M. Metzel / ITAR-TASS

The new anniversary of the baptism of Rus is being celebrated with unprecedented and significant scope. Representatives of all local Orthodox churches are arriving in Kyiv, where the celebrations begin today, with most of them being represented at the highest level. Today, the cross of St. Andrew the First-Called, a relic brought from Greece and remaining for several days in Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral, is arriving from Moscow to the Ukrainian capital. Vladimir Putin will join the hierarchs on Saturday, and the celebrations will end in Minsk on July 29-30.

The attention to Ukraine and Belarus from the ROC leadership is most noticeable, but his diplomatic mission is not limited to this. Before his election, Patriarch Kirill headed the Department of External Church Relations, the “foreign policy department” of the ROC, and, according to many commentators, remained largely a diplomat and always thought geopolitically. From the very beginning, Patriarch Kirill’s public speeches have featured the rhetoric of the “Russian world,” “Kyiv as the Russian Constantinople,” “the southern capital of Russian Orthodoxy,” and “the spiritual unity of three fraternal peoples.” But the current celebrations, judging by everything, will not become a triumph of unifying ideas.

The idea of an “Orthodox Vatican” has been in the air in Moscow for decades, but Moscow has not come a step closer to its implementation, and it seems that the ambitious plans have been postponed indefinitely. In 2009, Patriarch Kirill initiated the resumption of pan-Orthodox conferences on the preparation of the Ecumenical Council, but his rhetoric frightened the Middle Eastern churches. Unification projects do not find understanding in Ukraine either.

Representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church deny having geopolitical ambitions.

“Attempts to find the special geopolitical interests of the church are connected either with a misunderstanding of the nature of church service, or with the desire to use the Church in one’s own interests,” says Vladimir Legoida, Chairman of the Synodal Information Department.

But the interest of the ROC leadership in strengthening international ties is obvious. Patriarch Kirill's first foreign visit was to Istanbul, the capital of the first in honor Patriarchate of Constantinople. The most significant event of 2012 in the Patriarchate is called the historic visit to Poland, and of 2013 - to China. During his trips, the head of the ROC necessarily meets not only with spiritual, but also with secular leaders. His speeches constantly include themes of friendship, brotherhood of peoples, common culture, good-neighborly relations. Such cooperation is beneficial to both the church and the state. The state receives an authoritative force that solves foreign policy problems by its own means, and the church gains political weight, forcing the authorities to take it into account more.

The church's involvement in politics irritates many, but this position is quite traditional for Russia. In essence, the baptism of Rus', carried out by Prince Vladimir 1025 years ago, was a completely political move - a bet on the stronger and closer Constantinople instead of the weak and distant Rome. Orthodoxy in Russia initially played the role of a "spiritual bond". But it is worth remembering that the "Russian world" once failed - and the inability of the church to prove itself an independent force was not least due to its politicization. It is worth remembering that political regimes are transient. The church has other prospects and horizons.

From the editor: Russian Rome