This isn't intended as an attack against the RCC. While I believe the RCC in general distorts Christianity, so have non-RCC institutions. The point is to provide an example of how personal human concerns can highjack anything.

The Roman Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church are not the same church. The RCC follows Western Rites, the ROC follows Eastern Rites. Also, their priests can get married and as you have noticed the head of their church is called a Prelate or Patriarch. The RCC has the Pope

Interesting. But, like the lot of-and I can't believe the things I have and am setting myself up to state fairly mind you about churches-the RCC did apologize to the Jewish people for its failure to condemn Nazis. And recently for its failure with indigenous peoples in Canada. There is a great deal needing to be paid for in the organized religion sphere/networks. (Sigh.)

Even worse, Right-wing evangelicals are setting this very nation up for a new time of delusion and dehumanizing politics which can lead to open physical brutality and even civil warfare.

This may help:

In 1439, at the Council of Florence , some Orthodox hierarchs from Byzantium as well as Metropolitan Isidore , who represented the Russian Church, signed a union with the Roman Church , whereby the Eastern Church would recognise the primacy of the Pope . However, the Moscow Prince Vasili II rejected the act of the Council of Florence brought to Moscow by Isidore in March 1441. Isidore was in the same year removed from his position as an apostate and expelled from Moscow. The Russian metropolitanate remained effectively vacant for the next few years due largely to the dominance of Uniates in Constantinople then. In December 1448, Jonas , a Russian bishop, was installed by the Council of Russian bishops in Moscow as Metropolitan of Kiev and All Russia ^[17] (with permanent residence in Moscow) without the consent from Constantinople. This occurred five years prior to the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and, unintentionally, signified the beginning of an effectively independent church structure in the Moscow (North-Eastern Russian) part of the Russian Church. Subsequently, there developed a theory in Moscow that saw Moscow as the Third Rome , the legitimate successor to Constantinople, and the Primate of the Moscow Church as head of all the Russian Church. Meanwhile, the newly established in 1458 Russian Orthodox ( initially Uniate ) metropolitanate in Kiev (then in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and subsequently in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth ) continued under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical See until 1686, when it was provisionally transferred to the jurisdiction of Moscow. en.wikipedia

By the 4th century AD not becoming a Christian put one's life at risk. Just ask Hypatia.

Without a statement of where this topic is intended to go, I will offer up this: The Church as a whole ought to chart and maintain its path of:

Romans 12: 8 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people.

The emphasis here is on a word: "IF."  The you is the Church as a whole.  Why is a Church sanctioning a war of aggression? Is this a sin of commission? I think so.

Russian Orthodox leader backs war in Ukraine, divides faith

Unlike Constantine's time, a bit more dissension happens. Notably, without the beheading, so far.

This one 'died' a cruel and unusual punishment' of few comments!