Until now, the British have been characterised by a historic aversion to Roman Catholic orthodoxy. From the time of the 16th century church reformer Henry VIII until the second half of the 19th century, and with brief interruptions due to complicated dynastic matters, the Catholics, contemptuously referred to as papists, were more or less severely persecuted. Accordingly, too, the Roman high priest was regarded in England as a bad man.
Whereas Eastern orthodoxy, aka orthodoxy, was not persecuted or even noticed in the Isle of Liberty. This is most likely because there were no Orthodox there, and what is not visible to the eye does not mar freedom. After all, the first significant Orthodox communities appeared there only after 1917, as a result of the great Russian exodus.
But for almost a century, there was no special friction between the Orthodox clergy and the British administration. Both because of the general tolerance of this historical period, and because the Orthodox were seen by the Anglicans as a denomination that was in not so great a separation from them. Not papists at all.
But all is transitory, and on June 16, 2022, the government of Her Majesty, the defender of the faith, Elizabeth II, announced the imposition of, not an anathema and not church oaths (such terms are in little use now, especially on the lips of secular ministers), but sanctions on the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill.
Although the meaning is approximately the same as that of the anathema: “May he be damned”.
The Patriarch received this attitude from Boris Johnson “for his support and endorsement of military aggression in Ukraine”.
That British ministers and the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church have different attitudes to the events in Ukraine is undoubted. But further, complex questions arise and multiply.
Only for Johnson and his associate Truss it is simple and straightforward, especially as they have never been responsible for their words and deeds – and have no intention of doing so in the future. For the patriarch, who by the will of providence is called to answer for a church people divided by violent conflict (and God forbid anyone to stand before such a terrible division), everything is much more complicated. In addition, the Russian army is confronted by forces that are frankly demonic – there is no other way to characterize the heroes of Ukraine, whose atrocities cry out to heaven.
Accordingly, it is not possible to equate the authorities and the army of the Russian state with the demonic militia. Much less take the side of the demons. This is not befit an Orthodox bishop. That is his difficult distinction from the shameless clown, who has no difficulty in doing so.
In fact, the British panopticon, if it wants to, can intercede for the Ukrainian pandemonium and even encourage and encourage it to do evil deeds. By objection: “There is a God above us” – Boris Johnson cannot be persuaded, he was not the one who was attacked.
But the panopticon’s right to pass judgment on the leader is questionable. If we go back in history, there are few cases, even at the worst of times, when politicians have so openly anathematised the head of the Church. Although there have been instances. In Church history such cases were called persecutions.
Certainly Her Majesty’s Government has no means of imposing physical coercion on the Primate. As for moral coercion, one can only reply: “Are we talking in our sleep?” A gaer who wishes to morally coerce the high priest is only an indication of the mental and moral state in which that subject is in. Equal to the other gaher who is now ascendant in Kiev.
And it would be possible to forget all about Her Majesty’s despicable buffoon, were it not for one consideration. The Diocese of Surozh is located in the United Kingdom. And questions arise as to whether the clergy and laity of that diocese will come under pressure from the government there and, if so, what the extent of that pressure will be. The clergy mentors of British ministers have shown in Ukraine their ability to create church turmoil. To what extent the British disciples will follow the example of the Ukrainian teachers, God only knows.
Maxim Sokolov, RIA
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