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“A rough translation of an article by Sean Griffin, original one being itself a translation into Finnish.
Putin's temple of war
Russia has began to use Christianity more and more in its state propaganda. Scholar of Russian and Ukrainian church history, Sean Griffin, writes in this article how Orthodox Church is utilized to serve the values and goals of the country's leaders.
When the first Covid infections spread to Moscow in February 2020, photos appeared on the internet that almost caused a scandal in Kremlin. The controversial photos had nothing to do with mortality, social distancing or quaranteen. Instead those photos were about building of new orthodox church, known as ”Patriarchal Cathedral of Christ's Resurrection” or ”Cathedral of the Armed Forces of Russian Federation”.
This military sanctuary had been built on the outskirts of Moscow and it was dedicated to the victory of Soviet military against Nazi-Germany in the Second World War. Originally, patriarch of Moscow, Kirill, was supposed to consecrate the cathedral with the attendance of Vladimir Putin and Sergei Shoigu on May 9th. Ceremony was supposed to be one of the peak moments of huge celebrations of 75th Victory day. Pandemic prevented these celebrations. Little bit before the church was completed, photos of the mosaics of the church appeared. One of the large mosaics depicted Putin and his closest advisors celebrating the annexation of Crimea in 2014. They were depicted leading a triumph with heavily armed ”green men”, carrying banners saying ”Crimea is ours” and ”Forever with Russia”. These slogans were not only a reference to Crimeas annexation back to the former imperial hegemon. They also referred to Virgin Mary's special relationship with the Russian nation. On the top of the mosaic, floating above the scene, Mary covered the parade with her protective veil and thus told to the viewers, that annexation of Crimea was divinely appointed event, and that it took place by supernatural powers.
In 1990 the Soviet Union was the greatest atheist country in the world. Three decades later Putin and his army are depicted as holy warriors on the wall of a church. One of the wall is dedicated to the memory of the atheistic regime, even though the same regime, lead by Josif Stalin, murdered more Christians than all the Roman emperor together. That is the reason why mosaic with Putin was only SECOND in controversy. Another mosaic Mother of God looks down from heaven and her eyes are directed only towards Stalin.
MARY, WARRIOR GODDESS
These images of Putin and Stalin were shocking. But they were not the only controversial images in the new cathedral. Further details revealed that iconography transmitted a dichotomic message, dedicated to the military force of Russia and Soviet Union. Main tower is 75 meters high to the honor of 75th Victory Day. The golden domes are 14 meters and 18 cm high because the war lasted 1418 days. And central dome is 19,45 meters in diameter because the war ended in 1945.
The mosaics depict Russian military history in a cartoonish, pop-art way. They begin from medieval Rus and Russian empire and go through Soviet era and to Putin's Russia... waging holy wars against its enemies. And victories in those wars were won because Russian enjoy special protection from God and especially from Mary.
In addition to these militaristic scenes, the painted glass has many symbols from Soviet era. Military medals with five pointed red star and Soviet hammer and sickle, for example. And as if to gather it all together, a giant mosaic of Mary, inspired by famous Soviet propaganda poster Rodina-matin zovetiin (Motherland calls) looks down imperiously. This Sacred Soviet Mother of God is the last image that one sees when leaving the cathedral.
As these images tell, the cathedral wants to give a strong statement of national historical continuity. On its militaristic walls orthodoxy is combined with atheistic communism – cross is combined with hammer and the sickle – in order to tell a story about Russia's thousand years old history as God's holy people (and holy army).
”HORRIBLE BLASPHEMY”
All are not ready to accept this sanctifying reinterpration of the Soviet past. In the independent Russian media, criticism of the cathedral rose up. Some of the most direct critics were priests of Russian Orthodox Church, and the strongest statements among in the Church came from the lower levels of hierarchy.
