As many of my readers know, I was in the Ukraine in August. I’m involved a lot with the Eastern European community in my city. Two Sundays ago I went to a going away party for the local Russian Orthodox priest. He’s moving back home to be with his parents. I’m not Orthodox but I’ve learned a lot from this man.
He often complains about the secularism of Russia. For those that don’t know, Russia is a very secular country with a religious identity. I saw this when I was in the Ukraine. No one seemed to care about religion, though they all claimed to be part of the Orthodox Church. When I got back from Ukraine, I talked to a religious Ukrainian. She said that only 3 percent of Ukrainians and Russians go to church every Sunday. I’ve never been to Russia but that was certainly consistent with what I saw in the Ukraine. I believed what she was saying because she goes to Church every Sunday and therefore has no reason to exaggerate numbers. She also said to “not be fooled” by the pictures of full churches that they show on television.
At this going away party, I was sitting with a Russian lady. I asked her the same question and she gave me the exact same answer. Only three percent of Russians go to church every week. Again, I’m not Orthodox but I find this depressing. It’s not like England where the Church was stolen from the people and replaced with the machinations of one of the worst families to ever live – the Tudor family. The Russian and Ukrainian churches both have apostolic foundations.
In the far West of Ukraine there is a small community of Greek Catholics. I told this Russian priest that I was in Lviv. He said that it was “Uniate territory”. Well, that is certainly true. Most people in Lviv are Uniates. There are some Orthodox people in Lviv but they’re a minority. When I was in Lviv I was talking with a Greek Catholic Priest and an Orthodox priest at the same time. The Orthodox priest and the Greek Catholic Priest were really friendly towards each other and shared hostility to Russia. The Orthodox priest said that of the Orthodox minority in Lviv, 95% belonged to the Kiev Patriarchate which is a rogue Orthodox Church that is not considered canonical. Both men seemed to share a hatred of Russia. It seems like hatred of Russia has replaced Orthodoxy as the official religion of the Ukraine.
The Uniates aren’t liked by mainstream Catholics or Orthodox. The Catholics don’t like them because they interfere with liberal dialogue projects and the Orthodox see them as traitors. However, both sides realize that eventually the Catholic and the Orthodox Church will have to reunite. It’s a long way off but anything is possible with God. Both churches have enough internal problems that need fixing before any dialogue goes forward. Unfortunately this is far off since internally both churches seem to be having more and more problems.
The Ukraine seems to be the target of American Protestant missionaries who are starting to set up sketchy rock band churches there. I guess as long as it’s not Russian the Ukrainian people are okay with it. While I’m not Orthodox and am aware of the lack of religiosity in Russia, I see them as a beacon of hope. The biggest enemy of Christianity in this world in my opinion are enlightenment ideas. This doesn’t necessarily mean that if you reject the enlightenment you’ll be religious but it is certainly a danger. America is the biggest promoter of enlightenment values worldwide. I suppose that we need Poland’s level of religiosity with Russia’s hatred of liberalism. Perhaps we could call this the Russian Option? Maybe Rod Dreher’s sequel to The Benedict Option will be The Russian Option. The subtitle could be: “An antidote to Americanism”. I doubt it.
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