The Russian Orthodox Church—as a social, organizational, and financial structure – is extremely fragile, and may collapse in the near future, argues this report by Fedor Krasheninnikov
November 11, 2020
The Russian Orthodox Church—as a social, organizational, and financial structure – is extremely fragile, and may collapse in the near future, argues this report by Fedor Krasheninnikov.
Mr. Krasheninnikov observes that after more than thirty years of unrestrained proselytizing lavishly supported by the State, the Russian Orthodox Church still lacks a broad following within the Russian society or even a coherent intellectual core that responds to the challenges of modernity. To the contrary, it has grown desperately beholden to the funding it receives from the government and the oligarchs.
Mr. Krasheninnikov examines the preconditions which led to the current state of affairs, the specific nature of the situation of the Orthodox Church today in Russia, the role that it plays in the life of Russian society, and its prospects in the foreseeable future.
He forecasts that the inevitable collapse of Putin’s regime may also become the downfall of the ROC in its current form, precipitating a schism between its fractions and creating new opportunities for Protestant and Catholic missionaries.
