The Russian World

Robert Prevost has never had direct relations with Moscow, but the name he chose evokes very important relations in the history of relations between East and West in the ancient and modern Church, from Leo the Great to Leo XIII, the pope of Rerum Novarum, who was inspired by the great Russian author Vladimir Solovyov.

The truce for the Great Victory is a game of roles, with Putin wanting to prolong negotiations and appear victorious. The fourth parade since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, on the solemn 80th anniversary of the end of the conflict against Nazi Germany. The ‘Russian mindset’ among the cardinals at the Conclave. The Orthodox Patriarch shows the ‘Russian paradise’ against the devastation of war.

For Orthodox Christians, Holy Week – which this year coincides with Catholic Holy Week – is the ‘True Week’, the week that speaks of the ultimate truth about the destiny of mankind. Perhaps this is why Putin's Russia has decided to unleash its full military might on Ukraine at this particular time. Meanwhile, the website of the Moscow Patriarchate links Easter to May 9, Victory Day.

Founded in 2020, this movement, which now has hundreds of thousands of members, is characterised by an increasingly xenophobic nationalism. Its groups are a sort of "National Guard", Freikorps dedicated to violence. This is overshadowing the very idea of the "Russian World", which still envisages bringing together other peoples, projecting an ever-greater sense of aggressive isolationism onto the country’s future.

Ilja, Kirill's spiritual father, had been awarded the highest monastic title, that of ‘archimandrite with the skhima’, a super-cape with symbols that attest to the highest vows of spiritual life and the strictest ascetic rules. A miracle worker and prophet of ‘patriotic Orthodoxy’, his personality greatly influenced those of the Patriarch of Moscow and President Putin.

Making Russia and America “great again”, MAGA and Russkij Mir, is nothing more than the dream of returning to a world in which two great empires ruled and all the other countries submitted. It is not about conquests, but about the losses suffered, and returning to the top of the world helps overcome fears of further losses.

Although some Russian Orthodox priests have spoken out against “war liturgies,” they don’t all hold the same positions. Some have tried to stick with the patriarchal Church, others have turned to other Orthodox jurisdictions; some have limited themselves to passive resistance, while others have openly criticised the patriarch himself, such as the theologian and Deacon Andrey Kuraev.

The majority of the population believe they have defeated the West, emboldened by the American u-turn. But now the question that circles their minds is ‘what happens next?’.

The Russian army has launched more drones and dropped more bombs on Ukraine in recent days, stressing the point that its goal is conquest despite negotiations and partition plans with Donald Trump's United States. The goal is to continue to exalt the theology of Victory, the true divinity to which every effort and every sacrifice must be dedicated.

Zelenskyj is today crushed not only by Russian armies and bombs, but above all by the economic interests that unite enemies and friends, inside and outside the country.

The 80th anniversary of the Conference between Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill and the new goals of today's emperors to divide the world. Meanwhile, ongoing commemorations focus not on ending the war, but on what regime to install in Kyiv in the coming years.

Regardless of its leaders and its political and cultural expressions, Ukraine must be rebuilt not only in terms of its cities and houses, as imagined by the Great Real Estate Developer who has ascended to the throne of the American empire. It must be rebuilt as a border crossing between resentment and hope, between Russia and the rest of the world.