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Election crusade: Russian Church allows clergy to run for political posts

Published time: October 05, 2012 08:24
Edited time: October 05, 2012 12:24
Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill (RIA Novosti/Grigoriy Vasilenko)

After months of standoff with activists defending secular values in the society, the Russian Orthodox Church is taking the offensive, officially allowing priests to take part in politics.

The Church’s supreme body, the Holy Synod, passed a decision that allows the clergy to take part in polls “in extraordinary occasions and out of very urgent necessity.” The Synod reserves the final decision on whether the priest is worthy of representing it in politics. The request for the election campaign should be submitted to the Synod and a written blessing from the patriarch would act as a license.

The Synod also ruled that clerics still could not take part in any political parties, but they could run on party lists (Russian law allows political parties to include non-members on their election lists and appoint them to elected posts).

The Russian Orthodox Church has steered clear of politics for decades – from Bolshevik repressions to Soviet-era oppressive atheism, the Church held its activities in a purely spiritual sphere.

This continued for some time after the breakup of the Soviet Union, but with rising influence in the society the Church began to make near-political statements and openly express support of politicians.

In February 2011 the Church first passed a decision that allowed clerics to run in elections, but this decision lacked explanations and could not be applied until now.

One former priest, Ivan Okhlobystin, announced an intention to run in the 2012 presidential elections, sparking controversy and drawing some attention to himself. However, the patriarch refused to bless the move and Okhlobystin did not join the presidential race, instead launching his own movement, merging patriotic rhetoric with terms and images from tabletop fantasy games.

Part of the Russian community opposes the growing influence of the religion in politics, but the Russian Orthodox Church denies such tendencies and says that the influence is purely spiritual.

The conflict became especially evident after the Pussy Riot group held what they called a “punk prayer” in Moscow’s main cathedral, protesting against the alleged ties between the Church and senior Russian authorities. Three of the five performers were detained, tried and sentenced to two years each for aggravated hooliganism, despite repeated appeals from Russian activists and foreign celebrities.

In September, Patriarch Kirill said in a televised address that the Church suffered from a prepared and concentrated attack from certain forces and once again repeated that the fusion of church and state power was a myth created by his opponents.

Comments (25)

guest (unregistered) 08.10.2012 17:39

"I'm simply unprejudiced and don't allow my emotions to control my mind. I'm operating with facts, not with emotions and imagination."
Tal king to you is like talking to a wall, or even worse because a wall is not a hypocrite. The day you start operating with facts is the same day you depart from a money hungry cult of snakes and liars.

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guest (unregistered) 08.10.2012 11:59

>I know.
You know how? Are you all-knowing? Or did you just hear that from ROC and take it at face value? Why of course, how can that not be true, because ROC members are angels sent by God that never lie, they just drive around in Mercedes and bless everyone with their presence. So since you know, might you explain why this villa... I mean "cultural centre" is built in a natural reserve?
>Reg arding different crimes - the priests aren't an angels, they're the people like you and me,
Like you, yes, because they are slippery snakes with an excuse for everything. Me - I do not evade taxes, I do not have an illegal busyness, or illegal brewery, nor do I sue people out of their apartments or claim high morality or humility while violating it every day.
>But why you're blaming the church on these crimes - was it the church who made them to commit the crimes?
Let's see now... yes! Because it was NEVER the church that reported these crimes but common citizens. In USA this would be what they call a "RIco case" where the entire organisation  is guilty by association and by wilful cover-up s that they do.
>What if there is some pedophile in you city, should we call you a pedophile and punish you too because you're from the same city?
If a city would require a membership, if I was to be a "member" and knowingly protect and shelter the pedophile from persecution yes I would be just as guilty.
>As far as I can see all your "proofs" are either senseless or have nothing to do with the church itself.
Are they not factual? But of course they are not! Nothing I will ever present will "make sense" to you, because you are a cult supporter and the trait of cult supporters is blind following without question.

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guest (unregistered) 08.10.2012 11:57

So, RT censorship is back I see. Will have to write this again then:
>Fact 1: It was not Patriarch - Lidiya Leonova sued "a man".
You mean his unofficial wife. He has a sister, but her name is not Lidya. http://www.s vobodanews.ru/conten t/article/24525100.h tml
>and has 3 apartments in that building only, not to mention others, so it's not like he had to pay last cent.
That makes patriarch's mistress suing him out of his apartment over "nano dust" OK then.
>he was sued to pay the damage he caused, and he payed it to Leonova.
His apartment was arrested/confiscated to cover the "damages". These "damages" themselves are ridiculous: supposedly "nano dust" damaged books, and that price (20 million RUR... whoa!) is to cover "restoration costs", while the market price is 50 mil. What a "fair deal"! There's another name for it: theft! Extortion! Swindle! Will be interesting to know later on if any "restoration" had actually taken place, or that apartment will be kept by this Lidya.
>I don't see anything wrong in that story...
That 's called lack of morals.
>I asked you to prove that he can't have the watches.
He sure can, having private property is everyone's right. Having an abundance of extremely valuable property and at the same time preaching humility is called hypocrisy. A very good indicator of this "holy" character.
>A nd it's just a wine, not Vodka etc. It's not cheap so you can't say they alcoholise the people, the alcoholic wouldn't buy it for such price, so it's just a way to support the church for those who wants.
The thing is if a private person or company starts producing alcoholic beverages without permit or without approval from the state (and sell it without tax) it will be a criminal case. Here however, it's fine because it's a church. RIght! There is something in the Russian constitution saying everyone is equal before the law, but Russia is not exactly known to be the bastion of good judicial practice. In fact, it's an un-democratic extremely capitalistic free-for-all, and what good is an honest religion if it does not keep up the pace with competing busynesses.

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