wfn.org | As Russians Prepare for Election, Putin Shows Interest in Religion

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

10-January-2000 
00021 
 
    As Russians Prepare to Elect New President, 
    Putin Shows Interest in Religion 
 
    by Andrei Zolotov 
    Ecumenical News International 
 
MOSCOW - Russia's acting president, Vladimir Putin, joined worshipers at 
the weekend for the first major service held in the huge Cathedral of 
Christ the Savior, whose reconstruction is nearing completion. 
 
    The cathedral was blown up by Stalin in 1931.  A public swimming pool 
was built on the site in the 1960s when plans from the Stalin era to 
replace the church with a giant skyscraper topped with Lenin's sculpture 
were dropped.  Its reconstruction over the past five years is seen by many 
as a symbol of religious revival in post-Communist Russia.  Standing 103 
meters tall, it dominates the skyline of central Moscow. 
 
    At the service, which began late on Jan. 7 to mark the Orthodox 
Christmas, Putin, a former colonel in the KGB, made the sign of the cross 
as he stood among a crowd of other leading politicians. 
 
    Since the collapse of Communism and of the Soviet Union in the early 
1990s, senior Russian officials often attend Orthodox services marking 
major religious festivals. 
 
    Prime Minister Putin, who became Russia's acting president after 
President Boris Yeltsin's sudden resignation on Dec. 31, and who is the 
leading candidate for the presidential elections set for March 26, is no 
exception.  At a ceremony in the Kremlin to mark the transfer of power on 
Dec. 31, Putin received the blessing of Patriarch Alexei II, the leader of 
the Russian Orthodox Church. 
 
    Putin is immensely popular in Russia because of the military campaign 
in the southern breakaway republic of Chechenya.  The campaign has been 
strongly criticized in the West for indiscriminate bombings causing much 
civilian suffering.  But in the past few days Russian troops appear to have 
encountered fierce resistance and a growing number of casualties in the 
Chechen capital of Grozny. 
 
    On Jan. 7, Orthodox Christmas day, the military announced a suspension 
of their assault on Grozny saying they would regroup their forces for a 
final attack.  Tens of thousands of civilians who remain in town are being 
used by Chechen militants as a human shield. 
 
    Emerging from the cathedral in the early hours of Jan. 8, Putin linked 
the suspension to the religious festivals. 
 
    "As for Grozny, remember what day it is now for Orthodox Christians and 
tomorrow for Muslims," Putin said in televised comments referring to 
Christmas and to the feast marking the end of Ramadan, the Muslim month of 
fasting.  "We will not forget that and we will respect the feelings of 
believers." 
 
    Despite the acting president's remarks, ground operations continued 
around Grozny, and Russian Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev said today that 
the lull in bombing of the capital Grozny for Orthodox Christmas was over. 
 
    Putin and his advisers appear to be taking the religious factor in 
Russian politics even more seriously than their predecessors.  In remarks 
to reporters on Jan. 6, Putin spoke of the religious meaning of Christmas 
in a way that no politician had previously been able to. 
 
    "Why has Christ come into the world?' the acting president asked.  "To 
liberate people from sicknesses, troubles, and from death.  In its essence, 
Christmas is a holiday of hope.  I want to congratulate everyone, first and 
foremost all Orthodox Christians, on the joyous holiday.  But not only 
Orthodox Christians - I want to congratulate all who look with love and 
pride at the revival of the traditions of the [ethnic] Russian people and 
the traditions of [other] peoples living in Russia." 
 
    In an attempt not to alienate some 20 million Russian Muslims, Putin 
also became the first senior politician to say publicly that Moscow was not 
fighting Islam in Chechenya, but only "bandits" and "terrorists", a message 
he reiterated to Muslims on Jan. 8.  The media coverage of the end of 
Ramadan was for the first time almost as extensive as the coverage of the 
Orthodox Christmas the previous day. 
 
    The Christmas service at the rebuilt Cathedral was conducted by the 
leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Alexei II, just hours 
after returning from Bethlehem, where he celebrated the 2000th anniversary 
of Christ's birth in an unprecedented solemn service together with 13 other 
heads of the world's Orthodox Churches, former president Boris Yeltsin and 
political leaders of Greece, Cyprus, Georgia, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, 
Ukraine and Belarus. 
 
    "On the holy site, where 2000 years ago the Saviour was born, we prayed 
for our Motherland, for the leaders of the country, so that the Lord would 
bless our Motherland with peace and accord in the coming 21st century," the 
patriarch told the congregation in Moscow, which included 18 bishops, 
dozens of priests and 4,000 other worshipers.  Many of the worshipers were 
construction workers and artists who had worked to rebuild the cathedral 
and paint its giant interior with murals.  More than 400 artists worked 
tirelessly for months, often without any pay, to finish most of their work 
by Christmas. 
 
    Officially, no public money has been spent to rebuild the cathedral. 
But the federal and Moscow city government led by the city's mayor, Yuri 
Luzhkov, devised a system, according to the Russian press, in which 
businesses were forced to donate money and materials for the construction. 
The process was also plagued by multiple controversies between architects 
and artists about the techniques used for the reconstruction.  While the 
cost of reconstruction was originally estimated to be about $150 million, 
officials have said that the final price tag has reached $500 million. 
 
    Patriarch Alexei conducted the preliminary consecration of the 
cathedral on Dec. 31, but there will be no regular services until August 
when the finishing touches have been made to the interior, and after a 
grand consecration service which is being planned as the culmination of the 
Russian Orthodox Church's millennium celebrations. 
 
    In a television interview broadcast on Orthodox Christmas Eve, 
Patriarch Alexei said that during the past decade he had "successfully" 
managed to build a radically new type of relationship between the church 
and the state, in which the church was independent of the state, but was 
respected and willing to cooperate with the government for the sake of the 
people. 
 
    "There has never been such a relationship in the 1000 years of our 
history," the patriarch said.  While some Orthodox activists have argued 
that the church should again become the state religion, Patriarch Alexei II 
reiterated his position that it would be wrong and "harmful" for the 
church.  "We know what it leads to," the patriarch said.  "The church 
inevitably turns into a government structure." 

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