Putin supports church through pilgrimage

SAROV, Russia — Russian President Vladimir Putin attended church services on July 31 in Sarov, Russia, in celebration of Orthodox saint Seraphim. Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II said that Putin was the first national leader of Russia to take part in the Seraphim pilgrimage and festival since Czar Nicholas II was in power. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the Orthodox church is reorienting itself as a religious force in Russia, even to the extent of swaying government leaders to place restrictions on the activities of other churches and religious groups. Putin said that the celebration of St. Seraphim was made possible by Russia’s religious and spiritual “rebirth.” The Associated Press quoted the patriarch as saying that Putin’s presence at the services was “a sign of the unity of the church, the people and the authorities.”