The Washington Post: How did the Russian war in Ukraine divide the Orthodox Christian world?

A

in the American newspaper "Washington Post" showed the divisions in the Orthodox Christian Church due to the Russian-Ukrainian war, at a time when the followers of this religion in the two countries and abroad celebrate Easter.

The report, written by the newspaper's editor, Erin Cunningham, stated that this war caused turmoil in global markets, revived the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), sparked investigations into war crimes, and opened a rift in the Orthodox Church, by inciting the Russian wing and the pro-Kremlin patriarch. On the Orthodox leaders in Kyiv and around the world.

He said that Orthodox Christianity is one of the largest Christian denominations in the world, after Catholicism and the Protestant Church, and most of its followers - numbering approximately 260 million - are concentrated in Europe, Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union.

It is the dominant faith in both Russia and Ukraine, where the status of the Church has become a source of tension between Moscow and Kiev.

The journalist says that for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his ally in the Church, Patriarch Kirill, Ukraine is an integral part of a larger Russian world.

For this reason, Kirill, 75, staunchly supported the war, doubling his power even as the world receded from widespread reports of Russian atrocities in Ukraine.

His pro-war stance infuriated other church leaders in Ukraine and abroad, many of whom condemned the war, and urged Kirill to reconsider his support.

Russian Orthodox Church

The Russian Orthodox Church is one of the largest and most influential churches in the world, with over 100 million followers.

In 2009, Kirill was elected patriarch for the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union.

Initially, Kirill was seen as a modernizer who might bring some independence to the church, after his predecessor Alexei II used his political connections to highlight the church's standing after decades of "atheist communism".

Russian politicians financed the construction of new churches, and religious leaders appeared front and center in state functions.

Since then, Kirill has cemented his role as an ally of the Kremlin, helping Putin disguise his political and military ambitions in religious language.

On February 23, a day before the war, Kirill issued a statement praising Putin for his "high and responsible service to the people of Russia" and called mandatory military service an "active manifestation of evangelical love for neighbors."

In the weeks after the outbreak of the war, Kirill used his speeches to justify the campaign and portray it as a struggle against wrong Western culture, though he was careful to avoid referring to the conflict as a war or invasion by Russia.

He has focused almost entirely on what he calls Ukraine's "annihilation" of pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Donbass region.

Ukrainian Orthodox Church.. Moscow Patriarchate

The vast majority of Ukrainians are Orthodox Christians.

However, their allegiances are divided between at least two main church bodies, one of which is the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which is "autonomous" but remains under the authority of the Moscow Patriarchate.

For centuries, the churches in Ukraine and Russia were under the leadership of the Moscow Patriarch.

However, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Church in Ukraine lobbied for semi-independent status, which it obtained in 1990.

But in recent years, after Russia illegally annexed Crimea and intervened in eastern Ukraine, a growing number of Ukrainian Orthodox have sought to counter what they see as Moscow's influence. Its leader, Metropolitan Onofori, is in a precarious position, especially with increasing reports of civilian massacres and other atrocities.

On February 24 (the day the war began), Onofori issued a statement describing the military campaign as a "disaster," and appealed to Putin to "stop the fratricidal war immediately," saying, "It is a repetition of the sin of Cain, who killed his brother out of envy. Such a war is unjustified." It is neither from God nor from people.

This church confirmed its role in providing assistance to civilians and presiding over the burial of Ukrainian fighters.

Some of its priests ceased to venerate Kirill when performing their religious rites, and called Onofori to separate from Moscow completely.

Patriarch Kirill (right) a close ally of Putin (Reuters)

Ukrainian Orthodox Church

The Orthodox Church in Ukraine is 3 years old.

Its foundation was a direct result of the active movement to separate from the Russian Orthodox Church and the creation of a completely independent ecclesiastical entity of Ukraine.

The recognition of the Patriarchate of the Church in Turkey angered Moscow, and the Russian Orthodox Church severed its relations with that body.

The leader of Ukraine's Orthodox Church is Metropolitan Epiphanius, 43, who has been vocal in his criticism of Putin and the war.

Shortly after the "conquest", Epiphanius issued a statement likening the Russian leader to both the Antichrist and Adolf Hitler.

"The spirit of the Antichrist is at work in the leader of Russia, and the signs of that are: pride, devotion to evil, cruelty, vain religiosity. Hitler had these qualities during World War II, and this is what Putin is today," said Epiphanius.

And this week, after visiting the devastated city of Chernihiv, Epiphanius urged the Ukrainians to continue fighting the Russian "invasion".

Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople

The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is considered one of the oldest institutions in the world.

The Orthodox Church does not have a single leader, but Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew considers its spiritual guide and "first among equals" with the other patriarchs.

Bartholomew criticized Moscow, the war, Kirill and the Russian Orthodox Church.

On the first day of the war, he condemned what he said was an "unprovoked attack by Russia on Ukraine".

Later, in an interview with CNN Turk, he defended his decision to grant autonomy to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, and warned that Russia's aggression and isolation could lead to a "new cold war."

"The whole world is against Russia. The distance between Russia and the Western world is getting wider. This means that we are entering a period of a new Cold War," Bartholomew said.

This patriarchate delivered humanitarian aid to the church in Kyiv.

On a visit to Poland in late March, Bartholomew denounced the war as a "terrible" act.