Expansion after the discord
The global politics of the Russian Orthodox Church
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
2019 marked a significant change of tack for the Russian Orthodox Church with regard to its global policy. After the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople granted autocephalous status to the newly founded Orthodox Church of Ukraine, against the will of the Moscow Patriarchate, Moscow adopted a confrontational stance. By far the largest of the 14 independent orthodox churches now regards itself as a global church in competition with the Greek-dominated Constantinople Patriarchate. In this competition, the Russian Orthodox Church is not only abandoning its “Russian world” ideology, but is also in effect breaking away from its Greek roots.
(Osteuropa 3-4/2020, pp. 15–32)