Moscow, September 13, 2023 (KAP/KNA) The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill I, called on his compatriots to activate all forces for the war against Ukraine. Russia faces the task of “emerging victorious from the battle that the forces of evil have unleashed against us,” the Patriarch of Moscow said at a service in St. Petersburg, according to the church. “Today it is necessary to mobilize everyone – both military and political forces; and, of course, first of all, the Church must be mobilized.”
The church must pray for soldiers and support them with military chaplains at the front, Cyril I said at Tuesday’s service. Army chaplains performed their duties in the most difficult places of war. Five of them have died so far. His heart aches when he thinks of those “who protect our homeland today.” The 76-year-old patriarch asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for unceasing prayers.
Kyrill I is criticized internationally because, as an important ally of Putin, he constantly supports the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. In September 2022, he promised Russian soldiers that they would be cleansed of all their sins if they died in war. At the time, he compared death “in the line of military duty” to the sacrifice of Jesus for God the Father. Britain, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Estonia, Canada and Ukraine imposed sanctions on the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church ; EU-level punitive measures against Kyrill I failed due to Hungary’s veto.