Publication

8 May 2020

The topic of this issue is Russian Orthodoxy. First, Nikolay Mitrokhin discusses the position of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (of the Moscow patriarchate) after former President Petro Poroshenko’s attack on the church and the subsequent election of Volodymyr Zelensky. While the Russian Orthodox Church retains strong representation in Ukraine, its power has diminished. It is now seeking a way to present itself as the leader of the international Orthodox movement, rather than just as a Russian church. Second, Alexander Ponomariov posits that the recognition of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine by three “Greek” churches represents a viral reaction to their indisputable leader, the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Further, the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic could reformat Orthodoxy by bringing about a rapid generational change. The impact on the global economy and political instability will also have an inevitable theopolitical impact upon the current Orthodox standoff.

Download English (PDF, 17 pages, 635 KB)
Author Nikolay Mitrokhin, Alexander Ponomariov, (Series Editors: Stephen Aris, Matthias Neumann, Robert Orttung, Jeronim Perović, Heiko Pleines, Hans-​Henning Schröder, Aglaya Snetkov)
Series Russian Analytical Digest (RAD)
Publisher Center for Security Studies (CSS)
Research Centre for East European Studies (FSO), University of Bremen; Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES), George Washington University; Center for Eastern European Studies (CEES), University of Zurich; German Association for East European Studies (DGO)
Copyright © 2020 Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zürich; Research Centre for East European Studies (FSO), University of Bremen
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