”Stalin's orders destroyed the Church. He murdered so many people” Fr. Alexander Stepanov told to journalists at the beginning of May. ”He was a like a cannibal... depicting this man in cathedral is simply too much... and the fact that the hierarchy allows images like these shows that in the Church Christianity is at the second place, behind harsh and hard power and cruelty.”
Similarly Fr. Jevgeni Goriatsev criticized the new cathedral as ”blasphemy against the very essence of Christianity” and called it ”neopagan symbol of the sacralized state, army and leadership”. ”How is it possible that images of Stalin end up in a church?” he asked on a televized interview. ”For the millions of peole who died in the gulags... for all these people the flags of the Red Army, hammers and sickles, images of Stalin, all these things are horrible blasphemy.”
Some even went so far as to suggest that sacraments offered in the cathedral were perhaps not valid. Fr. Georgij Mitrofanov, professor of the Theological Academy of St. Petersburg, said ”what we have in front of us is a purposeful mongrel, and now in this chimera we see mosaics of Soviet symbols... is it truly possible to celebrate Eucharist in such a church? I cannot and do not want to believe this. Even if this cathedral were consecrated, I cannot accept it as God's church.”
MOSAICS DISAPPEAR
Patriarch Kirill consecrated the church in 14.6.2020. Liturgy is celebrated there daily under the images of Soviet tanks, red stars and hammer and sickle. But the backlash against the mosaics was not left unnoticed. When Kirill entered into the cathedral to consecrate it, two faces had been taken away – Putin's and Stalin's.
Controversial images had been taken away few weeks earlier, on the last days of the construction of the church. In place of Putin and his advisors there were now a group of priests carrying an icon of Theotokos. And in place of Stalin there was a known Soviet propaganda poster that said ”Let us raise a flag of victory above Berlin”.
Kremlin's press secretary Dmitri Peskov implied that the president of Russia had personally involved himself in the matter. ”Putin was told about the mosaic” Peskov told ”and when he heard about it, he smiled and said: 'some day our descendants will appreciate our achievements, but for now its too early.'”
THEOLOGY OF VICTORY
When Kirill became the patriarch in 2009, he saw a deep spiritual meaning in the events of the Second World War.
”Some people ask: why so many people died” Kirill said in his sermon. ”Evidence is clear, it was a punishment of sin, of horrible national apostasy... but the Lord washed it all away with our blood, with blood of our fathers. We have to realize the atoning nature of the Great Patriotic War.”
Kirill connects the sacrifice of Christ on the cross with the Soviet deaths in the Second World War. Kirill also claims that 27 million soviet people were killed as a part of a bigger plan; they were sacrificed ”on the altar of victory”. Naturally, Kirill sees Victory Day as Pascha. Kirill tells us that war ended on the same day as Pascha was celebrated on that same year.
SACRED STATE
Patriarch's theology of victory serves the politics of memory of Kremlin. Speech after speech, spectacle after spectacle, Kirill blesses and sanctifies Putin's cult of victory. May 9th has turned into a holiday of civic religion in Russia, and the main temple of this civic religion is the cathedral dedicated to the Armed Forces.
This was also stated by many critics after the opening of the cathedral. ”At the moment this camouflage colored church must not be treated as something Christian or Orthodox” reporter Ksenia Luchenko wrote in May 2020. ”Its a monumental aesthetic incarnation of another religion: civic religion of victory.”
Former deacon Andrei Kurajev expressed similar thought. ”I am afraid that this church is not a place of Orthodox worship”, he said in televized interview. ”Its a cultic place of a new religion, Russian civic religion. It's altar is not dedicated to Christ and his victory, but rather to something else entirely.”
I think that the church is dedicated to the concept of a sacred and eternal Russian state. Its iconography is a nationalist fantasy about God: God who ensures the safety of Russian state. Thisi s the story that the mosaics tell us: that it does not depend what path Russia takes, it does not matter what regime is in power, it does not matter whether its leaders build churches of Gulags – God is on their side and Rodina-mat', Warrior Goddess, will not abandon them.”
Putinin sodan temppeli - Areiopagi
Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces - Wikipedia
thoughts?
