Putin's Personal Beliefs: Exploring His Faith And Religion

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been keen to present himself as a man of serious personal faith. Putin has allowed the Orthodox Church to return to prominence and supported it in a way unheard of since the Revolution. In return, the Church has provided some of the intellectual and cultural backing for Putin's statist vision for Russia and the wider Russian sphere of influence.

Putin has worn a small aluminium cross around his neck, which he says was given to him by his Christian mother when he was secretly baptised in the early 1950s. He has also spoken about his faith in meetings with former US President George Bush, who was famous for his own evangelical faith. Putin's mother and ex-wife were both religious, and it is claimed that Putin prays daily in a small chapel next to the presidential office.

Putin's relationship with the Church is perhaps best exemplified by his close relationship with Archimandrite Tikhon, the Father Superior of Sretensky Monastery. Tikhon is a former film student with a reputation as a spiritual healer, and has been described as Putin's éminence grise. Tikhon has publicly criticised democracy as a force that weakens a country and its spiritual basis, and worked as a well-known public media figure.

Putin's mother was a committed Christian

Putin's mother, Maria Ivanovna Putina, was a committed Christian who kept her faith even under communist rule. Putin was secretly baptised by his mother in the early 1950s and was given a baptismal cross, which he has worn since 1993.

Putin's mother was born in 1911 and worked as a factory worker. Putin's father, Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin, was a conscript in the Soviet Navy and served in the submarine fleet in the early 1930s. Putin was born in 1952 in Leningrad, Soviet Union (now Saint Petersburg, Russia). He is the youngest of three children. Putin's grandfather, Spiridon Putin, was a personal cook to Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin.

Putin has spoken about his mother's influence on his faith. In an interview with Tucker Carlson, he said, "In 1993, when I worked on the Leningrad City Council, I went to Israel as part of an official delegation. Mama gave me my baptismal cross to get it blessed at the Lord's Tomb. I did as she said and then put the cross around my neck. I have never taken it off since."

Putin has encouraged the Church over other religious bodies and has cultivated a relationship with the Orthodox Church. He has also supported the rebuilding of numerous churches, including the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow.

Putin was secretly baptised as a baby

Vladimir Putin has stated that he was secretly baptised as a baby, without the knowledge of his Communist Party member father. In a 2000 interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, he said:

> When I was a few months old, my mum and her neighbour in the communal apartment where we lived took me to church without telling my father... This was my first visit to church and, as you understand, it is difficult for me to remember.

Putin's mother was a committed Christian, which would have been bold at a time when religion was banned. Putin has said that his mother gave him a baptismal cross, which he has worn around his neck since 1993.

Putin wears a small aluminium cross around his neck

In a 2017 interview, Putin refrained from detailing the extent of his religious beliefs. "I would prefer not to develop on that subject in detail," he said. "I think such things are sacred for everybody. Everybody's belief is not to be shown off, it's inside a man's heart."

However, Putin has been seen wearing a small aluminium cross around his neck, which he showed off to George W. Bush. The cross was given to him by his Christian mother when he was secretly baptised in the early 1950s. Putin has said:

> In 1993, when I worked on the Leningrad City Council, I went to Israel as part of an official delegation. Mama gave me my baptismal cross to get it blessed at the Lord’s Tomb. I did as she said and then put the cross around my neck. I have never taken it off since.

Putin also shared a story about the cross surviving a fire:

> I took off the cross before entering the sauna, and then with my friend we jumped out naked since [a fire] was so unexpected. And I cherish that cross very much. It was my mother's cross, and the fire was really in earnest at the time. So I was thinking about whether perhaps it could get even remnants of it. It was an aluminium-made cross, a very simple thing.

Putin was "completely surprised" when a worker found the cross in the ashes, still intact. "That was a surprise, a miracle, and therefore I always now keep the cross with me," he said.

Putin has a close relationship with Archimandrite Tikhon, the Father Superior of Sretensky monastery

Archimandrite Tikhon Shevkunov is the head of the Sretensky Monastery in Moscow and the author of a best seller on monastic life. He is a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church and a popular writer. He is often referred to as the personal confessor and spiritual adviser of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The men are very close, with Putin often taking Tikhon on his international trips. Their acquaintance goes back to the late '90s. Tikhon has also claimed that Putin prays daily in a small chapel.

Tikhon was born Georgiy Alexandrovich Shevkunov in Moscow in 1958. In 1982, he graduated from the Screenwriter School of the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography. The same year, he accepted Christianity, was baptised and moved to the Pskov-Caves Monastery first as a toiler and then as a novice. In 1986, he was transferred to the Publishing Department of the Moscow Patriarchate, where he worked under Metropolitan Pitirim (Nechayev). In 1995, he became the superior of the Sretensky Monastery in Moscow, a position he held until 2018.

Tikhon has been described as "Putin's spiritual father", a label he neither embraces nor denies. When asked about his relationship with Putin, Tikhon answered:

> You can believe those rumours if you want, but they certainly aren't spread by me... I am no Cardinal Richelieu!

Tikhon is a prolific writer and internet user. He is the editor-in-chief of the internet portal Pravoslavie.ru and the author of many publications there. He has also written several books, including:

• "Father Serafim" (2002) - a children's book telling the story of Seraphim of Sarov
• "Death of an Empire. Byzantium Lesson" (2008)
• "Everyday Saints and Other Stories" (2011) - the book was published in more than 2 million copies, claiming to be the most popular modern book of the Russian Orthodox Church
• "With God's Help Everything Possible. About Faith and Fatherland" (2014)

Putin's faith shapes his politics

Putin's Faith

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been keen to present himself as a man of serious personal faith. Putin's faith has seemingly become more pronounced throughout his time in office. Cynics suggest that the increasing emphasis on faith is part of a broader trend of seeking a nationalist agenda as economic performance declined. However, even early in his presidency, Putin spoke about his faith and had formed an apparently close bond with certain members of the clergy in the early 2000s, when his popularity was at its peak.

Putin has a close relationship with Archimandrite Tikhon, the Father Superior of Sretensky Monastery. Tikhon, a former film student with a reputation as a spiritual healer, has served as Putin's confessor for several years. Tikhon has also claimed that Putin prays daily in a small chapel next to the presidential office. Putin's mother and ex-wife were both religious, and the claim that Putin prays regularly is plausible.

Politics and Faith in the Service of the State

The debate about the relationship between the Orthodox Church and political power is not new. Putin is on record as seeing the attitude of the USSR towards the Church as a mistake. For Putin, the Church has a significant and powerful value in forging a strong Russian state. Under Putin, the Church and nationalism are increasingly united. The Church serves a powerful role in supporting Putin's true political ideology – his identity as a 'Statist'.

Putin's Faith and Foreign Policy

Putin has looked to reinforce a sense of ethnic and linguistic Russian-ness even beyond the Federation borders, and the Church has been a valuable part of that process. As Putin has sought to reinforce a sense of ethnic and linguistic Russian-ness even beyond the Federation borders, the Church has been a valuable part of that process. The Church has become mobilised as part of the defence of this policy and the State more broadly – creating a concept of 'Spiritual Security'. In official Church documents, spiritual security is now the official missional activity of the Orthodox Church in Russia, propping up a bold ideological vision for the role of the Church in society and politics.

There is an open question about the extent to which Putin was inspired by the resources provided by Orthodoxy in his model, or whether his statist model simply uses the resources provided where it can find them. It is too simplistic to assume that all this faith material is only instrumental. There seems to be some legitimate sense of interaction between Orthodox thought, faith, and Putin's politics and political model.

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