Russia
Religion in Russia has undergone a revitalization since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Russian Orthodox Church developed symbiotically with the emergent Russian state during the medieval and early modern periods, becoming a pillar of the Tsarist regime that governed the country until the early 20th century. The Russian Revolution of 1917 severed this close relationship. The ensuing Communist government of the Soviet Union aimed to reduce the power of churches and ultimately eliminate religion from society. This goal was pursued aggressively but inconsistently by Joseph Stalin (1924-53) and to a lesser extent by his successors. The end of Communism in 1991 brought about a gradual mending of the relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and the government. Today, the Russian Constitution maintains the separation of church and state and grants freedom of religion, but critics point to persistent discrimination against minority faiths, including Muslims, many of whom live in regions like Chechnya, where Russia waged two wars (1994-96, 1999-2009) against a separatist movement.
ESSAYS ON RUSSIA
Kievan Rus' and the Emergence of Modern Russia
Early Russia took shape between the ninth and twelfth centuries CE, as a loose network of principalities stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea became the backbone of an enormous Slavic state known as Kievan Rus'. Missionaries spread Christianity throughout the territory during the ninth century and translated the Bible to Old Church Slavonic, which became the liturgical language. The cultural influence of the Byzantine Empire led Prince Vladimir I (980-1015) to declare Kievan Rus' an Orthodox Christian state in 988. The Mongol invasions of the thirteenth century brought an end to Kievan Rus', but the Russian Orthodox Church and Old Slavonic Language remained central markers of Russian identity. During the fifteenth century, the declines of the Mongol Empire and Constantinople led to the consolidation of a new Russian state based around Moscow. Between the sixteenth and early eighteenth centuries, church and state developed in tandem, with the Patriarch and the Tsar both expanding their authority. In 1667, a schism saw religious dissidents, termed “Old Believers,” banished from the Church for rejecting the reforms of Patriarch Nikon (1652-1658). A significant portion of the population remained schismatics into the twentieth century. Emperor Peter the Great (1682-1725) brought the Russian Church under state control, replacing the Patriarch with a state-appointed Holy Governing Synod. State domination of the Church continued during the rest of the eighteenth century, as Empress Catherine the Great (1762-1796) confiscated monastery lands and took over the payment of clergymen’s salaries. Russian expansion during this period also placed significant religious minorities within the empire, particularly Jews in Eastern Europe and Muslims in the Caucasus and Central Asia.
The 19th Century, the Russian Revolution, and Soviet Rule
The defeat of the Napoleonic invasion of 1812 provided an enormous boost to Russia’s prestige, but the ninteenth century was generally marked by conflicts between Slavophiles and Westernizers. Church and state were expected to be in mutually reinforcing concord (“symfoniia”), and the ruling principles became “Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality.” A growing sense of pan-Slavic nationalism, which included an important religious component, encouraged an expansionist foreign policy and led to severe outbreaks of anti-Semitism and Jewish emigration. The First World War (1914-1918) brought enormous hardship to Russia’s peoples, and in 1917, popular discontent exploded into revolution. The new Bolshevik government of Vladimir Lenin (1917-1924) quickly declared the separation of church and state, an enormous blow to state-dependent Russian Orthodoxy. The church’s support for the anti-Communist Whites during the Russian Civil War (1917-1923) heightened Bolshevik animosity, inciting violent persecution and anti-religious propaganda campaigns. Persecution intensified under Joseph Stalin (1924-1953), when tens of thousands of clergy members were killed or sent to forced labor camps. In 1927, attempts by some church authorities to appease the Soviet government led to a schism, with the exile community forming the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR). The Second World War (1939-1945) devastated the country, with a particularly heavy burden falling on Russian Jews, two million of whom ultimately perished in the Holocaust. Yet the relationship between the Orthodox Church and the state improved during the conflict, as Soviet authorities used religion to mobilize the people against the German invasion. However, after Stalin’s death, severe restrictions were renewed on all the religions of the multiethnic Soviet Union.
Recent Developments
The reforms carried out by Mikhail Gorbachev during the late 1980s led to greater religious freedom. In particular, the public celebrations of the millennial anniversary of the conversion of Kievan Rus’ in 1988, including major ceremonies in various cities, marked an important turning point in the relationship between the regime and the Russian Orthodox Church. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, followed by the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, drastically transformed the political landscape. A resurgence of Russian Orthodoxy coincided with increasing religious diversity as other denominations arrived in the multicultural Russian Federation. Buddhism, Shamanism, and Islam also experienced revitalization. In Muslim-majority Chechnya, attempts at independence led to two major wars (1994-1996, 1999-2009) characterized by massive violations of human rights. Chechen separatists carried out several terrorist attacks in Russia during this period. In addition, foreign fighters claiming religious motivations came to play a prominent role in the conflict. Since Vladimir Putin became President in 2000, the Russian Orthodox Church has received increasing support from the government. In 2006, a schism dividing the church since 1927 was mended, as members of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) and the Russian Orthodox Church celebrated their reunification in Moscow in a ceremony attended by President Putin. At the same time, there are concerns that the Russian government is increasingly restricting other denominations, particularly the rapidly growing and well-funded Protestant and Pentecostal groups.
