Russian Orthodox Church

On a recent Sunday, Ukrainian Orthodox Abbott Job Olshansky faced 50 stoic parishioners and presented his case for why the community should switch to the Gregorian liturgical calendar on Sept. 1.

The World Council of Churches approved a statement on Sept. 8 regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that denounces the war but does not single out the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill.

Britain announced a new round of sanctions against Russia, targeting the head of the Russian Orthodox Church for his prominent support for the war in Ukraine as well as Russia's children's rights commissioner.

The World Council of Churches is under pressure to oust the Russian Orthodox Church from its ranks, with detractors arguing Patriarch Kirill invalidated its membership by backing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Rev. Ioann Burdin, rector of Resurrection of Christ Orthodox Church in the Russian village of Nikolskoye, offered a simple explanation for why he spoke out last month against his country’s invasion of Ukraine.

More than 100 U.S. Christian leaders sent a letter to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow asking him to use his influence to help stop the invasion of Ukraine and “prayerfully reconsider" his support for the war.

Vatican officials criticized Patriarch Kirill for failing to push for peace, ensuring that among the casualties of Russia’s invasion may be Pope Francis’ effort to strengthen bonds with Russian Orthodox Christians.

As a museum, the Hagia Sophia symbolized the idea of there being common artistic and cultural values that transcended religion to unite humanity.” Converting it into a mosque, scholar Nicholas Danforth says, “is an all too appropriate symbol for the rise of right-wing nationalism.”