Also at Stake in Ukraine: The Future of Two Orthodox Churches
Andrew E. Kramer of The New York Times reports, “Launched by President Vladimir V. Putin to reassert Russian influence in the region, the war in Ukraine is also a contest for the future of the Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox churches.” The Orthodox Church is split between two factions in Ukraine—one under a Moscow patriarch and the other an independent Ukrainian entity. For leaders within the Russian Orthodox Church, calls to end the invasion have been more muted. Kramer writes, “Archbishop Yefrem, a member of the Moscow church who celebrates mass at the Monastery of the Caves, said he had been urging believers to pray.” The leader of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Epiphanius, has been far more vocal in his calls to defend the nation against Russia’s attack.