Ukrainian Orthodox bishops in the United States are denouncing an American Orthodox archbishop’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, where they exchanged cordial greetings and gifts of holy icons. Following the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, they referred to it as a betrayal of Christian witness.
Following Putin’s meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, he met with Archbishop Alexei, the bishop of Alaska for the Orthodox Church in America, the now-independent child of the Russian Orthodox Church, on Friday at Fort Richardson National Cemetery in Anchorage. Putin also laid flowers on the graves of World War II airmen from the Soviet Union.
In reference to Russian missionaries who introduced Orthodox Christianity to Alaska during the Czarist era, Alexei informed Putin, “Russia has given us what is most precious of all, which is the Orthodox faith, and we are forever grateful.” He went on to say that he frequently travels to Russia and that his seminarians and priests return home with reports of their encounters.
“Please feel at home whenever you come,” Putin said to him.
On top of the fact that Trump received Putin on American territory in 2023 despite an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court charging him of war crimes in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, critics argued the meeting gave Putin legitimacy.
Severe criticism from one church s leaders
The meeting between the archbishop and Putin was criticized by leaders of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA.
The top two leaders of the New Jersey-based church, Metropolitan Antony and Archbishop Daniel, signed a statement saying that such actions are not just regrettable but also a betrayal of the Gospel of Christ and shocking to the faithful.
According to the statement, the Russian government is to blame for the invasion of the sovereign and peaceful country of Ukraine, the hundreds of thousands of people who died, the disappearance of innumerable innocent people, the splitting of families, and the willful devastation of the country. Expressing gratitude and a heartfelt welcome to this leader is tantamount to endorsing his behavior.
According to the statement, even though the church teaches forgiveness and love, it can never justify or condone wickedness.
Given that Orthodox churches in Ukraine are entangled in conflicts that began even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and have gotten worse subsequently, the archbishop’s visit with Putin is noteworthy. In Russia and Ukraine, the majority religion is Orthodox Christianity.
With roots in diverse immigrant groups of various ethnicities, the United States is home to several Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions. This covers Ukraine with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA and Russia with the OCA. Although they have distinct hierarchies, they typically share communion and work together in some capacities.
Putin presented Alexei icons of the Mother of God and St. Herman, an early Russian missionary to Alaska, to the archbishop, who kissed each icon and made the sign of the cross. When Alexei became a bishop, he presented the Russian president an icon that he had previously received as a gift.
A video clip shows that the two did not talk about the war during the brief exchange.
Alaska archbishop explains himself
Alexei defended the visit in a follow-up email to Alaskan priests, stating that he had presided over three days of special services at Orthodox parishes around the state, when attendees prayed for peace in the names of the Mother of God and Alaska saints.
According to Alexei, when I thanked him in that public setting, it was not in support of current politics but rather in remembering of the missionaries from past generations who sacrificed much to bring us the Orthodox religion.
He supported the icon exchange as well. To be clear, the saint or feast that holy icons symbolize is the object of our reverence, not the person who bestows them, he stated. The honor goes to heaven itself, not to the worst sinner, even if he were by my side.
I understand that religious gestures might be misinterpreted, and I’m sorry if this has led to misunderstanding or controversy, he continued. “Any small door that may be given for a pastoral word of peace should be opened,” he stated.
Moscow Patriarch Kirill has been a prominent supporter of the conflict, presiding over a council that deemed the Russian invasion a holy war and claiming that all the sins of Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine while performing their duties have been forgiven.
Putin’s frequent shows of Orthodox piety include kissing the icons he handed Alexei and making the sign of the cross at the Soviet graves.Putin recently stated, without going into detail, that creating a suitable atmosphere for the Orthodox Church and Christianity in Ukraine would have to be one of the requirements for peace.
How Orthodox factions in Ukraine are affected
Schism has split the Orthodox population of Ukraine. At the moment, there are two major Orthodox groups there with names that sound same.
The Moscow Patriarchate, which asserts jurisdiction over Ukraine, has historically controlled the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In the meantime, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople recognized the separatist Orthodox entity in Ukraine as a separate entity.
Both churches have condemned the Russian incursion, but despite the UOC’s attempts to claim it is not under Moscow’s authority, it has continued to be suspected. (The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, which is based in the United States, should not be confused with either.)
A rule prohibiting religious organizations associated with the Russian Orthodox Church or any other faith group endorsing Russia’s invasion was passed by the Ukrainian parliament last year. The Ukrainian government has demanded that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church take various actions to demonstrate its independence, but the church’s leader has refused to do so, claiming the government’s procedure is flawed and referencing the church’s 2022 declaration of independence. The measure was widely perceived as targeting the church.
In a statement, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, a coalition, backed the government’s demand that the UOC abide by its rules. It claimed that throughout occupied Ukrainian territory, Russia has widely infringed on religious freedom. It maintained the right to ensure that religion isn’t being exploited to support the invasion while arguing that Ukraine respects religious freedom and pluralism.
The statement stated that it is well known that the Russian Federation employs religion, especially the Russian Orthodox Church, as a tool to further its neo-imperial objectives in a number of nations.
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