Recently we wrote about the crisis processes not only in the managerial or economic aspects, but also in the ideological components of the current regime, caused in particular by the conflict between the militant circles of the Russian Orthodox Church on the one hand, and public opinion and regional authorities on the other (https://golosislama.com/news.php?id=38426). The scandal that broke out at the end of last week and its development belong to the same series.
It became known that in the so-called Main Cathedral of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, whose opening is planned for May 9, 2020, there are shelves with not only Soviet red stars, but also with Stalin, as well as key figures of the current regime, starting with Vladimir Putin. The indignant and derogatory reaction of Russians to these compositions caused both church and secular authorities to first explain and then change their plans.
For example, the abbot of the church, Bishop Stefan of Klin, stated the following: «Such a tradition exists when historical scenes from a certain historical period are depicted. It is clear that one of such significant events is the annexation of Crimea. The first people of the state who took part in this annexation will be depicted there. As for Stalin, he was most likely copied from a historical photograph. This church will be built in honor of Victory, and it is impossible not to depict the Victory Parade. There will also be a series of mosaics depicting partisans, participants in the Great Patriotic War, participants in the Battle of 1812, and the faces of those who passed through a number of wars related to the history of our country.»
The chairman of the Art Council for the construction of the Cathedral, Father Leonid Kalinin, commented as follows: «… this relatively small composition is located inside the cathedral in the overall enormous volume. And it reflects a historical event, and it was made without the consent of these people, namely on the basis of historical data, by the decision of the Art Council».
In other words, as it can be seen, representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church agreed to immortalize not only Vladimir Putin (which is understandable, considering his merits to them), but also Joseph Stalin, under whom hundreds of their churches were blown up, thousands of their priests were shot or exiled to camps, and militant atheism was imposed on the country.
However, in the face of public outrage, the secular authorities decided to show their propriety. Thus, Dmitry Peskov stated that Vladimir Putin was not aware of the plans to immortalize him in the cathedral and considered it «premature». The representative of the Art Council also claims that the decision to immortalize the people on the shelves was not agreed. But it is hard to believe this, considering that the progress of construction and decoration of the cathedral is personally and continuously monitored by the Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu, who is also depicted there.
However, today the Orthodox dissident Andrei Kurayev, citing his sources in the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church, wrote that the portrait of Stalin will most likely be removed from the cathedral. Whether the panel with Putin and his subordinates will be removed or left «contrary» to the opinion of the «national leader» is still unclear.
We would like to remind you that we are talking about the construction of an expensive facility called the Main Cathedral of the Armed Forces — a state which, according to its constitution, is secular, in which all religions (should be) separate from it and equal among themselves, and which, no less importantly, according to the same constitution, cannot have a state ideology. However, we see that this ideology, which unites Putinism and Stalinism, not only exists, but also tries to immortalize it through the church of a specific religious structure — the Russian Orthodox Church, which is declared to be the church of all the armed forces of this country.
As can be seen from the reaction, this is becoming less and less convincing for both secular Russians and Orthodox believers. The latter rightly protest that this pagan shrine has nothing to do with Christianity and is rather a mockery of it. As for Muslims, Buddhists, Protestants, Catholics, and other «non-Orthodox» in Russia, they will once again conclude that the armed forces whose church is the Orthodox Church are not their armed forces.