Maya Kucherskaya, "Church and Society in Contemporary Russia"

This lecture examines relations between the Russian Orthodox Church, Russian society, and the Russian state over the last 25 years. Who attends Orthodox services in contemporary Russia? What do the events surrounding Pussy Riot signify? What accounts for the phenomenal success of Archimandrite Tikhon Shevkunov’s Nesviatye sviatye [Unholy Saints]? What are the social and political roles of prominent ecclesiastical authorities like Patriarch Kirill, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, and Archpriest Alek