Table Of ContentThe Post-Soviet Russian Orthodox Church
In recent years, the Russian Orthodox Church has become a more prominent
part of post-Soviet Russia. A number of assumptions exist regarding the
Church’s relationshipwith the Russian state: that the Churchhas always been
dominated by Russia’s secular elites; that the clerics have not sufficiently
fought this domination and occasionally failed to act in the Church’s best
interest; and that the Church was turned into a Soviet institution during the
twentieth century. This book challenges these assumptions. It demonstrates
that church–state relations in post-communist Russia can be seen in a much
more differentiated way, and that the Church is not subservient, very much
having its own agenda. Yet at the same time it shares the state’s, and Russian
society’s, nationalist vision.
The book analyses the Russian Orthodox Church’s political culture, focus-
ing on the Putin and Medvedev eras from 2000. It examines the upper
echelons of the Moscow Patriarchate in relation to the governing elite and to
Russian public opinion, explores the role of the Church in the formation of
state religious policy, and the Church’s role within the Russian military. It
discusses how the Moscow Patriarchate is asserting itself in former Soviet
republics outside Russia, especially in Estonia, Ukraine and Belarus. It con-
cludesbyre-emphasisingthat,althoughtheChurchoftenmirrorstheKremlin’s
political preferences, it most definitely acts independently.
Katja Richters gained her Ph.D. from the UCL School of Slavonic and East
European Studies, UK. She currently works as a post-doctoral researcher at
the Universityof Erfurt, Germany.
Routledge Contemporary Russia and Eastern Europe Series
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The Post-Soviet Russian
Orthodox Church
Politics, Culture and Greater Russia
Katja Richters
Firstpublished2013
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Buildingjusticeinpost-transitionEurope:processesofcriminalisation
withinCentralandEasternEuropeansocieties/[editedby]KayGoodall,
MargaretMallochandBillMunro.
p.cm.--(Routledgefrontiersofcriminaljustice;2)
Includesbibliographicalreferences.
1.Crime--Europe.2.Criminaljustice,Administrationof--Europe.
3.Criminallaw--Europe.4.Lawenforcement--Europe.
5.Post-communism--Europe.I.Goodall,KayEileen.II.Malloch,
MargaretS.III.Munro,Bill(WilliamG.)
HV6938.5.B852012
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2012003040
ISBN:978-0-415-66933-7(hbk)
ISBN:978-0-203-11573-2(ebk)
TypesetinTimesNewRoman
byTaylor&FrancisBooks
Contents
List of tables viii
Acknowledgements ix
Abbreviations x
A note on translations, transliteration and place names xi
1 Introduction 1
2 The Bases of the Social Conception and political culture:
theory and practice 18
3 The ROC’s approach to other religious associations:
from tradition and national identity to ‘Fundamentals of
Orthodox Culture’ 36
4 The Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian Army: sharing a
nationalist vision 57
5 Political and religious challenges to the Moscow Patriarchate
in Estonia 75
6 The Moscow Patriarchate’s defence of its canonical territory
in Ukraine 96
7 Church–State relations in post-Soviet Belarus 128
8 Conclusion 149
Notes 169
Select bibliography 204
Index 208
Tables
3.1 Numberof registered Parishes or Equivalents in Russia,
1990–2004 37
5.1 Size of the two Orthodox Churches in Estonia, 2001–2002 76
6.1 Numberof Orthodox Parishes in Ukraine, 1997–2011 97
6.2 Distribution of Believers in Ukraine in 2000 98
6.3 Size of ROC and Romanian Orthodox Church, 2010 112
7.1 Numberof Parishes or Equivalents in Belarus, 1996–2010 129
Acknowledgements
This book is based on my doctoral thesis which I wrote at UCL–SSEES.
Many people have helped me during my years as a Ph.D. student and since
then as a post-doctoral researcher and I am verygrateful to all of them. Peter
Duncan,whowasmymainsupervisoratSSEES,madeaninvaluablecontribu-
tionto the success of this project. His attention to detail, extensiveknowledge
and understanding for myconcerns neverceased toamazemeand aregreatly
appreciated. He has also been very kind to continue discussing my research
ideas with me even after I graduated.
Geoffrey Hosking, who supervised me during my first year at UCL and
who read the complete final draft of my dissertation, also deserves special
thanks. Very useful feedback and comments were also provided at different
stagesbyEdwinBacon,SergeiBogatyrev,RasmusNilsson,SebastianRimestad,
Peter Sowden and Philip Walters. I am grateful for their constructive criticism,
but all errors are, of course, exclusively mine.
I would not have been able to write this book without the input of my
interview partners. They deserve my gratitude for their time and patience
when answering my questions and for sharing their views and experiences
with me. Thanks to the funding provided by the UCL Graduate School, the
University of London’s Central Research Fund, the British Association of
Slavonic and East European Studies, and SSEES I was able to travel to
Russia and elsewhere to carry out this fieldwork.
In addition to this, the UCL Graduate School and SSEES as well as the
Universityof Erfurt funded myattendance at international conferenceswhere
I received interesting comments and encouragement. During the final year of
my Ph.D., I was sponsored by the British Federation of Women Graduates,
and as a post-doctoral researcher I have received financial and other support
from the Graduate School ‘Religion in Modernisation Processes’ at the Uni-
versityof Erfurtand the ‘ProExzellenz’ programmeof the countyof Thuringia
(Germany). All this is greatly appreciated.
Lastbutnotleast,IwouldliketosayawarmthankyoutoProf.Dr.Vasilios
Makrides who has very generously given me the time and space to turn my
thesis into this monograph.
