The Russian Church's war on Europe

Women in white headscarves selling festive decorations, floral teacups, Orthodox icons and matryoshka dolls were once a familiar sight at Christmas markets across Europe. But ever since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Belarusian nuns behind these stalls have been a source of controversy rather than holiday cheer. In 2022, they were barred from selling their handicrafts at Winchester Cathedral once it emerged that they supported Vladimir Putin’s invasion. They took their lead from the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, who declared that Russian soldiers who fall on the battlefield will be washed of their sins. He has silence published a book on the “redemptive meaning” of what he has called a “Holy War”. As the fighting grinds on, the backlash against the pr