Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill falls into heresy - Vatican

Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church falls into heresy, justifying Russia's attack on Ukraine with pseudo-religious motives. This was stated by the head of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, Cardinal Kurt Koch, writes the Swiss edition cath.ch.

The fact that the Patriarch of Moscow Kirill legitimizes the brutal war in Ukraine for pseudo-religious reasons is heresy , said Cardinal Koch.

He stressed that Cyril's position "shakes the heart of any believer."

From a Christian point of view, there is nothing to justify an aggressive war - except, under certain conditions, defense against an unjust aggressor. Downplaying Putin's brutal war of aggression by calling it a "special operation" is wrong. I must condemn such a position as absolutely unacceptable, ” he explained.

According to the cardinal, the head of the Vatican, Francis, adheres to the position that the Pope and the Patriarch are not "clerics in the service of the state", but "pastors of the people", and that they "should be responsible for putting an end to the killings and destruction" , - said cardinal.

I am grateful to Pope Francis for canceling a meeting scheduled for mid-July with Patriarch Kirill in Jerusalem ,” Monsignor Koch added.

Earlier, the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill, delivered a speech in the temple of the Russian armed forces, praising young Russians joining the army and going to kill Ukrainians. This follows from the website of the Russian Orthodox Church in the statement of Cyril.

If in peacetime this can be explained by some kind of privileges or material considerations, then in wartime service in the armed forces is a real feat, and this is precisely the time we are experiencing now. The service requires readiness from everyone who has taken the oath to defend their homeland, not sparing their lives.

I want to say again and again: we are a peace-loving country and a very peace-loving, long-suffering people who suffered from wars like few other European nations. We have no desire for war or for doing something that could harm others. But we have been so educated by our entire history that we love our Fatherland and will be ready to defend it in the way that only Russians can defend their country.

After all, we broke the back of fascism, which, undoubtedly, would have defeated the world, if not for Russia, if not for the feat of our people, he said.

After that, the Metropolitan of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Epiphanius, said that the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill, made a choice in favor of the Antichrist. Epiphanius emphasized that the ideology of the "Russian world" is the same as the ideology of Nazism, because it justifies violence, murder, war and genocide, and therefore must be rejected and condemned in the same way that Nazism is condemned.

Later, the Head of the Russian Orthodox, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, alias Vladimir Gundyaev, declared that "Russia has never attacked anyone."