JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russian Orthodox Church lends legitimacy to Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine” – Financial Times
“Moscow-led institution risks alienating independent-minded clergy at home as well as many Ukrainians.”
“… the Russian Orthodox Church … has thrown its ideological weight behind the Kremlin’s war. … risk[ing] [the] alienat[ion] [of] not only independently-minded clergy … but also many Ukrainians. … Patriarch Kirill … called on Russians to rally around their government so that the state could ‘repel its enemies, both external and internal’ …. The church, one of the pillars of … Putin’s rule, has given the war an air of legitimacy among the president’s supporters, bolstering his depiction of Russia’s invasion as a reunion of ancient Slavic-Orthodox lands. Kirill has presented the … invasion of Ukraine … as a global, historic battle over values, with Russia the last bastion against an immoral west …. He said ‘God’s truth’ was on Russia’s side. …”
Click here for: “Russian Orthodox Church lends legitimacy to Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine; Moscow-led institution risks alienating independent-minded clergy at home as well as many Ukrainians” – Financial Times/ Polina Ivanova