Since the passing of the Soviet era, the Russian Orthodox Church has aligned itself closely with the Russian government and especially the nationalist strategies of Vladimir Putin. In the speeches of Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, \u201cOrthodox civilization\u201d\u009d is interchangeable with \u201cRussian civilization.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
Following a long Russian Orthodox tradition, Kirill likes to contrast Russia with secular Western nations. In Belgrade in November 2014, the patriarch argued that Western nations had \u201cabandoned their Christian identity.\u201d\u009d He identified both liberal democracy and secularism as enemies of Orthodoxy and envisioned a \u201cclash of civilization\u201d\u009d in which Russian Orthodox values stood against those of the secular West.<\/p>\n
Kirill\u2019s vision of Russian civilization transcends Russia\u2019s current boundaries, encompassing all Orthodox people \u201cliving in the countries of historical Rus\u2019\u201d\u201dnamely Belorussia, Russia, and Ukraine.\u201d\u009d The Orthodox Church had risen to the defense of Russia in the prerevolutionary past, he maintained, and it must do so again to defend the nation\u2019s values and unity.<\/p>\n