This could be interesting, particularly for all the “traditional family values” types who form the base of the MAGA personality cult worshipping all things Russian. From something called the Religion News Service today:
Putin has made use of the Russian Orthodox Church and its leader, Patriarch Kirill, much the way Donald Trump made use of evangelical leaders, to establish his traditionalist bona fides. And Kirill, who has made a prominent place for himself in the traditionalist international, has been only too happy to serve as Putin’s stooge and military cheerleader.
Now, on the war’s second anniversary, the members of Fordham University’s distinguished Orthodox Christian Studies Center… have issued an open letter calling on leaders of international Christian church bodies to denounce the Russian church’s support for the war. The latter include Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Pope Francis, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the Armenian Primate Karekin II, the heads of the Lutheran and Reformed world organizations, and the general secretary of the World Council of Churches.
“The sins of justification and benediction are not solitary deeds of individual bishops or idiosyncratic priests but institutional transgressions,” the letter declares, going on to say:
It is disheartening that, even two years into the conflict, there is no official Church document condemning the war comprehensively. More disappointingly, there is a lack of consistent and unequivocal denunciation of Russia’s aggression while characterizing the total support for this war from high-ranking church officials in the Russian Orthodox Church as a scandal.
The letter asks the leaders to establish an international task force to hold accountable “those bishops, priests, and laity within the Russian Orthodox Church whose statements, testimonials, sermons, communications, and fabrications have sanctioned and bestowed divine approval upon violence, war, and aggression against the people of Ukraine.”
In a telephone interview, George Demacopoulos, a theology professor who co-directs the Fordham center, was particularly critical of Kirill for promising a remission of sins for Russian soldiers who died in the line of duty in Ukraine.
“This is unbridled authoritarian aggression that is being authorized from the pulpit,” he said. “There has never been a case where a national [Orthodox] church has so unambiguously authorized the use of violence against another group of Christians, let alone another group of Orthodox Christians.”
Although Bartholomew has criticized the Russian Orthodox Church for being complicit in the war, Demacopoulos would like to see him summon his synod to issue a denunciation. “I’d also like to see something from the Vatican and Canterbury with more teeth, something that actually acknowledges that the Russian church has lost its way, that the Moscow patriarchate has failed in its responsibility and the Ukrainians are in the right,” he said. “Something from the World Council of Churches would be nice too. They’ve totally skirted it.”
While church leaders are often enough critical of the actions of governments, they tend to shy away from calling out the spiritual enablers. It’s as if they think it’s bad ecumenical manners to tell other Christian leaders they’re in the wrong.
The open letter is a powerful statement from the non-Russian Orthodox community and an urgent call to action for all Christian leaders — well worth reading in its entirety, but here are a couple more excerpts:
It is not enough to condemn the war in Ukraine. It is not enough to call for a ceasefire and, more generally, to call for peace. There is now a need to shine light on the true cause of the war; there is a need to call out who unleashed it to evaluate the criminal actions for what they are.
Not a single bishop in the Russian Federation has preached peace during the past two years of this war, but many of them pray and preach about the victory of Russia over Ukraine. What a shame for the most prominent Orthodox Church in the modern world. And the rest of the institutional Christian world is remaining silent. Shall we say that we are at the point when silence becomes acceptance?
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A Church that only outwardly remains “Christian” but has lost its evangelical spirit cannot be a sister to those Churches and communities that follow the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The endeavors elucidated above transcend a mere conflict with the Russian Orthodox Church. Rather, they embody a dedicated striving on its behalf—for the Church, for the community of believers guided by the Holy Spirit and the Gospel, liberated from deceptive political theology and detrimental religious ideology. Progressing resolutely toward genuine peace requires the fearless proclamation of truth, regardless of the inherent challenges it may pose.
You are summoned to denounce injustices, advocate for repentance and atonement, and actively seek transformative change within the temporal realm. We ask you, our pastors, to courageously proclaim the inconvenient yet profound truth.
Let’s hope this gets some serious traction!