Russian Community is Becoming the ‘Orthodox Popular Front,’ Lunkin Says

Paul Goble

    Staunton, Apr. 15 – Senior clerics of the Russian Orthodox Church have been close to an expressed support for the Russian Community ever since it was founded in 2020, but this week for the first time, the Holy Synod, the highest governing body of the ROC MP, formally took up the question as to whether the Church as a whole should support it.

    Archbishop Savva, the head of the Synod’s missionary department, made a formal presentation “On the Activity of the Russian Community Movement;” and the discussion which followed suggests that Patriarch Kirill and his church welcome the group in general although disagree with some of its actions (ng.ru/ng_religii/2025-04-15/9_593_patriarch.html).

    The ROC MP’s support for the Russian Community will further legitimize that movement and likely help it to increase its interrelationship with the powers that be. (For background, see windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2024/11/russian-community-organization-and-its.html,  windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2024/10/extremist-russian-community-now-active.html, windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2024/10/another-black-hundreds-group-revived-in.html and jamestown.org/program/russian-community-extremists-becoming-the-black-hundreds-of-today.)

    The most important commentary on what the Synod’s discussion of the Russian Community means both for the movement and the Church came from Roman Lunkin, a longtime specialist on religion in general and the ROC MP in particular who is the deputy director of the Moscow Institute of Europe.

    The scholar tells NG-Religii that “the Patriarchate usually tries not to show solidarity with any social movements.” But in this case it has made “an exception,” perhaps made, he suggests, because “in their ideology, the community members are an alternative to neo-paganism with its Slavic energy and corporatism.”

    Moreover, Lunkin continues, “it is important for Patriarch Kirill to show that his words enjoy public support” and that the head of the Moscow church views the Russian Community as “one of the stages in the development of a conservative social movement around the church,” both a sounding board and a popular branch.

    And as a result, “if you look at the goals of the Russian Community, it is in essence an Orthodox people’s front that both protects and resolves everyday problems.” How far this alliance will go remains to be seen, but to the extent that it is now clearly taking shape, it creates a new political force that may present problems both for the Kremlin and for the ROC MP too.