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| Source: oca.org |
A Fair and Lasting Peace
For three years now, we have been consistently praying for peace in Ukraine in the Liturgy, in addition for praying for all of the soldiers and civilians - Ukrainians and Russians - who have been killed in this terrible war. The petitions that we use for this in the Liturgy came from the OCA Chancery, meaning that they are blessed by the Holy Synod of Bishops. This has been our parish practice for three years now, at every Lord's Day Liturgy. And we will continue to pray in this manner until the war is over and peace is achieved. And we hope and pray for a "fair and lasting peace" in which Ukraine maintains its status as an independent, democratic and sovereign country. Anything less would be greatly disappointing. The number of victims in this brutal war is in the hundreds of thousands, not including the wounded. Ukrainian civilian deaths are numbered in the thousands. And, of course, that includes innocent women and children, because schools and hospitals in Ukraine have been the targets of Russian bombs and drones.
Yet, I think we need some clarity, as fast-paced "peace talks" are now underway. To state the painfully obvious: This war was not started by Ukraine. And, indeed, one is caught in a "disinformation bubble" to think otherwise. This war was started by Russia, now a totalitarian country ruled over by a dictator with nothing resembling a moral and ethical conscience. As much as the Church opposes war, Ukraine had every moral right to defend itself against this illegitimate act of aggression. And whatever flaws and imperfections we can discover in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, he is not a "dictator." He is doing his utmost best to defend his beleaguered country as well as possible. What he has accomplished is admirable, as his country continues to support him, contrary to fabricated statements to the contrary. With no intention of "romanticizing" warfare, I would say that there is a real nobility in Ukraine's determination to defend its land and sovereignty.
What further aggravates this unjustified act of aggression on the part of Russia is that it has the "blessing" of Kyril, the Patriarch of Moscow. As recently as this year's Nativity celebration (January 7, in Russia), he called the Russian war effort a "biblical battle" against the "decadent West." That is so absurd, that we could dismiss that phrase as so much rhetorical nonsense, but the consequences of such ill-conceived words are deadly serious - literally - and so we cannot simply brush these words aside. The Russian Orthodox Church has thus undermined its own moral and spiritual integrity, and it has lost the respect of the entire Christian world.
Ukraine and the Ukrainian people have suffered untold misery. Their land has been taken from them by an aggressive enemy, many of whom are fellow Orthodox Christians. After all of their suffering and sacrifice, an eleventh hour betrayal of Ukraine would have tragic consequences for that country and, simultaneously, serve as a betrayal of America's better instincts.
