Revolution from below?

We are publishing a commentary by Ksenia Sergazina, Associate Professor at the Center for the Study of Religions at the Russian State Humanitarian University and an expert at the SOVA Center, dedicated to an open letter from the Orthodox clergy addressed to judges and police officers.

September letter from the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church in defense of the convicted participants protest actions related to the election of deputies of the Moscow City Duma, can be said to mark the beginning of a new stage in church history.

Sound and peace-making voice of the Russian Church society waited back in 2012 after the arrest of members of the group Pussy Riot and - especially after they were sentenced for hooliganism. AND a little earlier in the year opposition rallies on Bolotnaya Square. But the Church was silent. were distributed separate voices of priests and laity - Fr. Vyacheslav Vinnikov, deacon Andrey Kuraev, but no more. And the verdict in the case of Pussy Riot stayed in history as a symbol of the paradoxical unity of the Church and the state precisely in its repressive function. Many laity and some priests then left the Russian Orthodox Church, someone left a bitter aftertaste of silent disagreement with church policy, someone was proud and glad of the “strong” Church and the “strong” state, seeing in this a return almost to Byzantine times.

And now, seven years later, the unthinkable happened. The church spoke with a sound voice, from below. More than 150 people - priests, deacons and monks - signed an open letter in defense of the rights of the convicts. A letter addressed to both Russian judges and Russian police officers, with a Christian call for mercy, justice, love, responsibility. The clergy recall simple truths - that " litigation should not be repressive character" that "the courts cannot be used as a means of suppressing dissent" that "punishment should be proportionate to the violation of the law” and that “ intimidation cannot be built a society of free, loving people ."

The reminder of these simple truths caused an unexpected reaction: and in Church, and in society. Church administration represented by Vakhtang Kipshidze, Deputy Head of the Synodal Department for relationship of the Church with society and the media, hastened to recall that The Church does not engage in “political declarations” and that “ the fight against power has never been and never will be the mission of the Church”, and the Orthodox believers – the laity, on the contrary, in their blogs openly rejoice, considering this letter an important step towards society, including church society. Journalists and bloggers for the third day in a row comment on the letter, the clergy give interviews, never getting tired of answering the question, Isn't it scary to speak in opposition to the opinion of the church authorities.

The reaction of society to the letter of the clergy, in some I mean, more important than the letter itself. Everyone is so surprised, as if they were no longer waiting for clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church of sound-minded voices, expressed not in personal blogs and not in tete-a-tete conversations, but loudly, in public space. Many believers are well aware that in recent years the clergy have been forbidden to speak openly in Media that politics in the Church is authoritarian and there is no way to resist the church authorities in anything, in fact, do not. And what is still unknown there will be punishment for each specific priest who signed this letter. Probably, 150 people will not be sent for the state at once, but over time - why not. The clergy also understand this - and still are not afraid. Why?

It looks like we are on the verge of some very important moment in the life of the Church as an institution. The clergy, usually loyal to the church politics, on At this stage, it seems more important to stay with civil society, even at the risk of losing one's position in the ROC. Corporate interests it is no longer ready protect - in many ways, because the corporation is not ready to protect them themselves. How like they have nothing more to lose. And this is their great freedom. It is hardly possible talk about the beginning of a church revolution, but for sure - that it will no longer be possible on behalf of the Church to call for violence, as was the case in 2012.