Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew made a new strong condemnation of the war in Ukraine in his speech on December 9, 2022, at the opening of an international conference in Abu Dhabi. The Patriarch emphasized that the ongoing war in Ukraine has led to the deaths of thousands of people, Ukrainians and Russians, while the damage to infrastructure on the territory of Ukraine is incalculable.
This is reported by fosfanariou.gr.
In his extensive speech to dignitaries from all over the world, the Archbishop of Constantinople referred to the historical spiritual ties of Kyivan Rus with the Ecumenical Patriarchate, from which it adopted Christianity in the 10th century, and to Russian attempts to undermine the Patriarchal Church of Constantinople and its role in the Orthodox world. This has been pursued since the fall of Constantinople and especially since the 19th century, when, in combination with the doctrine of Pan-Slavism, Russia instrumentalized religious feelings to achieve political and military goals. This attitude, aimed at alienating Slavic believers from their Mother Church and promoting Moscow as the “Third Rome”, led to the fact that the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1872 condemned it as a heresy, a heresy of ethno-racism (ethnophiletism), which was in blatant contradiction with the universal character of the Gospel message and with the ancient tradition of organization and management of the Church.
This heresy of ethno-racism, the means of which is pan-Slavism and the division of the patriarchate’s flock, the patriarch emphasized, was useful for Moscow’s goals and the cause of enmity between Christians of the same faith in the Balkans, which manifested itself during the Balkan wars and atrocities that took place at the beginning of the 20th century.
In his speech, the patriarch mentioned the marginalization of religion during the Soviet Union and its re-instrumentation in the years after its fall. According to him, the Russian Orthodox Church took the side of Vladimir Putin, especially after the election of Patriarch Kirill in 2009.
“He takes an active part in the promotion of the ideology of ‘Russian world’, according to which language and religion allow defining a single whole, which includes Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, as well as other territories of the former Soviet Union and the diaspora. Moscow (both political power and religious) will be the center of this world, whose mission will be to fight against the decadent values of the West. This ideology is an instrument of legitimation of Russian expansionism and the basis of its Eurasian strategy. The connection with the past of ethno-racism and the present of the ‘Russian world’ is obvious. Thus, faith becomes the backbone of the Putin regime’s ideology,” Patriarch Bartholomew emphasized.
Then the Ecumenical Patriarch mentioned the refusal of the Russian Church to participate in the Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church held in Crete in 2016, as well as the deterioration of relations after the Ecumenical Patriarchate granted autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in 2019. He added that the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 increased polarization.
“Patriarch Kirill’s ambiguous position on the war and his support for President Putin’s policies have drawn sharp criticism in the Orthodox world and beyond. The Ukrainian Orthodox, who decided to remain under the Russian Church, also expressed their disapproval.
This is how the split in the Orthodox world deepens and widens. Some Churches agree with the Ecumenical Patriarchate, others, whose countries are too dependent on Russia, blindly support the Moscow Patriarchate, while others prefer to maintain tacit consent. Meanwhile, the Russian Church uses state means to consolidate its influence on the canonical territory of other Churches, contrary to the most elementary rules of the church organization of Orthodoxy. Its intervention in Africa is presented as punitive action against the Patriarchate of Alexandria for recognizing the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. It is obvious that in these conditions the peace-making role of the Church becomes very difficult.”
The Primate of the Ecumenical Patriarchate noted that all of the above, in addition to the importance for church life, testifies to the growing role of the religious factor in the main global problems.
“Ideologies weaken one by one. The end of Communism left a great void in the whole part of the world that lived under its rule, and in other nations who placed their hopes in it. The crisis of globalization and liberalism also creates deep frustrations and dangerous images. In this landscape of collapsing materialistic ideologies, spirituality is making a powerful comeback. However, this return can be dangerous if it is not expressed according to approaches that incorporate the wisdom of religious traditions drawn from the legacy of the great civilizations of the past.
The Ecumenical Patriarch emphasized that the source of problems is the instrumentalization of religion by people who often do not have true faith. He noted that the Russian Orthodox are a great asset for Orthodoxy and for the whole world.
“Russian Orthodoxy had a huge spiritual and artistic contribution, as well as an intellectual one. Unfortunately, it became a victim of the intervention of the Russian political authorities. Soviet oppression caused damage, depriving entire generations of the blessing of faith and wisdom of the Church. The neo-imperial regime, in need of self-reinforcement, relied on what it considered valuable political capital: the renewed religious sentiments of the Russian people. Unfortunately, it managed to direct part of the Orthodox clergy to this path. Mainly, it accepted and strengthened the heretical approaches of the tsarist regime in the context of incorrect interpretation of church canons, partly due to the spiritual decay of the Soviet period.
The consequences are very serious. Ethno-religious fanaticism, which is instilled in Russian youth, suppresses the prospects for peace and reconciliation. The Orthodox world is divided, and this fragmentation is projected onto poorer countries whose people hoped to find salvation in faith. First of all, it harms the Russian Church, because sooner or later people will realize the inflections of the Church, subordinated to goals that have nothing to do with its original mission.”
Concluding his speech, the patriarch emphasized that sometimes experts in international relations tend to ignore or marginalize the role and significance of the religious factor, be it authentic or manipulated.
“However, we have entered a period where this factor is becoming increasingly important. Theologians and other specialists in matters related to the functioning of Churches must undoubtedly open themselves to other perspectives and develop a dialogue with other scientific disciplines. It is also important that social science, political science, and international relations majors overcome any reluctance to delve into religious issues. Understanding the new world that is being formed before our eyes cannot ignore the religious factor.
It should be recalled that Patriarch Bartholomew arrived in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
