Moscow Orthodox Patriarchate: Weaponized Church Threatens Ukraine

Just before Christmas, the Ukrainian government added Orthodox patriarch Kirill of Moscow to its “most wanted” list, its latest move against the Moscow Patriarchate and its affiliated Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). Ignoring the larger church–state context, Tucker Carlson and other conservative opponents of military aid to Ukraine have been quick to accuse Kyiv of persecuting Christians. Yet, Ukraine has the right to defend itself from Russia’s aggression, and that should include defending itself from a weaponized church.

Kyiv’s security services had already arrested as “clerical spies” 68 priests and Metropolitan Pavel of the UOC. The government is moving to confiscate the UOC’s church within the millennium-old national-heritage site inside Kyiv, known as Pecherska Lavra, and to ban the UOC altogether. Though these measures are extreme, Patriarch Kirill is far from an innocent bystander of Putin’s war, and the Russian Orthodox Church has been long co-opted by the Russian state.

About the Author

Nina Shea

Nina Shea is director of Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom and author of the new report “Ten Persecuted Catholic Bishops in China”

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Just before Christmas, the Ukrainian government added Orthodox patriarch Kirill of Moscow to its “most wanted” list, its latest move against the Moscow Patriarchate and its affiliated Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). Ignoring the larger church–state context, Tucker Carlson and other conservative opponents of military aid to Ukraine have been quick to accuse Kyiv of persecuting Christians. Yet, Ukraine has the right to defend itself from Russia’s aggression, and that should include defending itself from a weaponized church.

Kyiv’s security services had already arrested as “clerical spies” 68 priests and Metropolitan Pavel of the UOC. The government is moving to confiscate the UOC’s church within the millennium-old national-heritage site inside Kyiv, known as Pecherska Lavra, and to ban the UOC altogether. Though these measures are extreme, Patriarch Kirill is far from an innocent bystander of Putin’s war, and the Russian Orthodox Church has been long co-opted by the Russian state.