Paul Goble
Staunton, Nov. 30 – Especially since Putin began his full-scale military operation against Ukraine last year, Atle Staalesen says, “the Russian Orthodox Church has played a key role in providing moral and spiritual legitimacy and support to Putin and his accomplices;” and the Kremlin leader is grateful.
Speaking via video to the Russian National Council, Putin praised the church for its support of the war, noting the sacrifices Orthodox clergy have made and continue to make in the course of the fighting, with more than 30 of its priests dying in combat, the editor of The Barents Observer reports (thebarentsobserver.com/en/node/12116).
Kirill thanked Putin for his expression of gratitude and said that there is now a “common understanding” between church and state as far as the Russian world is concerned. In earlier remarks, the church leader said that up to 25 priests are working in the war zone at any given time, serving for two to four weeks before returning to Russia.
As Staalesen points out, this represents the coming to fruition of longstanding efforts by the church to integrate with the military. In 2009, the patriarchate decided to develop a military clergy; and then in 2013, the year before the Crimean Anschluss, the Holy Synod formally adopted regulations governing a military priesthood.
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