the patriarch of Russian Orthodox Church (IOR) Cyril I blessed the Russian invasion out of Ukraine and he has justified it in theological terms, a position that weakens his church both among the millions of Ukrainians who have remained loyal to it and in the rest of the Orthodox world.
“The most important consequence is that numerous congregations and priests in Ukraine have distanced themselves from the IOR,” Thomas Bremer, professor of ecumenism and Eastern Churches at the German University of Münster, told Efe by phone.
Although an overwhelming majority of Ukrainians view Russia with increasing hostility, many remain part of Ukraine Ukrainian Orthodox Churcha semi-autonomous institution ultimately reporting to the Moscow Patriarchate.
the horrors of Russian invasion have led the hierarchy of this autonomous church and many of its faithful to openly protest against Cyril’s position. “Usually, the liturgy asks for a prayer for the patriarch, which was stopped in protest,” explains Bremer.
The Metropolitan of Kyiv Onufri, who heads the Ukrainian Orthodox Church together with Moscow, has openly condemned the war, thereby contradicting his superior Kyrill. Numerous priests have publicly called for a break with the IOR.
The new Ukrainian Orthodox Church
The outrage over the role of Cyril I could contribute to consolidation Ukrainian Orthodox Church (IOU), fully independent from Moscow and recognized as a national autocephalous church by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in 2018.
The decision then caused a schism that continues to this day constantinople Y Moscowwho sees the recognition of the church, which wants to replace the IOR in Ukraine, as a political initiative that violates church rules.
According to official figures, before the war the IOU had about 7,000 parishes, while the traditional Ukrainian church in communion with Moscow had about 13,000.
“The Moscow Patriarchate has the largest number of parishes; we can hope that these parishes will pass under the jurisdiction of primacy out of national solidarity Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church‘, former Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi tells Efe.
The former Romanian foreign minister holds a doctorate in religious anthropology and comparative history of religions from the Sorbonne and is a recognized specialist in the Orthodox world.
The Romanian sociologist and theologian Ionut Mavrichi is of the same opinion. “That Patriarch Cyril he was the father who had to take care of the Ukrainian children; The fact that this fratricidal and criminal war has been theologically justified opens the door for the new Ukrainian Church to gain legitimacy in the eyes of those who hesitated,” Mavrichi told Efe.
The Weight of Tradition
For this changing of the guard to be possible, Thomas Bremer warns, the IOU must conjure up the reservations it arouses in many believers. “Onufri is perceived as an excellent pastor and non-political figure who is respected by many priests,” says Bremer.
According to the professor, the IOU and its current director, Epiphaniusdoes not have the trust of a significant segment of parishioners due to the political origins of this church, sponsored by former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who used it as an electoral ploy in the 2019 elections.
Poroshenko was then defeated by the current President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Furthermore, Bremer continues, the IOU has focused its discourse on denying the Ukrainian character of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in communion with Moscow, which has angered many Ukrainian Orthodox.
Isolation also religious
Cyril’s total focus on the Russian President Wladimir Putin has also provoked anger and uneasiness in the rest of orthodox churches although not all have openly condemned the Kremlin’s military offensive in Ukraine.
“Many churches have distanced themselves from Cyril, begging him to stop playing ‘the devil’s advocate’ and appalled not only at the war itself but also at it, in the middle of Lent and against a nation with an Orthodox majority to be,” he explains to Baconschi, the former Romanian foreign minister.
Just as the invasion of Ukraine has isolated Putin politically and economically, “we can assume that the IOR will also suffer the same fate and will be de facto isolated from the rest of the Orthodox world, at least for a while”.
With information from EFE