Kathrine Frich
One bishop has now linked the conflict to what he calls moral and religious decline inside Russia.
As the war in Ukraine grinds on, senior figures in Russia’s Orthodox Church are offering spiritual explanations for why peace remains elusive.
The priest’s remarks echo earlier statements from church officials who have framed the war in explicitly theological terms.
Spiritual causes cited
A senior cleric of the Russian Orthodox Church has claimed that interest in occult practices, “evil spirits” and abortions are preventing an end to the war in Ukraine, according to The Moscow Times.
Bishop Pitirim (Tvorogov), head of the Skopin Diocese, said these phenomena have provoked divine anger and contributed to the continuation of the conflict.
“In a country at war, a huge number of people turn to evil spirits for help,” Pitirim was quoted as saying.
Rise of the occult
According to the bishop, Russia has seen a sharp increase in what he described as occult activity.
He claimed that by 2024, “the number of clairvoyants, sorcerers, magicians, tarot readers, numerologists and fortune tellers will have tripled.”
Pitirim said demand for “occult objects” would continue to grow in 2025, suggesting that spiritual practices outside Orthodox Christianity have become increasingly widespread during wartime.
In his view, this shift has undermined the possibility of peace.
Abortion and morality
The bishop also placed responsibility on women who choose to have abortions, arguing that such decisions contribute to what he described as a broader moral collapse.
“It is not God’s will that peace be concluded in this way, because of the large number of sorcerers who have emerged and the large number of abortions, especially in recent times,” Pitirim said.
He added that Russians, in his assessment, had begun living “in a deeply immoral way.”
A familiar narrative
This is not the first time representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church have linked the war in Ukraine to moral failings.
The Moscow Times noted that Archimandrite Andrei Tkachev, a cleric known for his pro-war views, has previously argued that Russians were “unworthy of peace and happiness” because of what he described as moral degradation.
“Because of depravity, wars arise. And we will not have peace until we repent,” Tkachev said on an earlier occasion.
Church and war rhetoric
In January, the Russian Orthodox Church organized a nationwide prayer campaign aimed at discouraging abortions.
One prayer urged believers to ask that “those possessed by thoughts of infanticide may come to their senses and be freed from this senseless darkness.”
That same month, President Vladimir Putin told Orthodox believers that Russian troops were carrying out a “holy mission” in Ukraine, saying the invasion was taking place “at the behest of God.”
Sources: The Moscow Timesm, Ziare
