (MAT) have been forwarded to the Russian Investigative Committee’s Moscow branch, the city police department said on its Twitter page. “Twenty-three requests demanding an inquiry into the Chekhov MAT’s production of An Ideal Husband, which […]
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KYIV. Dec 25 (Interfax) – An activist of the feminist movement FEMEN has disrupted a Christmas mass in Kolner Dom, the main cathedral of Cologne, Germany. “The activist climbed the altar of the cathedral in the presence of thousands of people to protest the Vatican propaganda for the criminalization of abortion. The words ‘I AM GOD!’ were painted on the […]
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Moscow, December 24, Interfax – Orthodox Christianity is the dominant religion in Russia (68%) and 7% of the country’s population is Muslim. No more than 1% of residents define themselves as Catholics, Protestants, Judaists and others, Levada Center said. There were 50% of Orthodox Christians and 4% of Muslims in the country a decade ago, Levada Center told Interfax, referring […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, December 18, 2013) A century ago, the Russian religious thinker Sergey Bulgakov wrote a seminal essay entitled “Karl Marx as a Religious Type” in which he outlined the ways in which that self-proclaimed atheist was in fact someone profoundly affected in his thinking by the religious tradition of which he was a […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 3 (Interfax) – Head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations Vsevolod Chaplin has said that peaceful solutions should be found for conflicts in former Soviet states. “People are predetermined to live side-by-side in peace. Enmity, wars and total conflicts, whether they be controllable or uncontrollable, are always bad. We can see this in many events […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 3 (Interfax) – The president and the Orthodox Church are still the most trusted institutions and structures in Russia. Over 60% of the respondents surveyed in an express poll conducted by Romir in November said they “fully trust” or “tend to trust” the rating leaders. The poll surveyed 500 respondents aged from 18 to sixty who live in […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, November 28, 2013) The Moscow Patriarchate has called on Orthodox countries, including Russia, not to allow EU influence to change them as they conduct dialogue, but to suggest the EU itself change. “Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria, as members of a strong and self-sufficient civilization, have a right, when they gain accession to the […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 27 (Interfax) – Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis could meet but only after issues in the relations between the two churches are resolved, the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations said on Wednesday. The unresolved conflict between the Orthodox and Greek Catholics in Ukraine remains the main obstacle – almost all churches were taken from the Moscow […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 26 (Interfax) – There is a need for an open and broad public debate on the proposal to reflect in the Constitution the special role of Orthodox faith, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, the head of the synodal department on relations between the church and society, said. “Such initiatives, like any public, ideological, and legislative initiatives, can and should be […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – November 26, 2013) President Vladimir Putin presented Pope Francis with an icon of Our Lady of Vladimir during a brief visit to the Vatican on Monday afternoon, which some observers hope could improve ties between the Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches. Putin and the pope spoke privately for 35 minutes in the hall of the […]
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SMOLENSK. Nov 25 (Interfax) – The Russian Orthodox Church will advocate its independence, its head Patriarch Kirill has said. “The church is defending its freedom because it is sure that only its independence gives it the possibility of being a full-scale spiritual authority. Any form of convergence of the church and state is dangerous for the cause of God. Only […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 20 (Interfax) – Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill says he sees no grounds for criticism by those who believe that the church is putting pressure on society and is growing into the state. “Look around you, at what surrounds you, at the TV programs, advertising, lifestyle, full restaurants during Lent. The church is not dragging anyone […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 14 (Interfax) – Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, one of the convicted performers of the feminist punk group Pussy Riot, has arrived at a penal colony in Russia’s Krasnoyarsk Territory, a spokesman for the local branch of the Federal Penitentiary Institutions Service (FSIN) told Interfax on Thursday. Her family will be informed of that in due course, he said. “Tolokonnikova’s case […]
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(Interfax – November 5, 2013) Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, one of the convicted performers of the feminist punk group Pussy Riot, who is currently being transported to a new penitentiary, is feeling well and eating properly, Russian human rights commissioner Vladimir Lukin told Interfax on Tuesday. “Acting at the request of several human rights campaigners, I got in touch with the administration […]
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MOSCOW, November 4 (RIA Novosti) The head of the Russian Orthodox Church on Monday awarded Vladimir Putin with a prize in recognition of the president’s policies intended to make Russia a leading world power. The award was established this year by the World Russian People’s Council, a public organization under the aegis of the Russian Orthodox Church. Patriarch of […]
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MOSCOW. Oct 31 (Interfax) – A senior Russian Orthodox bishop has claimed that Russian speakers “often suffer ethnic and religious discrimination” in regions in Russia’s North Caucasus where they are in the minority. “We are used to thinking that it is only smaller ethnic groups that need protection. That is not true. In many of the republics (of Russia), Russians […]
