Ukrainian Orthodox challenge Moscow to condemn aggression
March 01, 2022
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CWN Editor's Note: The Ukrainian Orthodox Church—Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) has issued a challenge to Russian Orthodox leaders to “call on the leadership of the Russian Federation to immediately stop hostilities” against Ukraine.
The statement from the UOC-MP is particularly noteworthy because the group has consistently supported the Moscow patriarchate—unlike the autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church (OCU) , which broke away from Moscow after Ukraine achieved independence. The rival Orthodox groups have now joined in condemning the Russian invasion, and a a recent survey shows that the UOC-MP is losing support among Orthodox believers in Ukraine, a country that the Moscow patriarchate still claims as its “canonical territory.”
The Moscow patriarchate, which has been strongly allied with President Putin, has to date been quiet about the military offensive in Ukraine.
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