Mitrofan says sports and faith will make Russia great
The church leader from Murmansk stands at the head of a new partnership between the Orthodox Church and the Russian government on the incorporation of spirituality and 'traditional values' in Russian sports.
"Sport has a powerful unifying force and serves to shape the national, cultural and spiritual identity of Russian society," representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church emphasised during a recent high-profile forum on Russian sports.
The annual event branded as 'Russia - a big sports power' took place as Russian authorities are actively lobbying for a return to international sports ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.
This year's forum was held in the city of Samara and was opened by Vladimir Putin. "Sport is meant to bring people together and build bridges between nations," the dictator said in his address. He fully ignored the fact that he annexed the Crimea shortly after the 2014 Sochi Olympics and started the full-scale war against Ukraine after the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
The conference hall in Samara, a city located on the Volga River, was packed with hundreds of representatives of government structures and sport organisations. And of the Russian Orthodox Church.
In recent years, the church has become a significant contributor to Russian sports policies, and at the forefront of the efforts stands Metropolitan Mitrofan of Murmansk.
Mitrofan heads the Church Commission on Physical Culture and Sports and works closely with Patriarch Kirill. He actively promotes the incorporation of the church in sports activities across the country.
In August 2025, the Church signed a cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Sports, which outlines cooperation in joint projects "aimed at promoting traditional spiritual and moral values in the sporting community."
It also includes the joint organisation of the annual sports games dedicated to Saint Alexander Nevsky.
Since the games were organised for the first time in 2023, the programme has been expanded to a full week of activities. Parallel to the sports activities is a conference, as well as a church service and worship.
According to Mitrofan, the main idea behind the games is to "instil in Russian athletes, starting from childhood and adolescence, an understanding of true spiritual values."
The metropolitan also wants the church itself to be more involved in sports.
In an interview with TASS, the state propaganda agency, he said that there should be sports teams at every church and that every priest and church leader should be an example for others and actively participate in the sports activities. "It will give both spiritual and physical strength," he emphasised.
Mitrofan is known as a arch-conservative and militant church leader and a strong supporter of war. He has appointed hardline priests, many of them with military background, to most of his congregations in the Kola Peninsula. Among them is Sergei Cherichenko, who headed the congregation in Sputnik and chaired the regional church department on sports, ahead of his deployment on the front line in occupied parts of Ukraine.
The agreement between the Church and the Ministry of Sport was signed ahead of this year's Games of Saint Alexander Nevsky.
In a comment, Patriarch Kirill stressed that the Church is ready to provide spiritual support to athletes.
"A healthy body and a healthy spirit are precisely the things that shape a person's character. And we are ready to provide pastoral care to athletes who profess Orthodox Christianity and truly need spiritual support, including before the start of competitions."
In his response, Minister of Sports Mikhail Degtyarev pointed out the importance of the Russian Orthodox Church in providing spiritual guidance to athletes. He thanked the Patriarch for organising the games and praised the principle that every participating team has a spiritual adviser.
Degtyarev is also President of the Russian Olympic Committee.
The international sports community has banned Russian athletes from participating in major tournaments and championships since Russia went to full-scale war against Ukraine in February 2022.
Despite growing disunity among member countries, the ban still holds in the International Olympic Committee and other key organisations.
When Russian athletes ultimately return to the international arena, their competitors should expect to see them together with Orthodox priest and spiritual advisers.
