Orthodox Priest and Russian Historian Explains the Historical Background to the War in Ukraine
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 มิ.ย. 2024
- At the time of filming, war in Ukraine continues, and for many of us, our heads are spinning as we try to make sense of this violence. While many news reports have seen this as an isolated whim by an unhinged political leader, Fr. John Strickland, Orthodox priest and Russian Historian, urges us to look at the historical background as we try to make sense of this. Specifically, in order to understand the war in Ukraine, we must understand the religious history of Russia and Ukraine.
This video covers a very sensitive topic. As Fr. John and I both stress, this isn't a matter for detached academic speculation. Christians are called to respond with love and pray for peace. As with all current events, conclusive interpretations will likely only be seen after time passes. In the meantime, we do our best to understand what is happening and pray for those affected.
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Gospel Simplicity began as a TH-cam channel in a Moody Bible Institute dorm. It was born out of the central conviction that the gospel is really good news, and I wanted to share that with as many people as possible. The channel has grown and changed over time, but that central conviction has never changed. Today, we make content around biblical and theological topics, often interacting with people from across the Christian tradition with the hope of seeking greater unity and introducing people to the beautiful simplicity and transformative power of the gospel, the good news about Jesus.
About the host:
Hey! My name is Austin, and I'm a 23 year old guy who’s passionate about the beautiful simplicity and transformative power of the gospel. I believe that the gospel, the good news about Jesus, is really good news, and I’m out to explore, unpack, and share that good news with as many people as possible. I'm a full blown Bible and Church History nerd that loves getting to dialogue with others about this, learning as much as I can, and then teaching whatever I can. I grew up around Frederick, MD where I eventually ended up working my first job at a church. They made the mistake of letting me try my hand at teaching, and instantly I fell in love. That set me on a path for further education, and I'm currently a student at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, IL, studying theology. On any given day you can find me with my nose in a book or a guitar in my hands. Want to get to know me more? Follow me and say hi on Instagram at: @austin.suggs
Video Stuff:
Camera: Sony a6300
Lens: Sigma 16mm F1.4 amzn.to/2MjssPB
Edited in FCPX
Music:
Bowmans Root - Isaac Joel
00:00 - Introduction
06:21 - Why Religious History Matters for this War
08:01 - Setting up the Conversation
11:47 - The Conversion of Rus
18:21 - Council of Florence
19:35 - Mongol Invasions (13th c.)
20:48 - Muscovite Russia
21:56 - Peter the Great and the Westernization of Russia
26:18 - The Russian Revolution (20th century)
27:04 - The Rise of Nationalism in Ukraine
31:22 - The Collapse of the USSR
32:27 - Clarification: Russia perceiving Ukraine as Western
35:58 - The Orthodox Church in Modern Ukraine
46:35 - Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine
48:27 - ROCOR Response to the War
53:06 - Orthodox Ethnocentrism/Nationalism
58:44 - The Role of Patriarch Kirill
1:07:25 - Putin and Orthodoxy
1:12:50 - How to Interpret What's Happening (Pastoral Advice)
1:19:17 - Closing Words
*Links in the description may include affiliate links in which I receive a small commission of any purchases you make using that link. - บันเทิง
Though I cover this in part in the intro to the video, I thought it was worth breaking my usual neutrality as an interviewer to briefly state my perspective on this issue. I am firmly against the war in Ukraine. As stated in the video, I pray for peace, and hope that all of us as Christians can be united in seeking peace, standing with the oppressed, and caring for the vulnerable. My goal in making this video was to allow people to understand some of the historical background to what is going on as I think understanding the past helps us make sense of the present. However, and this is paramount to understand, "making sense of," "explaining background," or "understanding motivations/causation" in no way equates to justifying it. As humans, we seek to organize chaos into meaningful explanations, and many narratives are currently on offer for understanding this war. They are by no means all equal, nor am I saying what is offered in this video reflects my own understanding (as is true with all my videos) nor is it the only one. Fr. Strickland would agree with this, as stated in the video. To those affected personally by this, my prayers are with you, and I pray that by making videos like these which are ad free and instead fundraisers for Ukraine, can help in some small way, rather than exacerbate the issues. I accept that I may fall short in this. My apologies for that. I pray for peace, and I pray that I might use the platform given to me in a way that is helpful to my audience.
God bless,
Austin
Thanks for your thoughtful treatment of the issue!
Thank you, Austin
To Hell with the Russian slaughter of civilians in the name of Jesus! May those who kill children remember their judgement! They will face a different fire.
The easy way out would have been to simply skirt the issue. You didn't do this, and chose to talk about it, and this is something I appreciate. We all fall short sometimes, but as your thoughtful response here shows, I don't think anyone can reasonably conclude there was any bad faith on your part.
God bless you, Austin.
God bless you and your family, Austin. With love from Canada!
Just after listening to the introduction, I cannot understand why we have to apologize before discussing things from points of views diferent from the mainstream opinions. That is what discussion and talk is for, to get to know information and diverse takes of it.
When you start getting hate comments left and right, it can make you prone to make long introductions
@@GospelSimplicity I understand your approach. My comment is not to critizice you, but to reflect on the fact that we are creating a world where common sensible people have to apologize for things we are not to blame.
Putin is a thug, bombing hospitals to cause as much death and destruction as possible to expand his empire. That's all we really need to know.
Amen, That is I agree that "Utopia is not a real goal to the followers of Christ who know and see that that true peace will never come to this world unrilthe"Prince of Peace" establishes His Kingdom on earth. That, we are to pray for. It is written that we would witness terrible times in the "last days. "
I also appreciate the underzta ding that Pastor John conveys that we. Americans are perceived as holding .modern liberal values such as the acceptance os same, sex marriage as acceptable, along with modern with current political convictions of modern liberalism
To continue the above: But yet even as yet that these liberal veiws are held by many Americans, including some Christians, they are not, in my opinion fundamentally biblically Christian. And so the world, which labels America as a Christian nation sees Christ followers as lawless and immoral. Christians without convictions of right and wrong are like salt that has lost its flavor. But what good is "religion" Russian Orthodox, or American or Ukrainian that has lost it's love and compassion? It is devilish.
My final lament s to say that whatever Orthodox Christian beleif that Putin professes, how in God's name can his "religious beliefs" justify the brutal slaughter of thousands of innocent people?" When I saw the pictures of several children- casualties of the war, in hospitals with limbs blown off, their live's changed forever, I was and am beside myself.
Remember, Jesus said to the pharisees "the traditions of men nullify the word of God." No, whether a religious man or not, Putin is following the "god" of this world.please God deliver all the suffering people from this horror and this man's muderous campaign In Jesus name!
A catholic here. This has been a really fascinating talk, which in many ways changed my perspective
As an Orthodox Christian from my mother's womb, I so appreciate what you are doing here. You are doing well to getting history, current events out. We Orthodox are not good at this. Your help is appreciated.
You're an idolater, not a Christian. See my series exposing you and Roman Catholics and Protestants.
*40 days after your mother's womb ;)
"My mother's womb". Were you baptized and chrismated in there?😅😅😅
@@panokostouros7609 Surely you must know that no one approaches Orthodox baptism in a vacuum, without preparation, being led there. For infants, their parents represent the preparation that God has provided for them. So, forty days after birth, a child is "churched": presented with communal prayers by the parents to the whole community, who welcome the new child. At some appropriate time thereafter, the child is baptized and chrismated according to the same service as anyone, receiving a first communion also.
With respect to any who would want to be legalistic about what makes a person a member of the church, God oversees all, in all cases, and prepares the time for things in due course. I would say that by God's economia, the child in the mother's womb is a member of the church already, from the time of conception, which God allowed first, which God guided the parents to. Like most people, the child then has a journey ahead, to develop, to be born, to be churched, and eventually to be baptized. It is all in God's care.
God's authority is not one of rules and regulation, but rather of relationship. Look then, and see here how he provides for everyone and for the Church as a whole. Perhaps you will see better what baptism means then, also.
