(Excerpts from various famous and trustworthy authors)
1. Archimandrite Constantine Zaitsev
Archimandrite Constantine Zaitsev of Jordanville on how "Communism will purposely shift to embracing religion":
"The Antichrist spirit is victoriously entrenching itself, and it is namely in this new 'climate' that 'orthodox' communism is growing old and in general all 'dark powers' are losing their individual significance. The antichrist structure is being erected openly -- and this is being done purposely under the customary tokens: it is a substitution, a falsification which is taking place at full speed and in all possible directions. To this spirit Communism is adjusting itself, purposely concealing its bestial repulsiveness..."
"... in its enticement, it enchants not only those who, taking the path of the evil ones, willingly succumb to this enchantment - but also those who are ready to run towards any tiny flame of apparent Orthodoxy which betokens to them. They do not take account of how deceitful evil can be, outflanking people 'from the right'... there is another chain of phenomena manifesting an initial evolution of Communism in the direction of 'religious rebirth' ... the Soviet intelligentsia [are] ready to religiously realize their social ideas... They (the leaders of the Kremlin) are wise enough to know that if they can win the minds of men through impressive scientific achievements, they may win the souls of men by a gradual transition from atheistic Communism to agnostic Communism. All such manifestations of religiousness are far removed from Christ; moreover, they are inimical to Him... it is a transitory stage of the growing apostasy which is already submerging 'historical' Communism into the bygone past. Let us note that the most advanced religious thought of the West is beginning to understand Communism in such a manner. It is already not content with a tactical acceptance of the principle of 'co-existence', but it is prepared to invest communism with a positive religious purpose..."
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2. Vladimir Voinovich’s 1986 satirical novel, Moscow 2042 prophecied modern KGB Russia:
In the novel, the USSR (now the single city of Moscow) successfully built communism. However, the state is run by the fictional "Communist Party of State Security"—an explicit mash-up of the KGB, the Communist Party, and the Russian Orthodox Church. The church essentially replaces the communist party as the arbiter of ideological orthodoxy.
Voinovich’s fictional chief ideologist, "Father Zvezdoniy," is widely seen by literary critics and historians as an uncanny anticipation of Patriarch Kirill. Furthermore, the novel features a "Genialissimus," reflecting the KGB-background and autocratic rule of modern Russian leaders who vigorously display their Orthodox faith while subverting its moral teachings to serve the state. This is a completely anti-Christian structure that has renounced faith in God. Its chief ideologist, Father Zvezdoniy, holds the rank of Major General of the Religious Service. He states directly:
"There is no God. There is absolutely no God, never was, and never will be. There is only the Genialissimo, who is up there (Zvezdoniy pointed his finger at the sky) and who doesn't sleep, who works, who watches over us and thinks about us. Glory to the Genialissimo, glory to the Genialissimo!"
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3. Antiwar Orthodox Christian Journalist Ksenia Luchenko today made a comment on her telegram channel ''orthozombies'' and quotes a passage from her book ''With good intentions'' (Blagimi Namerinyami)
Yesterday, Der Spigel published a column by Mikhail Zygar about the return of the Dzerzhinsky monument to Lubyanka.
It includes the following passage:
''The last chairman of the KGB, Vladimir Kryuchkov, for example, attempted to exploit the Russian Orthodox Church for his own ends. He sought to transform church hierarchs into a new pillar of support for the regime, so that they could assume the role previously played by regional Communist Party functionaries.
The future Patriarch Alexy responded with astonishing candor, declaring that this was completely impossible: the Church, he explained, enjoyed virtually no authority in Russia. The country was deeply atheistic—people no longer believed in anything—and the Church simply could not assume the functions of a "Ministry of Ideology."
Unfortunately, the column genre does not allow for citations, but it would be very interesting to know the source of this dialogue and the year in which it presumably took place.
If Patriarch Alexy himself recounted this dialogue retroactively, it's likely his version of events, intended to distance himself from the State Emergency Committee and emphasize that the Church never entered into any deal with reactionary forces.
However, the theory that in the late USSR, the KGB leadership entertained the idea of not so much replacing Communism with Orthodoxy, but rather creating a kind of patriotic hybrid out of them, exists and has some indirect evidence.
Firstly, the story of the sudden celebration of the 1,000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus', which was not the idea of the Russian Orthodox Church, is interesting. I have a piece about this in my book "Good Intentions" (quoted below).
