Payday for Putin?

200 new churches and still "not enough" - Kirill is now going on an explosive offensive

Created: 09/01/2023 05:13

By: Florian Naumann

More gold for Russia's church?

Moscow's Patriarch Kirill at his Christmas liturgy.

© IMAGO/Sergei Bobylev

Church and Kremlin form an (un)holy alliance in Russia's war.

But that could be expensive for Vladimir Putin – the patriarch demands more.

Munich – "In his sermons and greetings, Kirill supports the government's policies without exception, even during the Ukraine war": Already at the end of November, the theologian Regina Elsner mentioned

the Moscow Patriarch as an important supporter of Vladimir Putin in an interview with

The next act followed in January: Kirill demanded a ceasefire in the Ukraine war – and got it.

The ceasefire could not least have been a propaganda measure with a religious tinge, experts speculated.

But are there no tangible conditions attached to the support?

A report from Sunday (January 8) could raise doubts.

Kirill has called for another church-building program in Moscow, wrote the Belarusian media project

.

And this despite the fact that Vladimir Putin personally advised Kirill to exercise moderation in 2019, according to a

report.

, the scale is astounding.

Putin and Kirill: Does the Kremlin have to pay now?

For years, the church has been “demanding more and more from the state”

According to Kirill, 200 churches are already under construction in the Russian capital.

According to the patriarch, that was “not enough”.

It is possible that the Orthodox Church is now demanding concessions from the Putin administration.

The country is facing major problems - the energy infrastructure, for example, according to many observers, is outdated and dilapidated.

Away from the big cities, potholes in the streets and poor living standards are also known problems.

It is indisputable that church building in Russia is booming.

In the Corona year 2020 alone, 18 churches were completed in Moscow and 10 to 12 other buildings were started, said Duma Vice President Vladimir Resin at the time, according to the

portal .

In 2010, Kirill announced a "200 Churches Program".

The goal: a church within walking distance for every citizen of Moscow.

For comparison: According to a survey by the KNA news agency, 49 new Catholic churches were built in Germany between 2000 and 2018.

Minister among the military: Kirill at a meeting of the Russian Military Advisory Staff in December.

© IMAGO/Mikhail Klimentyev

At the time, Resin emphasized that the program was exclusively funded by private donations.

However, no specific donors were named.

According to a 2016 report by the Russian exile medium

, the finances of the Russian Orthodox Church are a big secret – but the state contributes millions.

A 15 percent share of church revenue from across the country also goes to the Moscow Patriarchate.

The British

also claimed to have heard about a multi-million dollar donation from Putin for Kirill's residence.

It doesn't seem unthinkable that tensions will now arise in the (un)holy alliance between the patriarch and the head of the Kremlin.

Or even across the country.

"There is a strong feeling in Russia that Kirill has somehow lost measure," theologian Andrei Kuraev told the

portal in 2019 .

“The Russian Church demands more and more from the state;

more power, more privileges, more money and so on.” Human rights activist Yuri Tabak warned in the report that the population could lose patience if money flows into churches instead of roads or housing.

By 2016, 5,000 new churches had been built across Russia under Kirill's aegis, state agency Tass reported.

Ukraine war: Putin and Kirill make common cause - Patriarch gives martial speech

Kirill had again caused horror among Western observers over Christmas.

"We have no urge to go to war or to do anything that harms anyone," he said in his speech, according to the translation of ARD's "Tagesthemen": "But we were brought up in such a way, through our entire history, that we love our fatherland .

And we will be ready to defend it as only Russians are able to defend their country.” Kirill also called Russia and Ukraine “one nation” in an interview with the state channel Rossiya-1.

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New sanctions in Ukraine recently gave the Russian government new ammunition for accusations of literally biblical proportions.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov once again used terms like "Satanism".

In Ukraine, meanwhile, believers celebrated Christmas underground, some of them forced to do so.

Christmas in the metro station: Ukraine celebrated under wartime conditions.

© SERGEI CHUZAVKOV/AFP

Vladimir Putin, in turn, thanked the church in his New Year's speech: It supports "the fighters in the military special operation".

Kirill had already claimed in September that dying in the Ukraine war "washes away all sins".

The Kremlin boss celebrated Christmas alone this time.

Putin, too, has been using biblical rhetoric with increasing clarity for months.

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