“The Ukrainian Orthodox Church formally changed the main date for the festivities, departing from the Russian tradition of celebrating on Jan. 7, according to the Julian calendar.” “… After centuries of marking [Christmas] on Jan. 7 under the Julian church calendar, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church this year formally switched to celebrating on Dec. 25 with most of the rest of […]
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(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) 3 Things to Know In the past month, Russian forces have gained 16 square miles of Ukrainian territory, while Ukraine gained 7 square miles, according to calculations by Katherine Davidson, associate of the Belfer Russia-Ukraine War Task Force.1Yet, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has this week denied his top general Valery Zaluzhny’s recent claim that the war has reached […]
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(Paul Goble – Window On Eurasia – Staunton, May 16, 2023) Despite the obvious tilt toward Russian Orthodoxy that the Putin regime has displayed especially in recent months, Russians as a whole do not see religion as an important part of their lives, according to the results of a new survey released by the Levada Center sociological center. While 14 […]
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(Moscow Times – April 4, 2023) Click to see photos: themoscowtimes.com/2023/04/04/in-photos-orthodox-believers-pro-ukrainian-protesters-stand-off-at-historic-kyiv-monastery-a80701 An ongoing dispute over the historic Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery came to a head last week as demonstrators rallied against a group of Orthodox monks who Ukrainian authorities accuse of having links to Russia. Last month, the state body that oversees the Lavra terminated its contract with the Ukrainian […]
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“The move comes amid a major schism between Ukraine’s Orthodox churches..” “… Wednesday is the deadline for the monastery’s 1,000 inhabitants to leave what was their home amid heightened political concerns that some of them were too close to Moscow, and were Russian fifth columnists. … [T]he spiritual head of the world’s Orthodox Christians, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew [of Constantinople], hardened […]
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(Moscow Times – Dec. 25, 2022) Pope Francis on Sunday appealed for an end to the “senseless” war in Ukraine, in his traditional Christmas message from St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. The 86-year-old also warned the 10-month-old conflict was aggravating food shortages around the world, urging an end to the use of “food as a weapon”. The head of […]
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“Some Orthodox Ukrainians have decided to observe Christmas on Dec. 25, like many Christians around the world. … The idea … was considered radical in Ukraine until recently, but Russia’s invasion changed many hearts and minds. In October, the leadership of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine … not aligned with the Russian church[,] … one of two branches of Orthodox […]
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“Pontiff intensifies his rhetoric on Russia’s invasion, which he recently likened to the Soviet genocide.” “Pope Francis … compared the war in Ukraine to the Nazi genocide of the Jews, in his latest escalation of rhetoric on the war. The comments risked aggravating tensions between the Vatican and Moscow following the Pope’s earlier comparison of the war to Soviet-instigated genocide […]
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“The Kremlin’s crackdown on dissent has gone from being focused on particular targets to broadly criminalizing any criticism of the government or its war – and it is casting a pall over Russian society.” “… Mikhail Lobanov, a local political activist in the Moscow suburb of Ramenki, put a little sign on his balcony that said ‘No War.’ … [O]ne […]
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(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – RM Staff – Aug. 3, 2022) This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin proclaimed in his written address to the Tenth Review Conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) that he “believe[s] that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought, and we stand for equal and indivisible security for all members of the world community.” Interestingly enough, there was no such […]
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Hundreds of its priests signed an open letter in recent weeks calling for Kirill to face a religious tribunal over Moscow’s offensive […]
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“Patriarch Kirill I has provided spiritual cover for the invasion of Ukraine, reaping vast resources for his church in return. Now, in an extraordinary step, the E.U. is threatening him with sanctions.” “… Kirill … has staked the fortunes of his branch of Orthodox Christianity on a close and mutually beneficial alliance with [] Putin …. To his critics, the […]
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“… [T]he original text of some 200 words was replaced with two sentences: ‘Faced with death, silence is the most eloquent of words. Let us all paused in silent prayer and each one pray in their hearts for peace in the world.’ The crowd … then fell silent for about as long as it would have taken to read the […]
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“Moscow-led institution risks alienating independent-minded clergy at home as well as many Ukrainians.” “… the Russian Orthodox Church … has thrown its ideological weight behind the Kremlin’s war. … risk[ing] [the] alienat[ion] [of] not only independently-minded clergy … but also many Ukrainians. … Patriarch Kirill … called on Russians to rally around their government so that the state could ‘repel […]
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According to local journalists, on Christmas Day 2015, the priest was granted a personal meeting with President Vladimir Putin […]
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The Jehovah’s Witnesses say more than 70 members are incarcerated across Russia, while 265 probes have been launched against 574 Jehovah’s Witnesses since 2017 […]
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At least four cases have been launched in recent weeks against young people … posting sexually suggestive content on social media near places of worship […]
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… Americans are still more inclined to accept divorce than Russians are. Only 36 percent of Russians consider it morally acceptable […]
