Many of Vladimir Putin’s supporters only ten days ago were expressing concern that he had not launched his campaign with the kind of speeches that would mobilize the population around his plans for the next six years. But such people may...
The war is well into its fourth year, but the law on military chaplaincy has yet to be approved. On the other hand, the law on prison chaplains has been signed by the president. Why? I don’t understand the nuances in prison chaplaincy....
One of the gravest dangers — and potentially most serious defeats –any country combating an authoritarian aggressor is that in the name of defending itself against aggression, it will take steps that will make it resemble in...
The Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church routinely says that it has more parishes in Ukraine than does the Kyiv Patriarchate, a statement that it true but that ignores the fact that it has far fewer followers and parishioners...
Faced with a rising tide of parishes in Ukraine whose members have voted to transfer their allegiance to the Kyiv Patriarchate, the Moscow Patriarchate has issued rules specifying that parishes cannot change from one hierarchy to another...
Foreigners visiting Ukraine around the winter holidays are likely to be stumped by the phrase “Old New Year.” The holiday is still celebrated on January 14, in memory of the switch Ukraine made in 1918 to the Gregorian...
Fundamental human rights in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine are being violated for over 2.5 years now. The Russian-backed separatists have systematically exploited the religious factor, trying to reinforce their imposed governance and...
Two weeks ago, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko issued a decree calling for the commemoration in his country of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in order to call attention to and reaffirm “the enormous contribution of...
Two processions organized by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate called the “All-Ukrainian Procession of the Cross for Peace, Love and Prayer for Ukraine” are making their way toward Kyiv One will depart...
Many Ukrainians and their supporters have misunderstood the Orthodox procession organized by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Vitaly Portnikov says. It is not about putting direct pressure on the Ukrainian government as some suppose but...
On 11 October, a three-day meeting of the Synod, or church council, of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, finished in Istanbul. It gave further confirmation that Ukraine is on the path to receiving church independence from Moscow – and healing...
