Andrew Sorokowski's column

The Patriarch as Peacemaker

13.02.2016, 08:46
The Patriarch as Peacemaker - фото 1
With regard to the war in Ukraine, the joint declaration avoids the key problem.

Andrew SorokowskiWith regard to the war in Ukraine, the joint declaration avoids the key problem.

The meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill on the afternoon of Friday, 12 February at José Martí International Airport in Havana resulted in the signing of a joint declaration that had been prepared well in advance. As expected, the meeting, and the ensuing declaration, had ecclesiological and political as well as moral aspects. It was the first meeting between a patriarch of Moscow and a Pope. It also had the effect of bolstering the prestige of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Orthodox world, just a few months ahead of the pan-Orthodox council scheduled for June in Crete. Politically, the event could be understood as validating Russia’s support of the Assad regime in Syria, though the expression of solidarity with persecuted Christians in the Middle East transcends political considerations. Morally, the declaration contains an important statement of joint support for the family, which is threatened in much of the developed world, and for the European Christian heritage, which Western Europe has to a great extent rejected.

To Ukrainians, the most important points cover relations between Greek-Catholics and Orthodox, especially the question of uniatism (no. 25);the internal divisions among Ukraine’s Orthodox (no. 27);and the war in the Donbas (no. 26). On the latter point, the declaration is disappointing. Paragraph 26 (we quote the English version) speaks of  “the hostility in Ukraine” – treating it as an internal Ukrainian conflict rather than a case of Russian aggression against its neighbor. The Pope and the Patriarch “invite all the parts [the word presumably should be “parties”]  involved in the conflict to prudence, to social solidarity and to action aimed at constructing peace.” Yet the aggressor in this conflict is not “in Ukraine”; it is Russia. It would therefore have behooved Patriarch Kirill himself to personally undertake “action aimed at constructing peace” in Ukraine. But he makes no such promise.

Further, the leaders “invite our Churches in Ukraine to work towards social harmony, to refrain from taking part in the confrontation, and to not support any further development of the conflict.” The invitation is evidently directed to the Greek-Catholic and Roman Catholic Churches in Ukraine, as well as to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. Here again, Patriarch Kirill has avoided taking responsibility for his role in the conflict. Greek-Catholic Major Archbishop Sviatoslav and Ukrainian Orthodox Metropolitan Onufrii may indeed desist from supporting “any further development of the conflict,” but Patriarch Kirill remains free to continue to support the Putin regime’s fomenting of rebellion in the Donbas. In other words, with regard to the war in Ukraine, the joint declaration avoids the key problem. Even worse, it seeks to tie the hands of both Orthodox and Catholic leaders in Ukraine, urging them to refrain from supporting their country in its defense against Russian aggression – an aggression which Patriarch Kirill refuses to condemn.

The papal-patriarchal meeting in Havana was indisputably historic. The joint declaration addresses several important issues of global importance, and offers hope for Christian unity. But Ukrainians may be forgiven if, with regard to Russia’s war against their country, they see it as just another “ecumenical” charade – one in which the aggressor poses as peacemaker.

Andrew Sorokowski

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