Russian Orthodox Church

A sect of Christianity, it is the core church of the Eastern Orthodox Church. During the Kievan period when Orthodoxy was first introduced to Russia from Byzantium, the Russian Orthodox Church was under the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople, but the actual faith was practiced in monasteries, where a unique "spirit of humiliation (kenosis)" based on the Lord's Prayer (a heart that remembers Jesus who was humiliated on the cross) was cultivated. Even during the subsequent Tatar rule, monastic faith was preserved in the forests. During the 16th century, during the Moscow period, the Russian Orthodox Church became the center of Orthodoxy in place of the Byzantine Church, which came under Islamic control, and a patriarchal system was established, with Moscow being called the Third Rome. However, rather than being a holy place of faith, the church became a place of ritualism and authoritarianism, and superstition flourished among the people, while anti-authoritarian church schisms (raskol) and fanatical sects arose. In the 18th century, the official Orthodox Church was weakened by Peter the Great, and thereafter it became a mere formality. After the Russian Revolution, the church was persecuted for over ten years by the anti-religious Soviet government (peaking in 1930), and even after that, the church's religious activities were restricted, and missionary work, religious education, and charitable work were not permitted, and only personal prayer was permitted. However, in 1988, 70 years after the revolution, a national celebration was held to commemorate 1,000 years since the introduction of Orthodoxy to Russia. In October 1990, when Gorbachev, the first president, took office, a new law on religion was passed, and religious freedom was largely recognized. When Yeltsin, the first president of Russia, took office, he also gave a speech about the importance of religion. Thus, the Kremlin also believed that perestroika (reform) required a religion based on the faith of Jesus himself, which aimed for the benefit of all mankind beyond national and class interests, and Orthodoxy was restored in Russia. The revival of Orthodoxy in Russia can be said to be the factor behind such landmark events as the end of the Cold War, the demise of the former Soviet Union, the birth of a new Russia, and the disappearance of Communism in Russia.

[Sadao Taguchi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

キリスト教の一派で、東方正教会の中核をなす教会。ロシアにビザンティンから正教が入った当初のキエフ時代、ロシア正教会はコンスタンティノープル総主教の管下にあったが、実際の信仰は修道院で行われ、主の祈りに基づく独自な「卑下（ケノーシスkenosis）の精神」（十字架にかけられ辱められたイエスを偲(しの)ぶ心）が育成された。続くタタール人支配時代も修道信仰は森の中で保存された。16世紀、モスクワ時代、ロシア正教会は、ビザンティン教会がイスラムの支配下になったため、かわって正教の中心となり、総主教制が敷かれ、モスクワは第三のローマと号した。だが同教会は信仰の聖地であるよりも、祭祀(さいし)主義的、権威主義的場と化し、民衆の間に迷信が盛んとなり、一方、反権威的な教会分裂（ラスコール）や狂信的セクトが生じた。18世紀ピョートル大帝により官許正教会は弱められ、以後形骸(けいがい)化した。さらにロシア革命後は反宗教のソビエト政権により、十余年にわたって迫害され（1930年がピーク）、その後も、教会は宗教的行動を制限され、布教、宗教教育、慈善事業などは許されず、個人の祈りに限定されて認められていた。だが、革命後70年の1988年、ロシア正教伝来1000年を記念して国をあげて祝祭が行われた。ゴルバチョフ初代大統領が就任した90年の10月に新宗教法が成立し、信教の自由が大幅に認められるようになった。ロシア初代大統領エリツィンも就任に際し、宗教の重要性について演説した。こうしてクレムリンもペレストロイカ（改革）には国益や階級益を超えた全人類益を目ざすイエス自身の信仰に基づく宗教が必要であるとし、ロシアに正教が復興した。ロシアにおける正教の復興こそ、東西冷戦の終結、旧ソ連の終焉(しゅうえん)、新生ロシアの誕生、ロシアにおける共産主義の消滅など画期的出来事の要因であるといえよう。

［田口貞夫］

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