@@panokostouros7609 Cute
I cannot recommend Fr John's "Age of" series enough. Everyone, even non-Christians, should read it.
I have the first three, but I am only about half way through the first one. It is a great read. Very informative. Fr. Strickland's writing style makes it very easy to read, and enjoyable.
I agree and would recommend it too. However, it's also been a frustrating read through the first two books (I'm looking forward to the third but haven't ordered it yet).
Mostly the frustration is the way he acknowledges the failings in eastern Christendom, one example is how clericalism began in the east spread west and got much worse.
Another frustration is because of my Lutheran tradition which is a western tradition centred on, according to definitions in the books, an 'eastern' christology; the emphasis on incarnational worship and that Christ consumes us in the Eucharist were not things I heard outside my church or Lutheran writings though I'm not surprised to find them in the East. It just grates a bit with the broad (and largely true) generalisations Fr John has had to make.
Still very worthwhile books, justifies our distrust of the Reformed and their descendants
It is similarly based on the work of his podcast on ancient faith radio. I recommend that, as well. He has works on papal Revolution, the anthropological pessimism that grew from neo-Augustinian anthropology, the Frankish take-over of the papacy, etc etc
I can't find anything related to that, do you have a link?
A friend uses the first book in the series for an online homeschool course he teaches. It's still on my to-buy list.
That was so rich and so deep I’m going to have to listen again to catch more of the information. I love hearing this history from the Orthodox point of view because I know so little about it.
Through the intercession of the Servant of God Walter Ciszek, may all the Russian tanks be destroyed. Our Lady of Kazan, pray for us!
Oh wow. This is goin to be DEEP. My best friend growing up was from a ROCOR family that refused to go along with reunification so I'm super interested in this breakdown.
Should be a great interview and very timely in light of the current situation.
It just seems like this priest is overly apologetic for Moscow over Kiev, without giving enough credence to how Moscow has treated Ukraine both politically and religiously. The way he tells it it's as if a few vagabonds in Kiev with the help of the conniving PoC, decided to be naughty and turn against their fraternal/ historical partner as if that partner hadn't engaged in its fair share of abuse.
You got it. He completely dismisses the scale of the problem, and fails to recognize that this destructive invasion is truly evil.
@Dustin Neely such an overstatement of Ukrainian rightwing’s significance. They haven’t got a single seat in parliament.
I know Strickland and I agree that he is too much of a Russophile to be able to bring adequate criticism to the table. He is a coldly intellectual type who compartmentalizes and cannot seem to grasp the interconnectedness of ideas, events and feelings, especially as held among unschooled lay people. He lacks insight into the experience of others and prefers an academic approach to church issues.
Here he merely explains the Russian xenophobia and weak state mentality as due to mongols and poles having invaded Muscovy and Kiev. That is not very penetrating analysis of why Russia is perennially despotic and paranoid. ‘There is no daylight’ between his view and that of Muscovite depots, that is he takes their view uncritically, completely identifying with it. I’d say I’ve heard quite enough of that point of view already and don’t need to hear it from an OCA priest. In my conversations with him, he was entirely unsympathetic to my critique of Putin’s vicious assault on the sovereign nation of Georgia in 2008, an event that has very heavy repercussions in lives in my family. Strickland seemed put out by my assertion that Georgian people’s views mattered and I was left with the impression of a man whose intellect is inflexible and unperceptive of nuance inadequate to meeting opposing views. It’s just the Moscow view with him and his ministry is extremely limited because of it. As I said, we’ve had enough of Moscow’s view already, expressed so many times with bombs and bullets.
@@claesvanoldenphatt9972 so you don't think there was years worth of money and influence from Western powers (US) in Georgia, to cause friction between Orthodox nations, that led to military action over Ossetia? Nothing to do with other nations and multinat corporation interests over energy pipelines? Would like to hear your view.
@Boris Sitnikoff troll, back under bridge! You are a prorussian fascist. Russia is dying. You belong there with them, sharing their national fate.
Thanks, gentlemen. I know the material causes of this conflict but that doesn’t mean I cannot see the innate symbolic and spiritual meaning of it as well. As a human I want to take a side but I try to remember that brother vs brother can never have a winner, everyone loses. May Christ prevail and His sword be the only one drawn.
excellent, Excellent, EXCELLENT. Thank you for this perspective and for both of y’all’s respectful, humble attitudes. May God bless both of you.
Excellent interview, Austin!
Very intelligent conversation thanks
I really appreciate this. Thank you to Father John
Unfortunately, Americans can see “brokenness” abroad but not the brokenness in their own country, both within themselves and within America’s governing entities. This interview was very fascinating and illuminating of a complex situation. Thank you for the interview, the guest, and the courage to post it in these contentious days.
I am going to disagree with the above comment. As an American I and most others, eyes and minds are wide open as a young country. We are aware of our mistakes and our ways in which we blessed others.
We learn from mistakes and in order not to become like the former USSR, learn from both opinions. The American is most importantly open to learning historical facts. This will protect our society from crumbling apart. Education and the right to speak freely is a huge protection fir us and our future.
Yea... most Americans see our own issues. It's our leaders who are either malicious or dull-witted.
I sincerely hope your country stops taking from we " broken Americans. "
I appreciated them sharing the past history but the conflict is misnamed. Our American media are not as unbiased as they want us all to believe. The reason for the panic created by the media and other globalists is that corruption that fellow Americans and corruption from people from other countries. The media intentionally does not give any coverage to corruption conducted in Ukraine. The biolabs were creating patholgins to use to cause a mass pandemic all the way around the world. Putin got the information on just what these labs planned to do. I heard they needed to use special weaponry to take them out without any one getting infected. Our American taxes were used to build these labs in Ukraine where there would be oversight. By faith we want to think the best about everyone we encounter but sadly there are wicked people who have very selfish motives who are panicking now that there corruption is getting exposed. Soon we will discover that horrible things have been going on by heartless ones who have only cared for power money and control. Putin just might be doing good things to eliminate bad things from happening. We need to pray for everyone even the wicked because their destiny is still in God's hands. May we all ask the holy Spirit to inlighten us with God's wisdom.
@@marianserra8371 Our Country, the USA, is broken it is becoming amoral, the wrong is right these days. Morality and faith are being re-shape by the media, but there are those who look the other way
Thank you for posting Austin. This was very informative.
Thank you Austin and Fr John for this history lesson.
Meduza reported that Patriarch Kirill of Moscow banned Yoann Koval, a cleric in a Moscow church, from services after parishioners denounced him. The priest had replaced the word “victory” with “peace” while reciting the prayer “Holy Rus,” which the Russian Orthodox Church distributed as a mandatory reading in September 2022.
Thank you! great videoo
Thank you for your insights!
Thank you Austin and Father John! Very insightful. I need to get the third volume in your history series, Father John. I have greatly enjoyed it this far.
Fr John omitted a few key facts that are important in understanding Patriarch Bartholomew's grant of autocephaly to the Church of Ukraine. Most important, Bartholomew did not intervene in Ukraine on his own initiative. Rather, he was obligated to respond to a formal request from the Ukrainian government. In 2016, the Ukrainian parliament passed a resolution requesting autocephaly. In 2018, President Poroshenko met with Patriarch Bartholomew, making a formal request for a tomos of autocephaly.
This is the traditional process by which autocephaly is granted. Every autocephalous Orthodox church in Eastern Europe obtained its autocephaly in the same way: Its government (in some cases the king, in others the parliament) requested a tomos of autocephaly from the Ecumenical Patriarch. Ukraine was delayed by a century in pursuing this process by its captivity to the USSR. But, as a sovereign country, it has just as much right as, say, Poland, to an autocephalous church.
The Russian argument that Constantinople gave Moscow jurisdiction over Ukraine holds no water. If you read the details of the 1686 agreement, it is clear that, while Moscow was given power to appoint the Metropolitan of Kiev, Moscow's authority over Kiev was partial, contingent, and temporary. In particular, Kiev was to continue commemorating the EP, not the MP, in the Liturgy. Moreover, Kiev only oversaw about half of modern Ukraine. The Khanate of Crimea was an Ottoman protectorate, and western Ukraine was under Poland-Lithuania and Austria-Hungary. The Orthodox churches in these regions were overseen by Constantinople. Western Ukraine was NEVER under Moscow until Stalin grabbed these territories during WW2 and forcibly incorporated its churches in the Moscow Patriarchate.
