But if Putin wants to reunite “ancient Russia” around an intensified Orthodox community, the way he did it has had a terrible effect. In recent weeks, hundreds of Ukrainian priests have demanded that Mr Kiril be tried by a church council for blessing the war. There are calls for the expulsion of the Moscow-led church from the World Council of Churches.
Taras Kurilko, a 21-year-old student from the village of Hvativ, explains that the Orthodox in his community have retained faith in the Communists, but they have also developed a strong aversion to Moscow’s policies. “We remember our history that there was no way to go to the open liturgy at the Councils. The children were baptized in secret. There were many spies watching who was praying, who was a priest. Our village remembers those hard times. “
So when Ukraine gained its independence, many Orthodox believers wanted to repeat this blow to freedom in religious terms as well – hence the creation in 2018 of an autonomous church linked to Constantinople rather than Moscow, a schism that was condemned as by Mr. Cyril and by Putin, who has traditionally accused him of being a proto-fascist. Mr. Zelenski supported the UOC.
At first a little, it enjoyed a spark of growth thanks to the invasion – and the war forced the Orthodox priests to test their conscience.
Father Shestak explains: “On the first day of the war, many parishes recorded videos asking the head of the Russian Orthodox Church to break her communion. [with Moscow]… Churches in Ukraine [initially] they decided not to pray for Cyril and the Moscow hierarchy in their services “to signal their discomfort.
These prayers are returning, especially in the Carpathians and eastern Ukraine; some priests preach Mr. Cyril’s line that this is a civil war, not an invasion, and therefore both sides must lay down their arms.
Student Kurilko describes this as a “mental invasion”. It can certainly be called an attempt at neutrality that does not reflect the reality of mass graves. “The conflict is a test of who is Ukrainian and who is not, and where is the gray. Are you on the white side or on the black side? There is no middle ground. “
In the end, says Father Shestak, most believers will eventually choose independence. “Sixty days of war completely changed the mentality” of the ordinary citizen, religious or otherwise. They no longer argue about which language to speak – Ukrainian or Russian – “they are connected by war and want peace. They are ready to make this change, not to be connected to Moscow.
Father Mihailo agrees. Standing in a church transformed by candlelight, the air is thick with incense, he quietly predicts that more and more parishes will join the autonomous church. Even if Putin was successful, even if the whole country fell, which everyone insists is impossible, “Most of my parishioners have a clear understanding of what to do. We will decide to stay free, even if it costs us our lives. ”
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