Relations between the Presidential Administration and the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) have seriously cooled, a source close to the Presidential Administration reports to FederalPress. The Kremlin is putting the brakes on church initiatives, including the issue of transferring St. Isaac's Cathedral. Against this background, the position of Patriarch Kirill is weakening, and Bishop Tikhon’s influence on Putin is strengthening. Tikhon has lobbied for several major federal appointments, while Kirill is holding closed meetings with political scientists to resolve image problems. All this has already led to a conflict within the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church. Details are in the FederalPress article.
Irritation factor
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It seems that the policy of the ROC (Russian Orthodox Church) began to irritate not only the public, but also the Presidential Administration. The information noise associated with the Sokolovsky case, the transfer of St. Isaac's Cathedral, and the law on the protection of the feelings of believers was assessed negatively in the Kremlin. FederalPress was informed about this by a source close to the Presidential Administration. According to him, the AP is doing its best to slow down the resolution of the issue of Isaac’s status.2
“They understand that the church has become a factor in political turbulence. It excites the public, and if all requests are fulfilled, it will help deepen political crisis in Russia. For pragmatic reasons, they are trying to slow down the transfer of Isaac to the church,” the interlocutor explained.
The day before, deputies of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly voted against a referendum on the transfer of St. Isaac's Cathedral to the Russian Orthodox Church. Let us also recall that the question of the status of St. Isaac's Cathedral was raised during a direct line with the president. Then Vladimir Putin said that the cathedral was built as a temple, and not as a museum.1
Foreign policy enemies
More on the topic
The Russian Orthodox Church and the Old Believers are fighting for property. List of disputed buildings
It is noteworthy that on June 12, Patriarch Kirill held a closed meeting with political scientists and philosophers. It is reported that the event was of an advisory nature. The meeting discussed the threats that the Russian Orthodox Church may face in the near future. One of its participants Oleg Matveychev stated to FederalPress that the negative background from the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church is exaggerated. He believes that in terms of information policy the church would be useful to be more active and aggressive. And he connects attacks on the Russian Orthodox Church with the actions of its foreign policy enemies.
“If there is negativity around the church, and there will always be, it is initiated by geopolitical enemies, including interfaith enemies. These are Catholics, Old Believers, New Pagans, Islamists, Judaists, and the pro-liberal public. To increase the positivity around the church, the only way here is for the Russian Orthodox Church to strengthen its information work. Those departments that deal external relations, can make more efforts in this direction, act actively and aggressively,” Matveychev noted.
Speaking about the foreign policy enemies of the Russian Orthodox Church, Oleg Matveychev mentioned the Old Believers. Previously, FederalPress wrote about the unspoken conflict between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church (Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church). In particular, they talked about the struggle for real estate. One of the main subjects of the property dispute between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church is located in Moscow - the Church of the Tikhvin Icon Mother of God. Before the revolution, the temple belonged to the Old Believers, but in the 90s it was bought by businessman Konstantin Akhapkin, who decided to transfer this temple to the Russian Orthodox Church. The status of the temple is still controversial.
At the same time, experts note that the Old Believer Church does not face public condemnation for restitution. Political scientist Konstantin Kalachev stated to FederalPress that society today treats the Russian Orthodox Church well, which cannot be said about the Russian Orthodox Church.
“Those objects claimed by the Old Believer Church are not as significant as those claimed by the Russian Orthodox Church. The restitution process here is unlikely to lead to protest. It can be assumed that our attitude towards the Old Believers is quite positive. In this case it is a question of church and state. It is the active role of the Russian Orthodox Church in the cultural and political life country raises concerns among some citizens about the clericalization of the state. And the Old Believers in this sense do not threaten anyone with anything,” Kalachev said.
Image problems
Many Russian experts really believe that the Russian Orthodox Church is experiencing serious problems with an image. As the political strategist noted Dmitry Fetisov, this is the fault of the patriarch himself. Scandals surrounding the church have become commonplace. Some priests denigrate the church in every possible way, which cannot but affect public opinion.
“The Church quite often falls into scandals. Some representatives of the church openly denigrate the appearance and image of the Russian Orthodox Church. Big mistake on the part of the patriarch in the sense that nothing is being done to resolve this situation. There is no system for working on the image. We get a situation where a certain priest in the region is caught for drunk driving. This casts a shadow over the entire church,” Fetisov said in an interview with a FederalPress correspondent.
The image of the Russian Orthodox Church was damaged not only by drunken priests. It is enough to recall the story of the patriarch’s watch disappearing in the photograph, which was visible in the reflection of the table. Scandal around Pussy Riot, the case of Ruslan Sokolovsky, the revelations of Protodeacon Andrei Kuraev about the gay lobby in the Kazan Theological Seminary also cast a shadow on the image of the Russian Orthodox Church. The church's claims to a number of real estate properties, especially in Moscow and St. Petersburg, provoked protests.
There are also talks about image problems within the church. Famous priest Vsevolod Chaplin stated that the church last years is experiencing a serious crisis. It should be noted that after open criticism of Patriarch Kirill, Chaplin was removed from the post of chairman of the Synodal Department for Interaction between the Church and Society in 2015. He also condemned the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church for connections with corrupt officials in the regions.
