Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine is a turning point in European history, comparable to the beginning of both world wars. Therefore, it is completely understandable that theologians and ordinary believers would respond to it, first, with gestures of solidarity with the victims of the aggression, and second, with condemnation of the aggressors and those who…
Continue readingA Church at War: Heresies, History, and a Russian Orthodoxy Otherwise
by Patrick Lally Michelson Much of the criticism currently directed at the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church for supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine is organized around the idea that the Moscow Patriarchate is ideologically compromised and theologically unsound. With few exceptions, scholars, journalists, and opinion writers condemn leaders of the Russian Church as apologists…
Continue readingA Statement of Solidarity with the Orthodox Declaration on the “Russian World” (Russkii Mir) Teaching, and against Christian Nationalism and New Totalitarianism
This statement was originally posted at Religion in Praxis and is reposted here with permission. Also available in Russian and Ukrainian (pdf). Following the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation in February 2022, Orthodox voices have thoroughly rebutted the use of the “Russian World” (russkii mir) teaching, which claims that there is an organically…
Continue readingUkrainian Nationhood, “Russkii Mir,” and the Abuse of History
by Thomas Bremer Many observers of the current war in Ukraine who try to analyze its deeper reasons refer to the idea of a “Russian World,” “Russkii Mir.” This idea, they claim, is the key concept behind the Russian aggression, and shows the tight connection between religion and politics in Russia. A glance at the…
Continue readingA Declaration on the “Russian World” (Russkii mir) Teaching
“For the peace of the whole world, for the stability of the holy churches of God, and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord.” (Divine Liturgy) This text is also available in pdf format in Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, and Ukrainian, Croatian, Estonian, Hungarian, Portuguese, and…
Continue readingAn Orthodox Christian Standing with Ukraine
Personal Reflections on Russia’s War on Ukraine
by Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis | български | ქართული | ελληνικά | Română | Русский | Српски Few, if any, would go so far as to claim that Patriarch Kirill, as head of the Orthodox Church in Russia (or “the Russias,” as he likes to say), could be charged with crimes against humanity or war crimes…
Continue readingThe End of Post-Soviet Religion
Russian Orthodoxy as a National Church
by Kristina Stoeckl | ελληνικά | ру́сский As of 4 July 2020, the amendment to the Russian Constitution—first proposed by President Vladimir Putin in January, smoothly approved by the State Duma and Constitutional Court in March, and confirmed in a nationwide referendum with 78,56 per cent of votes—has taken effect. As widely reported, the main…
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