Moscow's claim to authority over Kiev rests, essentially, on the claim that Ukraine is not a real country. The Ukrainian people's response to Putin's invasion is laying that assertion to rest, once and for all.
You are 100% correct and accurate
Finally, the voice of truth
Thank you.
Really helpful details - thank you for the post.
Black Bart had the CIA and FBI “motivating” him. The church that was destroyed on 911 was rebuilt with Federal aid and the donations of millions of dollars. Many millions of dollars 💵 disappeared and an investigation started. Autocephaly granted and investigation stopped
@@daniel8728 I can assure you that no one in the US government cares about church policy anywhere in the world. Around 1991, the CIA published a very good report on religion in Ukraine, and a member of Congress was very put off that the CIA was wasting any effort at all on religion - and threatened the agency's budget if it happened again. Even after 9/11, the secular minds that run the federal bureaucracy do not take religion seriously, and they don't care about the autocephaly of an Orthodox church. So your conspiracy theory is not even remotely plausible.
@@arimathean4128 You couldn’t be more wrong!
th-cam.com/video/29J7coFPcqs/w-d-xo.html
This was interesting. Thank you.
I didn’t know about the 2018 & on up events. I was fairly familiar with older history. Thanks for this informative discussion.
Austin, long time listener first time commenter: Bravo! God bless both of you. This was such an excellent conversation and much needed. Thank you for your bravery in having this conversation. Keep it up! You are doing much to bring people to Christ.
Thanks for watching and commenting! I appreciate your kind words. God bless!
You always do excellent interviews and this one is outstanding among the rest for sure. Thank you for your boldness.
Also, your humility in presenting it as you did is notable. I have not met Fr. John yet.
Fr. John I am your neighbor up in Stanwood Washington. Saint Gabriel the archangel orthodox church. I thought I had a good grasp on everything and you filled in a lot of missing pieces and for that I am so grateful. Maybe we’ll catch you at a welcome meeting one of these days. Of all the things I might point out I really appreciate what you said about the right and the left in the west being in one camp on all of this and not grounded in history. Thank you for that along with everything else.
Fr. Theodore ☦️ ROCOR
I have a long drive this week. Would love to see this posted to the Podcast feed.
Maybe I missed it... Patriarch Kirill, I believe, has made a statement in support of Russia and the war.
Because he fears gays. Pathetic.
Yes it was a very weak statement
During the previous 3 months (it is June 1 now) kirill has made many statements in support of the genocide being instituted by russia. He is being accused of being a heretic by his own priests (over 400 now) and his russian church in Ukraine has now split from him).
All the while this "historian" and his church have been in support of kirill against Metropolitan Epiphany in Ukraine.
@@ronfeledichuk531 Christ have mercy on us all. Certainly, this is a time in history when we all need to increase our grips on “…and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
I fear that the Patriarch Kirill may have become inexorably bound to his worldly alliance. It’s hard not to despair.
Fast-forward 2 years: Kyril now promises absolution from sins to any soldier of Mother Russia who fights in Ukraine or dies killing Ukrainians. He preaches a pure and fascistic love of "sacred Russia". This is blasphemy and a fascistic state ideology . Clergy and monastics of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchy (UOC-MP) have been found guilty by Ukrainian civil authorities of spying and treason while assisting the invading Russian forces to target and kill Ukrainians. Kirill (a.k.a "bloody Kiril" by many of us Orthodox) preaches a heretical and fascistic message of un-reserved support for Putin's fascist state. Whatever the value of the very general history outline within this video, it is badly undermined by its complete lack of critique of the "symphony" of the Russian Orthodox Church and the authoritarian Soviet state, even as current events instruct us that the "brotherhood" between the "Eastern Slavs" is an hitoric construct which obsures more than it illumines. The last two years of history recommend a very different look. To most of us who are at close distance to or within this horror, it is clear that there was never a true relationship of "brotherhood" between Russia and Ukraine. Rather the history is one of Russian authority, domination, and forms of colonial power. Today the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine is not acting in "symphony" with the fascist Russian State, they are working for it as it wars against Christ's flock in Ukraine. The list of bombed temples and murdered and tortured priests within the occupied parts of Ukraine is horrific. This persecution of Christians is even worse when it comes to murder and torture and dispossession of Protestants, not to mention Tatar Muslims, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Jews, etc.. The break between these two parts of the Orthodox Church is total at this point. Moscow's war on Ukraine assured that. A remnant of the Moscow Patriarch's clerics still in Ukraine may be arrested for specific crimes or asked to leave. (And oddly Ukraine's Rada has not yet passed a proposed law on this: the Government of Ukraine is highly tolerant of religious diversity and is avoiding any possible charges that it is "persecuting' Moscow's agents). For many Orthodox today, the bottom line is now clear: Kirill should be tried for blood-guilt by a Council of the Church and defrocked or jailed for conspiracy in the Common Plan (conspiracy) to commit war crimes and / or genocide in Ukraine. He is a wanted criminal uunder European law. There have been various petition efforts to move a resolution to defrock him. The restoration of unity between Russia and Ukraine and the two canonical churches will require acts of repentance by Moscow. These acts are not in evidence yet, and will require generations to become meaningful to Russia's victims.
Thank you! 💜
THank you. Very clear perspective of the conflict.
As one who holds a master's degree in history myself, I am very glad to have stumbled on this video, even if it was a couple years after the fact. People in the West really have no idea how complicated the history of the region is and how the religious history affects it. Ukraine may well be the second-most fought over piece of real estate on the planet after the Holy Land. It is knowledge that is sorely lacking in the West, especially in our sound-bite level society we live in.
No reason for Putin to go to war! Haven’t the Orthodox heard of the beatitudes?
@@RPlavo I heartily disagree. When a man has a chance to defend those who are being abused and tortured and does nothing, he will answer to God for that.
Putin spent seven years trying to get the West to stop the violence against ethnic Russians in Ukraine, especially in Donetsk and Lugansk. He peacefully asked repeatedly for them to live up to their commitments in the Minsk Agreements. Yet, the violence again and again kept up, to the point that civilian targets like apartment blocks and public schools that were not being used militarily were targeted in a terror campaign. The Ukrainian government even co-opted the Neo-Nazi Azov Battalion to serve as their proxy until they finally made them part of their national guard system. Russia tried to be peacemakers over and over. It was refused over and over.
Putin did the right thing. Now he is offering peace and an immediate cease-fire if Ukraine forsakes any NATO membership effort and gives up the oblasts they were unjustly attacking for all those years.
The last 15 minutes were super insightful
Keep up the good work
Good for you taking this risk. You’ve been granted a platform for God’s purposes, and it takes courage to “go there.” To do so with humility is edifying for us all as we strive through this Lenten desert.
I just discovered this and i am already thinking i need to watch this twice.
God Bless you, and your search for TRUTH. patricia mary
Wow! This was very good! I am Ukrainian and agree so much with Fr. Strickland
God bless! Thank you so much. Father Strickland is an exceptional priest and historian.
God bless you Austin
God bless you too!
Thank you for enlightening us about the history of relation between the Orthodox Church in both Russia and Ukraine.
This is great .. no agenda, just HISTORY. Thanks. This is what I was looking for.
Austin, thank you for sharing, it was extremely informative. Hearing and trying to understand ALL sides of a story is extremely important. IC XC NIKA
I'm glad to hear that
40k subscribers! Good form. Justin in MA.
I really feel like a Glenn Beck style chalk board would have helped this deal out a lot LOL
Don’t forget the minority of Greek Catholics in Ukraine. They are 10% of the population and mostly in West Ukraine
Heretics
Austin: I want to honor and show my respect for your commitment to sharing the Gospel of Jesus with
others through this medium.. Your sincerity, your zeal, your openness and devotion are truly evident. May God continue to give you the inner peace, strength, joy ,well-being to support you. Maybe at some point you could
express that goodness that is you with a song on your guitar. Blessings to you and your loved ones.
