The Russian Orthodox Church as an institution of civil society (philosophical and methodological aspect)

The article considers church as an institution of civil society from the perspective of citizenship as involvement in the political community and participation in its life. In civil society, which is the socio-political mind of the nation, church as the guardian of the highest moral values of society, acts as its «conscience». As an organization that provides spiritual services to specific people in its parish service and is a pillar of conservative ideology, the church plays the role of a link between private and general interests, serves as an institution of civil society that ensures social integration. The factor of influence of the institution of civil society on the political process in modern society is determined by the level of its participation in the transformation of a «private person» («bourgeois» by G.V.F. Hegel) into a «citizen». In Russia, the structure that constitutes citizenship and at the same time, meets the classical characteristics of civil society is the Russian Orthodox Church.