“We need to expose the immorality of officials, and it’s not just about corruption. Now governors are being imprisoned for it, but how long have church people been licking the butts of these prisoners? In each region they know very well what the situation is around the governor, so they need to condemn what is happening or at least distance themselves from dishonest figures. The Church justifies contact with them by the need to build churches and support the practical component of church life. But it’s better to remain without any construction at all and without money than to lose authority by lavishing praises on thieving officials and showering them with church awards,” Chaplin said in 2016.3
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The point of the closed meeting of the patriarch with political scientists, which took place on June 12, was precisely to find a solution to problems with the image. Events like this don't just happen. Moreover, such meetings have never been held before.
“We heard that the patriarch recently met with political scientists. Yes, this meeting was closed. But, probably, it was about the participation of the Russian Orthodox Church in the life of the country, as an institution in the election campaign, or about correcting the image and countering the campaign that was launched against the patriarch,” said Dmitry Fetisov.
Kirill vs Tikhon
The positions of Patriarch Kirill are actually under attack, a campaign has been launched against him. A source close to the AP confirmed this information to FederalPress. Moreover, according to him, there is an unspoken conflict in the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church. Characters: Patriarch Kirill and his vicar (deputy), Bishop Tikhon. The conflict is caused by the fact that Kirill is concerned about Tikhon’s influence on President Putin. It was Tikhon who lobbied for several major federal appointments, including the candidacy Olga Vasilyeva for the post of head of the Ministry of Education and Science and candidacy Anna Kuznetsova for the post of children's ombudsman.
“Bishop Tikhon is considered Putin’s confessor. He lobbied for the appointment of Minister of Education Vasilyeva and Ombudsman for Children's Rights Kuznetsova. There is a latent, but very intense conflict between Kirill and Tikhon over influence on the president. This jealousy has reached the point that the patriarch calls the Presidential Administration and asks: “Why did the president meet with Tikhon, but I was not at the meeting?” Although the president is sensitive to Kirill’s requests, he answers everything. But the Presidential Administration is slowing down,” a source told FederalPress.
The Russian Orthodox Church itself denies the existence of any conflicts in the leadership of the church. But this is quite natural. Nobody wants to wash dirty linen in public. Many representatives of the expert community, in turn, are convinced that there is now an intra-elite struggle in the church, including for the seat of the patriarch. All participants in this conflict are trying to improve relations with both the president and his administration.
“Yes, not everything is clear within the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church. There, too, there is a certain struggle for the position of patriarch directly, for the possibility of control over the resources that the Russian Orthodox Church has. These individuals will also take part in shaping the future agenda. The end to this issue is far from settled,” said political strategist Dmitry Fetisov.
Regional opposition
The threat to the throne of the patriarch is posed not only by Tikhon’s authority, but also by the church “opposition” in the regions and scandals in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The centers of such a protest movement can be considered the Kazan and Yekaterinburg dioceses. In 2015, Kirill placed Bishop Theophan at the head of the first, who immediately set about reshuffling personnel in local churches and monasteries. In just a year, Theophanes was able to make enemies both within the church and in the world. The priests announced an increase in diocesan taxes and the sole nature of the ROC’s policy in Tatarstan.
The laity complained about Feofan's ostentatiously luxurious lifestyle. In 2016, the Orthodox community of Tatarstan decided to take an unprecedented step - to hold a rally against Feofan. However, the story was hushed up, despite the fact that local authorities approved the protest action. As a result, the application to hold the rally was simply withdrawn. The authors of this application are still unknown, but complaints against Feofan were considered even at a meeting of the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. Note that from 1993 to 1999, Feofan was deputy chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Kirill.
Pokemon or a pig in a poke?
The Sverdlovsk region can be considered another region dissatisfied with the policies of the Moscow Metropolitanate. The situation in the Yekaterinburg diocese is turbulent. It was in this region that the largest fire broke out. Lately scandal associated with the Russian Orthodox Church - the case of Ruslan Sokolovsky.
The Pokemon catcher could become a pig in a poke, which was thrown to Kirill by the highest priests of the Yekaterinburg diocese. This opinion was expressed by a former deputy of the legislative assembly Sverdlovsk region Nafik Famiev. He stated that the Sokolovsky case is the result of a conflict between a number of figures from the local diocese and the Moscow Metropolitan.
“The reactionary part of the Russian Orthodox Church and its ideologists have dug in here. The task is to prevent Kirill of Moscow from coming to Yekaterinburg in July 2018 for the 100th anniversary of the murder of the Romanov family. The Sokolovsky case is just a reason to make Kirill prohibited from entering,” said the ex-deputy.
Let us note that the former head of the Ekaterinburg diocese, Bishop Vikenty, has a serious influence on the Ekaterinburg diocese. From 1999 to 2011 he was Archbishop there. To the surprise of many priests, in 2011 he was literally sent outside Russia. By decree of Patriarch Kirill, Vincent was appointed Metropolitan of Tashkent and Uzbekistan. It is worth noting that immediately after his appointment, persecution began against Vikenty. Parishioners of local churches began to accuse him of violating the canons of Orthodoxy, baptism for money, rude treatment of women, rudeness, and tongue-tiedness. A letter with relevant complaints was sent to Patriarch Kirill in 2016.
It can hardly be said that the country’s leaders will openly criticize the Russian Orthodox Church, and that the church itself will ever publicly admit the existence internal conflicts. But the public condemns the church and its appetites openly. Under these conditions, Patriarch Kirill is being pressured both “from below” and “from above.” Whether the advice of political scientists will help him get out of a very difficult situation is still unknown. Apparently, the patriarch has many enemies.
