The Madness of War and the Weapons of the Spirit: The Catholic Church and Peace for Ukraine

Andrea Pin is Associate Professor of Comparative Public Law, University of Padua, and Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion, Emory University.

The media that have been covering the Catholic Church’s handling of the war raging in Ukraine have often focused on two details. On the one hand, the Pope went to visit the Russian Ambassador to the Holy See in Rome a few days before tanks invaded Ukraine—a very unusual move for a Pontiff. On the other hand, the Church has so far avoided blaming Russia explicitly for the destruction of cities and the thousands of deaths in Ukraine. This silence, the story goes, would fit with the Catholic agenda. After the epochal meeting between the Moscow Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis that took place in Cuba in early 2016, the Vatican would try to avoid any attrition with the Russian Orthodox Church’s leader, who seems to support Putin’s invasion. Actually, there is more than what meets the eye.

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Reactions of Russian Religious Minorities on the Aggression Against Ukraine

Stanislav Panin holds a PhD in Philosophy from Moscow State University and is a Doctoral Student in the Department of Religion at Rice University.

For years Russian authorities worked to establish control over the public sphere and to suppress independent political parties, media, and non-profits. This control and suppression extend to religious associations; in the past decade, Russian authorities put great effort in prohibiting independent religious movements that were reluctant to profess their unconditional allegiance, had extensive international connections, or were otherwise perceived as a potential threat.

The current events in Ukraine, called “the Russian aggression against Ukraine” by the United Nations and a “special military operation” in Russian official jargon, provided a justification to tighten the restrictions. On 4 March, Russian authorities introduced new laws that made illegal “discrediting the actions of the Russian military,” “calls against the use of the Russian Federation military,” and “calls for political and economic sanctions against Russia.”

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Religion and the Russian-Ukrainian War

Kharkiv’s Freedom Square after the Russian missile attack (2 March 2022).

On 24 February 2022, Russia launched an attack on Ukraine resulting in thousands killed, destruction of Ukrainian cities, and millions of forced displaced persons. Putin’s invasion has become a new part of a bloody tragedy started in 2014 with Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the inflammation of the war in Eastern Ukraine.

The religious component of this conflict has manifested itself in a variety of aspects: from religious justification and rhetoric employed by Russian president Vladimir Putin, to the perception of the war by Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox churches, to the dramatic situation with religious freedom in the territories under Russia and its proxies’ control. These and other issues are discussed in this series.

Posts in the Series:

Dmytro Vovk. Religion and the Russian-Ukrainian Conflict

Elizaveta Gaufman. Religion, the Russian-Ukrainian War, and Social Media

Regina Elsner. The End of Unity: How the Russian Orthodox Church Lost Ukraine

Andriy Fert. Pray Against Foreign Invasion or Pray for Peace? Ukrainian Orthodox Churches and the Russian-Ukrainian War

Stanislav Panin. Reactions of Russian Religious Minorities on the Aggression Against Ukraine

Andrea Pin. The Madness of War and the Weapons of the Spirit: The Catholic Church and Peace for Ukraine

Kristina Stoeckl. The Use of Religious Arguments for the Justification of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

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