Blessings and thanks for this special program on the Ukraine crisis It helped, as you intended, to put this
in an historical perspective . Father John did a great job.
Dear Austin, I am from Ukraine. Right now I am not that far from its capital, fleeing my home being shelled by Russia to take my epileptic son away from the explosions. This morning I was trying to talk my mom out of going to the market in the middle of an air alarm and Russian rockets flying in the direction of my hometown aimed at residential areas. Last night I went to bed after checking on my coworker after his city has been shot at by the Russian troops. He said he is fine, with the artillery hitting near his home, but not it directly. I am a protestant Christian interested in the church tradition and have been fond of your channel since I found about it. I admire the spirit of cordiality on your channel and your strife towards the gospel simplicity in the great complexity of the nowadays Christianity. But there is a very simple truth in this complicated war:
You do not look for reasons why the victim is being raped, while the rape is happening!
I do not know the stance of Fr. Strickland on the Russian-Ukrainian relations and I am not sure if I will have time to find out as even writing this comment takes away the precious time I can use to pray and help my suffering brothers and sisters in Christ, three hundred of whom are hiding in the basement of a church in Mariupol being leveled to the ground by the Russian army with no way to go out to get food, water or take their dead away from the streets.
Even posing the question as you did in the description of this announcement is preposterous, let alone posting the whole video. I understand that you do not see it this way, but please believe me when I say that it is more damaging than helpful in this situation. My grandparents were from Russia, my grandma came from the Old-Rite Russian Orthodox and my grandpa from the mainstream Russian Orthodox traditions. His mom sang in the Russian Orthodox church choir and he was ridiculed by the kids in his Soviet school for praying before his meal in the cafeteria. The histories of both Russian and Ukrainian churches is my family history.
If you want to better understand this war, please start with those associated with the victim and not those with the aggressor. Clergy of the Orthodox Church of America, which was granted autocephaly in violation of the Orthodox canons by the Moscow Patriarch in an act of aggression against the rest of the Orthodox world, cannot be the starting point for getting this understanding. Religion is at the heart of the contemporary Russian ideology and propaganda and the Moscow Patriarch is one of the main enablers of the aggression. Please remember that since the collapse of the totalitarian Soviet regime, which controlled every aspect of its citizens lives including their faith, the Russian Orthodox church never had a chance to cleanse itself of the defilement by the state.
Among Ukrainian experts, from the top of my head, I can think of Dr. Cyril Hovorun, Archbishop Borys Gudziak (a Harvard graduate with the Ph.D. in Slavic and Byzantine Cultural History), people at the Sheptytsky Institute or the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (they have explainers on their channel). I believe it is easy to find many more and I will be honored to help you in that if need be.
I understand that you may not even see my comment or read it because of how long it is, but I pray that God give you discernment and wisdom in this matter. I believe He can answer this prayer as I see so many prayers answered in miraculous ways in this unjust and unjustified invasion of Ukraine.
I am a Russian Orthodox (Moscow Patriarchate) Christian. May our Lady Theotokos protect you and your family and bring peace between Ukraine and Russia.
Thank you, Ivan! I could not agree with you more!
Ivan, my heart breaks as I read this comment describing what you, and so many others, are going through. I've read this comment and your email multiple times and I'm genuinely struggling with discerning the right way forward. I spend the first five minutes of this video discussing that very tension of whether we should even be talking about this in such a format. What makes me want to continue with this is the fact that people will be seeking answers from this regardless, and if they're going to do so, I think there's value in them having access to people who take religion and history seriously. It's for that reason as well that I'd be happy to interview any of the people you mentioned and have already begun pursuing that. Another reason I consider this is because I worry that many of my viewers may be looking to very fringe radical sources, and if I can expose them to someone whom they respect (an orthodox priest) who is genuinely concerned by these things, is calling for peace, and is an expert in Russian religious history, I think that's a positive. However, I concede that I truly cannot fully understand what you are going through. Like I said, I am happy to interview those people. I wish to bring exposure and aid to this situation, which is why this video (and future videos on the topic if they come to fruition) will be ad free and instead feature fundraisers for Ukraine.
You're going to get rekt, son. Just accept Russia's conditions.
@@GospelSimplicity Thank you so much for taking time to read and think about what I had to say. Still I would ask you to not go forward with this video! Russian Orthodox priest is not the one to be commenting on Ukraine. At least in the current situation. There is no place for debate and giving the voice to both sides when it is clear who is the victim and who is the aggressor. Russian Orthodoxy is seriously ill. Russian propaganda manages to use even the best of the priests for its twisted agenda. My mom I told you earlier about, used to attend a Russian Orthodox (officialy the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate) church which was a room in a hospital and with a very sacrificial priest who spent all his time with the hurting people in this hospital. In a time of decisive presidential elections he was instructed by his hierarchy to agitate for the pro-Russian candidate who was very clearly a very corrupt person. Looking for a reason for this war within Ukraine is not humane. The reason is this - the state of affairs within Russia into which it was driven by the autocratic and cleptocratic regime in Russia was so bad that it had to create an outside enemy to divert the attention to. Religious issues of the Orthodox churches in our countries is an EXCUSE not the REASON.
Thanks to you both! Good overview of the complexity of this situation. And a beautiful and helpful summary at the end. 🌿🕊️🇺🇦☦️🇷🇺🕊️🌿
Thank you so much both of you. Really helpful insights for a UK follower of Jesus. We entrust this situation to God with confidence in him alone.
Austin, I think in fairness, you should invite a Ukranian Eastern Rite priest to an interview on this topic.
Invitations are already sent
I strongly agree on that one. The perspective of the Ukranian Uniate Church (which is very strong in Western Ukraine) was hardly mentioned in the talk!
@@tomkraft3931 The Ukranian Orthodox Church, under Metropolitan Epiphanius, is also very prominent in the Ukraine, and deserves a voice.
@@themoseschannel5951 defitinelly! It is the autocephalous church that exist today in Ukraine. The voice f this church is crucial.
@@rodionkadatskyi182 its not autocephalous but the legitimate one under the Moscow patriarchate.
I don't know that it makes sense to say it's a war between Orthodox Christians necessarily... Russia is hardly Orthodox right now.
The majority of the population considers itself Orthodox (about 70% according to pew research polls, which is a striking difference relative to the 90s when about 70% were atheist or agnostic).
@@iliya3110 exactly, I didn't know what exactly this person's standards are... Technically NO countries "are" Orthodox
@@iliya3110 …while still disbelieving in God. How does that work? The demographic facts are that there is a religious gradient that concentrates religion (Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant) in western Ukraine with actual churchgoing tapering off toward the east. Some 10% western Ukrainians attend church while in the People’s Republic of Donetsk, as in Russia, it’s around 2%. So much for your holy Russia.
@@claesvanoldenphatt9972 Yes, but wouldn’t you agree that an atheistic state trying to erase Orthodoxy from Russian culture probably had something to do with that? It’s going to take time for the culture to rebuild itself. I got my own sins to be concerned with anyways.
@@iliya3110 so everything bad always comes from outside Russia and the Holy Russian people are perennially innocent victims of the godless west. I see you are thoroughly sucked into the maelstrom of Russki Mir’ circular ‘thinking’.
Hey Austin, im kinda new to your chanel, maybe you re already doin this, but it would be super interesting to have more live debates between two members of different denominations and their aproach on a christian doctrine.
Normandy conquered England in 1066. Would that justify its reinvading now to reclaim its historical identity...understanding it of course, historically?
The Normans don't exist anymore and the manner in which they conquered England was quite total. They transformed the language, culture and revamped the monarchy. So to view them as foreign invaders is to misunderstand that they are the giants on which much of what we know as England is built.
Better examples are Taiwan and China, or North Korea and South Korea, Germany and Austria. Ethnically similar peoples who recently shared a common history.
