The union of the Russian Orthodox Church and state is the new normal in Russia.
The country’s 1993 Constitution clearly describes Russia as secular, where no religion can be obligatory or official. However, the unique Eastern Orthodox tradition has united the ecclesiastical and temporal spheres of the country and it is vastly different from the European Roman Catholicism. This doctrine mixes the Church’s spiritual influence with government power. The hierarchy has no choice but to follow the ruler.
