By PETER SMITH, DANIEL KOZIN and MARK THIESSEN
ANCHORAGE (AP) — Orthodox Christians across Alaska have been taking part in three days of prayer for peace ahead of Friday’s summit there between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which will focus on the war in Ukraine.
Orthodoxy is the majority religion in both Russia and Ukraine, although the religion has also been a source of controversy. The Russian church’s leadership has strongly supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the war has aggravated a schism among Ukraine’s Orthodox.
“With the leaders coming to Alaska, what is the one thing that the church can offer? That is prayers for peace,” said Archbishop Alexei of the Diocese of Sitka and Alaska in the Orthodox Church of America.
The OCA is the now-independent offspring of Russian Orthodox missionaries who planted the faith in Alaska when it was a czarist territory in the 18th and 19th centuries. The church has about 80 parishes statewide and hundreds more across North America.
The first prayers held Tuesday sought the help of St. Olga of Kwethluk — an Alaska Native woman who was canonized in June as the first Orthodox woman saint in North America.
“She was known to be really a healer in families,” said Alexei, who led prayers dedicated to her on Tuesday at St. Innocent Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Anchorage. “And because of the great pain and hardship that is experienced by families in the Ukraine and also in Russia, it felt good to start there.”
Wednesday’s services sought the intercession of St. Herman, an early monk and missionary “known for standing up against Russian authorities when they were doing what was wrong to the people,” Alexei said.
On Thursday, the prayers focused on a historic icon of the Mother of God at the cathedral in Sitka, which was the capital of Alaska under Russian rule. Alexei said he hopes the prayers “will touch the hearts of our leaders.”
Lorinda Fortuin, one of the worshippers at Tuesday’s service at the Anchorage cathedral, echoed the thought.
“My heart breaks for my Ukrainian and Russian Orthodox brothers that are killing each other, over what?” she said. “It’s just a shame, and I want to just do what I can to bring peace to this world, and I believe my prayers can play a part in that.”
Mark Kalashnikov, another worshipper and a native of Russia living in the United States, said many people he knows have suffered in the war.
“It is reassuring to see there is at least some communication happening,” he said of the summit. “We are trying to do what is asked of us, to come together as a community locally and to pray.”
Smith reported from Pittsburgh.
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