Russian TV: After months of standoff with activists defending secular values in the society, the Russian Orthodox Church is taking the offensive, officially allowing priests to take part in politics.
The Church’s supreme body, the Holy Synod, passed a decision that allows the clergy to take part in polls “in extraordinary occasions and out of very urgent necessity.” The Synod reserves the final decision on whether the priest is worthy of representing it in politics. The request for the election campaign should be submitted to the Synod and a written blessing from the patriarch would act as a license.
The Synod also ruled that clerics still could not take part in any political parties, but they could run on party lists (Russian law allows political parties to include non-members on their election lists and appoint them to elected posts).
The Russian Orthodox Church has steered clear of politics for decades – from Bolshevik repressions to Soviet-era oppressive atheism, the Church held its activities in a purely spiritual sphere.
Categories: Behaviour, Church, Europe, Separation of Church and State