@@superroydude I think Paul Kingsnorth would disagree about the ultimate value and significance of the Norman conquest of England. He wrote a whole trilogy of novels about the dire outcome of that horrible event.
The war has many aspects and many competing narratives which should be taken seriously, as opposed to outright accepting or dismissing any claims put forward by any of the sides involved. That's my view on it as someone who has degrees in history and international relations. My view on it as a Christian is that any war is outrageous, and that a war between Christians, especially Orthodox Christians (I say especially not to suggest that war against some Christians is good, but that war between brothers in the same faith and same culture, and also because there's no real Orthodox justification for aggressive war in the same way as might be found in the Crusades or in Just War theories), is the clearest indication of how firm Satan's grip is becoming on our world.
Great guest and looking at the time stamps, it looks like it's going to be a very good interview.
I really appreciate this perspective.
Brother, at the bottom of this confusion and the pain of war, did you really intend to say Crusades and Just War theories are connected to the theme of military “aggression”, contrary to what’s allegedly prevalent in Eastern Orthodoxy? I really don’t know how come one could even speak of Crusades or of a theory which is quintessential to Catholic moral theology - drawing a line between Christian civilization and Barbarism, between the rule of justice and the rule of brute power - as a way (deliberate or not) to use those lamentable events in Ukraine ending up in the vilification of Catholicism. Sorry but I honestly don’t understand what your intention was. I read your text time and time again and still can’t understand what you meant in the part concerning Crusades/Just War theories and the justification for “aggression wars”. That sounds too discreditable.
First of all, the Crusades happened because of the Islamic military aggression towards Christians. Not the other way around. Byzantine people and leaders asked for help from Western nations and then the First Crusade happened (1096-1099). If any Christian understands that the Crusades and not the Islamic conquests (with their domination over Jerusalem and Palestine but also all Northern Africa and huge portions of the Byzantine Empire) were the real “imperialistic” enterprise and the aggressive warring attitude of the two, then the only justification for this very posture would be ignorance about history or probably ideological anti-Catholicism. _“Tertium non datur”_ (there is no third option).
To make a long story short, the Crusades were essentially a calling by the Popes to Catholic kingdoms and peoples under the strong request of the Byzantine Emperor (backed up by the Patriarch of Constantinople) to defend Christendom against the Islamic menace and tyranny. Not everything went perfectly fine but if that perception is lacking for an Eastern Orthodox, then he can be said to be lacking knowledge of Byzantine history and his own roots, I should respectfully say. But when the Caliphate was spreading out from North Africa to the Iberian Peninsula in Europe, well, it was Western Christianity alone who needed to fight for their existence, since the Byzantines didn’t bother to give them any effective support. The Spanish Catholics had to fight nothing short of 7 (seven) centuries (!) on their “Reconquista Wars” against the Saracens even if the Byzantine Empire, at least during the initial Islamic invasion of Europe, had already conquered Italy, and the Greeks/Byzantines simply were there in Western Europe up to the year of 732. The “Justinian Wars” or the “Gothic Wars” (535-553) are the military events that ended up with the Byzantine conquest of the Italian peninsula from the Ostrogoths in the 6th century; Emperor Justinian wanted to - politically - reestablish the Roman Empire both East and West, being himself the Emperor to govern the “Roman throne” from the East. That period formally ended only in 732 when the Byzantines definitely lost Italy to the warring Kingdom of Lombardia (and the Lombards). Ironically, the only ones who could give the city of Rome an effective military protection against the Lombards were the Catholic Franks, the strongest military potency of Europe at that time. Charlemagne later defeated the Lombards (who had just defeated the Byzantine conquerors of Italy) and was acclaimed the “Protector of Rome” - and then, in the year of 800, the Holy Roman Emperor. I’m not betting on the convenience of this political title but no wonder why Eastern Orthodoxy’s “ethos”, in its deep imperialistic roots, shows an unbalanced hatred for the Franks/ for Charlemagne (just look at it all around, brother), apart from some unavoidable polemics and some pretty avoidable estrangements.
Curiously enough, you implied Eastern Orthodoxy doesn’t tolerate wars let alone wars of offensive campaigns but that’s hugely imprecise or maybe propagandistic. Emperor Justinian is called “St Justinian the Great” in Eastern Orthodoxy and is highly praised for the military conquest of the Roman West on the hands of Byzantine military, following the perennial tradition of the unification of the Roman Empire with two distinct capitals starting with Constantine, the founder of Constantinople, who is - not by chance - also called “St Constantine the Great”. I’m not showing any beef against Emperor Justinian the Great but explaining it’s a point of a manifest incoherence.
So I beg to differ from this imprecision even theoretically: the theory of Just War is essentially present in Eastern Orthodoxy (no matter how badly it could have been manipulated by the Byzantine Empire, just as it was by Western kingdoms: let us all be sincere here) as it is inside Patristic sources. It goes from a sort of pacifism in Origen’s texts to a more aggressive stance in St Athanasius of Alexandria, but surely it arrives at a more well-adjusted and sensible way in St Basil and St Ambrose’s views, who have defended the morality of defense acts of deterring and repelling aggressions but strongly condemned unnecessary killings even at the pretext of resistance. It is true that the Byzantines post-schism never came up with a systematic development of a “theory of just war”, but it happened not because of the intrinsic missing pieces for an out-and-out doctrine in the Church of the first millennium, but due to the fact that EO i) could never adequately synthetize Greek and Latin Fathers, ii) it could never really deal with a true separation from Church and State, so it blurred moral judgments of political/military interests and many times the religious paradigms were conformed to Imperial necessities and iii) because it lacked functionality to dogmatize on faith and morals in the post-schism era at the universal level, therefore it later fell for the national premises of the States in Modern Era too, since the (East Roman/Byzantine) Empire is the political reality EO needed to function with at the level of “oikoumene” when it defined its identity on being out of communion with the Roman See. I’ll repeat if things didn’t get too clear in my argument: just as Constantine is called “St Constantine the Great”, Emperor Justinian is also canonized as “St Justinian the Great” for Eastern Orthodoxy. So it seems not authentically Christian (but Pharisaic) to unnecessarily thrown stones at Catholicism here, more so when completely out of context.
Although many people millimetric trace the Great Schism to the year of 1054, the perception of a definitive division between Greek and Latin Christianity was not really consolidated until much later but truly as a long sedimentation of past cultural, political and theological factors. Surely the Fourth Crusade/ the “Sack of Constantinople” in 1204 is a tragic event that helped this perception to achieve unbearable levels. But it was a deviant path of Western warriors and chevaliers under their Kingdoms, justified by greed and historical bitterness, not a religiously protected and condoned event. The popes have excommunicated those responsible and have asked for forgiveness many times for the Greeks and all Eastern Orthodox people. ‘Au contraire’, yet ZERO Eastern Orthodox hierarch has ever OFICIALLY apologized for the despicable Massacre of the Latins in 1181 in Constantinople, which is cited as a co-cause of the Sack of the Imperial capital that happened later in 1204. Never. As a Catholic it seems to be a strange way to deal with the intrinsic (im)morality of aggression while silently pointing fingers to Catholics (!), who have nothing to do with the obnoxious actions we see in Ukraine but being victimized also.
Therefore, to advocate for a sort of Eastern Orthodox “pacifism” is suspiciously untrue and counter-historical, especially if it comes down to strangely and implicitly talking about Crusades and Just War as mechanisms for aggression (aiming Catholicism?) instead of REALLY analyzing Russian/Byzantine Imperialism (“Second Rome”, “Third Rome”: as Vladimir Soloviov would say, how many more “Romes” but the one and only, not the city of the political Empire but the _sedis episcopalis_ of St Peter?) as it is, without putting skeletons in the closet and dust under the carpet. I know we could all do better than this and be authentically charitable, not only on half measures and third-part words.
