Saints in Demand In Russia as Church Asserts Tie to State

Privalov said that he saw no constitutional issues and that the church was merely trying to facilitate private devotion for the country's soldiers, security officers and other civil servants who often face serious stress in their jobs.

"The church is separated from the state, and for the church that's the best situation," he said. "When the church is allowed to do what it can for Christians, but within the framework of the law, and when the state does not interfere, that's ideal."

Professions of faith, beginning with Putin's, have become commonplace among Russia's ruling elite. And Orthodoxy is increasingly seen, by both the church and the state, as a critical ingredient in the formation of a cohesive national identity.

"The role of the president, of course, is huge," Privalov said. "But even if the president had not been devout, I think we would witness the same changes."

Stripped of its communist ideology, the military, in particular, appears to be cultivating a new esprit de corps through Orthodoxy. The church, in response, has recognized that the armed forces need appropriate heroes. One of the most recent figures it canonized was Fyodor Ushakov, an 18th-century naval commander.

"He was canonized not because of saintly traits but because he was very patriotic and because of his service as a military commander," said Alexander Kyrlezhev, a lecturer in religious studies at the presidential Academy of State Service in Moscow. "The church said Admiral Ushakov had not lost a single battle. That was a signal."

The navy quickly adopted Ushakov as its second patron saint.

"The church's position is that Orthodoxy is not just the majority confession but a state-forming tradition," Kyrlezhev said. "The church claims it has privileges, not from the legal point of view, but from a historical, cultural point of view."

For units such as the Interior Ministry troops, the adoption of an Orthodox saint represented both a nod to history and a response to its current needs.

In a letter to the church, the troops asked for Saint Vladimir, who expanded Russia's early borders, because he "would be of great significance in training young soldiers and raising their morale. ''