Staunton, September 14 – Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate has “no influence on Russian President Vladimir Putin or on Kremlin policy,” according to Patriarch Filaret, head of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate. Instead, Filaret said in Lviv on September 13, influence runs in the other direction […]
Staunton, August 25 – The more the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church [ROC MP] supports Russian aggression in Ukraine, “the fewer chances this church will have for a future not only in Ukraine but also in Russia and in the entire world,” according to Yuri Chernomorets. The Kiev commentator notes that Patriarch Kirill […]
Staunton, August 17 – The pro-Russia faction of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate succeeded in electing Metropolitan Onufriy to be its new head, but that victory is likely to be a Pyrrhic one both for the UOC MP, which will now lose even more of its parishes, and for Patriarch Kirill who will […]
Staunton, July 11 – As it chooses a successor to Metropolitan Vladimir, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church faces two “mutually exclusive tasks”– survival as a church in an independent Ukraine and survival as part of the Russian Orthodox Church – and it lacks the unified hierarchy and understanding of Ukrainian society and the Moscow Patriarchate needed […]
Staunton, July 9 – Putin’s Anschluss of Crimea has already had a number of impacts on Russia, but some in the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church hope it will have at least one more – that special treatment of the church on the peninsula will become “a precedent for the clericalization” of all […]
Staunton, July 7 – The death on July 5 of Metropolitan Vladimir, the longtime head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, simultaneously highlights the failure of Moscow Patriarch Kirill in Ukraine, Russian commentators say, and likely accelerates a wholesale re-alignment of Orthodox bishoprics and congregations in Ukraine. Vladimir, who died at the […]
Patriarch Kirill, traditionally head of not only all the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), but also the Moscow diocese, made a presentation at the annual meeting of the Diocesan Assembly of the capital’s clergy. The patriarch gave the believers a mandate to promote their own program to build 200 churches, which has recently faced resistance from […]
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) associated legalization of same-sex marriage to the coming apocalypse. According to the Western media, such statements aim to divert people’s attention from the problems Russia faces. Those who spoke to “Kommersant FM” are puzzled by the Patriarch’s position. A campaign against gays launched in Russia is kind […]
