The Russian Orthodox Church plays an important role in supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine, even at the cost of an intra-Orthodox theological schism. For many years, the Moscow Patriarchate has supported the Russian authorities in many of their political goals while retaining its autonomy in some societal and memory-related themes, and has taken the lead of the traditional values crusade. Join us with a unique team of experts to discuss the politics and ideology of the Russian Orthodox Church, before the war and since then.
PANEL 1: The Moralist International
Kristina Stoeckl, University of Innsbruck, Austria, and Dmitry Uzlaner, University of Innsbruck, Austria
Presentation of the book The Moralist International: Russia in the Global Culture Wars.
PANEL 2: The Russian Orthodox Church and the War
Dima Adamsky, Reichman University, Israel
Church in War: Ecclesiastical Contributions Towards and On the Battlefield
Sergei Chapnin, Fordham University, US
“Theology of War” in Sermons and Public Speeches of the ROC Bishops and Clergy: A New Framework for the Post-Soviet Civil Religion
Jason Roberts, The University of Texas at Austin, US
Power and Authority in Russia’s Anti-Modern Orthodox Imaginary
Pål Kolstø, University of Oslo, Norway
Opposition to the War in Ukraine among the Russian Orthodox
PANEL 3: The Russian Orthodox Church and the State
Mikhail Suslov, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
The Russian Orthodox Church and the Regime Ideology of Putinism
Bojidar Kolov, University of Oslo, Norway
The Russian Orthodox Church’s Political Agency and Identity. Looking into the Power Relations between Church and State from a Historical Perspective
Ivan Grek, The George Washington University, US
Orthodox Civil Society in Case Studies
Boris Knorre, Higher School of Economics, Russia
Soviet Heroic Narratives in Post-Soviet Church Orthodox Milieu
PANEL 4: Orthodox Geopolitics
Ivan Petrov, Saint Petersburg State University, Russia
Russian Orthodoxy in the Baltic States
Nikolay Mitrokhin, University of Bremen, Germany
Ukrainian Orthodoxy and the 2022 War: between Two States