The Kremlin has turned its back on the Russian Orthodox Church. The Church faces political schism
Relations between the Presidential Administration and the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) have seriously cooled, a source close to the Presidential Administration reports to FederalPress. The Kremlin is putting the brakes on church initiatives, including the issue of transferring St. Isaac's Cathedral. Against this background, the position of Patriarch Kirill is weakening, and Bishop Tikhon’s influence on Putin is strengthening. Tikhon has lobbied for several major federal appointments, while Kirill is holding closed meetings with political scientists to resolve image problems. All this has already led to a conflict within the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church. Details are in the FederalPress article.
Irritation factor
It seems that the policies of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) have begun to irritate not only the public, but also the Presidential Administration. The information noise associated with the Sokolovsky case, the transfer of St. Isaac's Cathedral, and the law on the protection of the feelings of believers was assessed negatively in the Kremlin. FederalPress was informed about this by a source close to the Presidential Administration. According to him, the AP is doing its best to slow down the resolution of the issue of Isaac’s status.
“They understand that the church has become a factor in political turbulence. It excites the public, and if all requests are fulfilled, this will contribute to the deepening of the political crisis in Russia. For pragmatic reasons, they are trying to slow down the transfer of Isaac to the church,” the interlocutor explained.
The day before, deputies of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly voted against a referendum on the transfer of St. Isaac's Cathedral to the Russian Orthodox Church. Let us also recall that the question of the status of St. Isaac's Cathedral was raised during a direct line with the president. Then Vladimir Putin said that the cathedral was built as a temple, and not as a museum.
Foreign policy enemies
It is noteworthy that on June 12, Patriarch Kirill spent closed meeting with political scientists and philosophers. It is reported that the event was of an advisory nature. The meeting discussed the threats that the Russian Orthodox Church may face in the near future. One of its participants Oleg Matveychev stated to FederalPress that the negative background from the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church is exaggerated. He believes that in terms of information policy the church would be useful to be more active and aggressive. And he connects attacks on the Russian Orthodox Church with the actions of its foreign policy enemies.
« If there is negativity around the church, and there will always be, it is initiated by geopolitical enemies, including interfaith enemies. These are Catholics, Old Believers, New Pagans, Islamists, Judaists, and the pro-liberal public. To increase the positivity around the church, the only way here is for the Russian Orthodox Church to strengthen its information work. Those departments that deal with external relations can make more efforts in this direction, act actively and aggressively“, noted Matveychev.
Speaking about the foreign policy enemies of the Russian Orthodox Church, Oleg Matveychev mentioned Old Believers. Previously, FederalPress wrote about the unspoken conflict between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church (Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church). In particular, they talked about the struggle for real estate. One of the main subjects of the property dispute between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church is located in Moscow - the church Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God. Before the revolution, the temple belonged to the Old Believers, but in the 90s it was bought by businessman Konstantin Akhapkin, who decided to transfer this temple to the Russian Orthodox Church. The status of the temple is still controversial.
One cannot help but recall that Russian President Vladimir Putin twice this year I met with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Cornelius. These are the first meetings in 350 years head Russian state with the head of the Old Believer community. Putin promised to help Korniliy with the return of a number of objects to the Russian Orthodox Church. Read about the list of disputed buildings in the article “The Russian Orthodox Church and Old Believers are fighting for property. List of disputed buildings."
At the same time, experts note that the Old Believer Church does not face public condemnation for restitution. Political scientist Konstantin Kalachev stated to FederalPress that society today treats the Russian Orthodox Church well, which cannot be said about the Russian Orthodox Church.
“Those objects claimed by the Old Believer Church are not as significant as those claimed by the Russian Orthodox Church. The restitution process here is unlikely to lead to protest. It can be assumed that our attitude towards the Old Believers is quite positive. In this case it is a question of church and state. It is the active role of the Russian Orthodox Church in the cultural and political life of the country that raises concerns among some citizens about clericalization of the state. And the Old Believers in this sense do not threaten anyone with anything,”- said Kalachev.
Image problems
Many Russian experts really believe that the Russian Orthodox Church is experiencing serious problems with its image. As the political strategist noted Dmitry Fetisov, this is the fault of the patriarch himself. Scandals surrounding the church have become commonplace. Some priests denigrate the church in every possible way, which cannot but affect public opinion.
"The Church is enough often falls into scandals. Some representatives of the church openly denigrate the appearance and image of the Russian Orthodox Church. A big mistake on the part of the patriarch in that nothing is being done to resolve this situation. There is no system for working on the image. We get a situation where a certain priest in the region is caught for drunk driving. This casts a shadow over the entire church."– Fetisov said in a conversation with a FederalPress correspondent.
The image of the Russian Orthodox Church was spoiled not only drunk priests. Suffice it to recall the story of the patriarch's watch disappearing in the photograph, which were visible in the reflection of the table. The scandal surrounding Pussy Riot, the case of Ruslan Sokolovsky, the revelations of Protodeacon Andrei Kuraev about gay lobby at the Kazan Theological Seminary also cast a shadow on the appearance of the Russian Orthodox Church. The church's claims to a number of real estate properties, especially in Moscow and St. Petersburg, provoked protests.
There are also talks about image problems within the church. Famous priest Vsevolod Chaplin stated that the church has been experiencing a serious crisis in recent years. It should be noted that after open criticism of Patriarch Kirill, Chaplin was removed from the post of chairman of the Synodal Department for Interaction between the Church and Society in 2015. He also condemned the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church for connections with corrupt officials in the regions.
