Moscow. (RIA Novosti political commentator Vladimir Simonov.) The Soviet leader who promised in 1980 to show the last pope on television made a crude mistake in predicting an early victory for atheism over religion.
Now, 25 years later, Russia is set for its first national Orthodox satellite television channel.
The channel, called Spas ("Savior"), will broadcast for 16 hours a day, and cost its backers - a group of anonymous philanthropists under the umbrella of the Russian Consulting Group - an estimated quarter of a million dollars per year.
The idea for an Orthodox channel is popular in Russia. After seven horrible decades during which churches were blown up and monasteries turned into stables, the Russian Orthodox Church is finally staging a comeback revival. According to official statistics, since the late 1980s the number of people in Russia who consider themselves believers has more than trebled, from 16% in 1986 to about 70% today.
Spas is designed for people who wear Orthodox crosses and keep icons at home, even if they rarely attend church. One of its aims is to open the doors of churches to people, and turn them from putative believers to regular church-goers.
The Russian Orthodox Church claims that it has no administrative influence over the new channel, even though it wholeheartedly supports it. In any event, this is an extra information source among the church media.
Westerners are accustomed to various religious satellite and cable TV networks, and will find it hard to understand the importance that Russia attaches to Spas. The prominent theologian, Archpriest Dimitry Smirnov, has compared the launch of Spas to the first apostles' decision to record the teachings of Jesus. He believes that the two events are similar, because in both cases God's word entered a new medium.
The channel's editor, Ivan Demidov, is another reason why it is getting so much attention Spas. Formerly the host of a program on rock music, Demidov is now a true believer and expert on the Bible. He sees Russian Orthodoxy as a national idea that can unite Russia after the crisis of Communist ideology.
Demidov believes that unification of Russian society is the main goal of Spas. It will have talk shows under the general title of "Russian Hour," documentaries, and educational programs. There will be no room for any entertainment or acting films.
"The Orthodox channel is a very important initiative," said one of its founders, philosopher Alexander Dugin. "Modern television entertains people, pulling them apart. The Spas Channel wants to achieve the opposite: To unite people, and restore the identity of our society."
The new channel may also help fight terrorism, as Russia's 20 million Muslims will see that Russian religion is not hostile to Islam. Spas plans to offer ways of saving the nation from a wave of terrorism fuelled by religious extremism. People of all religions should make it their priority to unite in the name of this goal.
Demidov's team believes that Russia's three other recognized religions - Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism - may start their television channels in the future as well.
Russian human rights champions are not happy with the appearance of Spas, and are worried that the Church is becoming too influential for a secular state. The new state anthem mentions God, and Orthodox hierarchs insist that the authorities should introduce God's law in secondary schools. Moreover, the Church is using every opportunity to assume the leading role that the Communist Party played in the Soviet Union.
The only thing that makes human rights activists feel better is the astronomical costs of the channel. Satellite television requires equipment costing $300, and a subscription costs 500 rubles ($17.40) per month. Most believers cannot afford this luxury, even with divine assistance.
