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Kremlin and Church Unite on Alphabet Day

Schoolchildren performing Monday near a Moscow monument to Cyril and Methodius, seen in background, during festivities marking the monks' creation of the Cyrillic alphabet. Igor Tabakov

An unprecedented throng of 40,000 people — including students yanked out of schools and colleges — descended on central Moscow on Monday to celebrate the Day of Slavic Culture and Literature, Russia's only joint state and religious holiday.

But observers said the pompous celebration of Cyril and Methodius, 9th-century Orthodox saints who bestowed literacy on the Slavs by devising the Cyrillic alphabet, appeared to be little more than an attempt by the authorities to show off their social and economic achievements at the cost of public comfort. The festivities clogged downtown Moscow, creating enormous traffic jams.

"Such sumptuous celebrations fix the image problems, but the fact that they disrupt the work of public transportation and increase state spending is absolutely ignored," said Alexei Mukhin, an analyst with the Center for Political Information.

Thousands of people marched behind Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill from the Christ the Savior Cathedral to Red Square as part of the celebration. The procession blocked traffic during the morning rush hour, angering motorists, who poured out their frustrations over the radio and in their blogs.

The participants, many of them young people, waved Russian, Ukrainian and Belarussian flags, carried plastic balls and dolls painted with the national colors of the three countries and sported banners reading, "Think About Russia's Future."

In a notable thaw between rival branches of the Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill invited Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople to take part in the celebrations. Bartholomew arrived in Moscow on Saturday and was met by Kirill at Vnukovo Airport.

Mayor Yury Luzhkov and Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov also attended the march.

"The basis of our historical existence is neither war, nor a conflict, nor a sword, but spiritual culture," Kirill said, opening the celebrations.

Monday's festivities were attended by members of the pro-Kremlin Young Guard movement and other youth groups and students of Moscow schools and colleges, RIA-Novosti reported.

Blogger Dmitry Vedenin wrote on LiveJournal that city authorities sent a formal request to his university ordering it to provide 80 students for the celebration.

"Some people are deciding to go to the useless event on their day off. They are afraid of problems ahead of the [university] exam session," he wrote.

The celebration also came a day before the Posledny Zvonok, or the Last Bell, the last day of classes and a time when children look forward to summer vacation and high school graduates get ready for exams.

A number of foreign-based Russian-language media outlets, including the U.S.-based newspaper Novoye Russkoye Slovo and the Austrian Novy Vensky Zhurnal, were presented with certificates by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in celebration of the holiday.

The festivities will last until the end of the week and will include about 40 musical, cultural and sporting events.

The Cyril and Methodius holiday is celebrated by all Slavic countries. It became a state holiday in Russia in 1991 but has not received much attention in subsequent years.

But now the holiday is backed by both the church and the Kremlin.

Roman Lunkin, director of the Center of Religion and Law, said the church has pushed the state to increase the role of the holiday.

"Shortly after his election [in January 2009], Kirill announced that it would become a national holiday instead of a local one. Recently it has been said that the holiday should be celebrated abroad, too," Lunkin said.

Putin said earlier that Russian civilization should be revived, and the church can play a significant role in this, Lunkin said.

Kirill denied ambitions to exert control on the government in an interview with To Vima, a Greek newspaper.

"Russian Orthodox Church does not strive for governmental status — the church is separated from the state but not from the people," he said, according to a transcript released by the Moscow Patriarchate.

But the church is responsible for the spiritual state of the nation, including its leaders, Kirill said in the interview.

For top officials to turn to the Orthodox religion is not "a political step" but a deliberate move in search of "God's help and leadership," he said.

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