Putin's temple of war
Russia has began to use Christianity more and more in its state propaganda. Scholar of Russian and Ukrainian church history, Sean Griffin, writes in this article how Orthodox Church is utilized to serve the values and goals of the country's leaders.
When the first Covid infections spread to Moscow in February 2020, photos appeared on the internet that almost caused a scandal in Kremlin. The controversial photos had nothing to do with mortality, social distancing or quaranteen. Instead those photos were about building of new orthodox church, known as ”Patriarchal Cathedral of Christ's Resurrection” or ”Cathedral of the Armed Forces of Russian Federation”.
This military sanctuary had been built on the outskirts of Moscow and it was dedicated to the victory of Soviet military against Nazi-Germany in the Second World War. Originally, patriarch of Moscow, Kirill, was supposed to consecrate the cathedral with the attendance of Vladimir Putin and Sergei Shoigu on May 9th. Ceremony was supposed to be one of the peak moments of huge celebrations of 75th Victory day. Pandemic prevented these celebrations. Little bit before the church was completed, photos of the mosaics of the church appeared. One of the large mosaics depicted Putin and his closest advisors celebrating the annexation of Crimea in 2014. They were depicted leading a triumph with heavily armed ”green men”, carrying banners saying ”Crimea is ours” and ”Forever with Russia”. These slogans were not only a reference to Crimeas annexation back to the former imperial hegemon. They also referred to Virgin Mary's special relationship with the Russian nation. On the top of the mosaic, floating above the scene, Mary covered the parade with her protective veil and thus told to the viewers, that annexation of Crimea was divinely appointed event, and that it took place by supernatural powers.
In 1990 the Soviet Union was the greatest atheist country in the world. Three decades later Putin and his army are depicted as holy warriors on the wall of a church. One of the wall is dedicated to the memory of the atheistic regime, even though the same regime, lead by Josif Stalin, murdered more Christians than all the Roman emperor together. That is the reason why mosaic with Putin was only SECOND in controversy. Another mosaic Mother of God looks down from heaven and her eyes are directed only towards Stalin.
MARY, WARRIOR GODDESS
These images of Putin and Stalin were shocking. But they were not the only controversial images in the new cathedral. Further details revealed that iconography transmitted a dichotomic message, dedicated to the military force of Russia and Soviet Union. Main tower is 75 meters high to the honor of 75th Victory Day. The golden domes are 14 meters and 18 cm high because the war lasted 1418 days. And central dome is 19,45 meters in diameter because the war ended in 1945.
The mosaics depict Russian military history in a cartoonish, pop-art way. They begin from medieval Rus and Russian empire and go through Soviet era and to Putin's Russia... waging holy wars against its enemies. And victories in those wars were won because Russian enjoy special protection from God and especially from Mary.
In addition to these militaristic scenes, the painted glass has many symbols from Soviet era. Military medals with five pointed red star and Soviet hammer and sickle, for example. And as if to gather it all together, a giant mosaic of Mary, inspired by famous Soviet propaganda poster Rodina-matin zovetiin (Motherland calls) looks down imperiously. This Sacred Soviet Mother of God is the last image that one sees when leaving the cathedral.
As these images tell, the cathedral wants to give a strong statement of national historical continuity. On its militaristic walls orthodoxy is combined with atheistic communism – cross is combined with hammer and the sickle – in order to tell a story about Russia's thousand years old history as God's holy people (and holy army).
”HORRIBLE BLASPHEMY”
All are not ready to accept this sanctifying reinterpration of the Soviet past. In the independent Russian media, criticism of the cathedral rose up. Some of the most direct critics were priests of Russian Orthodox Church, and the strongest statements among in the Church came from the lower levels of hierarchy.
”Stalin's orders destroyed the Church. He murdered so many people” Fr. Alexander Stepanov told to journalists at the beginning of May. ”He was a like a cannibal... depicting this man in cathedral is simply too much... and the fact that the hierarchy allows images like these shows that in the Church Christianity is at the second place, behind harsh and hard power and cruelty.”
