A Clash of Orthodoxies

03-06-2022Pastor's LetterFr. John Bonavitacola

Dear Friends,

From our perspective from this side of the Atlantic, we scratch our heads and wonder why in the world does Russia want to invade Ukraine? The days of empires are long gone and the idea of self-determination for peoples and countries has long been established. So why?

The conflict and now war for Ukraine is rooted in a very long history that includes the rise and fall of empires, wars and ethnic strife, political machinations, Western leaders being out played in a geopolitical chess game but also includes the history of Christianity. Sadly, in many ways religion is at the center of this conflict.

As the Roman Empire declined, it first moved its headquarters to Constantinople (Istanbul). By then Christianity was fracturing between the East and the West. Eventually the Christian world would divide into the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, with the Catholic Pope in Roman and the (Greek) Orthodox Patriarch in Constantinople. As the Roman Empire took its last breath it moved its center to Moscow. With that came the birth of the Russian Orthodox Patriarch.

The birthplace of Russian Christianity was Kiev in 988. In 2019 the Russian Orthodox Patriarch said, “Ukraine is not on the periphery of our church. We call Kiev ‘the mother of all Russian cities.’ For us Kiev is what Jerusalem is for many. Russian Orthodoxy began there, so under no circumstances can we abandon this historical and spiritual relationship. The whole unity of our Local Church is based on these spiritual ties.”

What occasioned this statement was the desire of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to be independent from Moscow. (They had been under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarch since the 17th century). Eventually in 2019 that separation did occur with the blessing of the Greek Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople. Thus, was formed the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). This did not sit well with Moscow. In the meantime, the US State Department supported the new OCU and claimed it as a victory for religious freedom. Putin saw that as American interference in the Orthodox Church and creating division in the “Russian world”.

It did cause division as parishes and clergy fought over which Orthodox Church they belonged to (namely the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarch or the new Orthodox Church of Ukraine, independent of Moscow). But it also angered Putin, who saw the whole episode as a Western plot to weaken Russia and its influence in former Russian territories. For Putin, the OCU promotes Ukrainian nationalism at the expense of relations with Russia. And so, Putin has been proclaiming since then, that Ukraine and its capital are the “mother of Russian cities” and henceforth part of Russian. It was just a matter of time for the invasion to happen.

Whether Putin believes anything about Christianity or not, he uses the Russian Orthodox Church to instill Russian nationalism and a desire for a return to the days when Russian influence encompassed most of eastern Europe and resentment towards all things Western. Unfortunately, the Russian Orthodox Patriarch is accommodating to Putin, as he sees it as a way of advancing the Russian Orthodoxy’s claim to superiority over the other Orthodox Churches, especially in Ukraine.

The Russian Orthodox Church considers itself as the heir to Rome, specifically the role of Peter. They have no time for the Catholic Pope. Despite years of attempts by Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI, no successful dialogue ever took place between the Russian Orthodox Patriarch and the Pope. While great strides where made with the Greek Orthodox Church and the Roman Church, the Russian Orthodox wanted nothing to do with furthering ecumenical relations with the Catholic world.

Which is why, when Pope Francis, went himself recently to the Russian Embassy in Rome to plead for peace in Ukraine (a very rare gesture by a Pope), his pleas feel flat.

Most people in the West have no idea of the historical and religious intricacies of this conflict or of the long and deep resentments of people in Eastern Europe who had the borders of their homelands changed repeatedly in the 20th century.

The formation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, independent of the Moscow Patriarch, or as they refer to it as an autocephalous Church, which is more the norm in the Orthodox world, caused divisions in the Orthodox world and had tremendous political implications, which have now engulfed the area in war. The Russian Orthodox view of all this is that it is a plot by the West to destroy the Orthodox Church which to them is the one thing that holds the idea of a greater Russia together. And when the US took a side in the whole Ukrainian Orthodox world, it was like sticking a finger in Putin’s eye. And he has not forgotten. If he gains control of Ukraine, he most likely will forbid the Orthodox Church of Ukraine from existing. And have no doubt, Putin is no friend of the Ukrainian Catholic Church either.

This is set up to be a long conflict. Pope John Paul II wasn't able to accomplish much with the Russian Orthodox Church, in fact, Russia was one of the very few countries he was never able to visit. But we can pray that from his seat in Heaven he can intercede to bring about the peace and unity that he worked so tirelessly for while on earth.

Love,
Fr. John B.

P.S. Just to keep it straight, the Christian world divided at the end of the first millennium into East and West or Catholic and Orthodox Churches. The Catholic Churches including the Eastern Catholic Churches are in communion with the Pope in Rome. The Orthodox Churches are overseen by a Patriarch, depending on their history and where they are located in the world.