Russia-Turkey Pincer Movement Threatens Ecumenical Patriarchate’s Survival

However, a closer look shows that Putin and Erdogan both see the Ecumenical Patriarchate as an extension of Western influence that threatens their respective political ambitions.

Ukraine as catalyst of Moscow's fury

Orthodox church in Moscow, Russia, 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE/YURI KOCHETKOV

On January 5, 2019, Bartholomew I signed a tomos (decree) granting autocephaly, or ecclesial independence, to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, which fell under the Moscow Patriarchate's jurisdiction in 1686.

The Ukrainian Church's desire for spiritual independence mirrors the Kyiv government's own attempt to escape from Moscow's orbit, to which Putin responded by launching an invasion and proxy war that has claimed some 13,000 lives and forced 1.5 million Ukrainians from their homes.

Still, when the Ecumenical Patriarch announced his intention to recognise the independence of the Ukrainian Church in October 2018, his statement sent shockwaves throughout the Orthodox world; Patriarch Kirill of Moscow cut ties with the Ecumenical Patriarchate and Putin even said the decision could "lead to bloodshed."

The Russian state and Church do not agree on everything - the regime's valorization of "Soviet achievements" under Stalin being one example. But they have forged a sort of ideological marriage of convenience. While Russia's government champions "traditional values" - e.g., opposition to LGBTI groups and feminism - the Church supports Russia's geopolitical ambitions. One pillar of this philosophical merger is the 15th-century concept of Moscow as the "Third Rome," meaning that after the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453, Moscow became its spiritual and indeed political successor.

The notion of...