Similarly Fr. Jevgeni Goriatsev criticized the new cathedral as ”blasphemy against the very essence of Christianity” and called it ”neopagan symbol of the sacralized state, army and leadership”. ”How is it possible that images of Stalin end up in a church?” he asked on a televized interview. ”For the millions of peole who died in the gulags... for all these people the flags of the Red Army, hammers and sickles, images of Stalin, all these things are horrible blasphemy.”
Some even went so far as to suggest that sacraments offered in the cathedral were perhaps not valid. Fr. Georgij Mitrofanov, professor of the Theological Academy of St. Petersburg, said ”what we have in front of us is a purposeful mongrel, and now in this chimera we see mosaics of Soviet symbols... is it truly possible to celebrate Eucharist in such a church? I cannot and do not want to believe this. Even if this cathedral were consecrated, I cannot accept it as God's church.”
MOSAICS DISAPPEAR
Patriarch Kirill consecrated the church in 14.6.2020. Liturgy is celebrated there daily under the images of Soviet tanks, red stars and hammer and sickle. But the backlash against the mosaics was not left unnoticed. When Kirill entered into the cathedral to consecrate it, two faces had been taken away – Putin's and Stalin's.
Controversial images had been taken away few weeks earlier, on the last days of the construction of the church. In place of Putin and his advisors there were now a group of priests carrying an icon of Theotokos. And in place of Stalin there was a known Soviet propaganda poster that said ”Let us raise a flag of victory above Berlin”.
Kremlin's press secretary Dmitri Peskov implied that the president of Russia had personally involved himself in the matter. ”Putin was told about the mosaic” Peskov told ”and when he heard about it, he smiled and said: 'some day our descendants will appreciate our achievements, but for now its too early.'”
THEOLOGY OF VICTORY
When Kirill became the patriarch in 2009, he saw a deep spiritual meaning in the events of the Second World War.
”Some people ask: why so many people died” Kirill said in his sermon. ”Evidence is clear, it was a punishment of sin, of horrible national apostasy... but the Lord washed it all away with our blood, with blood of our fathers. We have to realize the atoning nature of the Great Patriotic War.”
Kirill connects the sacrifice of Christ on the cross with the Soviet deaths in the Second World War. Kirill also claims that 27 million soviet people were killed as a part of a bigger plan; they were sacrificed ”on the altar of victory”. Naturally, Kirill sees Victory Day as Pascha. Kirill tells us that war ended on the same day as Pascha was celebrated on that same year.
SACRED STATE
Patriarch's theology of victory serves the politics of memory of Kremlin. Speech after speech, spectacle after spectacle, Kirill blesses and sanctifies Putin's cult of victory. May 9th has turned into a holiday of civic religion in Russia, and the main temple of this civic religion is the cathedral dedicated to the Armed Forces.
This was also stated by many critics after the opening of the cathedral. ”At the moment this camouflage colored church must not be treated as something Christian or Orthodox” reporter Ksenia Luchenko wrote in May 2020. ”Its a monumental aesthetic incarnation of another religion: civic religion of victory.”
Former deacon Andrei Kurajev expressed similar thought. ”I am afraid that this church is not a place of Orthodox worship”, he said in televized interview. ”Its a cultic place of a new religion, Russian civic religion. It's altar is not dedicated to Christ and his victory, but rather to something else entirely.”
I think that the church is dedicated to the concept of a sacred and eternal Russian state. Its iconography is a nationalist fantasy about God: God who ensures the safety of Russian state. Thisi s the story that the mosaics tell us: that it does not depend what path Russia takes, it does not matter what regime is in power, it does not matter whether its leaders build churches of Gulags – God is on their side and Rodina-mat', Warrior Goddess, will not abandon them.”
Putinin sodan temppeli - Areiopagi
Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces - Wikipedia
thoughts?
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