Needed: An Ecumenical Reset

by George Weigel

The Vatican must inform Patriarch Kirill that the Holy See’s ecumenical contacts with Russian Orthodoxy are suspended until Kirill condemns the invasion of Ukraine. Continue Reading »

9 Mar 2022 0

The Role of Religion in Russia’s War on Ukraine

by John P. Burgess

The war in Ukraine is also a battle between conflicting visions of Holy Rus’, Prince Vladimir's legacy, and the Orthodoxy that Russia and Ukraine share.  Continue Reading »

8 Mar 2022 0

Miracle on the Dniepr

by Jakub Grygiel

Zelensky and his government, abandoning any factional interests or ideological proclivities they may have had, are demonstrating the patriotism and courage necessary for national liberty. Continue Reading »

7 Mar 2022 0

On Ukraine

by George Weigel

Whatever the current military developments, a Russian invasion of Ukraine has not been “imminent”; the invasion is ongoing.  Continue Reading »

23 Feb 2022 0

Russia, Ukraine, and Moral Reckoning

by George Weigel

Putin is conducting a carefully orchestrated campaign to reverse history’s verdict in the Cold War and subjugate the now-independent former “republics” of the old Soviet Union. Continue Reading »

26 Jan 2022 0

Patriarch Kirill
and Mr. Putin

by George Weigel

Russian Orthodox Church leadership continues to promote Putin's farcical attempt to be a savior of Christian values. Continue Reading »

11 Apr 2018 0

Taking the “Long View” on Russia

by George Weigel

Queried about the Holy See’s less-than-vigorous response to Russian aggression in Ukraine, senior Vatican officials are given to saying (often with a dismissive tone, as if the question came from a dim-wit), “We take the long view.”

5 Aug 2015 0

Putin, Stalin, and the Church

by Hannah Gais

On Orthodox Easter, just weeks before Russia’s 70th Victory Day celebration, Russian Patriarch Kirill addressed scores of the faithful, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. He likened the resurrection of Christ—who, in Orthodox parlance, “trampled down death by death”—to the Russian, née Soviet, victory over the Nazis.“When spiritual heroism becomes the substance not only of the individual but of an entire people... the nation acquires enormous spiritual strength, which no disasters or enemies are capable of overcoming,” he told those gathered in Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow. “The truth of these words is evidently attested by the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, achieved by the self-sacrificing heroism of our people.” Continue Reading »

28 May 2015 0

Ecumenism and Russian State Power

by George Weigel

Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Russian Orthodox Church’s department of external relations and a frequent visitor to the West, is a young man of parts: a widely-published author, a composer, a gifted linguist. He can be charming and witty, as I discovered during two hours of conversation at the Library of Congress in 2011; and in the intervening years he’s positioned himself and his Church as defenders of traditional Christian values in a world threatened by Western decadence. Continue Reading »

12 Nov 2014 0

Is Latvia Putin’s New Target?

by Stephen Schwartz

In May 2014, I attended an interfaith conference in Kosovo where I met Janis Priede, an associate professor in the department of Oriental Studies at the University of Latvia, located in the national capital, Riga. Having watched, from the Balkans, the Russian annexation of Crimea and further attempted partition of Ukraine during the first half of the year, I expressed my concern to Prof. Priede that Latvia, a member of the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), could be the next object of aggression by Vladimir Putin. He agreed. Continue Reading »

22 Oct 2014 0