“We need to expose the immorality of officials, and it’s not just about corruption. Now governors are being imprisoned for it, but how long have church people been licking the butts of these prisoners? In each region they know very well what the situation is around the governor, so they need to condemn what is happening or at least distance themselves from dishonest figures. The Church justifies contact with them by the need to build churches and support the practical component of church life. But it’s better to remain without any construction at all and without money than to lose authority by lavishing praises on thieving officials and draping them with church awards,”– Chaplin said in 2016.
The point of the closed meeting of the patriarch with political scientists, which took place on June 12, was precisely to find a solution to problems with the image. Events like this don't just happen. Moreover, such meetings have never been held before.
« We heard that the patriarch recently met with political scientists. Yes, it was a meeting closed. But, probably, we were talking specifically about the participation of the Russian Orthodox Church in the life of the country, as an institution in electoral campaign, or about correcting the image and countering the campaign that was launched against the patriarch,”– said Dmitry Fetisov.
Kirill vs Tikhon
The positions of Patriarch Kirill are actually under attack, a campaign has been launched against him. A source close to the AP confirmed this information to FederalPress. Moreover, according to him, there is an unspoken conflict in the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church. Characters: Patriarch Kirill and his vicar (deputy), Bishop Tikhon. The conflict is caused by the fact that Kirill is concerned about Tikhon’s influence on President Putin. It was Tikhon who lobbied for several major federal appointments, including the candidacy Olga Vasilyeva for the post of head of the Ministry of Education and Science and candidacy Anna Kuznetsova for the post of children's ombudsman.
« Bishop Tikhon is considered Putin's confessor. He lobbied for the appointment of Minister of Education Vasilyeva and Ombudsman for Children's Rights Kuznetsova. There is a latent, but very intense conflict between Kirill and Tikhon over influence on the president. This jealousy has reached the point that the patriarch calls the Presidential Administration and asks: “Why did the president meet with Tikhon, but I was not at the meeting??». Although the president is sensitive to Kirill’s requests, he answers everything. But the Presidential Administration is slowing down", the source told FederalPress.
The Russian Orthodox Church itself denies the existence of any conflicts in the leadership of the church. But this is quite natural. Nobody wants to wash dirty linen in public. Many representatives of the expert community, in turn, are convinced that there is now an intra-elite struggle in the church, including for the seat of the patriarch. All participants in this conflict are trying to improve relations with both the president and his administration.
“Yes, not everything is clear within the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church. There, too, there is a certain struggle for the position of patriarch directly, for the possibility of control over the resources that the Russian Orthodox Church has. These individuals will also take part in shaping the future agenda. The end to this issue is still far from being reached“said political strategist Dmitry Fetisov.
Regional opposition
The threat to the throne of the patriarch is posed not only by Tikhon’s authority, but also by the church “opposition” in the regions and scandals in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The centers of such a protest movement can be considered the Kazan and Yekaterinburg dioceses. At the head of the first in 2015, Kirill placed Bishop Feofana, who immediately began for personnel changes in local churches and monasteries. In just a year, Theophanes was able to make enemies both within the church and in the world. The priests announced an increase in diocesan taxes and the sole nature of the ROC’s policy in Tatarstan.
The laity complained about Feofan's ostentatiously luxurious lifestyle. In 2016, the Orthodox community of Tatarstan decided to take an unprecedented step - to hold a rally against Feofan. However, the story was hushed up, despite the fact that local authorities approved the protest action. As a result, the application to hold the rally was simply withdrawn. The authors of this application are still unknown, but complaints against Feofan were considered even at a meeting of the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. Note that from 1993 to 1999, Feofan was deputy chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Kirill.
Pokemon or a pig in a poke?
The Sverdlovsk region can be considered another region dissatisfied with the policies of the Moscow Metropolitanate. The situation in the Yekaterinburg diocese is turbulent. It was in this region that the largest recent scandal related to the Russian Orthodox Church broke out - the case Ruslan Sokolovsky.
The Pokemon catcher could become a pig in a poke, which gave Kirill a lift senior priests of the Yekaterinburg diocese. This opinion was expressed by a former deputy of the legislative assembly of the Sverdlovsk region Nafik Famiev. He stated that the Sokolovsky case is the result of a conflict between a number of figures from the local diocese and the Moscow Metropolitan.
« The reactionary part of the Russian Orthodox Church and its ideologists have dug in here. The task is to prevent Kirill of Moscow from coming to Yekaterinburg in July 2018 for the 100th anniversary of the murder of the Romanov family. The Sokolovsky case is just a reason to make Kirill banned from entry “- said the ex-deputy.
Let us note that the former head of the Ekaterinburg diocese, Bishop Vikenty, has a serious influence on the Ekaterinburg diocese. From 1999 to 2011 he was Archbishop there. To the surprise of many priests, in 2011 he was literally sent outside Russia. By decree of Patriarch Kirill, Vincent was appointed Metropolitan of Tashkent and Uzbekistan. It is worth noting that immediately after his appointment, persecution began against Vikenty. Parishioners of local churches began to accuse him of violating the canons of Orthodoxy, baptism for money, rude treatment of women, rudeness, and tongue-tiedness. A letter with relevant complaints was sent to Patriarch Kirill in 2016.
