Religia w polityce Rosji w latach 1991–2020. Wybrane zagadnienia

The article includes considerations devoted to the place and role of Orthodoxy in the socio-political life and foreign policy of the Russian Federation in the years 1991–2020. It presents the attitude of Russians towards Orthodoxy and the Russian Orthodox Church, the attitude of Russian political authorities towards Orthodoxy and the Russian Orthodox Church and the place and role of Orthodoxy and the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia’s domestic and foreign policy. Due to the authority, Orthodoxy and the Russian Orthodox Church are used for political purposes. In the first case, Orthodoxy refers to the tradition of the Russian Empire and is considered a permanent element of state-building. In this message, Russian statehood does not exist without the spiritual and historical achievements of the Russian Orthodox Church. In this context, Orthodoxy serves, among other things, to emphasize Russia’s historical continuity, the unchanging model of its state, legitimization and maintenance of power, justification of Russia’s dissimilarity to other civilizations, or its aspirations to become a great power. In the second case, the Russian Orthodox Church is one of the pillars of strengthening politics and political power, in particular by spreading content consistent with the interests of the ruling elite. It continues, among other things, the age-old tradition of legitimizing political power and its rule and emphasizes the historical continuity of the state as a community of language, culture and religion, while maintaining its conservative values.