March 23, 2012
Our performance in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was a political gesture to address the problem of the Putin government’s merger with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC).
Patriarch Kirill has repeatedly evangelized on behalf of the political figure of Putin—clearly no saint—and continues to urge his parishioners not to participate in protest rallies. A joint political action carried out by governmental authorities and the Orthodox Church before the elections for the State Duma, the “Two Days’ Wait for the Belt of the Virgin,” was aimed at portraying an image of apolitical Orthodox citizens.
This outrages us no less than the violation of the elections of the Duma. Therefore, we have introduced a new element to our performance—a prayer—and called our punk public prayer “Virgin Mary, Put Putin Away.” In this statement, we respond to the political activity of the faithful, and counter the Patriarch Gundyay’s efforts to distort the truth.
And we needed to sing it not on the street in front of the temple, but at the altar—that is, in a place where women are strictly forbidden. The fact is, the church is promoting a very conservative worldview that does not fit into such values as freedom of choice; the formation of political, gender, or sexual identity; critical thinking; multiculturalism; or attention to contemporary culture. It seems to us that the Orthodox Church currently lacks all of these virtues.
With regard to the consequences of our performance, we were surprised by the fury and scale of the smear campaign that followed, and by the arrest of three women based on unverified reports on the Internet of their involvement. The range of threats that people have made against us is out of scale with our activism. We believe that as part of his postelection campaign, Mr. Putin, who received the so-called “victory” in these elections, has decided to avenge all the wrongs that were inflicted against him through the citizens’ opposition. Most likely, this attack has been a punishment for our Red Square performance of the song “Putin Has Pissed Himself.”
But it was our performance in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior that provided the formal excuse for the criminal proceedings that followed. Now the authorities are emboldened and are trying to push another charge against the suspects—the charge of extremism—because the chorus of our song “Putin Has Pissed Himself” begins with the words “Revolt in Russia.” We are outraged by the fact that people thought to be involved in opposition circles are being rounded up on the street and held in custody. The girls being detained do not recognize themselves as members of our group. As far as we know, they went on a hunger strike, which lasted for twelve days.
—Pussy Riot
In November 2011, a few weeks before Russia’s national parliamentary election, the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow sponsored a traveling exhibition of a famous religious relic, the Holy Belt of the Virgin. Pilgrims waited for up to two days to see the relic, and the event conveniently monopolized news coverage as growing public protests were threatening Putin and his United Russia party.
“Gundyay” is a diminutive variation of the patriarch’s secular name, Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyaev. The use of a secular nickname here is intended to bring the patriarch down a notch.
The extremism charges were ultimately not pursued. Instead, authorities charged the women with felony hooliganism and incitement of religious hatred.
The jailed women initially denied involvement in Pussy Riot; since then, they have affirmed their membership in the group and affirmed their participation in the punk prayer.