It is hardly possible to say that the country’s leaders will openly criticize the Russian Orthodox Church, and that the church itself will ever publicly admit the presence of internal conflicts. But the public condemns the church and its appetites openly. Under these conditions, Patriarch Kirill is being pressured both “from below” and “from above.” Whether the advice of political scientists will help him get out of a very difficult situation is still unknown. Apparently, the patriarch has many enemies.
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Relations between the Presidential Administration and the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) have seriously cooled, a source close to the Presidential Administration reports to FederalPress. The Kremlin is putting the brakes on church initiatives, including the issue of transferring St. Isaac's Cathedral. Against this background, the position of Patriarch Kirill is weakening, and Bishop Tikhon’s influence on Putin is strengthening. Tikhon has lobbied for several major federal appointments, while Kirill is holding closed meetings with political scientists to resolve image problems. All this has already led to a conflict within the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church. Details are in the FederalPress article.
Irritation factor
It seems that the policies of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) have begun to irritate not only the public, but also the Presidential Administration. The information noise associated with the Sokolovsky case, the transfer of St. Isaac's Cathedral, and the law on the protection of the feelings of believers was assessed negatively in the Kremlin. FederalPress was informed about this by a source close to the Presidential Administration. According to him, the AP is doing its best to slow down the resolution of the issue of Isaac’s status. 2
“They understand that the church has become a factor in political turbulence. It excites the public, and if all requests are fulfilled, this will contribute to the deepening of the political crisis in Russia. For pragmatic reasons, they are trying to slow down the transfer of Isaac to the church,” the interlocutor explained.
The day before, deputies of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly voted against a referendum on the transfer of St. Isaac's Cathedral to the Russian Orthodox Church. Let us also recall that the question of the status of St. Isaac's Cathedral was raised during a direct line with the president. Then Vladimir Putin said that the cathedral was built as a temple, and not as a museum. 1
Foreign policy enemies
It is noteworthy that on June 12, Patriarch Kirill held a closed meeting with political scientists and philosophers. It is reported that the event was of an advisory nature. The meeting discussed the threats that the Russian Orthodox Church may face in the near future. One of its participants, Oleg Matveychev, told FederalPress that the negative background from the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church is exaggerated. He believes that in terms of information policy the church would be useful to be more active and aggressive. And he connects attacks on the Russian Orthodox Church with the actions of its foreign policy enemies.
“If there is negativity around the church, and there will always be, it is initiated by geopolitical enemies, including interfaith enemies. These are Catholics, Old Believers, New Pagans, Islamists, Judaists, and the pro-liberal public. To increase the positivity around the church, the only way here is for the Russian Orthodox Church to strengthen its information work. Those departments that deal with external relations can make more efforts in this direction, act actively and aggressively,” Matveychev noted.
Speaking about the foreign policy enemies of the Russian Orthodox Church, Oleg Matveychev mentioned the Old Believers. Previously, FederalPress wrote about the unspoken conflict between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church (Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church). In particular, they talked about the struggle for real estate. One of the main subjects of the property dispute between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church is located in Moscow - the Church of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God. Before the revolution, the temple belonged to the Old Believers, but in the 90s it was bought by businessman Konstantin Akhapkin, who decided to transfer this temple to the Russian Orthodox Church. The status of the temple is still controversial.
At the same time, experts note that the Old Believer Church does not face public condemnation for restitution. Political scientist Konstantin Kalachev stated to FederalPress that society today treats the Russian Orthodox Church well, which cannot be said about the Russian Orthodox Church.
“Those objects claimed by the Old Believer Church are not as significant as those claimed by the Russian Orthodox Church. The restitution process here is unlikely to lead to protest. It can be assumed that our attitude towards the Old Believers is quite positive. In this case it is a question of church and state. It is the active role of the Russian Orthodox Church in the cultural and political life of the country that raises concerns among some citizens about the clericalization of the state. And in this sense, the Old Believers do not threaten anyone or anything,” Kalachev said.
Image problems
Many Russian experts really believe that the Russian Orthodox Church is experiencing serious problems with its image. As political strategist Dmitry Fetisov noted, this is the fault of the patriarch himself. Scandals surrounding the church have become commonplace. Some priests denigrate the church in every possible way, which cannot but affect public opinion.
“The Church quite often falls into scandals. Some representatives of the church openly denigrate the appearance and image of the Russian Orthodox Church. A big mistake on the part of the patriarch in that nothing is being done to resolve this situation. There is no system for working on the image. We get a situation where a certain priest in the region is caught for drunk driving. This casts a shadow over the entire church,” Fetisov said in an interview with a FederalPress correspondent.
The image of the Russian Orthodox Church was damaged not only by drunken priests. It is enough to recall the story of the patriarch’s watch disappearing in the photograph, which was visible in the reflection of the table. The scandal surrounding Pussy Riot, the case of Ruslan Sokolovsky, the revelations of Protodeacon Andrei Kuraev about the gay lobby in the Kazan Theological Seminary also cast a shadow on the image of the Russian Orthodox Church. The church's claims to a number of real estate properties, especially in Moscow and St. Petersburg, provoked protests.
There are also talks about image problems within the church. The famous priest Vsevolod Chaplin stated that the church has been experiencing a serious crisis in recent years. It should be noted that after open criticism of Patriarch Kirill, Chaplin was removed from the post of chairman of the Synodal Department for Interaction between the Church and Society in 2015. He also condemned the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church for connections with corrupt officials in the regions.
