John Gordon Sennett
1 min readMar 25, 2023

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Yes, the ROC is guilty of even more of what you are hearing about in the West. I volunteer with an organization that has exposed even more of their crimes than have actually been spoken about. It's a very contentious issue here in Ukraine because technically there are 3 Orthodox Church organizations here and one of them is aligned with Moscow. Strangely, a vast majority of believers pull the wool over their eyes and just go to Church. Essentially, we are taught that the Patriarch, Bishops and Priests are all flawed as men but as long as they serve the Eucharist under canonical and hear Confession under those same canons then we are not to be concerned with their flaws. Now, if one is openly directly participating in crimes or other illegal activities then maybe those who are spiritual must reconsider. The ROC itself is in an existential crisis of its own making which has far reaching effects and also influences us here in Ukraine. My wife and I are very careful about where we attend and what Church leaders we listen to. Most of the time, the clergy just gives a sermon at the end of the Liturgy and rarely ever does it ever contain politics. The essence of the religion for us are the 7 Holy Sacraments which if performed under the canons are acceptable. East and West are all in red hot mess right now and will probably even get worse next year when there are elections in the US, Ukraine and Russia. That will be a spectacle of epic proportions.

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John Gordon Sennett
John Gordon Sennett

Written by John Gordon Sennett

Living in a War Zone. An unexpected twist in life.

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