Far From All Russian Orthodox Priests Support Putin’s War in Ukraine, ‘Cherta’ Investigation Finds

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Mar.17 – While Moscow Patriarch Kirill’s support for Putin’s aggressive war in Ukraine undoubtedly defines the position of most of the ROC MP’s priests, far from all of the religious leaders of the Russian people take that line and many are speaking out against the war, despite the risks, according to an investigation by the Cherta portal.

            Just how many are breaking with the patriarch and the Kremlin on the war is unknown, but the fact that an apparently growing number of parish priests are following the principles of the faith rather than the dictates of the Patriarchate and the Kremlin is a hopeful sign both for the future of the church and the future of Russia (cherta.media/story/antivoennye-svyashhenniki/).

            The news service cites the words of Russian journalist Kseniya Luchenko, who apparently for her work on dissidents in the church has just been sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison (svoboda.org/a/zhurnalistku-luchenko-prigovorili-k-vosjmi-godam-kolonii-zaochno/33714192.html).

            She says that many Russian Orthodox Church priests reject the position of Kirill and the Kremlin on the war and hold services privately “for especially trusted members of their congregations and pray for peace.” Sometimes these services take place in private apartments because young people don’t want to go churches known to support the war.

            Father Oleg, an anti-war priest who fled to Georgia in 2022, says that those priests who carry out such services have an overwhelmingly loyal audience but that there is always the risk that someone will turn them in, an action which he said “in general, to put it mildly is neither Christian nor human.”

            He says that he and his fellows who have been forced abroad make use of telegram channels to reach those who need their message of peace rather than war, although the Putin regime is working hard to block these means and there may be fewer opportunities in the future at least for a time.

            Dozens of ROC MP priests have left the priesthood or fled abroad since 2022, Luchenko says. To help them, several senior priests now in emigration have set up an organization called “Peace for All.” The group has helped more than 90 priests and their families now in emigration, but perhaps its most important contribution is providing a chance for them to continue to serve.

            The project publishes their homilies and prayers against the war, reaching the large number of Russians who have stopped going to church since 2022 because of the extreme militarism that the Moscow Patriarchate has imposed on parishes whose priests it is in a position to dictate to without fear of dissent

            Father Oleg sees those priests speaking out against the war both in Russia and in the diaspora as playing “a big role,” because by opposing the war against the wishes of the patriarchate they are offering an alternative and truer image of what the church should believe and how it should be organized.

            Calling for peace is a Christian duty, he says; but insisting that the church is a confederation of parishes each with its own interests rather than part of some power vertical of the patriarchate or the president is important too. If people recognize that, then there may be hope for the revival of a truer Orthodoxy in Russia at some point in the future.