---
title: "The Russian Orthodox Church May Stop Blessing Nuclear Weapons"
description: "Clergy within the Russian Orthodox Church want to end the practice of blessing Russia's nuclear weapons, but others are happy to frame nukes as holy."
date: "2019-07-10"
modified: "2019-07-10"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/russian-orthodox-blessing-nuclear-weapons"
categories:
  - "Future Society"
tags:
  - "military technology"
  - "nuclear weapons"
  - "religion"
  - "Russia"
  - "the digest"
---

# The Russian Orthodox Church May Stop Blessing Nuclear Weapons

![Clergy within the Russian Orthodox Church want to end the practice of blessing Russia's nuclear weapons, but others are happy to frame nukes as holy.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/russian-orthodox-blessing-nuclear-weapons.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: US Military/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Gesundheit?

A faction of clergy within the Russian Orthodox Church wants to end the eyebrow-raising practice of blessing the country's nuclear missiles.

First of all, yes: Russian priests currently sprinkle holy water on nuclear missiles as part of an old tradition in which Orthodox priests bless soldiers and their weapons, [reports *Religion News Service*](<https://religionnews.com/2019/07/09/russian-orthodox-church-considers-a-ban-on-blessing-weapons-of-mass-destruction/>). But that may change, as some priests feel that [intercontinental ballistic missiles](<https://futurism.com/us-report-confirms-russia-developing-worlds-most-powerful-nuclear-weapon>) belong in a different category from individual firearms.

## Faith Militant

The Russian military and the Russian Orthodox church have long worked hand in hand, according to *RNS*, framing many of the [country's military conflicts](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/russia-nuclear-targets-united-states>) as holy wars. The nuclear arsenal even has its own patron saint — *RNS* reports that St. Seraphim's remains were found in a Russian town that housed several nuclear facilities.

As such, the push to stop blessing nukes faces strong opposition among members of the clergy, such as the high-ranking priest Vsevolod Chaplin, who referred to the country's nukes as "guardian angels."

"Only nuclear weapons protect Russia from enslavement by the West," Chaplin once said, per *RNS*.

## Changing Hearts

One priest, Dmitry Tsorionov, parted from the more militant aspects of the Orthodox Church after seeing men willingly sign up to fight Russia's wars "under the banner of Christ," he told *RNS*. Now he wants to see less warmongering among the clergy.

"It was not uncommon to see how church functionaries openly flirted with these toxic ideas," he told *RNS*. "It was only then that I finally realized what the blessing of military hardware leads to."

**READ MORE:** [Russian Orthodox Church considers a ban on blessing weapons of mass destruction](<https://religionnews.com/2019/07/09/russian-orthodox-church-considers-a-ban-on-blessing-weapons-of-mass-destruction/>) \[*Religion News Service*\]

**More on nukes:** *[Russian Media Says Kremlin Would Nuke These U.S. Targets First](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/russia-nuclear-targets-united-states>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)