Secondly, Mikhail Kunin, the biographer of Archpriest Alexander Men, cites the same version, citing his sources, when explaining the possible reason for his murder (quoted below).
And thirdly, somewhat later than expected, but they did it anyway – this version of "Orthodox Chekism" is precisely what we have been given in our own perceptions. And this is precisely what Metropolitan Nikodim Rotov, Patriarch Kirill's teacher and patron, was striving for.
Yesterday, after reading Zygar, I asked a church historian how realistic he thought Alexy's remark was.
And he replied that he had just recently read the statements of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church from October 1991 and January 1992. The first was dedicated to the collapse of the USSR, and the second to the creation of the CIS. And both already contain theses about the Russian Orthodox Church becoming the main bond between the two countries in the post-Soviet space.
Moreover, beginning in 1988, bishops and priests were eager to become deputies at various levels.
That is, it wasn't a question of ceding influence due to widespread atheism, but rather of expanding it expansively.
And the history of the Synod members' behavior during the 1991 coup is extremely telling: senior metropolitans hesitated and were ready to support the State Emergency Committee, including Kryuchkov himself—established relations with the KGB were generally preferable to the uncertainty brought by the new government. But Patriarch Alexy, albeit not without hesitation, finally grasped the direction of the situation and managed to back the right horse, not without the help of Deacon Andrei Kuraev, incidentally.
This is also described in detail in the book "With Good Intentions."
Excerpts from her book ''With good intentions''
There are various theories as to the reasons for this reversal. Valentin Falin, then head of the Novosti Press Agency, believed he was the one who came up with it. In June 1986, Gorbachev held a meeting with writers, media executives, and other experts to discuss how to convey the ideas of perestroika to the intelligentsia. Falin put forward two theses: Stalinism as a system should be condemned and the anniversary of the adoption of Christianity should be celebrated "as a national holiday, a significant stage in our history, the formation of Rus' as a state."³ Konstantin Kharchev, Chairman of the Council for Religious Affairs, in turn, said: "This idea arose in 1986, and I proposed it."⁴ Kharchev believed that to achieve foreign policy objectives, the Soviet leadership needed to demonstrate to the West the normalization of relations between the state and religion. Apparently, both UNESCO's decision and the personal position of Alexander Yakovlev, Secretary of the Central Committee and one of the main ideologists of perestroika, who was very sympathetic to Orthodoxy, played a role. After this, the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus' became a de facto national holiday—the first joint church-state celebrations in modern history. According to Kharchev, "We wanted to show everyone, both outside and inside our country, the reset in relations between the Soviet state and the Church. Taking advantage of this anniversary, we gave it a different meaning." In other words, the state seized the initiative from the Russian Orthodox Church, and the KGB and the Ministry of Culture significantly assisted in organizing the celebrations. "Although our employees did everything, we constantly had to create the impression that the Church itself was doing it," Kharchev recalled.⁵ Throughout the post-Soviet years, a myth persisted that in 1988, the Russian Orthodox Church gained freedom from the "godless state." In reality, what occurred was not liberation, but a shift in the vector of state policy, accompanied by changes in ideology. The entire celebration was designed by the state and subordinated to its interests. However, the Church did gain some independence: for example, it was allowed to adopt a new Statute, which repealed some of the 1961 provisions opposed by Eshliman and Yakunin. Bishops and parish priests were granted greater financial and economic autonomy, which played a role in the construction and restoration boom of the following decade.
Mikhail Kunin, the author of Men's biography, also has no doubt that the secret services orchestrated the murder: "The KGB's intentions, even during Andropov's tenure as its head, were to replace the crumbling communist ideology with a kind of 'state Orthodoxy'—an Orthodoxy without Christ, similar to that advocated by the Pamyat society." The transformation of “communist morality” into “controlled Orthodoxy” would have been advantageous for the authorities, but a spiritual leader like Alexander Men preached completely different values, and the KGB needed to eliminate him”²⁰.
Source: https://t.me/orthozombies/1666
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4. Antisoviet dissident priest Fr George Edelstein on the situation in Russia, he was born in 1932 (still alive), interview given in 2021 for Novaya Gazeta :
What is the main problem of the Russian Orthodox Church?
— Lack of conciliarity. We believe in the Trinity and in one catholic and apostolic church. But the Russian Orthodox Church is neither united nor conciliar. This church organization is structured according to the Bolshevik principle, which they called "democratic centralism." At the top is the General Secretary, with the Politburo under him. We have the Patriarch, with the Metropolitan Bureau under him, and around us is a silent army of priests and deacons. Not a single bishop is free. Those who spoke were dismissed or even defrocked.