Last but not least, aggression war and “Just War” are mutually exclusive terms and a real _“contradictio in verbis”,_ so if you don’t really know what they actually mean in deep Catholic moral theology, why would you even express some ideological bitterness against us, my friend? What is there really to gain from it? I’m not here to judge intentions but to defend the Catholic faith whenever I really feel there is ignorance (intentional or not), ideological anti-Catholicism and/or historical manipulation. Sorry for my emphasis in some parts, brother.
From a Brazilian 🇧🇷 Catholic with sincere love for Christian unity and all of our separated brothers.
Great view point, many Catholics don’t realize the damage that they have done to the orthodox faithful. Forced latinization towards the Hellenic people as well. And many many other thefts from the Orthodox Church
@@masterchief8179 Charlemagne divided the faith, laid the groundwork that lead to the great schism, and the downfall of Catholicism into innovation and heresy.
The Eastern Orthodox are no strangers to self focused behavior and bishops who are more concerned on ethnicity and power. BUT one thing that Eastern Orthodox Christians have done is stay faithful to the historical faith. The people have kept the faith intact inspite of the ecumenists, Masons, and other so called hierarchs acting as the "lamposts" to hell.
The scriptures warn us that not all who "work" or use the name of Christ are faithful, that good intentions are salvific, the ecumenists are leading the world astray. Christ is coming for the seamless, pure in faith, ones who battle the world and struggle for righteousness. The road is narrow, the one true catholic faith (orthodoxy) is the only way to salvation. God himself only judges, but he has given us the road map through the church fathers and saints.
you should connect with the Duran and gonzalo lira. you could have s lot of interesting geopolitical analysis on this together
This is problematic:
That the church is still defending a christian civilization and culture, a "christian nation". This cannot be achieved anymore.
The church should serve the nation and the people as much as possible, but not identity with the political powers.
The church should accept the position of the underdog again, what She had from the beginning.
I think everyone in the comments wanting “the other side” or someone else with “the other view” to be interviewed, did not in fact, actually watch the whole video. Nowhere did Fr Strickland join sides or promote the Russian side of this conflict. In contrast, I believe he was clearly neutral in giving us the historical background. Also, he was very clear to point out the Orthodox historical call for peace and anti-war that most orthodox leadership has held. Thank you for this video, more people need to watch it with an open mind and seeing the religious background to this unfortunate conflict.
I can tell you, as an Orthodox believer, this is a very painful time. I know God’s grace can bring great riches out of this, for “ where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more.“ But I hate to see fledgling Ukraine, with all her imperfections, sacrificed for it!
I watched the entire video and while not as learned as Fr John, it seemed to me that where I remembered my history of this area of the world it tracked with Fr John. Plus there was a lot of new facts for me that added context. He did maintain a "...just the facts ma'am, just the facts" but towards the end he punted. Even if one for the sake of argument accepts that both sides are complicent (which I don't) it was Putin that invaded Ukraine. He pulled that trigger. And not only did Patriarch Kirill fail to condemn the war, his comments certainly seemed to justify it.
@@philmattox8500 Putin indeed pulled the trigger to invade Ukraine. Similarly Poroshenko and Zelensky pulled the trigger on every shell fired indiscriminately into the Donbas region for the last 8 years.
@@traceyedson9652 They chose this path when they created a schism within the Church, this is the worst of all sins and it was inevitable from the day they took that step that God would visit His judgement upon them.
@@costakeith9048 Too simple
Thank you very much for this magnificent expose. It is illuminating to listen to such humble wisdom. Thank you for presenting this material in this venue. God blesses you very richly indeed. I am an Orthodox Christian. I am an American. And, I live in Spain where I attend a small Orthodox Church in Sevilla. Bravo Zulu. Keep up the good work.
To discuss history regarding putins criminality merely creates fog of war
This is like drinking from a fire house . God bless you father John .
Rus and Russia are not the same things. At the time of Rus conversion Russia did not even exist.
I didn’t think he said they were... He said the Rus were comprised of the eastern and southern Slavic linguistic groups that later became part of Russia
@@debravan-aalst4723 perhaps I misunderstood them.
Great interview! Hopefully other perspectives are forthcoming, but I think Fr. Strickland gives a good overview of the history, even if he shows his bias at the end.
The introduction ends around 6:12 if you want to skip to the interview.
This is an interesting issue. The fact that US and EU economic pressure has not stopped the war is a sign that the World is changing . It seems that the PRC is increasingly the economic center of the World and the PRC's orientation towards allowing nation-states to have their autonomy may be becoming the norm.
at 0:47 minutes and 1:01 a little to the point. Still so hard to see the church without outrage!
Praying for peace.
I think all humans can see brokeness in others more easily than in themselves, both individually and as a group identity. The comments on paradise vs. Utopia at the end were fascinating to me. My prayer this lent has been how do I live in a broken world as a Christian? What does bringing the Kingdom of God to earth really look like? Am I trying to create Utopia? Would love a video on this topic. Also this lent my prayer has been trying to understand how to live Jesus' prayer of "may they all be one". What does he really mean by this? The nationalism view can also be seen in denominations of Christianity as well. We are the "real" church of Jesus has always bothered me for some reason. I guess because it's so easy to dismiss "others" experience of the Holy Spirit. Thanks for this video.
☦️
A very thorough discussion. However, even though I'm an Orthodox Christian, I do not agree with Fr. John's statements relating to "utopia" and "there will always be wars". I feel that it is far to easy to use this position as an excuse for not doing anything, or for sitting on the fence in the face of human atrocities. As Christians we should condemn wars/acts of violence and actively help to pave the path of peace amongst our brethren. On top of that, I feel we should tend to the needs of ALL those affected by such atrocities, much like the Samaritan, without regard for race, creed, nationality.
Any statement dealing with facts that begins with “I feel…” is worthless.
@@fiocchimanrex657 ok, I believe. Better? This isn't a discussion about facts.
@@trentf5926 Much . Thank you.
Was the Holodomor (Голодомо́р) covered in this talk?
No, and I think it should be mentioned.
The holodomor was made by the soviet comunists not russia. Comunists hated and destroyed the real russian culture too don’t forget. They were a foreign force occupying most of eastern europe using russian as a lingua franca. Not just comunist russians. Most revolutionaries weren’t russians neither peasents rising up against nobility how some portray it
in the USSR there was a famine in the Volga region, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. Now many people rush about the Holodomor as if the Ukrainians were exterminated on purpose. But everyone suffered from the Soviet Union
@@DestroyerRPCM5 Stalin took food specifically from Ukraine, leaving very little behind for the people. How is that not a massacre?
🙏💜😎
Same thing division happened in Ethiopia between Orthodox christians along ethnic nationalities.
This sounds very familiar. Rather like the situation in North of Ireland
Does ur fundraiser take 8-inch donations?
Wonderful overview of political and religious history in this region. Thank you Father Strickland and Austin!
Thank you Austin and Fr. Strickland! There are two aspects of the whole picture which should be mentioned, I believe:
1. Fr. John spoke about the rise of Ukrainian Nationalist movements after the Revolution and how Ukraine was then again made part of the Empire by the Soviets. This was a very cruel period in Ukrainian history and the starvation (Holodomor) which was imposed on the Ukrainian people by Stalin and the Communists at that time is categorized by some historians as genocide. The number of victims is estimated between 4 and 5 million. This is a trauma in the collective memory of the Ukrainian people and should be mentioned when talking about the relations between Russia and Ukraine.
2. From my experience in Western Ukraine the role of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (Eastern rite, in communion with Rome) is very strong. Again, they suffered greatly under the Communists but were also suppressed by the Eastern Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. Should the whole of Ukraine come again under Moscow rule, this would almost certainly begin yet another period or martyrdom for them.
There's another side of it, under Catholic occupation, Western Ukraine had the biggest genocide of Eastern Orthodox at the hands of Roman Catholic Uniates, see the case of Josaphat Kuntsevych, who was so harsh in his beheading and torturing of Eastern Orthodox peasants that even the Polish ambassador had to tell him to stop, that didn't stop his canonization by the Pope.
@@pensamientos_escritos So that would have been late 16.th/early 17th century. I am not sure this would be of the same dimensions as the Holodomor. Do you have any estimated figures?
