The Russian attack on Ukraine is even more gruesome because Christians in both countries belong to the same branch of the Eastern Orthodox Church which arose in the 10th century – as both sides claim – from the same baptismal font in Kiev.

Yes, this church, which was part of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople until the 17th century, became even more fractured, especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the so-called revival of Orthodox Christianity in the region.

Conflict is worse than fratricide. Soldiers from a so-called “Christian” nation attacked their neighbor brothers and sisters in the faith. And religious leaders – especially Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Rus’ – have been powerless to stop political (and military) leaders.

Hierarchs of all denominations, including Catholicism, continue to insist that you cannot blame the war on Christianity. But like the Rwandan genocide and other conflicts, the saddest and most outrageous aspect of what is happening in Ukraine right now is that Christianity has obviously had absolutely no impact in deterring the baptized from being perpetrators of war and destruction.

And that’s just another sign that Old World Christianity remains a primitive religion that continues to drift away from the Gospel, and why – if this doesn’t change – all churches will continue to become more and more out of context. And that too will leave many people outraged and broken.

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