When Orthodoxy Becomes Ideology: On the Canonization of Seraphim Rose

Part 1 of 4

I did not have time earlier to write anything about the decision to canonize Seraphim Rose in ROCOR, but here are a few thoughts.

First of all, this is quite obviously a political canonization – or, more precisely, yet another political canonization, and I am almost certain the ROCOR Synod is fully aware of that. This is the canonization of a very specific version of Orthodoxy that one should frankly call “ideological Orthodoxy”: a package of answers, attitudes and enemies, where Orthodoxy functions more as a worldview system than as a path of life in Christ.

Right now there is a growing demand exactly for this kind of thing: for ideology instead of Orthodoxy, for clear identity markers, strong boundaries and ready-made explanations of the world. ROCOR is trying to privatize this demand by creating the cult of a new saint whose image will very quickly start to generate profit – at least symbolic and reputational, and quite possibly also financial, through publications, pilgrimages, iconography and the whole traditionalist niche market.

The real tragedy, in my view, is that in today’s America there is almost nothing strong enough to oppose this within Orthodoxy itself. Serious 20th‑century Orthodox theology in the US is mostly the domain of academics and a small circle of “liberal Orthodox” insiders, while for the broader church public the loudest and most visible option is precisely ideological Orthodoxy in its various flavors.

Part 2. Canonizing Seraphim Rose: Holiness, Ideology, and the Politics of Saints >>