Vladimir Rozanskij

The date of the elections, 18 March 2018, is the anniversary of the referendum of Crimea’s annexation. The president wants to be seen as "father of the nation". His re-election is almost a forgone conclusion. He backs pro-life NGOs and claims a "personal" success in Syria. An exhibition opens centred on the Romanov tsars and the Vatican.

Putin announces end to fight against ISIS and orders withdrawal of a part of the troops. Western powers criticisms of Russian intervention. The unity of Orthodox, Protestant and Catholic Christians for the return of refugees to their homeland. Also the Russian Muslims mobilize for reconstruction and aid.

Over 10 thousand Russian sites offer miracle cures for a fee. Black magic, curses, removal of evil eye and other services related to spells and magical protections. One in five Russian citizens turn to fortune tellers or tarot card readers at least once in their lifetime. A draft law proposes sentences of one to three years for fraudsters. The condemnation of the Orthodox Church. Superstition and post-communism.

The Extraordinary Synod for the 100th anniversary of the restoration of the Moscow Patriarchate, called for a return to communion with the Kiev Patriarchate. Filaret's response, very positive, asks for forgiveness and offers forgiveness. For years there have been prevarications, expressions of hatred, seizures of churches. The invasion of Crimea has sharpened the division. The Ukrainian government rallies against.

200 Russian bishops; 100 from Ukraine; 20 from Belarus; bishops in service in 22 countries; dozens of retired bishops gather in Holy Savoir Cathedral. The 100th anniversary of the restoration of the Moscow Patriarchate was celebrated at the very beginning of the revolutionary storm (1917). New martyrs, religious life, divorced remarrying. The greeting of Vladimir Putin.

A decision by the parliament of Kiev. 30% of families celebrate Christmas as in the West. For the Orthodox Church under Moscow this is a move to marginalize the Church of the Russian "invaders". Fears the celebration will be swamped by consumerism. Gratitude among mixed Catholic and Orthodox families. The fruit of the "two lungs" of Christianity.

Orthodox representatives of Greece, Serbia, Georgia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, along with guests from non-orthodox countries such as the United States and Italy, participated in Patras (Greece), the site of apostolic martyrdom. Remembering the Christian martyrs of today and those who are dying spiritually, oppressed "by postmodernist morality". Banks "High Temples of Practical Secularism". The relics of Saint Seraphim of Sarov. A Memorandum of Commitments of the Faithful.

New law outlines the figure of the patriot: he loves his country; he leads a healthy lifestyle; no smoking or alcohol abuse; capable of forming a large family. The actors of such education: public authorities, third sector organizations, families, and traditional religious confessions. The law due to be launched by January 1, 2018, the beginning of the presidential election campaign (with Putin the clear favourite). The skepticism of sociologist Leontij Byzov.

A Prayer House closed down in Tula (central Russia) and owners of the building fined. Many recall the violence suffered by evangelical-Baptists during the atheistic dictatorship of the USSR. The Baptists suffer the same fate of Jehovah's Witnesses and Scientology. The Law on registration for Places of Worship.

The Russian Orthodox Church canonised more than two thousand martyrs of communism, noted Metropolitan Hilarion. "They were ordinary believers, monks and nuns, priests and bishops, almost all shot by Soviet police," he said. The beatification of Catholic martyrs is underway, starting with Konstanty Budkiewicz, who was shot Easter night in 1923. Lenin's burial still proves divisive.

The Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow is among the few voices that seek to deepen the historical causes of the October Revolution, 100 years after its inception. In general, the Russians prefer the soap-opera of historical re-enactments full of intrigues and love affairs of the Tsarist past. The Russian soul polluted by the Western Enlightenment.

The anniversary of the October Revolution has been replaced by the day marking the victory over the Poles in 1612. Patriarch Alexy gave it its present name. The symbol of the victory of 1612 is the icon of Our Lady of Kazan, which disappeared during the Bolshevik Revolution and found its way to the Vatican from where it was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church by will of John Paul II.