ABSTRACT
At the start of the 1990s, the Russian Orthodox Church finds itself in a paradoxical position, at once triumphant and defensive. It is claiming the fruits of freedom as its just reward for surviving decades of militant atheism, while at the same time suffering disorientation from challenges it has not had to face for more than seventy years. This chapter argues that that neither triumphalism nor protectionism represents a response likely to lead to a fruitful role for the church in Russian society: what is needed is a sober assessment by the church of where the green shoots of growth are actually to be found, followed by a long period during which it patiently nurtures them. All aspects of religious life in Russia must be renewed from the bottom up. As with economic reform and the introduction of pluralism and democracy, it is dangerous and futile to rely solely on the introduction of reforms by edict from above.
