Russia Blog: Russian Orthodox Church Unites

Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior - destroyed by Stalin in 1931, painstakingly restored in the 1990s

Last week saw the formal unification of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) and the Moscow-based ROC. Since the Soviet breakup, growing ties have emerged between diaspora Russians and Russia.

After the Russian Civil War (1917-1921), the politically exiled anti-Communist "White" Russians formed the ROCOR. The ROC which remained in Russia had to be subservient to Soviet rule in order to survive. Critics of that church have been quick to highlight this fact. It's also true that in pre-revolutionary Russia, the ROC was beholden to the existing government structure.

Whether during pre-Soviet, Soviet and post Soviet times, one can find plenty of negative commentary about the ROC. Much of the criticism comes from non-ROC sources. I'm glad to see some individuals making a sincere effort to provide a more even-handed perspective on the subject. To my knowledge, every major religious denomination has had political aspects ranging from the good to not so good. The many earnest followers of each respective faith should not be tarnished because of such actions.

Cathedral viewed from the Moscow River

For a thought provokingly frank overview of ROC and other related matter, I recommend the Rus Journal.com web site, with the proviso that some might find a good portion of its contents to be offensive. A point which also applies to my previous citations of eXile.ru. The Rus Journal.com Editor Matthew Johnson has been featured at such mainstream outlets as Intelligent.ru.

I'm not in agreement with all of Dr. Johnson's views. My commentary at his site (and elsewhere) confirms this point. I understand how many people might choose to tune him out altogether. I decline to do so, in recognition of the man's intellect, which includes a keen knowledge of various historical, religious and political issues.

I find Dr. Johnson's candor to be a refreshing break from the stuffy political correctness that intimidates many Russia watchers from freely expressing themselves.

When critiquing Dr. Johnson, keep in mind how many popular American media outlets have given forums to religious figures like Louis Farrakhan, Sun Myung Moon, Jerry Fallwell, Pat Robertson and the late Meir Kahane. At one time
or another, all five of these men have offended many people.

Michael Averko is a New York based independent foreign policy analyst whose commentary has appeared in Eurasian Home, Johnson's Russia List, Intelligent.Ru, The Moscow Times, New York Times and Newsday.

Comments

Everyone has an extremist of preference.

I briefly glanced thru the RusJournal site.

Matthew Johnson impresses as a brilliant nut.

Posted by: Alexandra | May 16, 2006 8:08 PM

If I'm not mistaken an outdoor swimming pool was built after Stalin destroyed the original church that is photographed in the article.

Aren't there Old Believers present in Russia? If so, are they part of the ROC?

Posted by: Andrew Waller | May 16, 2006 9:10 PM

Andrew,

Correct, the swimming pool was built indeed. And no, the old believers aren't the part of the Orthodox Church. My friend has a great documentary about them, and you can watch a small part of it at www.avproductions.tv.

I'm back from a very long and very fast paced trip on the East Coast, so expect some good posts soon!

Yuri

Posted by: Yuri Mamchur | May 17, 2006 12:23 PM

There are not too many Old believers Yurik.

Mishka, this Johnson fellow is extreme. He does make some sense.

We can not do better than him?

Posted by: Zhana Klimova | May 17, 2006 4:07 PM

Folks:

Russia Blog Editor Charles Ganske said to me that he thought that I could've done more with this topic and I concur.

This particular essay was under 400 words, which is considerably less from my usual tally of over 600. I will be more detailed in the future.

The Old Believer numbers are small. When Peter the Great reformed the ROC - he wasn't exactly open minded about permitting the former observances to be respected. I'm glad to see that some attention has been focused on the Old Believers.

Let me add, that there're Russian Orthodox Christians who aren't affiliated with the Old Believers and the just merged ROC-Moscow and ROCOR. Matthew Johnson discusses them in this not so politically correct article of his: http://www.rusjournal.com/col4106.html

As for Dr. Johnson - I personally know a number of mainstream Orthodox Christians (Russian, Serb and Greek), who admire his intellect and knowledge, while not always agreeing with him. He definitely knows more about ROC matters when compared to the promoted panel of experts regularly appearing at the Russia Profile and Untimely Thoughts venues.

One of you here noted how we all have soft spots for a given designated extremist. African-American intellectual Cornell West doesn't get too much flack for sitting at panels and agreeing with Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan. In my native New York, long time radio talk show host Barry Farber frequently gave a platform for the late Rabbi Meir Kahane. One can find numerous instances of American mass media featuring Jerry Fallwell and Pat Robertson.

I can't help but take aim at those double standards going against some of my general sympathies. I believe that my cautionary introduction of Dr. Johnson appropriately underscores my sentiment on this matter.

Posted by: Michael Averko | May 17, 2006 10:39 PM

I received notice of this

http://www.wikiverse.org/russian-orthodox-church

Great job!

Posted by: Alexandra | May 27, 2006 5:43 PM

Alexandra & Co.

For future referencing, refer to this cached link:

http://cc.msnscache.com/cache.aspx?q=3289011680632&lang=en-US&mkt=en-US&FORM=CVRE9

As mentioned in my own distribution mailing, Wiki picked it up via a source other than myself.

I'm either doing something right or Wiki isn't.

I hope to have some new material out shortly.

Posted by: Michael Averko | June 3, 2006 6:20 AM