The Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, under the leadership of Kirill Gundyaev, is increasingly transforming itself from a religious organization into a political entity and, at some point, into a military-political corporation. A characteristic illustration of this process was yesterday’s appointment of Sergei Privalov, a lieutenant colonel in the Strategic Rocket Forces (RVSN), as a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church (see photo).
Not only is it noteworthy that a lieutenant colonel in the RVSN has been appointed a bishop, but also the manipulation of the church’s traditions for political purposes. After all, a bishop is a position reserved for the so-called «black clergy,» or the clergy of monks, while Lieutenant-Colonel Privalov, until yesterday, belonged to the so-called «white clergy,» which includes the priesthood, which is allowed to marry. On the occasion of his new appointment, Privalov will now have to take monastic vows, but the fact that the second follows the first in this case, rather than the other way around, seems to be a clear adjustment of church traditions for political expediency.
What might that political expediency be? Until now, Lieutenant Colonel Privalov headed the Synodal Department for Relations with the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies. In other words, he was in charge of relations with the security services. Essentially, this is an administrative position, but as we can see, it was decided to give a special spiritual dimension and weight to this direction — the person responsible for relations with the security services must now be not just some church bureaucrat, but a whole bishop. To put it in perspective, the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church is also a bishop, and the Patriarchate is the highest episcopate, preceded by the Archbishop and the Metropolitan.
Is it surprising, then, that in the army of a legally secular state, which the Russian Federation is on paper, and according to its constitution religious organizations are separate from the state and equal to each other, the Main Cathedral of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is officially being built, which will, of course, be an Orthodox church?
Or that the choir of the Main Cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church in the second capital of Russia sings songs calling for a nuclear attack on the USA, in other words, Armageddon, right in its building?
Or is it logical that a lieutenant-colonel in the Strategic Rocket Forces, who oversees relations with the army and security services, is quickly made a bishop, essentially bypassing monastic obedience?
None of this seems to be a coincidence — the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate is becoming the driving force behind the militarization of the Russian state and society, and is aligning its church structures and personnel with this militarization.