I'm not really up with what Orthodox churches do, but I am interested in geo-politics. This just came past me and I thought it worth sharing. It's being called by some the biggest split since the Eastern Orthodox Church parted with the Roman Catholic Church many centuries ago. And that's happening in the same decade as major consolidation is occurring too!
Basically it seems that the Russian orthodox Church has strained relations with the Orthodox churches in Ukraine because of the way the Ukraine has split from Russia and aligned with NATO. There must have been a lot going on under the covers, as the Eastern Orthodox Church based in Constantinople, Turkey (which is the headquarters of the organisational church world wide from early Christianity) has recognised the church in Ukraine as being independent of the Russian Orthodox Church. This gives legitimacy to the forced takeover of churches in the Ukraine by those who are seeking to consolidate an independent power base there.
Per usual, when a church movement has amassed a very dedicated following, political power base and endless riches, there's a lot at risk in worldly terms. If it was just people networking, a takeover would have been near impossible (as the Roman Empire found when trying to quash early Christians who had very little structure, fixed locations, assets or political connections) and the Ukrainian Orthodox Christians would have continued more or less as is. There is however a lot at stake in terms of formal organisation, established (and paid) clergy, assets and political connections, so I'm not sure we've seen the end of this. It could be contested and there's the possibility of much discussion, mediation and even an international resolution given the times we're in. The Roman Pontiff (Pope Francis) has been making significant efforts to unite the catholic, protestant & orthodox churches. The majority of churches in the western world (including Lutheran and Pentecostal) now acknowledge him as their head. It will be interesting to see if the Roman Pontiff gets involved in this Russian / Ukrainian / Eastern Orthodox situation, which flies in the face of his efforts to unify the Christian faith worldwide, and then unify it with other religions too (efforts have been underway for some time with Judaism, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and more). We'll just have to watch this space and see that comes of it.
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