Academy of Sciences withdraws honorary title from Russian Patriarch after statement on mobile phones

(Patria) - Following opposition from members of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the institution has withdrawn its decision to award the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church the title of honorary professor, reports Radio Free Europe.

Patriarch Kirill was scheduled to officially receive the award at the Academy's headquarters in Moscow on January 22, along with the Speaker of the Federation Council, the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, Valentina Matviyenko. The decision to award this title to the Speaker of the Federation Council has also been withdrawn.

"The issue of awarding the titles of honorary professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences to Patriarch Kirill and Valentina Matviyenko was not fully thought through," Yury Balega, Vice President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told RSE on January 21.

According to him, the awarding of the recognition to Kirill was discussed on January 22, and a vote is expected on whether this move will be supported or not.

In the initial announcement of the decision on January 18, the Academy explained that Kirill was being awarded the recognition for his "great role in popularizing science," as spokeswoman Svetlana Popova told Interfax on January 18.

"As Einstein said, the theory of relativity speaks of the genius of the Creator, and in that sense, there are no contradictions," Popova said.

The announcement came shortly after Patriarch Kirill stated that smartphone users might be courting "the Antichrist."

In an interview with Russian state television on January 7, Kirill stated that he was not entirely against high-tech devices, but warned of the possibility of "enslavement" by smartphones, which he explained could be used by external forces to control people and collect their data.

"One-point control is a harbinger of the Antichrist's arrival," Kirill told state television Channel 1 on Orthodox Christmas.

Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences were angered by the decision to award Kirill and Valentina Matviyenko honorary professor titles without any prior discussion. Some of them noted that the Academy's new charter, adopted in 2014, does not even include the title of "honorary professor" in its statutes, Balega explained.

According to the previous charter, the Academy could honor "outstanding individuals in the fields of culture, scientists, officials, and public figures."

However, the change in the charter did not deter Academy members from bestowing honorary professorships in the past, including recognition for former Israeli President Shimon Peres in 2012, and former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and current UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova in 2015.

In Russia, the Academy has also honored local politicians with this recognition, including former Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, whose wife allegedly amassed a considerable fortune largely thanks to her husband's political connections.

Luzhkov was not the only controversial Russian official to be honored in this way. Vladimir Resin, Luzhkov's successor, has also been accused of corruption, as well as alleged ties to companies bidding on tenders as part of a massive construction project in Moscow supported by the Kremlin.

Awarding a public religious figure is also not a first. Kirill's predecessor, Patriarch Alexy II, was also an honorary professor, Balega added.

Many academics from this body had no problem with honoring Kirill, but they objected to the way it was done.

Not seeking the opinion of Academy members before making a decision was "shameful," said Academy member Yury Apresyan. "Bureaucrats have nothing to do with science. I think this is the wrong procedure," Apresyan told RSE.

"I don't see anything terrible in awarding this recognition, but the decision should be made transparently," said Askold Ivanchik, chief researcher at the Institute of World History at the Russian Academy of Sciences.

In the past, Academy members have criticized the organization for yielding to state officials who interfered in its work.

If the Academy decides to withdraw the recognition, Kirill will not be left without his academic titles. The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church has been awarded the title of honorary professor at the Moscow State University of Nuclear Research.