Russian Orthodox Church Has No Ambition For Power: Patriarch

9/28/2012

(RTTNews) – The head of the Russian Orthodox Church says that the Church has no ambition to acquire State powers as alleged by its critics who accuse the Church of hobnobbing with the State.

The critics allege that the Church’s influence was evident in a draft bill that seeks to make hurting religious sentiments a criminal offense in Russia.

The Church is not interested in obtaining State powers or even a State status “as in certain European countries,” Patriarch Kirill said in an apparent reference to legal privileges of Lutheran Churches in Scandinavia.

But demands for separating the Church from State often mask the attempts to force the Church to give up its ministerial mission and the believers to abandon their civil rights and responsibilities, Kirill told a conference at the Moscow State University, which students alleged was forced to attend.

A bill proposing to punish offenses hurting religious sentiments with a three-year jail term is currently pending review in the State Duma (Parliament) where it is expected to be backed by all four parliamentary factions.

The bill’s critics say it discriminates against non-believers and is aimed at strengthening the union between the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church, which flourished after Kirill backed Vladimir Putin’s presidential bid earlier this year, Russian media reported.

Three activists of the Russian feminist punk-rock band ‘Pussy Riot’ staged a punk prayer in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow in February in protest against the Church supporting Vladimir Putin’s presidential bid. They were subsequently arrested and sentenced to two years in prison.

by RTT Staff Writer

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