Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew said on Wednesday that the powerful Russian Orthodox Church shares responsibility for the conflict in Ukraine but is ready to help Russia in its post-war “spiritual revival”, Reuters reported.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew’s comments are a rebuke to Russian Patriarch Kirill, who has divided the Orthodox Church worldwide with his open support for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

• Bartholomew, who angered Moscow in 2019 by recognizing the newly created Ukrainian Orthodox Church, said that the Russian authorities are using the Church as a “tool for their strategic goals.”
• “Church and state leadership in Russia cooperated in the crime of aggression and shared responsibility for crimes committed, such as the shocking kidnapping of Ukrainian children,” he said at a conference in the Lithuanian parliament.

Last week, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, charging him with the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. Russia says that the children were taken out of Ukraine for their own safety. She denies human rights violations in Ukraine.

• “Our interfaith dialogue must focus on ways to confront and neutralize the ability of the leadership of the Moscow Patriarchate to undermine unity and theologically legitimize criminal behavior,” Bartolomeou said.

The Russian Orthodox Church did not comment on this issue.

Mother Church wants to return Russians to common values

The Ecumenical Patriarch, based in Istanbul, is considered “first among equals” in the Orthodox Church, which has about 260 million followers worldwide, including about 100 million in Russia.

• “The Mother Church of Constantinople is ready to help her children in Ukraine and Russia again, as it has done many times in the past,” he said. The Church still uses the ancient Greek name Constantinople for Istanbul.
• “Our common Christian duty is to use the power of dialogue to bring our Russian brothers and sisters back to our community of shared values,” he said, stressing the need for a “spiritual revival” in both Russia and Ukraine.

Putin, strongly supported by Patriarch Kirill, sees Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine as a defense against what they see as an aggressive and decadent West bent on destroying Russia and its culture.

Ukraine declares that Russia is waging an unprovoked war of aggression to seize territory and destroy its independence.

Kyrylo should resign from the position of head of the Russian Orthodox Church

Besides, this is not the first time Bartholomew has openly criticized Cyril.

Last year, the Ecumenical Patriarch said that Russian Patriarch Kirill should “sacrifice his throne” to oppose the war in Ukraine.

• “No church could not condemn violence, war. The Russian Church has failed us. I do not want the Russian Orthodox Church and Brother Patriarch Kirill to represent this tragic exception. I don’t know how he can justify himself in front of his conscience,” said the leader of Orthodox Christianity.
• “I expected that Patriarch Kirill would come forward at this decisive historical moment. If necessary, sacrifice your throne, tell Putin: “Mr. Putin, I cannot agree with you, I am resigning,” he added.

In an interview with CNN Turk in early March 2022, he said he had become a target for Russia because of his anti-war stance and recognition of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Church, independent of Moscow, in 2018.

In early May 2022, Patriarch Kirill said that Russia had not actually attacked anyone, contradicting statements by other Moscow leaders such as Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Kremlin spokesman Dmytro Peskov.

Patriarch Kirill also promised Russian soldiers dying in Ukraine that all their sins would be forgiven in a controversial video message in which he compared the Russian army to Jesus Christ.

On November 7, a video of a Russian Orthodox monk showing Russian soldiers how to properly load a Kalashnikov assault rifle from a Christian perspective went viral.

• Follow the latest events of the 392nd day of the war in Ukraine LIVETEXT on HOTNEWS.RO.

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