“We need to expose the immorality of officials, and it’s not just about corruption. Now governors are being imprisoned for it, but how long have church people been licking the butts of these prisoners? In each region they know very well what the situation is around the governor, so they need to condemn what is happening or at least distance themselves from dishonest figures. The Church justifies contact with them by the need to build churches and support the practical component of church life. But it’s better to remain without any construction at all and without money than to lose authority by lavishing praises on thieving officials and hanging them with church awards,” Chaplin said in 2016. 3
The point of the closed meeting of the patriarch with political scientists, which took place on June 12, was precisely to find a solution to problems with the image. Events like this don't just happen. Moreover, such meetings have never been held before.
“We heard that the patriarch recently met with political scientists. Yes, this meeting was closed. But, probably, it was about the participation of the Russian Orthodox Church in the life of the country, as an institution in the election campaign, or about correcting the image and counteracting the campaign that was launched against the patriarch,” said Dmitry Fetisov.
Kirill vs Tikhon
The positions of Patriarch Kirill are actually under attack, a campaign has been launched against him. A source close to the AP confirmed this information to FederalPress. Moreover, according to him, there is an unspoken conflict in the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church. Characters: Patriarch Kirill and his vicar (deputy), Bishop Tikhon. The conflict is caused by the fact that Kirill is concerned about Tikhon’s influence on President Putin. It was Tikhon who lobbied for several major federal appointments, including the candidacy Olga Vasilyeva for the post of head of the Ministry of Education and Science and the candidacy of Anna Kuznetsova for the post of children's ombudsman.
“Bishop Tikhon is considered Putin’s confessor. He lobbied for the appointment of Minister of Education Vasilyeva and Ombudsman for Children's Rights Kuznetsova. There is a latent, but very intense conflict between Kirill and Tikhon over influence on the president. This jealousy has reached the point that the patriarch calls the Presidential Administration and asks: “Why did the president meet with Tikhon, but I was not at the meeting?” Although the president is sensitive to Kirill’s requests, he answers everything. But the Presidential Administration is slowing down,” a source told FederalPress.
The Russian Orthodox Church itself denies the existence of any conflicts in the leadership of the church. But this is quite natural. Nobody wants to wash dirty linen in public. Many representatives of the expert community, in turn, are convinced that there is now an intra-elite struggle in the church, including for the seat of the patriarch. All participants in this conflict are trying to improve relations with both the president and his administration.
“Yes, not everything is clear within the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church. There, too, there is a certain struggle for the position of patriarch directly, for the possibility of control over the resources that the Russian Orthodox Church has. These individuals will also take part in shaping the future agenda. The end to this issue is far from settled,” said political strategist Dmitry Fetisov.
Regional opposition
The threat to the throne of the patriarch is posed not only by Tikhon’s authority, but also by the church “opposition” in the regions and scandals in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The centers of such a protest movement can be considered the Kazan and Yekaterinburg dioceses. In 2015, Kirill placed Bishop Theophan at the head of the first, who immediately set about reshuffling personnel in local churches and monasteries. In just a year, Theophanes was able to make enemies both within the church and in the world. The priests announced an increase in diocesan taxes and the sole nature of the ROC’s policy in Tatarstan.
The laity complained about Feofan's ostentatiously luxurious lifestyle. In 2016, the Orthodox community of Tatarstan decided to take an unprecedented step - to hold a rally against Feofan. However, the story was hushed up, despite the fact that local authorities approved the protest action. As a result, the application to hold the rally was simply withdrawn. The authors of this application are still unknown, but complaints against Feofan were considered even at a meeting of the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. Note that from 1993 to 1999, Feofan was deputy chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Kirill.
Pokemon or a pig in a poke?
The Sverdlovsk region can be considered another region dissatisfied with the policies of the Moscow Metropolitanate. The situation in the Yekaterinburg diocese is turbulent. It was in this region that the largest recent scandal related to the Russian Orthodox Church broke out - the case of Ruslan Sokolovsky.
The Pokemon catcher could become a pig in a poke, which was thrown to Kirill by the highest priests of the Yekaterinburg diocese. This opinion was expressed by former deputy of the legislative assembly of the Sverdlovsk region Nafik Famiev. He stated that the Sokolovsky case is the result of a conflict between a number of figures from the local diocese and the Moscow Metropolitan.
“The reactionary part of the Russian Orthodox Church and its ideologists have dug in here. The task is to prevent Kirill of Moscow from coming to Yekaterinburg in July 2018 for the 100th anniversary of the murder of the Romanov family. The Sokolovsky case is just a reason to make Kirill prohibited from entering,” said the ex-deputy.
Let us note that the former head of the Ekaterinburg diocese, Bishop Vikenty, has a serious influence on the Ekaterinburg diocese. From 1999 to 2011 he was Archbishop there. To the surprise of many priests, in 2011 he was literally sent outside Russia. By decree of Patriarch Kirill, Vincent was appointed Metropolitan of Tashkent and Uzbekistan. It is worth noting that immediately after his appointment, persecution began against Vikenty. Parishioners of local churches began to accuse him of violating the canons of Orthodoxy, baptism for money, rude treatment of women, rudeness, and tongue-tiedness. A letter with relevant complaints was sent to Patriarch Kirill in 2016.
It is hardly possible to say that the country’s leaders will openly criticize the Russian Orthodox Church, and that the church itself will ever publicly admit the presence of internal conflicts. But the public condemns the church and its appetites openly. Under these conditions, Patriarch Kirill is being pressured both “from below” and “from above.” Whether the advice of political scientists will help him get out of a very difficult situation is still unknown. Apparently, the patriarch has many enemies.
