By ERASMUS
ESPECIALLY IN the summer, the great monastery of Valaam, lapped by the dark, tree-ringed waters of Lake Ladoga, in northwestern Russia, can be a wonderfully calm and inspiring location. It is also a favourite haunt of Vladimir Putin, who has been paying regular visits since at least 2001. This week, he took along an unlikely guest: President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, a veteran of the Soviet system who eschews the post-communist fashion for piety and cheerfully calls himself an “Orthodox atheist”.
As viewers of Russia’s main TV bulletin saw on July 17th, the two presidents were given a rapid demonstration of the community’s dramatic revival since Orthodox authorities took over from the Soviet ones in 1989. The two visitors’ reactions were different. When presented with sacred objects and holy relics, Mr Putin made the appropriate Orthodox gestures, crossing himself and offering a kiss of veneration. His guest managed the expected kiss but pointedly held back from making the sign of the cross. To some Russian viewers, it probably seemed as though their president was making a rather desperate attempt to convert his companion.
