KARL

MASS

SPIRITUAL RUSSIA IS NOT KEEN TO LOOK BACK AS

ITS GENERATION NEXT EMBRACES THE NEW WORLD

(^54) THE WEEK Š NOVEMBER 12, 2017
OCTOBER REVOLUTION@100
BY LUKOSE MATHEW/Moscow & St Petersburg

F

riedrich Engels stands tall

on a small square by the

side of the majestic Christ

the Saviour Cathedral in

Moscow, the seat of power of the

Russian Orthodox Church. His hands

folded across his chest, the Germany-

born atheist, known for co-authoring

the Communist Manifesto with Karl

Marx, has his gaze turned away

from the world’s tallest Orthodox

church, where President Vladimir

Putin attends mass on special days

like Christmas and Easter. It is a

weekend, but not many people stop

to admire the Brezhnev-era bronze

statue, the only monument of Engels

in entire Moscow. It is strategically

placed at the start of the Ostozhenka

street, halfway between the Marx

statue opposite the Bolshoi Theatre

and the monument of Lenin near the

Luzhniki stadium, a venue for the

2018 FIFA World Cup.

Across the road, at the cathedral,

people continue to pour in even

though the church has closed for

the day. Unlike in other parts of the

world, where it is the elderly who

mostly populate the church, in Russia,

the young come with equal fervour.

The holy cross is the most favoured

pendant for young women, and to

be spiritual has become fashion-

able. “More people are now going to

church regularly,” Lalita Elen Noor,

a Dubai-based businesswoman from

Turkmenistan, told THE WEEK.

“And the Russian Orthodox Church

is playing an important role in the

lives of the people and their leaders.

Religion, and spirituality in general,

have grown since the breakup of the

Soviet Union. And leaders now wear

their association with the church on

their sleeves.”

It is not just the Orthodox Church

that is riding the spirituality wave.

As much was evident when a

group of Hare Krishna followers

pranced around an open square in

St Petersburg on a sunny afternoon,

chanting and waving to passers by.

Most of them were Russians, all in

the prime of youth. “Many religions

and spiritual movements are active in

Russia and former Soviet states, such

as Islam, Catholicism, Hinduism,

Buddhism and Mormonism,” said

Lalita. “But most of them work on

LENIN

Founded the

Communist Party

in Russia. Led the

October Revolution

of 1917, in which

the Communists

(Bolsheviks) seized

power. Led the

country until his

death in 1924.

TROTSKY

Marxist revolution-

ary, he was one of

the seven members

of the first polit-

buro, founded in

1917 to manage the

Bolshevik revolution.

He was against the

policies of Stalin.

MARX

German philosopher

who co-authored the

Communist Manifesto,

and regarded as the

father of communism.