April 20, 2022 - 5:43pm
“We have entered into a struggle that has not a physical, but a metaphysical significance”, Patriarch Kirill, said early last month.
Kirill, ‘Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus’, was speaking of Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine on 24 February this year — a decision which has led to thousands of civilian deaths. Until recently, most of these civilians would have been members of Kirill’s own flock: nearly 80% of Ukrainians are Orthodox Christians, and, until 2019, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was part of the Moscow Patriarchate. Many Orthodox churches in Ukraine still remain under it.
The declining political influence of Moscow on Ukraine following the fall of the Soviet Union was not reflected by its influence in the religious sphere: since 1991, the percentage of Ukrainian citizens who consider themselves Orthodox has roughly doubled. In recent years, however, the Moscow Patriarchate appears to have become more beholden to the ever-growing power of the state (a state which has long held clear revanchist intentions towards their neighbour). The enthralment of Patriarch Kirill to President Putin has left many of the Orthodox devout in Ukraine with a shepherd apparently justifying the torture of his flock.
Putin has unswervingly painted his invasion of Ukraine as a defence of traditional religious and cultural values, of the re-unity of ‘Greater Rus’, East versus West, of conservative virtue eradicating a degeneracy spreading across its borders. Ukrainian political and military leadership can be painted as either Nazi barbarians or American-influenced cultural liberals depending on the whims of the day. The picture he has painted is of moral rot setting in across the border, destabilising and decadent, and the Russian Orthodox Church has been keen to help. That Kirill is willing to lend theological legitimacy to the secular concerns of the state has strengthened the justifications for the war.
“Today there is a test for the loyalty to this new world order, a kind of pass to that ‘happy’ world, the world of excess consumption, the world of false ‘freedom”, Patriarch Kirill argued in a recent homily. “Do you know what this test is? The test is very simple and at the same time terrible — it is the gay pride parade.”
To maintain that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is — if not a Holy War, then one justified by its church — becomes particularly galling in the face of grotesque atrocities discovered during Russian withdrawals.
Join the discussion
Join like minded readers that support our journalism by becoming a paid subscriber
To join the discussion in the comments, become a paid subscriber.
Join like minded readers that support our journalism, read unlimited articles and enjoy other subscriber-only benefits.
Subscribe“Paltering” is a word which may be defined as “using facts to impart a lie”. So, when Kiril says gay pride is a degeneracy, he’s stating a fact; where he’s lying is in the implication that invasion, destruction, massacre and war crimes are legitimate solutions.
Thanks, that’s a useful word, and new to me
My understanding is that the Tsar was the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and it preached obedience to his authority. So, this is just the Russian Orthodox Church doing what it has always done, just updated for the modern Tsar. It would be a lot more surprising if the Russian Patriarch was being critical, never been part of that job.
Just finished Day of the Oprichnik. This guy fits right in as Babya, the top Oprichnik.
Getting back to the original source, Jesus Christ taught, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” He did not say Blessed are the warmongers.