In Moscow, Old Believers begin to assert their heritage
There is a plan to accord greater recognition to Orthodox Christians who maintain the liturgical and ritual practices as they were before the 1652-1666 reforms
More than three centuries after the historic split in the Russian Orthodox Church, Old Believers want to defend their rights and heritage.
"We exist. Not only in museums and history books," says Mikhail Shakhov, a respected figure in the one of the two Old Believers' churches in Moscow.
"Of course, it's not said loud and clear. But it is reality," Shakhov said.
"From now on, we talk to each other and organize ourselves. As a result, the government listens to us and takes us seriously. The Kremlin, which was talking to Catholics, Muslims and Jews but not to Old Believers, put an end to this discriminatory situation.”
Renewal
The year 2020 will mark an important milestone with the 400th anniversary of the birth of Archpriest Avvakum. From his cathedral in Kazan, he led the opposition to the reforms of Patriarch Nikon who, from 1652, reformed the Russian liturgy, the starting point for the 1666 schism.
"Even today, we still consider that it is the Patriarchate and not us who left the real Church. It is he who continues to be deprived of divine grace," insists Shakhov.
But behind the dogmatic firmness, there is a plan for a dialogue to accord greater recognition for Old Believers. As a result, next year, Archpriest Avvakum, whose writings are considered masterpieces of Russian literature, will be openly celebrated in Russia.
The jubilee is supported by Russian President Vladimir Putin. He signed the decree for the commemorations, both in Moscow and in the regions. Officially, the authorities will celebrate the writer Avvakum.
"But the message is clear. The state shows respect for all Old Believers," says Shakhov. "Our goal is to operate as a union."
It is in this favourable context that the World Union of Old Believers has just been set up in Moscow.
"Our objective is to function as a trade union to legally and culturally help and protect Old Believers," explains its founder Leonid Sevastyanov, himself from a family of Old Believers in Rostov-on-Don.
This 40-year-old, after studying at the Moscow Theological Seminary and the Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome, went to the Department of International Relations at Georgetown University in Washington.
An admirer of the Western world and advocate of the technological revolution while at the same time displaying a certain conservatism, he worked for a long time within the Patriarchate in Moscow.
Sevastyanov defends his eclecticism to promote a form of modernity.
Towards new churches
"I believe in what my ancestors believed in. The Old Believers were guarded by God, otherwise they would not have survived the genocide. But, above all, the Old Believers created modern Russia," Sevastyanov said.
To set up his union, he relied on the discreet support of several Old Believers at the highest level. Even if no one close to the Kremlin has publicly declared himself, several personalities like Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin would be proud of their roots as Old Believers.
Not surprisingly, Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church was careful not to comment on the creation of the union or the launch of the Avvakum Jubilee.
All these initiatives weaken its very vertical hold on the Church, and even undermine its personal authority and privileged links with power.
"We are like an alternative movement," jokes Sevastyanov, ensuring that the Kremlin welcomes this religious pluralism.
"The patriarch is probably not very happy," said Shakhov also smiling.
More than three centuries after the split, Old Believers proudly display this renewed confidence.