Another Peace Effort for Ukraine Seeking to Unite Orthodox Leaders, by Phil Lawler

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture, May 30, 2023

Pope Francis has launched one effort to bring an end to the warfare in Ukraine, by sending a personal envoy to speak with political leaders in Moscow and Kyiv. As we wait for that initiative to begin, however, it may be worth noticing another effort, by the World Council of Churches (WCC), to unite religious leaders—specifically, the influential prelates of the Orthodox communities in Russia and Ukraine—to work for the cause of peace.

Earlier this month the general secretary of the WCC, Rev. Jerry Pillay, was in Moscow to speak with Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church. His mission: to promote a “roundtable” that would include the Moscow patriarchate and—here is the difficult part—both of the rival Orthodox groups in Ukraine: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). …