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MOSCOW. Oct 24 (Interfax) – Protopope Dimitry Smirnov, the head of the patriarch’s commission on family and protection of mothers and children, believes that democracy is based on lies. “It’s just a lie. Communist is also a lie, but Communism has religious features. Communism seems to take a lot from true religions. The Communists have their own teaching, their own […]
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(Interfax / Religion – Moscow, October 18, 2013) The Moscow Patriarchate has called on people of other religions for dialogue aimed at finding real solutions to social problems. “It is very important not to limit religious dialogue to statements on friendship and peace. We did it all under the Soviets and in the first years after the collapse of the […]
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(Kremlin.ru – Novgorod Region, September 19, 2013) Vladimir Putin took part in the final plenary meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club. The theme of the club’s anniversary session is Russia’s Diversity for the Modern World. PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Good afternoon, friends, ladies and gentlemen, I hope that the place for your discussions, for our meetings is well […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – September 13, 2013) Russians have no respect for Pussy Riot, a poll from Levada Center indicates. Out of a sample of 1,601 people surveyed in 130 urban centers, not a single respondent said that they respected the band. In August 2012, band members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Yekaterina Samutsevich and Maria Alyokhina were sentenced to two years […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, September 3, 2013) Driven by their hatred of Vladimir Putin as a personality and their lack of a place in today’s Russia, the liberal intelligentsia has been willing to overlook xenophobic, nationalist and even anti-Semitic remarks by Aleksey Navalny, even though such ugly comments would have ended the careers of Western politicians […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Irina Filatova – August 28, 2013) The Russian Foreign Ministry warned Tuesday that detention of the chief executive of potash giant Uralkali in Minsk could cause Moscow’s relations with Belarus to deteriorate as the conflict takes on political overtones. Putting Vladislav Baumgertner in a pretrial detention facility is “unacceptable” and “doesn’t comply with friendly relations […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, August 23, 2013) Lawyers of the two jailed members of the Russian feminist punk protest group Pussy Riot are filing a petition to have their clients’ remaining jail time replaced with community service, a Russian daily reported Friday. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina were sentenced to two years in jail last August for their February […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, August 20, 2013) Pussy Riot punk band member Yekaterina Samutsevich, convicted to two years of a suspended sentence, has filed a lawsuit against her former lawyers Violetta Volkova, Nikolai Polozov and Mark Feigin. Samutsevich said she demanded to award her non-pecuniary damages for insulting statements regarding her. “The lawsuit has been filed against three lawyers: against Feigin, […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Natalia Antonova, Acting Editor-in-Chief – August 12, 2013) Pavel Adelgeim, an outspoken Orthodox priest, was stabbed to death last week. His death was a tragic end to an equally tragic life. Father Pavel, as he was known to many, was the son of parents who suffered grievously from repressions in the Soviet Union. In the […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – August 7, 2013) One of Russia’s most revered priests, widely considered a “dissident priest” for his strong criticism of the Russian Orthodox Church, was stabbed to death on Monday night in the northwestern town of Pskov. Pavel Adelgeim, 75, was found dead by his wife late Monday, with the suspect still at […]
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(Voice of America – James Brooke, VOA Moscow Bureau Chief, covering Russia and the former USSR – July 30, 2013) RIO DE JANEIRO In 1990, an American anthropologist wrote a controversial book: “Is Latin America Turning Protestant?” Two decades later, that same provocative question can be asked of Russia. Who will win: The Church of the Golden Domes? Or […]
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(Kremlin.ru – July 27, 2013) Vladimir Putin took part in the conference called Orthodox-Slavic Values: The Foundation of Ukraine’s Civilisational Choice. PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Good afternoon, friends, I just said goodbye before to President of Ukraine Mr Yanukovych. You also sent him your best wishes. Unfortunately, he has a strict schedule with a lot of events to attend: […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, July 26, 2013) Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has thanked Russian leaders represented by President Vladimir Putin for their respectful attitude towards the Russian Orthodox Church. “We have been developing church-state relations since 2000. This model was not handed down from the above and its outlines – mutual respect, non-interference in each other’s affairs and, […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 27, 2013) Vladislav Surkov who stepped down from the vice-premier’s position in May said his attitude to President Vladimir Putin and the Russian opposition did not change after he quit politics. “My resignation changed nothing in the divine dimension. There is no reason to think differently,” Surkov said in an interview with the magazine Russkiy Pioner. […]
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(Kremlin.ru – July 23, 2013) Vladimir Putin gave an interview to the makers of the documentary film The Second Baptism of Rus, which screened on Rossia 1 television channel on July 22. The Second Baptism of Rus is a full-length documentary film about the resurgence of the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia over the last 25 years. The film gives […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW. July 22, 2013) Head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill regards the recognition of same-sex marriages in Western countries an omen of the end of the world. “Lately we have been facing enormous temptations when in a number of countries the choice of sin is approved and justified by law, and those who do as their […]
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