破門解けず

ELLEN BARRY and SOPHIA KISHKOVSKY “For Tolstoy and Russia, Still No Happy Ending” http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/04/books/04tolstoy.html

昨年はレオ・トルストイの百回忌だったが、露西亜では派手な記念行事はなかった。アントン・チェーホフの生誕150周年は派手に祝われたのに。何故露西亜はトルストイに冷たいのか。それは蘇聯時代への反動、蘇聯崩壊後の正教会の権威の復興が関係している。正教会は1901年にトルストイを破門している。昨年の11月に、露西亜連邦元総理のSergei V. Stepashin氏は正教会宛にトルストイ破門を解くことを乞う嘆願書を出したが、正教会は拒否した*1；

The church’s letter of response, published in a state-run newspaper, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, suggested not. It acknowledged Tolstoy’s “unforgettable, beautiful works,” and said Russian Orthodox readers were allowed to say solitary prayers for him on the anniversary of his death.

But its tone was mournful, calling Tolstoy the most “tragic personality” in the history of Russian literature. It said that Tolstoy “purposely used his great talent to destroy Russia’s traditional spiritual and social order” and that it was “no accident that the leader of the Bolsheviks extremely valued the aim of Leo Tolstoy’s activity.” So there could be no candles burned for Tolstoy inside Orthodox churches and no commemorations read, according to the letter, signed by the cultural council secretary to Patriarch Kirill I, the church’s leader.

Mr. Stepashin said he expected this response and was glad the letter included some praise.

また、蘇聯時代のトルストイについて；

The Soviets planted him at the top of their literary pantheon, largely because of the radical philosophy he preached amid the early rumblings of the October Revolution. The publication of “War and Peace” and “Anna Karenina” made Tolstoy so famous that one contemporary described him as Russia’s second czar. He used that position to rail against the church, as well as the police, the army, meat eating, private property and all forms of violence.

Lenin loved Tolstoy’s “pent-up hatred.” He anointed him “the mirror of the Russian Revolution,” ignoring his pacifism and belief in God. As the 50th anniversary of his death approached, the Central Committee of the Communist Party began preparing two years in advance, so a monument would be ready for unveiling.

*1:嘆願書と正教会側の返答の全文の英訳がhttp://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/42983.htmで読める。