Fight against "godless" West: That's why Putin can count on the support of the Russian church in the Ukraine war

Created: 11/23/2022, 12:27 p.m

By: Stephanie Munk

Russian President Vladimir Putin at a church service in Moscow around spring 2022. © IMAGO/Sergey Fadeichev

In the Ukraine war, Putin can count on the support of the Russian Orthodox Church.

An expert explains to merkur.de how the war is religiously justified.

Munich/Berlin - It sounds paradoxical, but the Russian Orthodox Church does not act as a critic, but as a supporter of the Ukraine war.

Church leader Cyril I blesses tanks and soldiers who go to war and denies that Ukraine is an independent state.

He tirelessly emphasizes unity with Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

His attitude caused international outrage.

It is already subject to sanctions in several countries.

Theologian and scientist Dr.

Regina Elsner from the Center for East European and International Studies (ZOiS) in Berlin is an expert in the field of the Russian Orthodox Church.

In an interview with

from IPPEN.MEDIA, she describes the ideology behind the attitude of the Russian Orthodox Churches to the Ukraine war.

According to the theologian, it is also seen as a fight against the godless and decadent West.

Theologian Regina Elsner did her doctorate on the relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and modernity and has been a research associate at the Center for East European and International Studies in Berlin since 2018.

© Private

In the Christian faith, violence is actually a taboo, the commandment to love one's neighbor applies.

Apparently, the Russian Orthodox Church underpins the Ukraine war ideologically.

How does she justify this? 

The Russian Orthodox Church is also fundamentally opposed to war.

Like the Western Churches, however, it knows the need to defend itself, even by force of arms in an emergency.

Russia's military action in Ukraine therefore justifies it as a defense.

In the minds of the Russian Orthodox Church, the people of Ukraine are part of Russian civilization.

New national borders are virtually irrelevant.

Ukraine's pro-European developments are therefore a threat because they would force this part of Russian civilization to adopt foreign values.

The Russian Orthodox Church has long described the “West” as decadent and dangerous.

For them, liberal and secular values ​​mean an attack on traditional cultures and a rejection of Christianity.

According to this view, Russia is the last stop against this threat, and on the territory of Ukraine Russia must now use armed force to save its own civilization from annihilation.

In the statements of the church leadership it is therefore repeatedly emphasized that it is not Russia that is bringing about the annihilation and destruction, but the West.

One prays for peace, for reconciliation of fellow believers and for an end to the threat of external enemies.

What is the role of Patriarch Cyril I?

How has he positioned himself in the Ukraine war so far and with what arguments?

Patriarch Cyril was already an important person in the church leadership in the Soviet Union as head of the church's foreign office.

Accordingly, he was already well networked with the political elite at that time.

He has been patriarch since 2009.

However, he had previously worked closely with Putin's government and initiated numerous cooperation agreements between state and church.

In his sermons and greetings, Kyrill unfailingly supports the government's policies, including during the Ukraine war.

He has also centralized the church internally to such an extent that no opposition is to be expected, at least among the bishops.

Priests are sanctioned in the event of public criticism.

also read

Politicians on Russian State TV: Ukrainian population must “freeze to death and rot”

"Were under great pressure": Russian recruits refuse to do military service - and are imprisoned by Putin's army

Allies: Patriarch Kirill I, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, and Vladimir Putin.

© Mikhail Metzel/Imago

Is there any resistance to the Ukraine war at all within the Russian Orthodox Churches?

Yes, there is definitely resistance to the war, especially among priests and believers, and above all to the religious justification of the war.

However, this group is very small and virtually invisible due to the many repressions.

In March there was an open letter from almost 300 priests asking the patriarch for a clear stance against the war.

All these priests have received warnings from their bishops or from security agencies.

Few have been publicly punished, but that is enough as a deterrent.

Most Orthodox priests have families and are completely dependent on their parish work, making them easy to blackmail.

Altogether there are almost 39,000 priests in Russia, so it is only a very small group that has appeared in public so far.

Many try to simply be there for their communities.

How are church and government intertwined in Russia?

Church and state are officially separate.

The church describes itself as apolitical, but its extremely conservative and traditionalist view of private and social life is a clear support of authoritarian politics.

In the new version of the Russian constitution, the church was able to push through three of its important concerns: the mention of God, the definition of marriage as the union between man and woman, and the importance of the Russian ethnic group for Russia.

What role does the church and faith in general play for Russians, are there differences to Germany?

According to statistics, 70 percent of the population say they are Orthodox.

However, only a few people regularly go to church, receive sacraments or pray - this is very similar to Germany.

So it's more of a cultural identification than a deep religiosity.

That's why mixing politics with orthodox arguments works so well: If one believes in the great orthodox Russia, the argumentation of defense against the danger from the West catches on better than when it comes to Christian messages of charity.

Destroyed by Russian bombs: a church in the Ukrainian region of Donetsk.

© Alexey Kudenko/Imago

How does the Ukrainian Orthodox Church react to the attitude in Moscow?

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church historically belongs to the Patriarchate of Moscow and was granted extensive autonomy from Moscow after Ukraine's independence in 1991.

Since February 2022, she has distanced herself very clearly from Moscow.

Almost across the board, Patriarch Cyril is no longer mentioned as head of the church in the service and the church leadership is no longer bound by the instructions from Moscow.

The church prays for the Ukrainian army and for peace in Ukraine, and the congregations are providing intensive humanitarian assistance across the country.

The fact that Moscow supports the war and that the suffering of the Ukrainian believers, the church demolitions and the crimes of the Russian army are kept secret, tears a deep ditch at the Russian Orthodox Church.

The interview was conducted by Stephanie Munk.