Patriarch Kirill’s Praetorian Guard: Sorok Sorokov as Radical Outreach for “Holy Tradition”

Abstract

The central focus of this article is an in-depth analysis of the interplay between Patriarch Kirill’s ideology of “Holy Tradition” and the movement Sorok Sorokov, which we consider Kirill’s praetorian guard, in charge of “maintaining the order for patriarchal services”—services which include humanitarian and military assistance in Russian offensives, the punishment of non-traditional priests, and the on-site guards of patriarchal projects within the wider scope of Russkiy mir. More importantly however, and due to this privileged position, Sorok Sorokov acts as a radicalizing outreach for Patriarch Kirill’s “Holy Tradition” in the digital space. To demonstrate this relationship, we employ a mixed methods approach in line with digital humanities methodology. To achieve this, we have developed telegram API and web scraping tools as well as utilized exploratory data analysis, natural language processing, and critical discourse analysis. Our preliminary conclusions are that: (1) Sorok Sorokov does indeed function as a radical extension of Patriarch Kirill’s Holy Tradition and (2) that Sorok Sorokov operates as an illiberal service provider for the Russian Orthodox Church in social contexts that Patriarch Kirill cannot directly address such as war and radical, national politics.