After Pussy Riot, billionaire Prokhorov proposes a religious code. Church appreciation
Moscow (AsiaNews) - Church/State relations continue
to be a central theme in Russian media and public opinion, in the aftermath of
the Pussy Riot sentence. The
three girls from the feminist punk band staged an anti-Putin performance in cathedral
in Moscow in
February. For
this reason they are serving a sentence of two years, after a trial widely criticized
as having been dictated by the Kremlin in agreement with the Patriarchate. Now
billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, a former presidential candidate and leader of
the newborn "Civic Platform" party is wading in on the issue. In an
article published in the Kommersant newspaper
on September 12, he proposed a code governing relations between faiths, the
State and society, in order to defend the secular nature of society and at the
same time the ' importance
of the work of the Church.
In
his piece entitled "Platform for a secular state," Prokhorov, who so far had chosen a low profile on the
subject, explains that it is time to make decisions to avoid tensions in
relations between the church, state and society which are leading to
"splits that threaten
the very culture of Russia".
Crosses
desecrated and destroyed around the country, calls to excommunicate Patriarch
Kirill and initiatives such as the Orthodox patrols against the threat of
atheists, are just some of the consequences of a debate that neither religious
leaders nor politicians have been able to calm.
The
billionaire remembers that "States that clash with religions threaten
their own future," and in Russia,
he said, the relationship between state, society and the Church is "not
clear" even though constitutional guarantees already exist on paper. Prokhorov
denounces "politicians who flirt with religions for populist purposes",
but at the same time highlights the importance of the presence of the Church
which, "even in the darkest moments of history, has been an alternative to
injustice and tyranny and
has maintained and developed the ideals of love, compassion and forgiveness
often acting as a collective consciousness of the nation and helping to create
a more humane society. "
The
billionaire warns against the growing tendency of politicians to promote
religions, such as "dragging schools" into the debate, with the recent
introduction of courses on the foundations of orthodoxy. "In
Russia
there is a lack of secularism - he adds - but society can not only breathe with
the lungs of religion, defending the Church today, means first of all to
protecting the secular nature of our politics and the state."
To
this end, he proposes a public debate between experts, religious, political and
civil society leaders to create a "religious code" similar to the
Civil Code which should then be given legal force through approval by the
parliament.
Of
course, Prokhorov offers his young party, "Civic Platform" as an
instrument through which to conduct dialogue and some commentators have this as
an attempt to garner consensus.
In
any case, the head of the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate's Department for
Relations with Society, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, said he was sympathetic to
the idea and willing to open dialogue with Prokhorov, but warns that "we
can not accept
"the idea of a secular state like the one that denies the presence of
religion in every sphere of social life.
In
a recent survey conducted by the independent Levada centre, 80% of Russians claimed
to be "orthodox", while only 7% said they go to church every Sunday. According
to another polling institute, the VTsIOM, 50% of Russians felt the influence of
the Church in the domestic and foreign policy of Russia, while 16-17% is in favor of
it having an active role in society.
.png)
