This article was originally posted on Northeastern Global News by Cynthia McCormick Hibbert.
The Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow ramped up the rhetoric over President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine when it adopted a document declaring it a “holy war.”
The declaration, approved during a March 27-28 meeting held under the leadership of Russian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarch Kirill, describes the attack on Ukraine as part of an existential struggle for the soul of Russia against globalism and the West, which it says has “fallen into satanism.”
Sarah Riccardi-Swartz, a Northeastern University assistant professor of religion and anthropology and an expert on the Russian Orthodox Church, answered questions from Northeastern Global News about why Kirill, a Putin ally, is framing Russia’s aggression in messianic terms — and what this means for the U.S.
What does the holy war mean to the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow?
Continue reading at Northeastern Global News.
