Ukrainian war is about the future of mankind, Patriarch Kirill says

Patriarch Kirill spoke in a sermon at the Church of Christ the Saviour in Moscow on the day when the ROC celebrates Forgiveness Sunday before Lent, Russian website Svaboda, writes. Regarding the war in Ukraine, he did not directly support the Russian invasion but gave his arguments to justify it.

In his sermon published on the website Patriarchia.ru, Kirill said that the “outbreak of the hostilities” is because some forces have been trying for eight years to destroy what exists in the Donbas – the region in eastern Ukraine where pro-Russian separatists broke away from the central authority in Kyiv in 2014 and recently proclaimed the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LPD).

The church father sees in the Donbas a “fundamental rejection” of the “so-called values that are offered today by those who claim world power.” According to Kirill, the Donbas is tested to get “a kind of pass to that ‘happy’ world, the world of excess consumption, the world of visible ‘freedom’”. He continues: “The test is very simple and at the same time terrible – this is a gay parade. The demands on many to hold a gay parade are a test of loyalty to that mighty world, and we know that if people or countries reject these demands, then they do not enter into that world; they become strangers to it.”

Gay parades are designed to demonstrate that “sin is one of the variations of human behaviour”, Kirill said in his sermon. “That is why to enter the club of those countries; it is necessary to hold a gay pride parade. Not to make a political statement, “we are with you”, not to sign any agreements, but to hold a gay parade.”

What is happening today in the sphere of international relations has not only political meaning, the church father thinks; it also has a “metaphysical significance”. “It is about human salvation, about where mankind will be on the right or on the left side of God the Saviour, who comes into the world as the Judge and Creator of creation.”

Ally Putin

At the end of last month, Catholic Crisis Magazine already discarded the “myth” of Putin as a potential ally of Western Christians in their fight against anti-marital and anti-family tendencies in Western societies. “While it is true that President Putin’s Russia defends the family and traditional marriage, President Zelensky’s Ukraine does the same. Both countries behaved similarly regarding ‘gay rights’, and both vehemently opposed same-sex ‘marriage’”, German newspaper Die Tagespost writes based on the article in Crisis Magazine.

When it comes to abortion, however, both countries are very open to legalisation: “Russia has the highest abortion rate per capita in the world, while President Zelensky wants to make abortions more accessible in Ukraine,” Crisis points out. Zelensky also wants to legalise prostitution and “other immoral practices.” Although prostitution is also illegal in Russia, it is only punished with a small fine. Prostitution is “extremely popular in Russia and is praised by President Putin himself”.

Thus, the German newspaper writes that both countries hold similar Christian and less Christian positions on some issues.

Unspeakable suffering

In the meantime, Patriarch Kirill seems quite isolated in world Christianity. No foreign church leader agrees with him, even not the ones who might feel the same about gay parades.

The head of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine, recognised by Constantinople, appealed to the Moscow Patriarchate on Sunday, Die Tagespost reports. “Do they not see how the cities in the north, east and south of Ukraine are being shelled and how the explosions are also killing those you see as their shepherds? “Metropolitan Epifanij asked. “Demand loudly from Russia to stop these barbaric bombardments. Do not hide behind general wishes for peace but tell the truth.”

On Sunday, the honorary head of world Orthodoxy, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, again condemned the “unprovoked and irrational war of aggression which spreads pain and death” and is a “heavy cross and unspeakable suffering” for the Ukrainian people. Bartholomew called for “the immediate cessation of hostilities” in a message.

Vatican

Pope Francis has also called for an end to the attacks in the face of the war in Ukraine, Austrian broadcaster ORF writes. “The Holy See is ready to do everything and to put itself at the service of this peace,” Francis told the faithful in St Peter’s Square in Rome on Sunday, and: “Please stop!”

“I thank all those who are taking in refugees right now, and I pray above all that the armed attacks will stop and that negotiations and common sense will prevail,” the 85-year-old head of the Catholic Church continued. Some people held up Ukrainian flags there. “There are rivers of blood and tears in Ukraine,” the Pope lamented.

Russian parish Amsterdam

The clergy of the Russian parish of St. Nicholas in Amsterdam announced that they would no longer commemorate the name of Patriarch Kirill because of his stance on the issue of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“In this way, we align ourselves with the Orthodox clergy of Ukraine, which in increasing numbers ceases to commemorate Patriarch Kirill,” says the statement, Orthodox Times writes.