Religion

Thom Nickels: When the sacred met the profane in Russia Thom Nickels October 20, 2025 October 19, 2025

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When the sassy members of Pussy Riot entered Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral back in 2012, it was not to pray or to sit in silent meditation but to stage a sanctuary protest before the iconostasis and Royal Doors (also known as the Beautiful Gate) that leads to the altar area.

In various You Tube videos of the protest one can see the women bowing and crossing themselves in the manner of ardent believers. The songs the women sing have radically different lyrics than the sung prayers that usually come from this space, and yet one clearly gets the impression that the feminist band members

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