@@tomkraft3931 That’s irrelevant. The point is that Uniates in Western Ukraine, influenced and supported by external powers (ie. the Polish state) have slaughtered and persecuted Orthodox Christians ever since they invented themselves and have also provided Orthodox Christians in the region with a collective trauma. Both this and Soviet oppression were tragedies; it’s not a competition or game of numbers, so don’t turn it into one.
@@nuzzi6620 If one uses the term 'genocide' the numbers are not irrelevant.
@@nuzzi6620 , Western Ukraine became Greek Catholic only in 18-th century because the Orthodox Church of Recz Pospolita became a part of Moscow hierarchy. The Orthodox bishops of Ukraine in Recz Pospolita did not want to be part of a Russian Church. There is no historical evidences of persecution of Orthodox people in Western Ukraine at that time.
Austin, thank you for this respectful conversation! In case you plan to make another video like this, father Cyril Hovorun is knowledgeable on the subject. He is a Ukrainian Orthodox priest and is currently teaching political ecclesiology in Sweden.
With all respect, I would be cautious of Fr Cyril. He seems to employ his brand of academic theology at the expense of Orthodox Tradition. For example, his take on the potential for disease transmission through holy communion is not Orthodox. Perhaps he may have some insight on the situation, but he is in my opinion not much of a trustworthy source. God bless you
@@leopistis3560 I understand your perspective. Indeed, I think he has many insights on the current situation. As for someone being trustworthy or not, it depends on personal judgement here :)
Interview is already scheduled!
very biased priest.
Nice historical perspective.
I also notice that according to most reliable current data, about 100 people have been slain in Ukraine since the interview started. Including 10-20 children, 20-30 women, 20 Russian soldiers, the rest Ukrainians that used to work and toil for their families and didn't deserve anything like this.
I appreciate the humility and the tactful approach, the meek will certainly inherit heaven. But let me recall how Jesus once also revolted against hypocrisy and injustice. And he was not very tactful at that.
I think 100 is too little of a number. Even Russian sources accidentally posted 9000+ of their soldiers dead.
@@mikhaelgribkov4117 I mean during the time, about half an hour, that the interview took place.
Thank you for doing this and having the courage to discuss such a thorny issue. I lived in Russia for quite a while, having gone to school and university there, and while I have a deep love for the Russian Orthodox Church, and all Eastern Orthodox Churches, I have always been worried about Patriarch Kirill, and his role in politics. Russian politics is a weird and highly toxic mix of ideologies that are mostly dead or marginal in Western societies, including irredentism fueled by extreme nationalism, and communism (the Communist Party is still consistently the second largest party in Russia today, while overall sympathy for Soviet communism remains considerably higher still than that party's support, and even the ruling party United Russia very openly celebrates the country's communist past). Kirill is friends with all major political leaders, including Putin himself, but also is particularly close with Gennady Zyuganov, the leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (who almost became president in 1996). Zyuganov is someone who openly celebrates Stalin as the greatest leader in Russian history: a lapsed Orthodox monk who actively tried to destroy the Church and persecuted the faithful. This closeness between the Patriarch and an unrepentant admirer of Stalin is something that worries me greatly. He also seems friendly with Vladimir Zhirinovsky, an extreme nationalist politician who likes to play on anti-Semitic sentiments (he has repeatedly called for the complete segregation of Jews from other Russians) and has called for the military re-annexation of all former imperial Russian territories, including all former Soviet republics, Poland, Finland, and even Alaska. Zhirinovsky also engages in physical brawls on national TV semi-regularly, frequently calls female journalists and politicians the w- and s-words, has been known to throw flower pots at Jews for no real apparent reason (yes, really), has portrayed Catholics as some sort of evil secret empire that want to take over Russia, and has been accused of molesting an underage boy (again, yes really). He's an unsavory figure to say the least, who has never publicly uttered a single word of repentance, has never shown any temperance or restraint, and has never shown any trace of regret for the hurtful and hateful remarks he has made towards the Jews (or the Catholics, for that matter). But Patriarch Kirill receives him at the Patriarchal residence. Just a few months ago, in late 2021 the Patriarch lavished praise upon Zhirinovsky during a public meeting at the Patriarchal residence, lauding him as a sort of hero of patriotic Russian values. I pray wisdom may guide Kirill, because he worries me.
Wow. I appreciate your deep insight into Russian politics and thoughts on Kirill. If you could watch Austin's new interview with Dr. Cyril Hovorun and comment, I sure would appreciate it. The comments section seems to be overrun by people with their own biases who, I sense, have never been within a thousand miles of Russia or Ukraine.
As a Russian person, I’m amazed that people in the West are completely ignorant of the fact that communism is the Western ideology, appeared in the 12th century, is a Latin word, revolved in France, was applied during French Revolution, more developed in Germany by German Jewish man Karl Marx, applied in the Europe during revolutions and used as a change to prevent revolution like in Britain. As for Zhirenovsky: he made some comments against Jewish people, mostly stating that communists who were mostly Jewish ( Lenin was half Jewish, Trotsky was fully Jewish, Sverdlov- fully Jewish) messed up his family and removed property and factory from his family. As of a result of that Zhirinovsky never knew his father who was fully Jewish. And his father and mother struggled as a result of that. Later he found his father’s grave in Israel and sobbed at his grave. He found out that he was the only child to his father and never knew him.
@@tatyanakol Thanks for your contribution, here. I think "completely ignorant" is a bit of an exaggeration. Many of us westerners know the history of communism as you have stated. We're not all as stupid as we look! :)
I think Patriarch Kirill has... "updated" his stance on the war since then.
I do not consider him our holy father anymore. I believe he's not only orchestrated a schism, but also became a traitor to his flock in Ukraine, to Lord's commandments and merged with the state and now preaches heresy of phyletism.
What I find that the priest missed here is that Ukraine was never under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church, but it was under the Ecumenical Patriarchate's jurisdiction. The Ecumenical Patriarchate just gave certain rights to the Russian Orthodox Church regarding Ukraine in 1686, which rights were subjected to specific terms that were not obeyed by the way, and these rights were recently abolished. Notably the Russian Orthodox Church existed centuries before 1686, or at least it was in 1589 that its independence was recognised... One can start at the Wikipedia article "Annexation of the Metropolitanate of Kyiv by the Moscow Patriarchate" to gather some initial information about the matter.
This is decent -I learnt lots though History can be told in a biased way.
( so Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Church has shared a Seattle church-campus with Epiphany Parish Episcopal
for 35+ years )
Word is Zelensky is banning the Russian Orthodox church
Of course he is. The EP's uncanonical creation will be the only thing allowed.
Regarding the patriarch's neutrality, neutrality can be taking sides if one side is assaulting the other. In the case of Russian and the Ukraine, If the Ukraine stopped fighting it would be suicide. If Russia stopped fighting, they could return home safely. That's a big difference.
I should add that neutrality is not necessarily a Christian virtue. God constantly took sides... Not based on our own characteristics or wealth but definitely based on our actions. He always sides with the oppressed.
How would it be suicide? Russia doesn’t want to genocide all of Ukraine! You guys are literally out of your minds if you think Putin wants to ethnically cleanse all Ukrainians. He’s made it very clear what he wants but you guys keep thinking he’s planning another holocaust. Get a damn grip! Not to mention it was Ukraine that was committing genocide in Donbass for 8 years but none of you guys cared about that!
@@NoeticInsight Russia has been on the offensive, attacking civilians. For the Ukraine to stop and let Russia have their way would be suicide for their people.
@@cyberjunk2002 “attacking civilians” is a classic propaganda talking-point used when one side tries to obfuscate the placement of tanks, anti-aircraft batteries, MRLS vehicles, man-portable anti-tank sites, ammunition depots, and troop positions in/near hospitals, schools, densely populated urban areas, apartment buildings etc.
There’s plenty of video footage of Ukrainian forces doing just that. It’s a classic tactic used by those on the defensive end of an urban attack to try to shield their equipment from getting destroyed by hostile forces. It’s just the unfortunate nature of urban combat.
