Moscow Patriarch Cyril replaced the communist ideology in Russia with chauvinism with elements of the “Russian world.” Cyril has become a hostage of his own ideology and is now supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine to preserve his throne.
Theologian, Archimandrite Kirill (Goorun) addressed the issue in a comment for Obozrevatel.
“For him [Cyril] it was important that the church can play a consolidating role for society. He was already beginning to think about the ideas that could unite the Russians. In fact, Cyril came up with a project to replace the old communist ideology with a new one, which would contain elements of communist zombifying, Russian national chauvinism, and ecclesiology. He combined all three components into the ideology of the ‘Russian world,’” Govorun said.
The leader of the ROC was so fascinated by the formation and then promotion of this ideology among the Russian establishment that it turned him into a Russian chauvinist.
“And all this for the sake of consolidating Russian society, in which he was very successful,” the theologian is convinced. “Cyril was so successful that he managed to sell this ideology to the Kremlin. You remember Putin in his early days, when the Yeltsin family put him forward to protect their interests, when he had no other interests and no vision? He was a man without a vision. He wasn’t charismatic, he wasn’t bright, he had a very narrow worldview, and he remained this way for quite a while. Even the Russian state, Russian society did not have this vision that could glue the pieces of Russian society together. And so the church came and helped. “Metropolitan Cyril continued this work after he was elected patriarch. He created this glue to keep Russian society together.”
Govorun noted that the ideology of the “Russian world,” his obsession with it has changed Gundyaev as a person, as he first became the pioneer of the ideas of this “Russian world,” and then he became their hostage.
“For him, to condemn the war today is to condemn the child he nurtured and raised. This is the first thing. Secondly, because Putin is very vigilant about who voices any criticism publicly, and he always tests his entourage for loyalty. If Patriarch Cyril wants to stay in power, he can’t show disloyalty to Putin, and all calls and sermons in support of the war are, in fact, a demonstration of loyalty to preserve himself, his power, his position in the Russian establishment,” said theologian Kirill Govorun.
