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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Cult worships Putin as reincarnation of St. Paul |
| 2005-04-12 |
| Russia Resurrecting, a cult that worships Vladimir Putin as the reincarnation of the Apostle Paul, has been flourishing near Nizhny Novgorod for several years. A portrait of the president hangs next to Orthodox icons in church, as members of the affiliation say he has come to the world to lead those who have gone astray to the light. However, it is known that Mother Photinia, head of the "Rus Resurrecti" affiliation, was involved in fraud cases back in the 1990s and spent 18 months behind bars, the NEWSru Web site reports. The Rus Resurrecting affiliation looks like a typical parish, with regular church services and people coming to be baptized and married. Its patron saint is the Mother of God, but in addition the head of the affiliation has included some alternative members into the Orthodox tradition. Among them is President Putin, whom the followers of Rus Resurrecting believe to be the new Apostle Paul. Putin, just like Apostle Paul, has come to the world to convert as many people as possible to the real faith, says Mother Photinia. She teaches her flock that the Second Coming has already happened, and that there are seven Sons of God and seven antichrists on the planet currently. Other well-known people also have their places in Mother Photinia's teaching. Russian Patriarch Alexy II for example has received the role of Pontius Pilatus. His new mission according to Mother Photinia is to protect the new Christ and keep him from a second crucifixion. Local people feel uncomfortable about the cult. Neighbors of Mother Photinia believe she is a witch and want her to be driven out of the village where she lives in a comfortable mansion that she says was built with voluntary contributions from her flock. Orthodox authorities say they are not entitled to control Rus Resurrecting, as the organization is not "truly Orthodox", NEWSru quoted a spokesman of the diocese Igor Pchelintsev as saying. Local law-enforcement bodies, however, see the situation differently. Svetlana Frolova, as Mother Photinia used to be known to the world, held the post of director of the Nizhny Novgorod railroad catering department in the 1990s. In 1996 she was sentenced for fraud, abuse of privileges and embezzlement, but supposedly managed to keep part of the stolen money and on release from prison used it to establish her own church. In spite of Frolova's criminal record, the local authorities prefer not to interfere in her activities. It is not the authorities' business whether Rus Resurrecting worships Putin or not, NEWSru quoted Eugeny Polavin, head of the local administration, as saying. At least as long as there are no pagan sacrifices involved. Rus Resurrecting is not the only affiliation that has unusual worship subjects. For instance in Volgograd there is a registered "Party of Cosmic Communists" that worships Christ, Lenin and Karl Marx. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 Law-enforcement in Nizhny Novgorod is certainly not going to be interfering: dis-Putin is risky business. |
| Posted by: Tom 2005-04-12 8:19:42 PM |