Reporting from Moscow: Russian nationalism resurging

Blogging from Moscow, as RFE/RL reports today, "on Ascension, the day commemorating Christ's ascent into heaven," the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow and "the splinter church formed by exiles fleeing the Russian Revolution and the rise of the communist state" united after 80 years of separation.

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Moscow Patriarch Aleksy II, and Metropolitan Lavr (Laurus), the New York-based leader of the Orthodox Church Abroad, signed an agreement on restoring canonical relations:

"We have overcome the division of the churches. We have overcome the legacy of the revolution and civil war from that time, the schism in society," [the Moscow Patriarch Aleksy II] said. "The church is being strengthened and our homeland is being restored."

As Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly said at the reunification ceremony:

"The church division occurred as a result of the deepest political split of Russian society following a fierce civil confrontation," Putin said. "In today's Russian society, which is based on the democratic principles of religious freedom, there are no more reasons for this outdated tragedy, for this obsolete confrontation."

I have to say, as I walk around the Kremlin I'm amazed that the communists were able to strip the Russians of this incredible religious legacy for so many years.

But then I don't know the history leading up to the revolution - that is, what the church had done to deserve its fate.