On Sunday, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill I spoke of the conflict: “May God protect us from the current political situation in Ukraine, a fraternal country close to us, to be used in such a way that the forces of evil prevail,” he said. of his sermon, supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
According to him, the “forces of evil” are those who “fight the unity” of the Russian Orthodox Church with the countries of Russia, a medieval state that is considered the ancestor of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. However, since 2014, Ukraine has left Russia’s sphere of influence to move closer to the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
In 2019, he established the Orthodox Church, independent of the Moscow Patriarchate, a historic decision that ended more than three hundred years of Russian religious supervision and angered Russia and Cyril.
“We must do everything to preserve peace between our peoples and at the same time to protect our common historical homeland from all those actions from outside that can destroy this unity,” the patriarch continued. “We must not allow external and hostile dark forces to mock us,” he added, calling for prayers for “restoration of peace” and “good neighborly” relations.
Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church since 2009, is one of the pillars of the system introduced by Vladimir Putin. He did not hesitate to justify police repression of opposition demonstrations or to bless Moscow’s weapons and wars abroad. In 2012, he expressed his loyalty, declaring Putin’s presidency a “miracle of God.”