Ukraine crisis may split Russian Orthodox Church
As soon as troops massed on Ukraine’s border and well before Russian president Vladimir Putin declared that Crimea had rejoined Russia, Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church called for prayers “that brothers of one faith and one blood never bring destruction to one another.”
Russia has prided itself on the revival of Orthodox Christianity there after decades of Soviet persecution. But a heightened quarrel with Ukraine could splinter the Russian Orthodox Church.
That church has its roots in Kiev, where Prince Vladimir baptized his people as Christians in 988, an event viewed as a cornerstone of Russian and Ukrainian identity. It has even deeper roots in Crimea, where, according to legend, Vladimir was himself baptized by Byzantine emissaries.
