Russian Orthodoxy’s tragedy
By Rod Dreher, The American Conservative
[…] no situation quite like the one emerging has ever happened in the history of the Orthodox Church. As an Orthodox Christian, I can tell you that the tragedy playing out here is tectonic. Patriarch Kyrill and Vladimir Putin are going to go down as the Russian leaders who lost Ukraine, politically and religiously. The only way Kyrill could possibly save Church unity at this point — if it’s even achievable — is to effectively martyr himself by publicly and unambiguously denouncing the war. Putin would do away with him somehow — either professionally or literally by martyring him — but he might have a chance at saving the unity of the Church. If not, though, Ukraine, the birthplace in the year 988 of Russian Orthodoxy, will be lost to Russia forever.
And how can you blame the Ukrainian Orthodox? If I were one, I would feel exactly the same way, especially if I had been loyal to the Moscow Patriarchate all these years, even in the face of the recent schism with the EP’s project. As an Orthodox Christian who is not under the jurisdiction of Moscow, but who loves Russian Orthodoxy, and who has been spiritually formed and nourished by the Russian Orthodox tradition, which has been one of God’s greatest gifts to me, I grieve this deeply. If you, reader, have been wondering about joining the Orthodox Church (Russian or otherwise), I beg you, do not let this scandal cause you doubt or hesitation. Yes, it damages our witness, but this too shall pass. And anyway, you cannot blame all the world’s Orthodox churches — Greeks, Arabs, Romanians, and the rest — for what Moscow does; you can’t even blame all Russian Orthodox, as there is a petition going around in which over 200 Russian Orthodox priests of the Moscow Patriarchate have publicly protested the war. Still, I recognize the scandal here, and I hate it.
The worst cost of Putin’s war is the loss of human life. But this comes next. This is fratricide, and by not openly condemning it, the Patriarch appears to bless it. For years some of my Orthodox friends in Moscow have been complaining that the Church is far too close to the State, and has compromised its independence. If true, we now see the true cost of that deal. What a long, painful Lent for the Orthodox Church in Russia and Ukraine!
[Editor’s note: To clarify, this article has not been posted because of an endorsement to consider joining the Orthodox church, but to illustrate the disastrous effects of the war on an important branch of the worldwide Christian church.]
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