On the holiest day in its religious calendar, the Russian Orthodox Church was struggling under the weight of its own contradictions.
As its congregations gathered for Orthodox Easter services around the world on Sunday, many questioned their loyalty to the church as never before, pained by its stance on the war in Ukraine.
Instead of urging peace, Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Moscow Patriarchate and, by extension, the Russian Orthodox Church, has actively voiced his support for the conflict.
