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The Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 is a historic threat to people of the Orthodox Christian tradition. More troubling still for Orthodox believers, the senior hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church has refused to acknowledge this invasion, issuing instead vague statements about the necessity for peace in light of “events” and “hostilities” in Ukraine, while emphasizing the fraternal nature of the Ukrainian and Russian peoples as part of “Holy Rus’,” blaming the hostilities on the evil “West,” and even directing their communities to pray in ways that actively encourage hostility.

On March 13, 2022, in response to the Russian Orthodox Church support of the war, leaders of the Orthodox tradition released an extremely significant statement – A Declaration on the “Russian World” (Russkii Mir) Teaching – which is being compared with the Declaration of Barmen (1934), the Confessing Church’s denunciation of National Socialism in Germany. Join us for a discussion of this statement on Sunday, April 24 in the library at 9:00 a.m. You can view the statement at https://publicorthodoxy.org/page/2/. The religious dimension of the war hasn’t received the attention that it deserves.