“We are pastors, not political dissidents…” In the basement of his church, surrounded by icons, this Russian priest does not hide his discomfort. Nor his fears. From the start of the Kremlin’s “special military operation” in Ukraine, he expressed his opposition. A year later, preferring not to be mentioned by name, this simple priest in Moscow fears the climate of repression and denunciation, “a real catastrophe contrary to our Christian values”. After the services, however, the faithful come to speak to him, in particular of the divisions caused by the conflict within their family. “But, in public, I say nothing”, he warns.
This religious tries, indirectly, to convey messages of peace, through his choices of humanist prayers, his readings of pacifist passages from the Gospels. “We thus show that what is happening today is quite the opposite! In the clergy, we are an invisible opposition to the war launched by the Kremlin,” he insists. But always with caution. “If I say too much, I risk being denounced by a zealous parishioner and losing all audience. I’m afraid of choosing the wrong words. »
Do not divide parishes
In February, one of his colleagues, Father Ioann Koval, was relieved of his duties for having dared to change a word in a prayer. Instead of reading “Arise, O God, to help your people and give us victory by your power”he improvised and said “Arise, O God, to help your people and give us peace by your power”. A parishioner informed the hierarchy of his insolence. Since then, Ioann Koval has been discreet.
Such “anti-war” audacity is rare among a clergy largely loyal to the Kremlin’s narrative of the war in Ukraine. Patriarch Kirill, the sixth figure in state protocol, calls on the faithful to rally around President Vladimir Putin to fight the “enemies without and within”. This discourse is all the more influential since, if only 6% of Russians go to church according to the polls, up to 70% say they are Orthodox. An attachment often more cultural than religious.
War in Ukraine: in Russia, everything to avoid a second mobilization
Few priests agree to speak, especially to a Western journalist. The vast majority prefer to ignore the war and focus on their daily lives so, above all, not to divide their parish and protect their community. A kind of “internal emigration” already well known in Soviet times.
In contrast to the Kremlin, some priests have certainly fled the country. Others, claiming health problems, are relieved of their duties. Last March, a petition “Stop the War” circulated on the Internet, with 293 signatory priests, some of whom live abroad. Since then, silence in the ranks.
Visit opponents in prison
“The majority is used to supporting power. If, from one day to the next, the narrative changes, they will likewise change their discourse,” ironically Father Alexeï Uminskï, the only one of the priests met by The cross having agreed to be quoted. “Our churches are not a political forum. But it is up to everyone to take a position in their soul and conscience. » In private, Alexeï Uminskï entrusts his opposition to “this war that is not ours”. Long before the conflict, he was already a supporting figure with anti-Kremlin opponents. “Today, publicly, I am silent. It makes no sense to take unnecessary risks,” he acknowledges.
But Alexeï Uminskï continues to go to the trials of political prisoners and to visit them in prison. Among them, Vladimir Kara-Mourza who, prosecuted in particular for disseminating ” fake news “ on the army, faces up to 25 years in prison. “Seeing him in prison, I am useful. I go there as a priest. But it is not sure that, for me, it is not risky”, breathes Alexei Uminsky. The priest claims to have already received “signals” on a possible denunciation.
—
The troubled Russian Church in Ukraine
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, historically linked to the Moscow Patriarchate, was ordered to leave the kyiv Cave Monastery, one of the holiest places in Orthodoxy.
Despite breaking with Russia following support from Patriarch Kirill of Moscou to the invasion, it remains seen by many Ukrainians as a staging post for Russia in Ukraine.
Since the start of the war, several hundred parishes left this Church to join the young Church of Ukraine, recognized as autocephalous by the Patriarchate of Constantinople in early 2019 and supported by the authorities.