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Poroshenko, in his social media criticism of the original post, linked it to Russia’s “imposing lies on the world, its alternative outlook on history and imperial narratives” […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Dec. 31, 2020) In 2020 the number of deaths in Russia of prominent and beloved public figures was devastatingly high, many from the coronavirus, but some from other causes as well. The performing arts were particularly hard hit by Covid-19, since by the nature of the professions, people at work cannot be masked or socially […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Samantha Berkhead – July 29, 2020) In a forest outside Yekaterinburg, pilgrims chant and wave banners in their annual midnight procession in honor of Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia and a saint in the Russian Orthodox Church. But this year’s pilgrimage to the spot where the emperor and his family were executed by […]
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MOSCOW. July 13 (Interfax) – The Russian Orthodox Church condemns racism, but believes that modern people should not bear responsibility for what their ancestors once did. “Those white people who live on earth now cannot bear responsibility for what their ancestors did a long time ago. Nevertheless, when the state authorities of countries apologize for mistakes made in the past, […]
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“Russian lawmakers adopted a resolution … calling on Turkey not to change the status of Istanbul’s famed Hagia Sophia from … museum to … mosque, warning that Russia’s … relations with Turkey could be harmed …. Hagia Sophia was the seat of the Eastern Orthodox Church for nearly 900 years before being turned into a mosque in the 15th century. […]
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“… The enormous variances in how priests chose to observe Easter this year in Russia hints at the broader context that frames the divide between those following church-related COVID restrictions and those ignoring them: the complex relationship between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian state. While many commentators have remarked on the tight partnership between the church and state in […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – March 26, 2020) A Russian court has overturned the convictions of six Jehovah’s Witnesses accused of extremism, marking the first instance of the group’s worshippers having their verdicts overturned in Russia, the group announced Wednesday. The court in Penza, some 550 kilometers southeast of Moscow, handed five adherents suspended two-year prison sentences in December. The […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – March 16, 2020) Priests from the Russian Orthodox Church and Cossacks followed Defense Ministry orders to negotiate the Ukrainian army’s surrender during Moscow’s annexation of Crimea, the independent Meduza news website has reported ahead of the sixth anniversary of the land grab. On Feb. 27, 2014, masked troops in unmarked uniforms seized the Crimean parliament […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble) Staunton – Only 40 percent of Russians value competitive elections and only 23 percent consider it important that opposition parties can operate freely, according to a conducted by Pew Research (pewresearch.org/global/2020/02/27/democratic-rights-popular-globally-but-commitment-to-them-not-always-strong/ in newtimes.ru/articles/detail/191401?fcc). The Russian figures in this regard are significantly lower than in most of the other countries surveyed, but what is particularly […]
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BOTLIKH VILLAGE, Dagestan. Sept 12 (Interfax) – The common moral and ethical values of all religions represented in Russia guarantee the stability of the Russian state, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. “We have a multi-religious country, but if you look closely, all our religions have the same values. As regards the moral and ethical component, they are practically the same,” […]
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(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, July 23, 2019) Many Russians were pleased that the demise of the Soviet Union meant that the rapidly growing Muslim populations of the Central Asian republics were beyond the state borders of the Russian Federation and thus would no longer be a brake on the desire of Russians for development and even […]
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“Once upon a time, the small, picturesque Russian village of Palekh gained fame far and wide for producing religious icons. Then one day, a revolution came and its adherents … banned such art. Hundreds of artists eventually learned to adorn lacquer boxes instead, painting scenes from Russian fairy tales or romanticized versions of country life. … With the collapse of […]
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MOSCOW. June 6 (Interfax) – Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has confirmed preparations for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Rome and the Vatican, where a meeting with Pope Francis is pending. “It is true that Putin’s trip and contacts in Rome are being prepared. He is due to have an audience with the pontiff as part of the visit. Technicalities […]
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(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – May 22, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/russian-officials-scrap-yekaterinburg-church-plan-after-public-outcry/29957227.html) Officials in Russia’s Sverdlovsk region have scrapped plans to build an Orthodox church in a Yekaterinburg park after a rare public outcry over the project that prompted President Vladimir Putin to urge all sides to find a comprise […]
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(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, May 17, 2019) Three new surveys show that the attitudes young Russians have about a wide variety of issues are changing rapidly and in internally inconsistent ways, something Stoletie commentator Andrey Sokolov says is worrisome because it means they lack a systematic worldview on the basis of which Russia’s future depends. The […]
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(Interfax – May 17, 2019) Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has downplayed suggestions of Kremlin interference in the row over construction of a church in Yekaterinburg, after the city’s mayor announced he was suspending the project. Following days of protests, Mayor Alexander Vysokinsky said on 16 May that he was suspending the controversial project until a survey is carried out, […]
