@bogdanovskia
Religion journalist & analyst covering Orthodox affairs, politics, and security. Bylines: The Tablet, Church Times, Premier Christianity, Balkan Insight & others. Views are mine. https://www.youtube.com/@andrejabogdanovski 📍Edinburgh | Skopje
The leader of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church handed over a list containing the names of 400 Ukrainian prisoners and missing persons to the Pope during an audience at the Vatican.
Story for The Tablet. www.thetablet.co.uk/news/archbis...
Pantelic: “For the first time in the recent history of the Serbian Church, someone was immediately given the most draconian punishment — ‘final exclusion from the church community’.
New for Church Times
www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/202...
Epifaniy: “We once again call on those among you who really want unity for the Church in Ukraine, care about Orthodoxy and wish the good of the Ukrainian people to a constructive dialogue”.
New for The Tablet
www.thetablet.co.uk/news/new-bid...
"...the smokescreen of “humanitarian” intervention was crucial to enable Russian conquest.
In the exercise, Russia used the pretext of a humanitarian crisis in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad to seize the Lithuanian city of Marijampole."
www.wsj.com/world/europe...
The Russian Orthodox Church expressed concerns at government interference in the life of the Armenian Apostolic Church and attempts to “engineer a schism” among its believers.
Latest for The Tablet.
www.thetablet.co.uk/news/moscow-...
Long piece I wrote at the end of December ➡️ Given the duration of the Russian war against Ukraine, the #Orthodox #disinformation ecosystem has also evolved, focusing on #emotions, where identity and confessional belonging now serve as the new arena of #cognitive influence.
Unusual, surely, for such a senior Catholic figure to basically accuse the Vatican of diplomatic incompetence?
Thought so too.
Russian propaganda has infiltrated the Vatican and is being used for “information and #psychological operations”, says #Ukraine’s Greek Catholic Primate, Sviatoslav Shevchuk.
Read my latest piece for The Tablet.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan sets out road map of reforms for the Armenian Apostolic Church
The Armenian Apostolic Church issued a strong condemnation, saying that the initiative violated the Armenian constitution and infringed “the rights of the Church enshrined both in international law and in the legislation of Armenia”.
Via Church Times
www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/202...
The initiative came from the former head of the Islamic religious community in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
This triggered a wave of reactions from Serbian Orthodox Church representatives who warned that such moves could raise tensions.
New piece for Church Times
www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/202...
NEW. The Ecumenical Patriarchate initially disapproved of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate but later backed #autocephaly as circumstances changed, Metropolitan Boris of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church tells me.
balkaninsight.com/2026/01/21/r...
Absolutely! An expert in the field!
Metropolitan Boris of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church - screenshot of The Tablet article.
🚨The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service warned that the Bartholomew will grant autocephaly to the Montenegrin Orthodox Church - so I talked to Metropolitan Boris, one of two claiming to lead the church.
www.thetablet.co.uk/news/russia-...
Leave it to the SVR to resurrect a debate settled (temporarily) in 2020.
Screenshot of Russian foreign intelligence agency statement on the Ecumenical Patriarch.
The Russian foreign intelligence service (SVR) just released a highly provocative statement calling the Ecumenical Patriarch the "Antichrist", who is obsessed with displacing "Russian #Orthodoxy" from the #Baltic states.
According to the SVR, Bartholomew's next move will be #Montenegro.
Russian Patriarch Kirill screenshot-article for The Tablet
New for The Tablet. Putin portrays Russia’s army as ‘warriors’ on a holy mission.
“Russia’s warriors have always, as if at the Lord’s behest, carried out this mission of defending the Fatherland..”
#Russia
www.thetablet.co.uk/news/kirill-...
Perhaps one of the defining moments of #PopeLeo’s pontificate will come tomorrow at the Angelus when he is expected to address Trump’s “extraordinary military operation” in Venezuela, for which he already warned against.
A first proper test of “America First”
anything and everything - sadly.
Oops - meant to say 2025.
New report! The Nicaea commemoration at Iznik might have been the highlight of Catholic-Orthodox relations in 2024, but in the Balkans, Russia has been stoking fears of “unia”, undermining Bartholomew's and Pope Leo's ecumenism.
truthmeter.mk/russian-narr...
2/2
In 2025, the ROC elevated the status of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to a high-level political stake, now formally featuring in Ukraine peace talks.
Screenshot of a Council on Foreign Relations webinar on the Russian Orthodox Church in global affairs.
Honoured to have been invited to the Council on Foreign Relations webinar and speak about the #Russian Orthodox Church in global affairs with a fantastic panel of experts. 1/2
#Russia #Ukraine #Orthodox
You can watch it here: youtu.be/jrAdwNVPfhg?...
New - How Russian disinformation narratives have taken their presence in the Balkans' arts sector, thanks to a Kusturica-backed film on Ukrainian Orthodoxy.
For Serbian Metropolitan Irinej, who is featured in the film, Russia's invasion of Ukraine is a struggle between "Christ and the Antichrist."
Instead of criticising Kirill's "Holy War" declaration, the MOC (Ohrid Archdiocese) has steadily been increasing relations with the Moscow Patriarchate, thereby opening the gates to Russian disinformation and bypassing the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Church portals now describe Donetsk as part of RU
Screenshot of article focusing on Russian Orthodox Church disinformation in the Balkans
I've partnered with Western Balkans Anti-Disinformation Hub to write a series of in-depth analyses tracking how Russian Orthodox Church propaganda narratives move through the Balkans.
Come and join us later today for Council on Foreign Relations webinar with lots of time for q&a on the Russian Orthodox Church in Global Affairs.
One of the highlights of Pope Leo’s trip was the signing of a joint declaration at the Phanar aimed at strengthening unity & working towards restoration of communion with the Orthodox.
My coverage of Pope Leo’s visit to Turkey & Lebanon for Church Times
www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/202...
The Russian Orthodox Church bleating about "freedom of religion" in Ukraine- they're not keen on it in Russia. Sheer hypocrisy
