Last week, I saw a photograph of a cemetery in Ukraine.
There were rows of freshly-dug graves of the innocent who had perished. One grave had a wooden Orthodox cross marking the grave.
The Orthodox Cross is distinct in that it has three cross beams as opposed to one traditional cross beam. The first smaller beam is near the top and represents the title Pilate placed on the cross which said, “Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews.”
Often, this is represented by the Latin initials INRI.
The center long beam is the one Jesus’s hands were nailed to and the last beam was his footstool. The footstool is slanted at an angle. One side is up to remember the penitent thief who said, “Jesus, Remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
The other side points down for the unrepentant thief who insulted Jesus.
The Eastern Orthodox Church is one of the oldest main branches of Christianity. They have separate spiritual leaders in Constantinople and Moscow, who claim jurisdiction over other Eastern Orthodox Churches. The majority of Orthodox Christians live in Eastern Europe, Russia, the Near East and parts of Africa. They hold the major beliefs of Christianity.
Orthodox means “of the right opinion,” as they believe their Christian beliefs are the right ones. They participated in the Seven Ecumenical Councils where early Christian leaders worked to be united in the faith.
As centuries passed, the Christian Church became divided with the West centered in Rome and the East centered in Constantinople. Because of political and theological differences and disagreements the eastern and western branches of Christianity separated in 1054 in what we call the Great Schism. They have not reconciled. The western Church schismed again with the Protestant Reformation of 1517.
The nation of Ukraine became independent in 1991, when the former Soviet Union dissolved. For centuries, the church in Ukraine had been under the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow. With independence became
the opportunity for Ukraine to have its own national church and support grew and the Ukraine Orthodox Church was born in 1992 and recognized by the Patriarch of Constantinople as an independent and self governing Church in 2018.
The Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow was not happy. They broke communion with the Patriarch of Constantinople and any church body that recognized the Ukrainian Church. When Russia invaded Ukraine this year, it did so with the full blessing of the Russian Orthodox Church and its leader, Patriarch Kirill.
Kirill sees the war as a crusade to bring Ukraine back into the fold under his authority. Other church bodies in the world condemn him for his refusal to call for an end to the war. As Russia finds itself isolated the Russian Orthodox Church will also find itself isolated from the rest of the body of Christ until it joins all in a call to stop hostilities.
Our prayer is for peace, in Ukraine and all the world.
May the prophets’ words come true, “they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Micah 4:3).
Eric Reece is the faith columnist for The Graham Star. He is pastor of Robbinsville United Methodist Church and can be reached via email, ereece@wnccumc.net.