A most remarkable feature of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine has been the conduct of Kirill, Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, not only passively accepting the invasion of Ukraine, but actively justifying it. Of course we don’t need reminding how religions have played important roles in wars throughout history. During the Great Wars of Europe, Chaplains on all sides were trying to convince their troops that their war were justified; indeed there are treatises written about Just Wars. Nor has Christianity a monopoly in this.
Earlier I mentioned the letter to The Times by Dr Rowan Williams, the past Archbishop of Canterbury (page 6). What deeply hurt and upset Rowan Williams, a well known scholar and a keen Russophile, is the complicity of Patriarch Kirill with Putin’s actions of aggression. A shame and embarrassment shared by most other churches.
To understand the behaviour of her leaders we need to see how the Russian Orthodox Church and, importantly, the Patriarch and hierarchy of the church financially benefit from Putin’s Russia. They were not merely given billions to rebuild churches, but also given lucrative business opportunities. Condemning Russian aggression would cut off the flow of material benefits to the church, as well as to Patriarch Kirill personally. (His luxurious Breguet watch costing tens of thousands of dollars was so embarrassing to the Church that they tried to airbrush it off a photograph of him. The hilarious results may be seen on https://www.rferl.org/a/ russian_patriarch_watch_disappearing_ac t/24539007.html)
On the other hand, it should also be noted that Patriarch Kirill has publicly justified his stance from a moral standpoint, stating (e.g. in a letter to the World Council of Churches) that the West has, in addition to menacingly amassing weapons near Russian borders, been instigating Ukrainians to be anti-Russian; in his view Russian speakers in the eastern parts of Ukraine are seriously discriminated against. ‘Justice for Russia and Russian speaking people’ seems to be his justification of the invasion.
He also sees himself as one of the three world leaders of Christianity, the other two being Pope Francis and the Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople (who had recognised the independence of the Ukrainian Church) . Nevertheless, the fact is that Kirill now finds himself condemned for his stance and isolated in the world-wide church. Moreover, hundreds of his own (Russian Orthodox) priests around the world are condemning his stance on the invasion of Ukraine; that is a challenge to his authority from his own people.
Vladimir Putin wants to restore Russia to what he sees as its former glory, creating “Holy Russia”, which for him must apparently include the birthplace of the Russian Orthodox Church. He wants that to be his legacy, no matter how many thousands of Ukrainian and Russian lives are sacrificed in its pursuit.
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