ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS around the world are preparing for the Lenten fast, a seven-week period of vegan dishes and prayer that begins on March 2. But few expect this annual ritual to close the fault that runs through eastern Christianity. A dispute that broke out a year ago over the proclamation of an independent church in Ukraine has ricocheted in all other countries where Orthodox Christianity is practiced. Diplomats in Moscow, Washington and elsewhere are watching, because behind the obscure arguments about history and canon law hides a geopolitical stalemate.
From the start, President Vladimir Putin and his supporters denounced the new Ukrainian body as an encroachment on Russia’s sphere of spiritual influence and a conspiracy of American diplomacy. The United States supports Ukraine’s right to ecclesiastical independence. Mike Pompeo, the American secretary of state, insisted on meeting the new Ukrainian primate, Metropolitan Epifaniy, during his visit to Kiev on January 31. The two deplored religious persecution in parts of Ukraine under Russian control and laid flowers in memory of the killed Ukrainian soldiers.
The world line formally opposes Bartholomew I, the patriarch of Constantinople, based in Istanbul, who inaugurated the new Ukrainian body, against the patriarch Kirill of Moscow. The former has a historic role of “first among his peers” in the Orthodox world; the latter has a geopolitical weight. Bartholomew insists that he is the only legitimate Orthodox authority in Ukraine.
Both sides have had successes and disappointments as they strive to influence the rest of the Orthodox world. In a helping hand for Bartholomew, the churches of Greece and the Patriarchate of Alexandria, which is responsible for Africa, followed its line on Ukraine and angered Moscow. The bishops of the ancient church in Cyprus are divided.
Russia seems to score a point by inciting the Patriarch of Jerusalem, a Greek, to invite his primate comrades to a deliberation in Jordan scheduled for February 26, in defiance of Bartholomew. But the invitation had fewer takers than expected and most of the world’s top ethnic hierarchies are likely to remain on the sidelines. Prelates closer to Moscow, such as those from Belgrade and Damascus, are more likely to attend.
In the background, a cooling of relations between Russia and Greece, whose common Orthodox faith has served over the centuries either as a link or as a point of competition. Recently, Greece has been disappointed in Russia’s pragmatic relations with Turkey, including arms supplies, and has moved much closer to America and Israel in energy projects and military matters.
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias insisted on February 6 that efforts were being made to restore ties with the Russians, but he also ruffled their feathers noting the persistence of their medieval aspiration to become the Third Rome (i.e. the guardian of Christians). dogma successively in Rome and in Byzantium). Meanwhile, the Moscow embassy in Greece complained this week that America is sponsoring a “schismatic construction” in Ukraine that divides the Orthodox family.
Russo-Greek rumblings affect parts of Greece where devout Russians worship holy places. The Moscow Patriarchate has published a list of Greek dioceses, including Athens, which Russian pilgrims have “no blessing” to visit. These are the regions whose local bishops have signaled their support for the new church in Ukraine.
Even in the Ukraine, some ordinary faithful feel less passionate about the split than their spiritual masters. A recent survey (excluding areas under Russian control) found that 34% of Ukrainians identify with the new independent Orthodox church and 14% with the one aligned with Moscow. Another 28% say they are simply Orthodox and refuse to choose sides. â–
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the title “The sound of schism”
