Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine has caused reverberations in the world of Orthodox Christianity. While the church in Moscow has fully backed the Kremlin’s war, many priests in places such as Lithuania have found adherence to this belief an impossible task.

While the status of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is often discussed as a political issue, it is important to bear in mind the traditional competition between the Moscow and Constantinople patriarchates.

The relationship between religion and society differs in most post-Soviet states. While the Orthodox Church in Moldova clearly enjoys widespread popularity in the country, it has chosen to focus on promoting a “traditional agenda”, often associated with discrimination towards women and minorities.

The Ukrainian Church’s official independence last year raised issues regarding how religion impacts geopolitics in post-Soviet countries. Despite this, the country’s former president, Petro Poroshenko, was neither the first nor the last political leader to use religious sentiments as part of an electoral campaign. The current Moldovan President, Igor Dodon, did so during the country’s previous elections. While there are numerous studies analysing the role of the church in politics and social movements, this discussion investigates the church’s role regarding conflict mitigation or instigation. By examining situations prone to conflict, we can try to determine whether the Orthodox Church in Moldova (OCM) serves the purpose of uniting the people or fostering polarisation. Such an issue remain of great importance for a country where more than 90 per cent of the population declare themselves Orthodox.

Russia’s principal aim towards Georgia is to reverse its Euro-Atlantic integration strategy and return Tbilisi to the Kremlin’s political orbit. One of the main tools to achieve this aim is the use of the Orthodox Church, with the main narrative being that Russia is the last bastion of Christianity and conservative values in the world.

The conflict between Russia and Georgia dates back to 1801 when the Russian Empire annexed the eastern part of Georgia. The country was under the direct rule of the Tsarist regime until May 26th 1918 when Georgia regained its long-awaited independence as a consequence of Russia’s ongoing civil war. Yet Georgia’s democratic republic was short-lived. When the civil war ended in Russia, the Bolsheviks once again subdued the South Caucasus region, including Georgia.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate is concerned about the Orthodox world not recognising the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, but refrains from intervening.

The Georgian Orthodox Church and Ukrainian autocephaly.

As Moscow warns of repercussions, Kyiv finally rejoices with the good tidings from a tense synod.

An attempt to restructure the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has raised questions formerly unknown to parishioners and politicians alike.

Religious institutions in Ukraine are presently embroiled in an internecine battle between Orthodox factions that stand alongside a gaping ideological divide. The central fault line in this conflict is based on geopolitical and civilisational identities, with Moscow’s promotion of pan-Slavism comprising one side, and Kyiv’s pro-EU orientation the other.

The symbolic dimensions of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine are impossible to miss. And, as often as not, that symbolism is connected to religion. It could hardly be otherwise when separatists and Russian officials routinely cast the episodic fighting that continues in the east as a civilisational struggle between an enervated, hedonistic West that backs a “fascist junta” in Kyiv and the traditional Christian values of the so-called “Russian world” – the latter occasionally more palatably presented to Ukrainian audiences as “Holy Rus’.”

On July 27th around ten thousand people marched through the streets of Kyiv. Members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate from all over the country gathered in the capital to participate in a litany on St Volodymyr Hill and a procession for peace in Ukraine. Some of the pilgrims walked to Kyiv on foot from their hometowns all over Ukraine.