Is Russia's Syria intervention a 'holy war'? Russian Orthodox Church: 'yes'

news.yahoo.com ^ | 11/24/2015 | Fred Weir

[Trumpinator]

Is Russia's Syria intervention a 'holy war'? Russian Orthodox Church: 'yes'

The church fully supports the Kremlin's decision to intervene in Syria, both as a 'war on terrorism' and to protect Middle Eastern Christians it sees as its responsibility.

Christian Science Monitor By Fred Weir 18 hours ago

For many in the West, the idea that a church would take an overtly hawkish stance in the conflict in Syria is an utterly foreign concept.

But then, the Russian Orthodox Church is not of the West, says Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, the church's most recognizable spokesperson, in his spartan downtown Moscow office.

"The idea that church and state should be alienated from each other is not a characteristic of Orthodox civilization," insists the wispy-bearded senior cleric, whose eyes almost seem to burn. "It's a characteristic of the West."

...snip...

The Orthodox Church, which has deep historical connections with the dwindling Christian communities of the Middle East, was deeply alarmed by mass flight of Iraq's Christians following the US invasion of that country. When the conflict in Syria began almost five years ago, the church began lobbying the Kremlin to take a strong stand in defense of Syrian Christians, who are about 10 percent of the population. Experts say the church's insistence certainly played a role in President Vladimir Putin's decision to intervene directly in the conflict.

[mkjessup]

Well, Putin was secretly baptized in the Russian Orthodox Church when he was a child, thanks to his mother (and unbeknownst to his father, a sworn atheist), it only makes sense they would back up ‘one of their own’.

[Trumpinator]

The Russian orthodox church won when Stalin had to go to them and ask for help during WW2 because Russians were not putting up a fight for the USSR. But they did fight for their “Russian ideals”.