How pressing is the issue of "Sergianism" for the modern Russian Orthodox Church? It seems no one is demanding that we follow Metropolitan Sergius's 1927 "declaration" of complete loyalty to the Soviet regime anymore?
" What do you mean, it doesn't demand it?! The 'declaration' says: 'We are with our people and with our government.' Patriarch Kirill repeats the same thing today. But the Church cannot be with either the people or the government. Neither the Soviet nor the post-Soviet patriarchs attempted to restore conciliarity."
The Russian Orthodox Church as it exists today is an institution created by Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin…
Do you know where our present-day church ends and the KGB begins? The only difference was that some wore hoods and some had shoulder boards.
Source: https://novayagazeta.ru/articles/2021/11/22/o-georgii-edelshtein-nashi-ierarkhi-vsegda-byli-i-ostaiutsia-lakeiami
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5. Archpriest Mikhail Ardov: The modern Russian Orthodox Church was created by Stalin in the image and likeness of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
One of the most consistent critics of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate , writer, biographer of Anna Akhmatova, and Archpriest Mikhail Ardov of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church, in an interview published yesterday in the newspaper Novye Izvestia , accuses the Russian Orthodox Church's hierarchy of close affiliation with secular power. However, he is not surprised by this position of the church leadership. The modern Russian Orthodox Church, Ardov asserts, was founded by Stalin in 1943 in the image and likeness of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and has not changed since then, RIA Novy Region reports .
One of Ardov's main theses is that the Russian Orthodox Church in its modern form was created artificially, in the image and likeness of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, which, in turn, was a "satanic parody of the Church."
Source:
https://www.newsru.com/religy/18aug2011/rpckpss.html
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6. Zoya Krakhmalnikova
Zoya Krakhmalnikova (1929–2008) was a writer and human rights activist. She published the underground Christian almanac "Hope" (for lay readers). She openly wrote about how the official church had compromised with the anti-Christian regime, betraying the ideals of the martyrs for the sake of legal existence. In 1982, she was arrested by the KGB and sent into exile. Here is what she said concerning the MP:
I would call this new ‘Church’ Para-Orthodox. In it the elements of ceremony are preserved, but it is void of the most important aspect of the Gospel: faithfulness to Christ.
Let us not forget that bishops represent an apostolic service, so can anyone imagine an Apostle being an agent of the KGB? The Holy Spirit cannot abide in those who become apostles through the recommendation of the KGB.
The New Martyrs of Russia rejected this institution that we today call the Church, and in effect this is why this institution rejected the martyrs.
Zoya Krakhmalnikova, testimony at press conference (February 19, 1992), Orthodox Life, Vol. 42, No. 3 (May-June 1992)
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7. Soviet dissident priest Fr Gleb Yakunin (+2014) said these words:
In 1943, Stalin and Beria formed the Moscow Patriarchate—the very same one we all know today—in place of the true Church, from representatives of the "temporary synod" of Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), recruited by the Chekists. Under the difficult conditions of war, Stalin began to play the "religious card," including against his military allies. To this end, he instructed L. Beria and the state security colonel G. Karpov to "revive" the Orthodox Church. Metropolitan Sergius was proclaimed Patriarch of All Rus' and began rapidly establishing the Moscow Patriarchate in the USSR and abroad. From the perspective of Orthodox canons, the blessed structures of Church governance could only be recreated according to the canonical rules in effect at the time, and only then, in accordance with these rules, could they be changed. But in violation of all canonical norms, in 1943-45... The godless regime created a completely new, totalitarian-style religious organization, alien to the Orthodox tradition, with new, previously non-existent church rules and a governance structure that replicated Stalin's Politburo ("Metropolitburo") and, in fact, fits the currently fashionable description of a "totalitarian sect," having nothing in common with either Russian or ecumenical canonical Orthodoxy. According to Orthodox canons, the creation and activities of this organization should be perceived by believers as "not having existed," that is, as invalid.
Source: https://rusbaptist-stunda-org.translate.goog/dop/jakunin.htm?_x_tr_sch=http&_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp
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For more info on the situation of Russia and the Moscow Patriarchate please visit these two articles where I summarized everything well:
On Russia: https://orthodoxyforall.blogspot.com/p/truth-about-russia.html
On the Moscow Patriarchate: https://orthodoxyforall.blogspot.com/p/the-history-and-canonical-status-of.html