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→Relations with the Orthodox Church
The post-Soviet rise of the Russian Church to political power has caused a rupture with various sects and dissident religious groups, with which it formerly enjoyed better relations. Specifically, the Church has pushed for laws restricting the activities of various religious groups which it views as competitors, most notably the Roman Catholic Church but also including Russian esoteric groups. Much the same viewpoint also informs the opinion of many ordinary Russians, who have been known to harass Roerich followers out of religious zeal. According to Orthodox theology, "the Church" can do no wrong--therefore such actions (assuming them to be misguided) are not the work of the Church, even if led or urged on by local Orthodox clergy (as often seems to be the case).
Throughout their lives, the Roerichs maintained a loose relationship with the Orthodox Church, similar to the situation of many other White Russian exiles. For example, both their sons received Orthodox baptism. Helena and Nicholas were finally excommunicated from the Russian Orthodox Church in the year 2000, a half-century after their deaths. While the move raises thorny jurisdictional issues--the Roerichs ended their days not in Russia but in India, whose territory falls under the authority of the [[Ecumenical Patriarch]])--the factual correctness of the Orthodox complaint (i.e., that the Roerichs promoted what amounts to a different religion than Orthodoxy) seems well-established. The Church's proximate motivation appears to have been its irritation with Roerich groups.
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