Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with religious leaders Wednesday that the "voice of the church" should have a greater presence on state-run television channels and that more TV programming should be devoted to religious topics. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with religious leaders Wednesday that the "voice of the church" should have a greater presence on state-run television channels and that more TV...

A Soviet-era dissident and a star of 1990s politics, Viktor Aksyuchits, made his name as the founding father of the Christian Democratic movement — an effort to forge a potent alliance of religion and politics that collapsed when he landed on the wrong side of the 1993 effort to oust Boris Yeltsin. A Soviet-era dissident and a star of 1990s politics, Viktor Aksyuchits, made his name as the founding father of the Christian...

... of confession instead. The Russian Orthodox Church is planning to open a hot line later this month to help fight "superstition" and promote the practice of confession instead, RIA-Novosti reported. The phone line will allow people interested in religion to get clear answers from an operator about the practices of the church and reasons to attend services. Operators will have a higher theological education. In a statement, the church said the program is designed to help believers who "found...

... region," said Natalya Lobanova, 27. Businessman and presidential hopeful Mikhail Prokhorov said in an interview with the Serebryany Dozhd radio station that he had never been baptized. "I'm not a churchgoer, but I have great respect for all religions," he said. 418973 179742

A cult leader who worships Vladimir Putin as a saint claims that myrrh is oozing from an icon of the prime minister as sign of God's blessing. A cult leader who worships Vladimir Putin as a saint claims that myrrh is oozing from an icon of the prime minister as a sign of God's blessing. The cult, led by former convict Svetlana Frolova, is based in the Nizhny Novgorod region and considers Putin to be the reincarnation of the apostle Paul. "Attention! Starting from...

A Russian-born activist who protested against the Nazi regime in Germany during World War II has been canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church. A Russian-born activist who protested against the Nazi regime in Germany during World War II has been canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church. Alexander Shmorel was a member of the White Rose organization, a nonviolent resistance group consisting mostly of Munich University students that distributed leaflets with anti-Nazi messages...

... views is misplaced. His definition of the state is civic, not biological — a nation for those who observe the laws, speak Russian, adhere to Russian cultural norms and want this country to prosper, irrespective of a citizen's race, ethnicity or religion. This is what Americans or the French call patriotism. Unlike Mikhail Prokhorov, a rich guy clamoring for national attention, Navalny exudes a genuine passion for power to further a public cause. He projects sincerity, a lethal weapon against...

... Американец — это не национальность, это философия ("American" isn't a nationality. It's a philosophy.) Американец — это специальность ("American" is a profession). Американец — это религия ("American" is a religion). Sometimes an explanation of why "American" isn't a nationality uses terms that make it, on the contrary, a dictionary-perfect definition of национальность: Американец — это не национальность, а чувство принадлежности к американской...

... Solzhenitsyn and Andrei Sakharov, have much to offer, even if they came from different ideological positions. In "From Under the Rubble," Solzhenitsyn tried to articulate a humbler vision of Russian political action, emphasizing the importance of religion, repentance and internal development. Sakharov's more secular commitment to human rights also had much to commend it. Both men gave expression to forms of resistance that were simple and easily adaptable: Solzhenitsyn with his call to "Live...