EDITOR’S NOTE: Many of us who know the very close ties of the Greek Church with the people during wars and armed revolts against Turks, Germans, Bulgarians, and others can understand the blessing by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow to Russian soldiers. (There is a long Byzantine tradition on this issue – not to mention the Pope’s not simply blessing but initiation of the Crusades)… But what he did a couple of days ago is a step too far and is rightfully criticized as coming close to the “72 Virgins awaiting the jihadists in paradise”… “Go bravely to fulfill your military duty. And remember that if you lay down your life for your country, you will be with God in his kingdom, glory and eternal life,” he said…
In addition, we have accumulated over the last few years several questions on the close ties of the Russian Church with the Vatican and their “Ecumenist” views – which in our case means globalist views…
But to their credit, the Russian Patriarchate is among the very few Churches openly and loudly opposing homosexuality and transgenderism and all the related evils that have turned western societies into degenerate melting pots…
Who will do the “plus” and “minus” calculus?
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Putin’s top priest tells Russians not to fear death amid mobilization
“Go bravely to fulfill your military duty. And remember that if you lay down your life for your country, you will be with God in his kingdom, glory and eternal life,” Patriarch Kirill, a staunch ally of President Vladimir Putin, said in a sermon at the Zachatyevsky Monastery in Moscow on Wednesday.
Kirill, who has justified the invasion of Ukraine by arguing that Russians and Ukrainians were historically one people, said in his sermon that a person of “true faith” is not afraid of dying.
According to the clergyman, a person becomes “invincible” when he stops fearing death.
“It is the fear of death that drives a warrior from the battlefield, that prompts the weak to commit betrayal and sets brother against brother. But true faith destroys the fear of death,” Kirill pontificated following a liturgy celebrating the birth of the Virgin Mary.
In his remarks to the congregation, Kirill also urged Russians not to view Ukrainians as their enemies.
“We know the kind of danger is hanging over the Ukrainian people,” the religious leader said, claiming that attempts were being made to transform Ukraine into a nation hostile to Russia.
“We must pray today that God strengthens fraternal feelings between the nations of the Holy Rus,” Kirill preached.
Kirill delivered his remarks just hours after the Russian president announced a partial military mobilization — Russia’s biggest call-up since World War II — following a series of devastating military setbacks in Ukraine seven months into the invasion.
Putin’s address to the nation sparked protests against the war in 38 cities and sent prices for air tickets from Moscow soaring above $5,000 for one-way flights as Russian men of military age fled for their lives.
Patriarch Kirill is doing the best he can in this terrible quagmire.
God protect Patriarch Kirill!
In religious world, Kirill is the adult in the room while
feckless Bartholomew is petulant child.
Seems to me that Kirill needed to offer those heavenly assurances to those soldiers DEFENDING their country not to the AGGRESSORS.
Is this why thousands of Russians are headed for the airport, borders, and other exits? Because they are afraid of going to heaven?
Is this why Putin is holed up in a Dacha bunker and has pre-taped all of his meetings this week?
Kirill’s posturing will cause more young Russians to die on this Fool’s Errand.
I have to remind you and the audience that Putin was ready to sign a peace deal on April 9 but was stopped by the stooge of the globalists, Boris Johnson, or better known as BoJo… Please let’s be factual, and let’s keep our eyes on the ball… The facts in the link below are multiply verified… By now it is very clear what side wants the war to continue – and it is not Putin, neither is this puppet Zelensky… It is those who are hoping to eject Putin from power – because they can never admit that he fooled them 20 years ago… But now their game is futile because there are 10-15 “new Putins” to replace him… And some of them seem to be better leaders than the Putin we know. We are dealing with a mainly psychological problem of the western leadership – but we haven’t reached the last stages of grief yet…
https://www.b92.net/eng/news/world.php?yyyy=2022&mm=09&dd=02&nav_id=114364
Γελάνε και τα τσιμέντα….
I have read the attached sermon and seen the video with translation. Where died the Patriarch say this? True faith does destroy the fear of death. The “invincible” part appears to be the article writer’s comments, as far as I can tell.
Byzantine Emperor Nikephoras Phokas during the tenth century waged war on the Muslims. Like Patriarch Kyril today he got carried away.
Phokas wanted the Church to declare dead Byzantine soldiers Saints. The Church refused on the grounds these soldiers died in battle for the empire, not for Christ.
The Orthodox Church does not have Crusades or jihads. In the litanies during the liturgy the priest prays for the Emperor/President/Prime Minister, the army of the country. During war the Church blesses the soldiers and prays for the country but not the war specifically.
Orthodox Greeks came to despise the Roman Catholic Crusaders for mixing faith with war and politics.
The Russian Church crossed that line canonizing Sts. Boris and Gleb….can someone killed for political reasons, not religious, be a passion bearer? The Greek and Russian traditions have different answers, and have for some time….
Boris and Gleb were cannonised for accepting their deaths to avoid more suffering. For Christ – like deaths. . Not related to the politics .
As the last tsar and family. Not for his reign as Tsar ,what ever the verdict on it.
At the start of the Greek revolt against the ottomans ,the fighters were given a dispensation to eat meat during Lent. And blessed as fighting for Christ and their land and race. But not told they would go to heaven
Christianity of most denominations has historically allowed for participation in “a just war,” one waged for protection from an aggressor. But that does not mean the participant should consider himself blessed, just that his participation in itself is not a sin. If what he is saying is true then a Christian who declines to participate even in a just war would be rejecting a blessing, and that cannot be so because pacifism was the way of Christ and always the preferred choice for those who follow Him. What Kirill is saying is indeed reminiscent of jihad, where fighting in a religiously mandated war earns one favor from God, and this is not a Christian principle.
Yes, right, but what do you have to say about Pat. Bartholomew blessing Erdogan’s troops as they entered Syria and slaughtered the Kurds?
Here is the link from Hurriet Daily news: https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/istanbul-greek-orthodox-patriarch-lends-support-to-turkeys-operation-olive-branch-in-syrias-afrin-126375
I understand why a Greek Christian would want to take an opportunity to say something kind about Turks. But a bishop should not be endorsing war. That war in particular, which is an ethnic conflict and the Kurds pose no danger to Turkey, nor to Syria. More to each other than anyone else. Bartholomew should know better.