While Moscow denounced, Wednesday March 9, the new sanctions taken the day before by the United States, the Russian offensive in Ukraine also invites itself on the ground of religion. From Orthodox divisions to condemnations from Saint Peter’s Square, the correspondents’ club wonders how the Christian world is positioning itself on the war in Ukraine.
A a little more open fracture in the orthodox worldand
There are 14 autocephalous Orthodox Churches in the world, that is to say autonomous in their decisions. They have more than 240 million followers, including a large part of the 44 million Ukrainians. The majority of these Churches depend on the Patriarch of Constantinople, the equivalent of the Catholic Pope, but this Patriarchate is opposed to that of Moscow. The war in Ukraine further fractures this Orthodox world, already divided between those who support Vladimir Putin and those who condemn him.
You should know that a very large Greek community has lived in Ukraine for centuries. The head of the Greek Orthodox Church assured his Ukrainian counterpart of his full solidarity and announced substantial aid to deal with the wave of refugees. But it took until the 5th day of the war for him to take a clear position when the Greek government immediately condemned the Russian aggression because “Orthodox bombs kill Orthodox civilians”. If this reaction was long overdue, it is on the one hand because there are those members of the clergy, very isolated but all the same very virulent who have come out in favor of Moscow. Among the Orthodox, each pope is independent. On the other hand because there is a traditional alliance between Athens and Moscow for historical reasons, and precisely religious because the two countries are Orthodox. Hence the importance of the position of the Greek Orthodox Church which put an end to all dissenting voices. A first, it should be noted.
Moreover, the problem of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is complicated. She has only been independent for four years. It was the Patriarch of Constantinople who gave it this independence not recognized by Moscow on which it previously depended. However, the Orthodox Church of Russia has long since adopted the geopolitical views of Vladimir Putin, who refuses all religious independence to the former Soviet republics. Athens had to choose between the Patriarchate of Moscow and that of Kiev. She hesitated but chose Kiev in the end. The other Orthodox Churches will not necessarily do the same because all of them swing between the patriarchates of Moscow and Constantinople. The Bulgarian Church is divided between pro and anti-Russian. Serbia seems pro-Russian. And the Orthodox Churches of Romania, Montenegro, Alexandria in Africa, as well as that of the Greeks of the American diaspora have come out in favor of Kiev. The Patriarchate of Antioch for political reasons leans towards Moscow. As for Moldova, it depends on Moscow and does not really have a say.
Pope Francis wants to be the peacemaker
On the Catholic side, Pope Francis and Vatican diplomacy have been at work since the beginning of the Russian invasion. The head of the Catholic Church has asserted his position firmly in recent days. In his last public interventions, the pope clearly took sides with strong terms. On Sunday, in Saint Peter’s Square, François thus challenged the semantics used on the Russian side to talk about the conflict, which is not a simple “military operation”he says but well “a war that sows death” without ever mentioning the Russian president. The pope implores an end to armed attacks and respect for international law. A strong condemnation of what the head of the Catholic Church calls madness that causes “rivers of blood and tears” and he even tweets messages in Russian and Ukrainian. It’s a first.
While denouncing, Francis supports the Ukrainian people. A collection was organized within the Vatican itself on Monday. Help from the sovereign pontiff is also at stake on the diplomatic level. Indeed, with the cap of the Head of State also, François multiplies the gestures towards Ukraine and Russia while trying to balance the exchanges. A sign that the conflict has become a priority for a pope who is determined to act, he even gets involved in the first person. This is totally unusual in Vatican diplomatic practices, but the day after the Russian invasion. Francis went to the Russian Embassy, 500m from the Vatican in Rome. Officially “to express concern” but also, it is said, to offer its mediation. The following day, the Ukrainian president spoke to the pope on the phone to give him his support. Tuesday, Cardinal Parolin, number 2 of the Vatican, calls the head of Russian diplomacy Sergei Lavrov and insists on the need to negotiate and ceasefire.
François tries to play the peacemaker only in this conflict. The pope’s diplomacy has already proven itself in the past. So he tries it with a Vladimir Putin whom he knows well, he has already received him three times here at the Vatican. Papal diplomacy also takes place on the ground. the head of the Catholic Church sent two emissaries in his name, to Hungary and to the Polish border. Two cardinals who hope to go to the Ukrainian side for the next few hours. The Holy See assures us that it is prepared to do anything to put itself at the service of peace.