(Orthodox Times) - The head of the Russian Orthodox Church said that Russian soldiers dying in the war against Ukraine would be forgiven, a few days after the partial mobilization ordered by President Vladimir Putin.
Patriarch Kirill is an ally of Putin and has supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He has criticized those who oppose the war in the past and called on the Russians to rally around the Kremlin.
“Many die in the fields of fratricidal war,” said 75-year-old Kirill in his first Sunday speech after the draft order. “The Church prays that this battle will end as soon as possible, so that as few brothers as possible will kill each other in this fratricidal war.”
“But at the same time, the Church realizes that if someone, driven by a sense of duty and the need to fulfill his oath… goes to do what he is called to do and if someone dies in the performance of that duty, then he has undoubtedly committed something that amounts to a sacrifice. He will have sacrificed himself for others. And therefore, we believe that this sacrifice washes away all the sins committed by such a man.”
Kirill’s support for the war in Ukraine has deepened the rift between the Russian Orthodox Church and other Orthodox Churches around the world.
Monday, September 26, 2022
"... all sins forgiven" for those who die in Ukraine
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Boze Moi!
ReplyDeleteIndeed! Such words from a hierarch, such twisting of things, creates a parallel universe within both that jurisdiction and country. The confusion and scandal this causes for believers can only be addressed before the fearsome judgement seat of Christ! Prayers for believers of the Russian Church and for the hierarchy to lead with fidelity to the precepts of the faith!
DeleteThe new Patriarch Sergius.
ReplyDeleteI'm with him that self-sacrifice and denying self is good for ones salvation, not so sure about the killing others duty part.......
ReplyDelete"...But at the same time, the Church realizes that if someone, driven by a sense of duty and the need to fulfill his oath… goes to do what he is called to do and if someone dies in the performance of that duty, then he has undoubtedly committed something that amounts to a sacrifice..."
ReplyDeletePutting aside the nuevo speculation of some recent English speaking 'theologians' around "lessor evil" and the like, this is pretty normative ethical theology within Orthodoxy.
"...He will have sacrificed himself for others. And therefore, we believe that this sacrifice washes away all the sins committed by such a man...”
This however seems new, an assertion of an seeming indulgence - a cancelation/propitiation of sin.
ANAXIOS!!!.
ReplyDeleteAgree. Once a beacon of hope for Christianity, particularly as disintegration in the west continues, now a shell of a leader and a puppet. My sorrow for believers within the jurisdiction is immense.
DeleteUnless the hierarchy is assured of swift consequences for non-compliance and are simply going through the motions of support, how possibly does that Church regain its moral authority absent deposition and a period of penance, as you enumerated in another response??
Sounds kind of like the reward for islamic fighters in Jihad.
ReplyDeleteI hope that we all have many reasons worth dying for, but reasons for killing is a more difficult matter. Killing an aggressor to protect others, and even in self-defense, is often justified, but what happens when it is I who am the aggressor and doing the killing?
ReplyDeleteConscientious objection should be an option, but from what I've heard, conscientious objectors are being imprisoned in Russia for 3 years. I don't think Patriarch Kirill is thus able to recommend that option.
Kyrill is an active and willing accomplice to a war of aggression. He has become one of Putin's bootlickers and has brough shame and disrepute on himself, his office and the church he leads. He should be deposed and the Russian Church should do public penance for its complicity in the ongoing war in Ukraine.
DeleteExactly.
DeleteMore than ever, it seems ridiculous for Russia to blame this war on Patriarch Bartholomew. Because if there's any infighting in Ukraine between the OCU and UOC right now, it's only helping Russia's cause.
ReplyDeleteYet it's almost like Russia wouldn't allow for a unified Ukrainian Church in 2018, because that would have been a more serious threat to the inevitable Russian invasion.
Had the UOC and OCU completely merged into a united church, then the Russian invasion probably would have been much more devastating.
Conversely, without Patriarch Bartholomew's backing of the OCU in Ukraine, probably all Orthodox Christians everywhere would be a target right now. Even ROCOR should probably thank Patriarch Bartholomew for this.
The agenda of the ocu is the same as the Living Church movement; hence talk of union is absurd. And this is not to construed as support for Russia and the invasion.
ReplyDeleteAbsolute rubbish, Father.
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ReplyDeleteAny conflict that still exists between the OCU and UOC is not helping the cause of Ukraine though. At some point, that conflict has to stop simply because it's not sustainable. There also seems to be a willingness for Ukrainian Greek Catholics to abandon the Pope and merge with the Orthodox in order to form a Ukrainian Patriarchate. Conceivably, it could then be a three-way merger of UGCC-UOC-OCU, but Metropolitan Onuphrey's UOC would likely still have the upper hand, having the most bishops.
ReplyDeleteThe UOC is shrinking though. Now that Russia has annexed more Ukrainian territory, that presumably means the Russian Church will annex those territories as well, just like with Crimea. With pro-Russian bishops out of the way, that might actually be a boon towards UOC-OCU reconciliation.