by Tim Kelleher
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church has maintained, at best, an unacceptable neutrality in Russia’s ongoing war on Ukraine.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, during a visit to the St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral in Kronshtadt, Russia, July 30, 2017.
Sputnik/Alexei Nikolsky/Kremlin via Reuters
Let us be clear, what Vladimir Putin has declared isn’t a just war, it’s just war. All the more reason, therefore, for the one person uniquely positioned to be a lever for peace, and leaven of justice, to act. That person is Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, and his silence to date is a scandal.
The role of the patriarch in Putin’s architecture of aggression is critical. For Westerners long accustomed to separation of church and state, the Russian arrangement can seem an anachronous quirk. It’s not.
About the Author
Tim Kelleher is an actor, a writer, a director, and a deacon in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
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Let us be clear, what Vladimir Putin has declared isn’t a just war, it’s just war. All the more reason, therefore, for the one person uniquely positioned to be a lever for peace, and leaven of justice, to act. That person is Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, and his silence to date is a scandal.
The role of the patriarch in Putin’s architecture of aggression is critical. For Westerners long accustomed to separation of church and state, the Russian arrangement can seem an anachronous quirk. It’s not.
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About the Author
Tim Kelleher is an actor, a writer, a director, and a deacon in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
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