Contemporary Affairs
Recent events at the intersection of religion and politics in Russia reflect the state’s complex relationship with the Orthodox Church and other religious groups. Throughout the tenure of President Putin, the relationship between the government and the Orthodox Church has become stronger and more public. Many social commentators have criticized this close alignment, most prominently during the April 2012 “Pussy Riot,” an impromptu performance on the altar of Christ the Savior Cathedral that asked the Virgin Mary to “drive Putin away” and to end the politicization of the church. More passive opposition has also been expressed as journalists and everyday Russians question Patriarch Kirill’s extremely lavish lifestyle and his support for Vladimir Putin in the 2012 election. Responding to the negative attention, the Patriarch claims the Orthodox Church is facing persecution by inter-religious and secular forces that aim to disgrace the church and to undermine its role in the Russian social fabric. In sharp contrast to the favorable status the Orthodox Church enjoys, religious minorities struggle for autonomy. Although less severe in recent years, ongoing violence in the North Caucasus has strained relations between the government and Russia’s large Muslim minority, and fear of Islamic extremism led the Russian Supreme Court to ban Tablighi Jamaat, a large international religious organization, in 2009. Smaller religious communities also continued to experience difficulties, with some congregations facing charges of extremism and others being banned or closed. Many of these regulations have been challenged at the international level: in 2009, the European Court of Human Rights sided with two branches of Scientology in a case over their right to be listed as religious organizations, and in 2010, it held that the closing of the Jehovah’s Witnesses offices in Moscow violated their freedom of conscience and assembly. Also in 2010, the Russian government declared a new religious holiday celebrating the conversion of Russia to Orthodox Christianity in 988 CE. Combined with recurrent and prominent displays of public religiosity by Russian political leaders, it raised concerns about the neutrality of state in matters of religion.
Religious Freedom in Russia
Religious freedom and state religious neutrality is enshrined in the Russian Constitution, but in practice the Russian government has demonstrated a measure of favoritism to the Russian Orthodox Church while placing some restraints on the liberties of minority religious groups. The 1993 Constitution declares Russia a secular state, prohibits religious establishment, and declares all religions equal before the law. It guarantees freedom of worship and conscience, and explicitly acknowledges a personal right to convert and proselytize. The effective framework for religious regulation is provided by the 1997 Law on Freedom of Conscience and Associations. This law, while reaffirming Russia’s commitment to religious equality, extends special recognition to the Russian Orthodox Church in particular and, to a lesser extent, to a small number of other religious communities, including Catholics, Jews, and Muslims. At the national and local levels, the Russian Orthodox Church enjoys a privileged relationship with government officials. Smaller and more recent religious groups, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, often face discrimination by local and national authorities, including burdensome registration requirements, denial of building permits, and difficulties in obtaining visas. Muslims, despite being Russia’s second-largest religious community, also face substantial discrimination. The most challenging environment for religious freedom lies in the North Caucasus, a Muslim-majority region that has witnessed two secessionist wars and numerous terrorist attacks. Antiterrorist policies often target Muslim individuals and organizations, blurring the line between national security and religious persecution. The ensuing tensions have spread beyond the region, with Muslim groups nationwide subjected to a higher level of scrutiny than their counterparts from other religions, and several being closed due to allegations of radicalism. In addition, most instances of detention for religious practices involve Muslims.
Religion in the Russian Constitution
The 1993 Constitution of the Russian Federation was written in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union and articulates a commitment to religious freedom. Article 14 declares Russia to be secular state, bans the formal establishment of any religion, and declares all religions to have equal legal standing. Furthermore, Article 19 prohibits discrimination on the basis of religious belief, and Article 28 and secures freedom of conscience and worship, explicitly acknowledging a personal right to convert and proselytize. Additionally, Article 29 prohibits propaganda advocating religious superiority or social tension. This general prohibition on propaganda often leaves room for the government to subjectively determine restrictions against certain religious groups. Indeed, the government has come down on certain minority groups on these bases and Muslims specifically have been restricted under the auspices of national security.
Article 13: Political and Party System
1. In the Russian Federation ideological diversity shall be recognized.
2. No ideology may be established as state or obligatory one.
3. In the Russian Federation political diversity and multi-party system shall be recognized.
4. Public associations shall be equal before the law.
5. The creation and activities of public associations whose aims and actions are aimed at a forced change of the fundamental principles of the constitutional system and at violating the integrity of the Russian Federation, at undermining its security, at setting up armed units, and at instigating social, racial, national and religious strife shall be prohibited.
Article 14: Secular State
1. The Russian Federation is a secular state. No religion may be established as a state or obligatory one.
2. Religious associations shall be separated from the State and shall be equal before the law.
Article 19: Equality Before the Law
1. All people shall be equal before the law and court.
2. The State shall guarantee the equality of rights and freedoms of man and citizen, regardless of sex, race, nationality, language, origin, property and official status, place of residence, religion, convictions, membership of public associations, and also of other circumstances. All forms of limitations of human rights on social, racial, national, linguistic or religious grounds shall be banned.
3. Man and woman shall enjoy equal rights and freedoms and have equal possibilities to exercise them.
Article 28: Freedom of Religion
Everyone shall be guaranteed the freedom of conscience, the freedom of religion, including the right to profess individually or together with other any religion or to profess no religion at all, to freely choose, possess and disseminate religious and other views and act according to them.
Article 29: Freedom of Expression
1. Everyone shall be guaranteed the freedom of ideas and speech.
2. The propaganda or agitation instigating social, racial, national or religious hatred and strife shall not be allowed. The propaganda of social, racial, national, religious or linguistic supremacy shall be banned.
3. No one may be forced to express his views and convictions or to reject them.
4. Everyone shall have the right to freely look for, receive, transmit, produce and distribute information by any legal way. The list of data comprising state secrets shall be determined by a federal law.
5. The freedom of mass communication shall be guaranteed. Censorship shall be banned.
Article 59: Military Service
1. Defence of the Fatherland shall be a duty and obligation of citizens of the Russian Federation.
2. A citizen shall carry out military service according to the federal law.
3. A citizen of the Russian Federation shall have the right to replace military service by alternative civilian service in case his convictions or religious belief contradict military service and also in other cases envisaged by the federal law.
