Vladimir Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church

The invasion by Russia on its neighbor, the Ukraine, has shocked the world, to say the least. Ordered by President Vladimir Putin, the invasion has demonstrated that he has little or no regard for human life. The Russian military has bombed, burned, and barraged Ukrainian cities killing thousands of Ukraine soldiers and civilians, including children. Most of the world has condemned the attack and some have called for a war crimes tribunal against Putin and his military leaders. We addressed some of this issue in a previous blog and suggested points for prayer.

 Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has debated the war several times. However, once again the UN has demonstrated its intrinsic weakness because Russia, along with the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and China, has a permanent seat on that body. Any one of those permanent UNSC members can veto any resolution or call to action proposed for a vote, even if it is otherwise unanimously agreed upon by all the other members. So all the UN can do is talk while Russia continues its assault (though we must note that at the time of this writing the Ukrainians are still fighting back and even pushing the Russians out of some areas).

Most of that information is well known to most Americans. But what most people don’t know is the part played in this crisis by the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). In the 19^th century, and going back about 900 years, the ROC was the official state religion of Russia and its ruling Czars. It even regarded itself as the only true Christian church in the world and that all others, including other Eastern Orthodox bodies, were regarded as false.

 During the more than 70 year period of atheistic communist rule, the ROC, like most other faiths, was suppressed. However, soon after the 1990s fall of communism the ROC regained its pre-communist status as the predominant religious group in the country. When Vladimir Putin attained his power as the highest ruling oligarch he made a deal of sorts with the ROC (in which Putin claims membership). He pledged that, if the ROC would not contend with his policies, no matter how abominable they may be, he would give it an even greater favored place in Russian society while harassing other churches and religions.

 In March, the Orthodox Public Affairs Committee (OPAC), an international committee of representatives of the seven world Orthodox bodies, accused the ROC leadership of complicity in the attack on Ukraine. They called for sanctions to be levied against the leaders of the ROC, who they call out by name, by fellow Orthodox groups and other Christian churches.

 Below is the text of that statement from the OPAC website https://mailchi.mp/orthodoxpac.org/6fpcyc6tpc?e=6a96473e99 .

 Washington, DC – The Orthodox Public Affairs Committee (OPAC) believes that the Russian People and the Russian Orthodox Church do not bear responsibility for the barbaric attacks on Ukraine. It lies squarely on their leadership. Patriarch Kirill, his possible successor, Metropolitan Tikhon of Pskov, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokomansk, who heads the Public Relations wing of the Moscow Patriarchate; the Department of External Church Relations (DECR),  and the Rev. Nikolai Balashov, a priest of the DECR and long-time accomplice to Kirill, are all complicit in not only supporting the invasion of Ukraine, but also in perpetuating the lies of the government against their own people.

Rather than standing up to Putin and his cronies, they are as guilty as the rest. They have abandoned the Orthodox People of Ukraine who make up 1/3 of their flock, and are as blameworthy for the deaths of innocent children and civilians as the soldiers acting on orders from the Kremlin. The idea that this invasion was for the benefit of the Ukrainian People would be laughable, if it were not matched by such horrific war crimes.

As OPAC, we cannot stand by and listen to the lies coming out of these so called “shepherds” of the Church of Russia, who are acting more like wolves in sheep’s clothing. Like all the other oligarchs and government officials in Russia,  these Clerics must be sanctioned now and be held accountable for their betrayal of the Orthodox Faith, and their complicity in this unjust and bloodcurdling war.