Without fail when these legitimate military targets are struck, there will be civilian casualties and those on the receiving end will cry out, “they’re targeting civilians!!” as part of the narrative warfare against the other side.
This isn’t just limited to this war, it happens in ALL wars of this nature. I’m only mentioning this so you don’t automatically make the assumption that what you hear about civilian casualties is factually accurate and the complete story.
@@neptunetriton too many civilian targets are being flattened with long range, indiscriminate weapons, for your point to hold any water.
As a historian, Fr. John, should've mentioned about women, men and children of Donbass who have been shelled, bombed and killed in the last 8 years. This is not the beginning of the conflict. This is, hopefully, the end of it. The press in the West failed to give a voice to 14 000 civilians killed in Eastern Ukraine since 2014 after a fascist coup that took place in Kiev. It's a historical fact. There is an "Alley of Angels" in Donbass that bare the names of children age 6 months - 18 years killed by Ukrainian nationalists supported by Kiev regime. People in the West are not aware of it. 8 years of war in Donbass. It is twice as long as WW2. Nobody mentions about great suffering of primarily Russian population of Eastern Ukraine. Unfortunately, the western mentality has been deeply influenced by the political correctness and blind trust in the corrupt media.
Fascist coup in 2014? Really? We are in 2022. Ukraine, led by a freely elected democratic government is being brutally assaulted by Vladimir Putin. And this war criminal (and those supporting him) is blaming his victims. This guy ain't no angel. It is time his supporters realize this. Slava Ukranie!
@@philmattox8500
Glory to God only!
Ukraine is not a democratic country. It's been named one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Biden, his son Hunter and the family, including other members of the swamp turned Ukraine into the "Laundromat" of dirty money.
That's the truth that fall on deaf ears "cuz Putin man bad".
@@philmattox8500 Freely elected? Zelensky was sponsored by oligarch Kholomoysky who also sponsored the TV series where Zelensky plays a president! Haha. He closed down 3 TV networks, banned 11 opposition parties, silenced and killed journalists and openly allows Neonazi groups in the military and members in parliament. He is a puppet!!
Completely false. Go away Moscow troll
There are very secular motivations for this war as well. The people of Ukraine are caught in the middle of a global tug of war. One in which some have been attempting to return to the sick glory days of the Cold War.
Pray for peace. Avoid taking sides and always remember that all sides spew propaganda. We need to pray for Ukraine but also for the rest of us who are going to be staring at a brand new economic reality.
Wrong: false equivalency. When good forces avoid "taking sides" in the face of true evil (one might call this "political correctness"), that's when massive atrocities happen.
This "imperfect world" was a lot better off a month ago.
This was very well handled interview and a lot of interesting information.
Now, all the history being taken into account: I'm a supporter of taking into account the situation on the ground. Both in the past (with the example of Ukrainian Byzantine Catholic Church) and present (Ukrainian culture identity vs naming Ukraine West Russia). In that sense it's hard to insist on "historical" causes. Sure, they may make us more biased, more nervous, hypervigilant in certain aspects, but they do not justify nor do they excuse wrong and harmful decisions and deeds. Like a person being bullied in the past doesn't give them a free pass for beating up their classmate because he started to wear the same sneakers the bullies did. Still, they can easily be abused for propaganda in each direction so the biggest factor must be present state of things, will of the people of you want.
Re secularisation: it is presented as a consequence of Western culture with Western being used interchangeably for political entities and Catholic Church. In my view Catholics may have been responsible for not successfully countering and quenching that trend, but honestly, we don't support this process in the society and have to stand up for our values more and more often. Painting Catholic Church as the culprit and ultimate schismatic as has been here is heavily biased.
Probably because they were excommunicated in 1054
"One perspective and that perspective is a historical." THIS!
PLEASE read👉Feb 4, 2022 - China Aerospace Studies Institute. China-Russia joint statement on International Relations Entering a New Era
You don't have to apologize so much....
I am Eastern Orthodox and like the priest a communicant of the OCA (Orthodox Church in America) was nodding in the affirmative up until the end. Father seems to be giving both Putin and Patriarch Kirill a pass. Putin pulled the trigger and instigated this war by his action. Patriarch Kirill on the other hand has uttered platitudes but has not condemned Putin for starting a war that has taken many innocent lives. Depending on your viewpoint one could agree both sides are complicent. But
But it was Putin that pulled the trigger. At this point the Russian people are somewhat innocent dupes. But as the horror that is now consuming Ukraine becomes ever more apparent their responsibility becomes greater. Not even Putin can cover up his bloody hands. He ought to ask Lady Macbeth how that worked out for her. All the above having been said this has been one of the more informative Gospel Simplicity presentations. Many thanks to Austin and his guest!
@@philmattox8500 Ukraine was literally committing genocide in Donbass but that’s okay? Now Putin jumps in to put and end to that and you guys want to cry? Pathetic.
@@NoeticInsight give a single piece of evidence please.
@@temujin9773 we have Ukraine Orthodox at our Church who have family there that attest to the genocide that was/is happening
@@NoeticInsight Really? Have you seen the visual evidence that appears nightly of Russian genocide? Where is your evidence of "genocide" prior to 2014 when Russia invaded the Donbas region of Ukraine? The Ukrainian people have shown to all creation what courage, love of family and country looks like. Slava Ukranie 🇺🇦
The Polans built/named Kijów. The Germanic Varangians conquered/ruled it.
Some Russians saying that Ukraine tearing Jesus Christ body apart, but in this situation I believe Russia has to let Ukrainian Orhtodox Church to get independent and the sooner they recognize that, the more people will be saved. UKRAINE IS INDEPENDENT COUNTRY, they have all rights to be independent from Russian Orthodox Church
So Father Strickland is saying that the War is a Religious War???
What would The Apostles and Jesus say about this?
Cyril called the Ukrainians "the prodigal son" and should be reunited with Moscow
Do you realize how absurd, how tonedeaf Patr. Kyril’s comment is, when spoken by the one who bears the mark of Cain?
@@banhammer3904 Cletus who? Nailbanger, inveterate idjit and Kremlin lickspittle, sticks to his guns and lauds genocide-complicit exchristian Patriarch of spiritual graveyard.
New events just now: Russia says it is prepared to let Kyiv join the EU. The EU likely doesn’t even want it. But the sentiment is appreciated. Putin is a lot more worried by NATO.
This war was never about NATO or any russian . It's a case of land-grab and control, imperialistic domination and eternal power for putin.
This is an excellent discussion. An exposition of the history, and a focus on what the Church must do. Of course, as should be expected, anyone who doesn't wholeheartedly bash Russia will be attacked...and we see this in the comments.
I am reviewing the books in Fr. Strickland's four part history of Christendom and have also corresponded with him privately. I appreciate his demeanor and approach. It is an example for others to follow, including many commenting at this site.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I take your point. However, seeing nightly videos of unprovoked destruction by Putin I can "wholeheartedly bash Russia" and those who support an unprovoked attack that is indiscriminately killing innocent women, children and the elderly. There is no excuse no "splaining" that will hold water today or when the annals of this horrible time are written.
@@philmattox8500 Stories are never as one-sided as the controlled narratives of nightly videos portray. We have too many examples of the lies of nightly videos to accept these at face value. Not something to debate here, as, ultimately, it will take away from the value and method of the conversation between Austin and Fr. Strickland.
And, as always, the victims in war are always those who really had nothing to do with the causes. My prayers are with them - in all wars, no matter the narrative.
@@philmattox8500 watching nightly videos, is subjecting yourself to the PR narrative of one view and allowing your emotions to be adeptly manipulated. Many of the heart wrenching images have been manipulated (lots of evidence online of old mislabelled footage and even video games being used with a false narrative overlay). The whole issue is that the Russian side sees the situation as highly provoked- civil war and humanitarian breaches in Donbas for 8 yrs, biolabs and NATO ie US, weapons on its borders etc. But you are totally entitled to your view.