Relations between the Presidential Administration and the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) have seriously cooled, a source close to the Presidential Administration reports to FederalPress. The Kremlin is putting the brakes on church initiatives, including the issue of transferring St. Isaac's Cathedral. Against this background, the position of Patriarch Kirill is weakening, and Bishop Tikhon’s influence on Putin is strengthening. Tikhon has lobbied for several major federal appointments, while Kirill is holding closed meetings with political scientists to resolve image problems. All this has already led to a conflict within the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church. Details are in the FederalPress article.
Irritation factor
It seems that the policies of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) have begun to irritate not only the public, but also the Presidential Administration. The information noise associated with the Sokolovsky case, the transfer of St. Isaac's Cathedral, and the law on the protection of the feelings of believers was assessed negatively in the Kremlin. FederalPress was informed about this by a source close to the Presidential Administration. According to him, the AP is doing its best to slow down the resolution of the issue of Isaac’s status.
“They understand that the church has become a factor in political turbulence. It excites the public, and if all requests are fulfilled, this will contribute to the deepening of the political crisis in Russia. For pragmatic reasons, they are trying to slow down the transfer of Isaac to the church,” the interlocutor explained.
The day before, deputies of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly voted against a referendum on the transfer of St. Isaac's Cathedral to the Russian Orthodox Church. Let us also recall that the question of the status of St. Isaac's Cathedral was raised during a direct line with the president. Then Vladimir Putin said that the cathedral was built as a temple, and not as a museum.
Foreign policy enemies
It is noteworthy that on June 12, Patriarch Kirill held a closed meeting with political scientists and philosophers. It is reported that the event was of an advisory nature. The meeting discussed the threats that the Russian Orthodox Church may face in the near future. One of its participants Oleg Matveychev stated to FederalPress that the negative background from the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church is exaggerated. He believes that in terms of information policy the church would be useful to be more active and aggressive. And he connects attacks on the Russian Orthodox Church with the actions of its foreign policy enemies.
“If there is negativity around the church, and there will always be, it is initiated by geopolitical enemies, including interfaith enemies. These are Catholics, Old Believers, New Pagans, Islamists, Judaists, and the pro-liberal public. To increase the positivity around the church, the only way here is for the Russian Orthodox Church to strengthen its information work. Those departments that deal with external relations can make more efforts in this direction, act actively and aggressively,” Matveychev noted.
Speaking about the foreign policy enemies of the Russian Orthodox Church, Oleg Matveychev mentioned the Old Believers. about the unspoken conflict between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church (Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church). In particular, they talked about the struggle for real estate. One of the main subjects of the property dispute between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church is located in Moscow - the Church of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God. Before the revolution, the temple belonged to the Old Believers, but in the 90s it was bought by businessman Konstantin Akhapkin, who decided to transfer this temple to the Russian Orthodox Church. The status of the temple is still controversial.
At the same time, experts note that the Old Believer Church does not face public condemnation for restitution. Political scientist Konstantin Kalachev stated to FederalPress that society today treats the Russian Orthodox Church well, which cannot be said about the Russian Orthodox Church.
“Those objects claimed by the Old Believer Church are not as significant as those claimed by the Russian Orthodox Church. The restitution process here is unlikely to lead to protest. It can be assumed that our attitude towards the Old Believers is quite positive. In this case it is a question of church and state. It is the active role of the Russian Orthodox Church in the cultural and political life of the country that raises concerns among some citizens about the clericalization of the state. And the Old Believers in this sense do not threaten anyone with anything,” Kalachev said.
Image problems
Many Russian experts really believe that the Russian Orthodox Church is experiencing serious problems with its image. As the political strategist noted Dmitry Fetisov, this is the fault of the patriarch himself. Scandals surrounding the church have become commonplace. Some priests denigrate the church in every possible way, which cannot but affect public opinion.
“The Church quite often falls into scandals. Some representatives of the church openly denigrate the appearance and image of the Russian Orthodox Church. A big mistake on the part of the patriarch in that nothing is being done to resolve this situation. There is no system for working on the image. We get a situation where a certain priest in the region is caught for drunk driving. This casts a shadow over the entire church,” Fetisov said in an interview with a FederalPress correspondent.
The image of the Russian Orthodox Church was damaged not only by drunken priests. It is enough to recall the story of the patriarch’s watch disappearing in the photograph, which was visible in the reflection of the table. The scandal surrounding Pussy Riot, the case of Ruslan Sokolovsky, the revelations of Protodeacon Andrei Kuraev about the gay lobby in the Kazan Theological Seminary also cast a shadow on the image of the Russian Orthodox Church. The church's claims to a number of real estate properties, especially in Moscow and St. Petersburg, provoked protests.
There are also talks about image problems within the church. Famous priest Vsevolod Chaplin stated that the church has been experiencing a serious crisis in recent years. It should be noted that after open criticism of Patriarch Kirill, Chaplin was removed from the post of chairman of the Synodal Department for Interaction between the Church and Society in 2015. He also condemned the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church for connections with corrupt officials in the regions.
