Russia Acquires Attributes of Monarchy

The president of Russia Vladimir Putin sent congratulations to the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Alex II on a Name Day. "Your long-term vicarial work is - an example of selfless service to the Russian orthodox church and fatherland. Your merit in revival of spiritual influence and social importance of Orthodox Church is recognized. You always treat responsibly educational activity, pay great attention to the revival of monasteries, restoration of temples, monuments of domestic history and culture”, - is stated in the congratulation.

Name Day of the patriarch is considered to be general churchly celebration: special services are being ministered in all temples, while for synodic institutions this day is proclaimed to be day off.

"I do not understand the least if we live in democratic secular state or in some "orthodox jamahiriya", - editor-in-chief of FORUM.msk Anatoly Baranov says. - I have no idea how the president of my country - supreme commander in chief and regular officer - celebrated a holiday of February, 23rd, one of the most sacred days in fatherland - day of its army. I don’t understand much what attitude the president of my country has to this holiday. But I learn that on this very day of Commander-in-Chief celebrates - what? NameDayofthepatriarch!”

- Actually Ozhegov’s dictionary defines "name day" as “a name-day of a member of imperial family, the high-ranking person", - Anatoly Baranov continues. - Authority gives me as the supporter of republican mode a message - it is time for a change, events trend towards monarchy. How should I treat such an authority? The fact of celebrating of someones name day by the chapter of republic should be considered by the Constitutional court as an attempt on constitutional regime. And noway differently!

"Let's return to church, - Anatoly Baranov continues. – There is in a basis of Christian church enormous democratic message from the Old testament where the requirement of Yahuds of a tsar was considered as one of the falls of selected people and up to a maxima of the New testament "render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s". Even monarchic Russiadidn’t celebrate name day of a patriarch - in view of refusal of the very post. And here, in the country which seems to be democratic, it appears, that the whole church celebrates name day of “monarchic personage”. We think that they pray to god in churches while they have - special services on the occasion of a name-day of the patriarch! It’s a terrible, medieval picture! And what will be the next act of the program? The same situation as when Ivan the Terrible - sovereign imprisoned the first patriarch Job so that he crowned him on an empire? First we get gradually used to monarchical honours in the address of archpriest and then we will render honours also to secular sovereign?"

So, the Fifth empire is in its full size, with power and a scepter. We need only to wait for if not own “platons and quick in mind nevtons” then katons. brutes and jurovskys…

From editorial staff: n connection with not quite proper response of a part of public which has seen in the comments of FORUM.msk to the shocking fact of revival of monarchic traditions in the Russian Federation, attacks on Orthodoxy, we inform.

The patriarch is not at all "the god’s pope on the earth", "the spiritual monarch" and so on. He is only the first bishop.

Bishop is - only the chapter of a community of Christians. Besides the first Christian communities were organized especially in democratic way and only about 2 centuries B.C. the management of communities gradually passed to bishops. In the early Christian communities distinct antiimperial, democratic and even anarchical sight on a political system of a society was traced. Such features of early Christianity, by the way, were kept in orthodox communities of Athos.

During a feudal epoch diocese acquired features of feudal landed properties and bishops became feudal lords. The largest of them, such as the Patriarch of Rome, got authority of sovereign monarchs. However with disappearance of an epoch of feudalism bishops-feudal lords gradually disappeared also.

Appearance of feudal, monarchic attributes in the modern Russiapeculiar to the Russian Orthodox Church evidently shows derivational, regressing character of the modern Russian capitalism aspiring to the most archaic, semi-feudal forms of its existence.  

That is astonishing is that monarchic, feudal "Renaissance" in the ROC is being welcome also by politicians, adhering in word progressive sights in the development of a society.

Anatoly Baranov

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