I’ve blogged three times about the Russian Orthodox Church’s support of Putin’s War in Ukraine and his vision for Russian World, which means Greater Russia or the restoration of the medieval Russian Empire, which included Ukraine and much of the rest of Eastern Europe (“Russian World . . . Part 1;” “Russian World . . . Part 2;” “Is Putin a ‘Defender of Christianity . . .“). It has a lot to do with the history of Christianity. What a 180 degree flip from the 70 years of atheistic communism of the Soviet Union!
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has a tight relationship with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. He is Patriarch Kirill of Moscow (real name Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyaev). The white-bearded Kirill calls Putin’s leadership “a miracle of God.”
Russian soldiers are committing so many atrocities in the Ukraine war, which has been going on for only less than seven weeks now. And these atrocities likely will be prosecuted as war crimes at tribunals, possibility the International Criminal Court at The Hague, but maybe in other venues as well. Putin may be charged, but what about Kirill?
Roger Boyes has an article today in The Times in the UK entitled “Putin sees Ukraine war as a spiritual mission.” Boyes begins,
“Atrocities in war occur when soldiers have a sense of impunity, when they feel unobserved, when they are heady with power–and sometimes when they are convinced that they have God, any god, on their side. The alarm bells should have sounded when Kirill, the Moscow patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, prayed for victory in the ‘holy war’ against Ukraine. That was the moment when it should have been clear to all that the conflict was not about national state interests, the sort that can be ended with conventional diplomacy, but rather a civilisational war aimed at the elimination of Ukrainian national identity.
. . . . . . . .
“Kirill has essentially become part of Putin’s armoury. At a sermon a few days ago in the Main Cathedral of the Armed Forces in Moscow, Kirill sought to rally the troops and stiffen their fighting spirit. At another ceremony the patriarch, once a KGB officer [like Putin], handed an icon to the head of Russia’s national guard which is fighting alongside Putin’s army in Ukraine. The icon depicts the appearance of the Virgin Mary to Russian soldiers during the First World War. For Kirill, Ukraine is a battlefield against western influence and decadence. And it is part of a campaign to bring Ukrainian bishops back under his control.”
However, a letter signed by about 200 Russian Orthodox Church clerics and addressed to Kirill on March 1st called for the war to be stopped. It further states, “The life of every person is a priceless and unique gift of God, and therefore we wish the return of all soldiers.” Apparently, the same letter has now been augmented and republished yesterday to include another hundred clerical signatures and accuse Patriarch Kirill of “moral crimes.” But this number still represents a very small minority of the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church, which includes over 40,000 clerics in 192 dioceses throughout all of Russia.
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