“We need to expose the immorality of officials, and it’s not just about corruption. Now governors are being imprisoned for it, but how long have church people been licking the butts of these prisoners? In each region they know very well what the situation is around the governor, so they need to condemn what is happening or at least distance themselves from dishonest figures. The Church justifies contact with them by the need to build churches and support the practical component of church life. But it’s better to remain without any construction at all and without money than to lose authority by lavishing praises on thieving officials and hanging them with church awards,” Chaplin said in 2016.
The point of the closed meeting of the patriarch with political scientists, which took place on June 12, was precisely to find a solution to problems with the image. Events like this don't just happen. Moreover, such meetings have never been held before.
“We heard that the patriarch recently met with political scientists. Yes, this meeting was closed. But, probably, it was about the participation of the Russian Orthodox Church in the life of the country, as an institution in the election campaign, or about correcting the image and countering the campaign that was launched against the patriarch,” said Dmitry Fetisov.
Kirill vs Tikhon
The positions of Patriarch Kirill are actually under attack, a campaign has been launched against him. A source close to the AP confirmed this information to FederalPress. Moreover, according to him, there is an unspoken conflict in the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church. Characters: Patriarch Kirill and his vicar (deputy), Bishop Tikhon. The conflict is caused by the fact that Kirill is concerned about Tikhon’s influence on President Putin. It was Tikhon who lobbied for several major federal appointments, including the candidacy Olga Vasilyeva for the post of head of the Ministry of Education and Science and candidacy Anna Kuznetsova for the post of children's ombudsman.
“Bishop Tikhon is considered Putin’s confessor. He lobbied for the appointment of Minister of Education Vasilyeva and Ombudsman for Children's Rights Kuznetsova. There is a latent, but very intense conflict between Kirill and Tikhon over influence on the president. This jealousy has reached the point that the patriarch calls the Presidential Administration and asks: “Why did the president meet with Tikhon, but I was not at the meeting?” Although the president is sensitive to Kirill’s requests, he answers everything. But the Presidential Administration is slowing down,” a source told FederalPress.
The Russian Orthodox Church itself denies the existence of any conflicts in the leadership of the church. But this is quite natural. Nobody wants to wash dirty linen in public. Many representatives of the expert community, in turn, are convinced that there is now an intra-elite struggle in the church, including for the seat of the patriarch. All participants in this conflict are trying to improve relations with both the president and his administration.
“Yes, not everything is clear within the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church. There, too, there is a certain struggle for the position of patriarch directly, for the possibility of control over the resources that the Russian Orthodox Church has. These individuals will also take part in shaping the future agenda. The end to this issue is far from settled,” said political strategist Dmitry Fetisov.
Regional opposition
The threat to the throne of the patriarch is posed not only by Tikhon’s authority, but also by the church “opposition” in the regions and scandals in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The centers of such a protest movement can be considered the Kazan and Yekaterinburg dioceses. In 2015, Kirill placed Bishop Theophan at the head of the first, who immediately set about reshuffling personnel in local churches and monasteries. In just a year, Theophanes was able to make enemies both within the church and in the world. The priests announced an increase in diocesan taxes and the sole nature of the ROC’s policy in Tatarstan.
The laity complained about Feofan's ostentatiously luxurious lifestyle. In 2016, the Orthodox community of Tatarstan decided to take an unprecedented step - to hold a rally against Feofan. However, the story was hushed up, despite the fact that local authorities approved the protest action. As a result, the application to hold the rally was simply withdrawn. The authors of this application are still unknown, but complaints against Feofan were considered even at a meeting of the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. Note that from 1993 to 1999, Feofan was deputy chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Kirill.
Pokemon or a pig in a poke?
The Sverdlovsk region can be considered another region dissatisfied with the policies of the Moscow Metropolitanate. The situation in the Yekaterinburg diocese is turbulent. It was in this region that the largest recent scandal related to the Russian Orthodox Church broke out - the case of Ruslan Sokolovsky.
The Pokemon catcher could become a pig in a poke, which was thrown to Kirill by the highest priests of the Yekaterinburg diocese. This opinion was expressed by a former deputy of the legislative assembly of the Sverdlovsk region Nafik Famiev. He stated that the Sokolovsky case is the result of a conflict between a number of figures from the local diocese and the Moscow Metropolitan.
“The reactionary part of the Russian Orthodox Church and its ideologists have dug in here. The task is to prevent Kirill of Moscow from coming to Yekaterinburg in July 2018 for the 100th anniversary of the murder of the Romanov family. The Sokolovsky case is just a reason to make Kirill prohibited from entering,” said the ex-deputy.
Let us note that the former head of the Ekaterinburg diocese, Bishop Vikenty, has a serious influence on the Ekaterinburg diocese. From 1999 to 2011 he was Archbishop there. To the surprise of many priests, in 2011 he was literally sent outside Russia. By decree of Patriarch Kirill, Vincent was appointed Metropolitan of Tashkent and Uzbekistan. It is worth noting that immediately after his appointment, persecution began against Vikenty. Parishioners of local churches began to accuse him of violating the canons of Orthodoxy, baptism for money, rude treatment of women, rudeness, and tongue-tiedness. A letter with relevant complaints was sent to Patriarch Kirill in 2016.
It is hardly possible to say that the country’s leaders will openly criticize the Russian Orthodox Church, and that the church itself will ever publicly admit the presence of internal conflicts. But the public condemns the church and its appetites openly. Under these conditions, Patriarch Kirill is being pressured both “from below” and “from above.” Whether the advice of political scientists will help him get out of a very difficult situation is still unknown. Apparently, the patriarch has many enemies.
