AN ECUMENICAL conference in Helsinki has called on Christians to show “theological clarity and moral courage” in repudiating Russian Orthodox attempts to justify the Russian war against Ukraine.
The Helsinki conference, “Resisting Empire, Promoting Peace: Churches Confront the ‘Russian World’ Ideology”, was jointly organised by the Conference of European Churches (CEC) and the Lutheran and Orthodox Churches of Finland. It assembled about 90 church leaders, representatives of Churches and National Councils of Churches, ecumenical partners, and scholars.
At the same time, President Volodymyr Zelensky met the Pope and Western leaders in an effort to buttress support for his country.
“Russia’s war against Ukraine is a military, political and humanitarian assault that has caused the suffering of millions — at stake is the life and death of those directly affected and the shared future of Europe, as the war strikes at the democratic foundations on which our societies are built,” the Helsinki conference’s message, issued on Monday, says.
“The Russian Orthodox Church continues to provide quasi-theological and institutional support for the invasion, thereby silencing dissent from its own clergy and other members. At the same time, it keeps using ecumenical relations to promote ‘traditional values’, to misrepresent Russia’s war of invasion as an act of self-defence, and to oppose international condemnation of Russia’s aggressive actions.”
Russia’s church and intellectual elites had promoted various ideas about their country’s “sphere of influence and distinct civilisation” which “blurred the boundary between political ideology and theology, in ways that distort Christian faith”, it said.
“Russian World” ideology had succeeded earlier “theo-political doctrines” such as “Holy Rus” and the “Third Rome”, and should be confronted by Western Churches through work to strengthen “dissident Russian voices” and unmask Moscow’s propaganda.
“This ideology denies the national identity of Ukrainians and neighbouring nations, as well as their right to self-determination — drawing on a dualistic worldview, it portrays the West, with its emphasis on human rights, democracy, liberalism, gender equality, and individual autonomy, as an evil to be resisted by Russia in a so-called ‘metaphysical battle’”
“It preaches hatred and war, instead of love of Christ and peace. For Christians, there can never be a ‘holy war’. War is incompatible with the teaching and example of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The message coincided with a new round of London talks this week between President Zelensky and British, French, and German leaders on a united European response to US demands for a quick peace with Moscow.
President Zelensky also held talks in Brussels with the secretary-general of NATO, Mark Rutte, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, before travelling to Rome on Tuesday for meetings with the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, and Pope Leo XIV.
The Financial Times reported that US President Donald Trump still hoped for a “deal by Christmas” and was pressuring Zelensky to agree to territorial losses in return for unspecified US security guarantees.
In a social-media post for Sunday’s Armed Forces Day, the head of Ukraine’s independent Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Epiphany (Dumenko), also paid tribute to hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers who were still fighting “to overcome evil and establish justice” almost four years after Moscow’s invasion.
“As the Gospel reminds us, love is God’s chief commandment and the source of light that dispels darkness,” Metropolitan Epiphany said in a social-media post.
“No evil can overcome those who stand on the side of good. Darkness is powerless before those who keep faith, continue to fight and remain in the heart of Christ’s love.”
