Head of Russian Orthodox Church Decries Split With Ukraine Orthodox Church

Moscow Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), said this week that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) cannot be separated from the ROC despite the UOC's recent announcement.

Last week, the UOC formally separated from Kirill, who is a prominent supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, due to the invasion of Ukraine. Many Ukrainian churches had already broken off from the UOC and joined with the Orthodox Church Ukraine, which was established in 2019 after a split from Moscow.

Kirill said on Monday: "We cannot but grieve over what is happening in fraternal Ukraine. Undoubtedly, the same spirits of terrestrial malice have taken up arms against our church, seeking not only to divide the Orthodox people of Russia and Ukraine, but to make sure that an abyss lies between us — not just an abyss, but that a ditch be dug, like those trenches that are used during a military operation so that the enemy does not pass. I am deeply convinced that since all these efforts are not from God and not with God's blessing, the true goal will never be achieved."

He went on to say, "We fully understand how the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is suffering today, we understand with understanding that His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphriy and the episcopate should act as wisely as possible today so as not to complicate the life of their believers. But we also pray that no temporal, external obstacle should destroy the spiritual unity of our people."

Former Defense Intelligence Agency officer Rebekah Koffler told Fox News that the UOC breaking off from the ROC is a "huge blow to Putin."

She noted that "Kirill and Putin are buddies," and Putin "has weaponized the Russian Orthodox religion as a geopolitical tool."

"The idea of Putin unifying the Russian world, including Ukraine and other post-Soviet states, hinges on the idea that Russia is the center of Christianity and the center of the unique Eurasian civilization that the Russians believe is exceptional just like Americans think America is exceptional," Koffler continued. "Once the church splits, it takes the whole divinity idea out of it."

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