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MOSCOW. May 16 (Interfax) – Two masked individuals staged a protest against building a church in a square in Yekaterinburg near Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Kirill’s Moscow residence on Thursday. “Two masked individuals unrolled a poster saying ‘Apologize for Yekaterinburg’ and hurled smoke charges. Their accomplices have recorded this event on a video, all of them got in […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, May 12, 2019) Metropolitan Ilarion, head of the Synodical Department of External Relations and generally viewed as second only to Kirill in the Moscow Patriarchate, says that Russians should not give Joseph Stalin credit for victory in World War II or revive the cult of personality around the late Soviet dictator. In […]
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“… Focusing on the role played by the Russian Orthodox Church in the restoration and development of the Russian nuclear weapons complex in the post-Cold War period, Adamsky highlights the organizational and ideological impact of the church on the gradual remilitarization of Russia over the last three decades. …”
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MOSCOW. March 26 (Interfax) – The Russian Orthodox Church has called on the Ukrainian authorities to change its attitude toward members of the canonical Orthodox Church in Ukraine and not force them to join the newly-established religious organization. “We expect the Ukrainian authorities to deliver on their promises, which have been voiced repeatedly, that believers of all religious denominations will […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – March 5, 2019) Around 30 percent of the Russian population will practice Islam within the next 15 years, Russia’s grand mufti has predicted, citing demographic trends. Russia’s Muslim-majority regions, including republics in the North Caucasus and the republic of Tatarstan, are known to have the highest birth rates in the country, reflecting similar trends worldwide. […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 27 (Interfax) – Patriarch Bartholomew by his actions is fulfilling a U.S. order in Ukraine, Metropolitan Hilarion, the head of the external church relations department of the Moscow Patriarchate, said. “Patriarch Bartholomew is part of a big geopolitical project, a project aimed at further weakening Russia, at driving a wedge between the peoples of Russia and Ukraine. And […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 1 (Interfax) – Following the Western model of globalization would be a mistake because it has no room for traditional values, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia said. “The narrow paradigm of the New Time speaks of globalization as an inevitable process. Hidden underneath the word ‘inevitability’ is the western principle of global development which features liberal […]
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(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, October 21, 2018) The Moscow Patriarchate’s “categorical” unwillingness to reach any compromise with its opponents may make some Russians happy, the editors of Nezavisimaya gazeta say; but its approach under Patriarch Kirill not only violates Christian principles but undermines the possibility of maintaining Russian influence in churches abroad. Kirill and his church […]
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(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – Nicolai N. Petro – Oct. 19, 2018) Nicolai N. Petro is a professor of political science and the Silvia-Chandley Professor of Peace Studies and Nonviolence at the University of Rhode Island. He writes frequently about church-state relations in Ukraine and Russia. His latest book, “Ukraine in Crisis,” was published by Routledge in 2017. [Text with […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Andrii Fert – September 17, 2018) Andrii Fert researches state-church relations in the late Soviet Union. He is a graduate student at Kyiv Mohyla Academy, and works for DVV International. “Over the last few months, the lexicon of many Ukrainians has been enriched by two new words: ‘Tomos’ and ‘autocephaly.’ These words, whose literal meanings are ‘religious decree’ […]
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“At Janovska, the Auschwitz of Ukraine, I saw skulls, hypodermic needles and tons of trash. Looters desecrate mass graves of Jews, searching for gold; the sites’ histories are ‘revised’, overwritten by Christian and nationalist symbolism. This is why we should still care”
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – September 7, 2018) Anti-Semitism is on the decline in Russia, particularly since the Soviet period, according to a report by the independent Levada Center commissioned for the Russian Jewish Congress. Various estimates count the Jewish population in Russia anywhere from 180,000 to 1.5 million. During the Soviet Union, Jews in Russia were targeted by the […]
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Subject: “Sara’s Century” podcast Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2018 16:43:23 +0000 From: BARBARA T NORTON <btnorton@widener.edu> I wanted bring to your attention a fascinating new podcast serial, “Sara’s Century,” by a colleague at Rutgers U-Camden. The description below is from the website http://sarascentury.blogs.rutgers.edu/: “Sara’s Century” is a 12-episode podcast serial about Sara Mebel, a nearly 100-year-old Jewish woman who left […]
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(Sean Guillory – Facebook – August 29, 2018 McCain and Oleh Tyahnybok) [embedded live feed of facebook post should appear below; core text also recopied further below in case loading delayed] “This is too funny. WaPo publishes an op-ed about how McCain was a great champion for the ‘human rights community’ and uses a picture with McCain standing next to […]
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“… For ethnic Buryats, the resurgence of Buddhism is part of a more complex awakening, as local scholars explore the Buryats’ distinctly non-Russian historical and cultural heritage, and endeavor to reconcile it with their identity as modern-day Russians. Similar processes are unfolding in many of [Russia’s] 22 ‘ethnic republics’ …. Today, there are about 1.5 million Buddhists in Russia, concentrated […]
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(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, August 2, 2018) Between 1998 and 2016, the share of Russians saying they are religious increased from 63 to 74 percent, with increases among young less and those among less educated more, according to a new study by Yana Roshina of the Higher School of Economics (hse.ru/data/2018/06/21/1152561475Вестник РМЭЗ НИУ ВШЭ 2018.pdf; summarized […]
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