Vladimir Putin: St Paul redux?
Vladimir Putin may be president of Russia no longer but, in the eyes of many Russians, he is still a righteous dude. In fact, he is being worshipped by a group of pseudo-Orthodox ascetics who believe that he is the reincarnation of St Paul.
Grigory Pasko has the story at Robert Amsterdam’s blog.
I recently stumbled upon an interesting report about a group of Orthodox ascetics, living deep in the Russian hinterlands, who have adopted an iconographic image of Vladimir Putin in its religious rituals.
“In a previous lifetime, Putin was the apostle Paul, — reported the Mother. — But the president and I have a long-standing spiritual connection. In another life he was the prince Vladimir, and I the princess Olga. In yet another hypostasis he was Solomon, and I — the queen of Sheba,” – declared the head of the believers, who goes by the name of Mother Photinia (on her passport — Svetlana Frolova). [It should be noted that the mainstream Russian Orthodox Church does not believe in reincarnation and never has--Trans.]
In 1996, Ms Frovola was convicted of fraud and spent a year and a half behind bars.
Secular devotees also find St Vladimir Mr Putin enthralling. Last weekend, the youth movement United Russia staged pro-government rallies with half-baked speeches. Here are a few choice words from one Maria Sergeeva, complete with references to her holy trinity.
It’s no secret: in Russia today there are forces which are trying to blame Putin, Medvedev and United Russia for our temporary difficuties [sic]. These forces are like a dangerous virus – as soon as they sense a weakening of our immune system, they’ll attack.
But let’s be honest with ourselves. Take me, for instance, a student who pays full tuition. In 1998 I wouldn’t have known what to do. And now I don’t just believe. I know for certain that Putin, Medvedev and the United Russia party will protect me. They’ll give me the chance to take out a student loan at a rate of five percent, not 55 percent. They’ll give me a job. They won’t allow me to be fired illegally.
Ms Sergeeva maintains a blog (Russian) with many photos of herself (no translation needed).