The idea of a "holy war" in Europe may seem like a throwback to the ancient past. Nevertheless, this is essentially how the Russian Orthodox Church and its head, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, presented Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Patriarch Kirill leads prayers for Russian soldiers fighting for what he calls "true Russian independence" and repeats the Kremlin's narrative that Moscow is fighting to defend itself from sinful external enemies, and priests who oppose it are being punished. Such behavior shows not only how entwined church and state have become with Vladimir Putin's Russia, but is also important to understanding Moscow's invasion of Ukraine — and its view of how high the stakes are.
Although not formally part of it, the Russian Orthodox Church has become a de facto pillar of Putin's autocratic regime. Having been suppressed for decades under communism, the church has formed a strange bond with the descendants of the Soviet intelligence services that were once its persecutors. In return, she was well rewarded, with privileges for the highest hierarchy and the construction of thousands of new churches.
That connection goes beyond mere support for the Kremlin's actions and narrative. The role of the Moscow church as a defender of "traditional" values against the decadent West is a key feature of Putin's brand of Russian nationalism. Among its wealthy supporters are several "Orthodox oligarchs" and descendants of "White" Russians who fled abroad after the 1917 revolution.
Church leadership has tacitly accepted Putin's creation of an ideology that combines reverence for Russia's imperial, Orthodox past with reverence for the Soviet victory over fascism in World War II. This is embodied in the main temple of the Russian Armed Forces, which opened in 2020.
This thinking also represents the Ukrainian "special military operation" as sacred, because it set out to recover Kiev, the birthplace of Orthodoxy when Kievan Rus received Christianity in the 10th century. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church was controlled by Russia until 2019, when the new, independent, Orthodox Church of Ukraine broke away. It was recognized by the head of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople. The war aims to heal this rift - which Russia sees as a US-led move to undermine Orthodoxy and Putin's vision to unite Russian-speaking people outside its borders into a "Russian world".
But just as Putin's military bear hug of the Ukrainians will instead drive the two nations against each other for generations, the war is also further dividing the Orthodox churches led by Moscow and Kiev. Most parishes in Ukraine have decided to remain subordinate to Patriarch Kirill even after 2019 - about 12.000, or about a third of all parishes controlled by Moscow. Now, many clerical supporters of Moscow in Ukraine omit Patriarch Kirill from their prayers. Hundreds of Ukrainian priests who are still formally members of the Moscow church have called for the patriarch to be tried by a rare church court for blessing the war.
Just as Putin's military bear hug of Ukrainians will tear the two nations apart for generations, the war is also further dividing the Orthodox churches led by Moscow and Kiev.
Lord Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, who visited Ukraine last Sunday with other religious leaders, said there were strong arguments for expelling the Russian church from the World Council of Churches unless Patriarch Kirill condemned the killings of members of his "own flock".
While there may be moral arguments for such a move, it is unlikely to change the Kremlin's calculus. It might actually only fuel Moscow's siege mentality — and the narrative that it is waging a righteous religious war.
Translation: A. Šofranac
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