WASHINGTON — Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, has been a staunch ally of President Vladimir Putin for years. But his vocal support for the invasion of Ukraine has drawn fierce rebukes from religious leaders, who say he has abandoned Christian teachings by supporting the Kremlin’s destructive campaign.
In his final Sunday sermon, delivered at the Intercession Church of the Most Holy Theotokos in Moscow, Kirill urged believers to respect official power – a message apparently intended to support a military campaign that has gone badly for Russia. Kirill, once referred to as the “political patriarch”, was enthroned in 2009 and has strong ties to the current political regime within Russia.
“May the Lord help us all to unite, including around the authorities, at this difficult time for our fatherland,” Kirill said in the sermon. He hopes that the Russian people will “retain the ability to repel external and internal enemies”.
Kirill has been a vocal and consistent supporter of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, despite the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians being Eastern Orthodox. On Sunday, nearly 300 Ukrainian Orthodox Church leaders signed a letter accusing Kirill of “moral crimes” for supporting the unprovoked attack on Ukraine that killed thousands of civilians.
Russian Patriarch Kirill celebrates a Christmas service in Moscow on January 6. (Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images)
“Our position is fully consistent with the Gospel and church tradition,” the Ukrainian clergy wrote. “Defending the homeland against the enemy is one of the most important Christian virtues.”
Many Christian leaders in the West have denounced the invasion, including Pope Francis and members of Kirill’s own church. Most Russian clergy, however, share Kirill’s views. Metropolitan Mitrofan of Murmansk said the invasion of Ukraine was a fight against “the Antichrist”.
Mitrofan also said the Orthodox Church in Ukraine is “not a real church” in reference to the schism between the Ukrainian and Russian Churches three years ago, which angered both Putin and Kirill.
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Long suspected of once having been an agent of the KGB — the Soviet-era security agency that often singled out religious dissidents — Kirill is a symbol of the resurgence of the Orthodox Church under Putin, who has used religion to bolster his nationalist, anti-Western stance strengthen vision. In 2013, Kirill denounced same-sex marriage as “a very dangerous sign of the apocalypse.” Four years later he criticized Western Europe for making the “grave mistake” of departing from Christianity.
Although Russian society has become increasingly religious since the collapse of the Soviet Union, which officially professed atheism, Kirill has not entirely escaped scrutiny. In 2012, a photo of him with a $40,000 watch was airbrushed to remove the watch, prompting widespread scorn and ridicule. Two years ago, he was spotted wearing a watch that cost $16,000, this time with no apparent concern for public backlash.
When Putin decided in late February to launch an invasion of Ukraine – in what he described as an attempt to “denazify” the country’s government, which is headed by a Jewish president, Kirill told members of the armed forces that they “The right way.” He also alluded to growing threats “at the borders of our fatherland,” an obvious reference to Ukraine and its Western allies.
A sovereign nation since 1991, Ukraine has attempted to chart a course different from its Soviet heritage. Kiev’s desire for autonomy has always been seen as an affront by Putin, who first invaded Ukraine in 2014. Eight years later he invaded again, expecting an easy victory, only to face protests at home and condemnation abroad.
Kirill remains a key ally for an increasingly contested Kremlin. “The moral blessing of the Russian Orthodox Church for this war has lasted for years.” Russia expert Samuel Ramani from Oxford University said earlier this month. While few were surprised by Kirill’s loyalty to Putin, his apparent lack of concern for the plight of ordinary Ukrainians has renewed criticism of his tenure.
Despite making general calls for peace, the 75-year-old bishop has also made no secret of his true sympathy. “We have entered a fight that has not a physical meaning, but a metaphysical one,” Kirill said in early March.
In a widely condemned sermon earlier this month, Kirill proposed against the West while envisioning the same fictional entity of Slavic peoples that have invoked Putin and rejected Ukrainians.
Debris and destroyed Russian military vehicles in Bucha, Ukraine, on April 6. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
“Today the word ‘independence’ is often applied to almost every country in the world,” Kirill said on the same day as much of the world came across the images of slaughtered civilians in Bucha. “But that is wrong, for most of the countries of the world are now under the colossal influence of a force that unfortunately opposes the power of our people today.”
The April 3 sermon was held in the main cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces. Kirill has not named the malevolent force he had in mind, but Putin has blamed the United States for orchestrating Ukraine’s successful resistance to Russia.
“We are a peace-loving country and a very peace-loving, long-suffering people who have suffered from wars like few other European nations,” Kirill continued.
“We have no desire to go to war or do anything that might harm others. But we have been raised throughout our history to love our fatherland and be ready to defend it as only Russians can defend their country.”
The April 3 sermon prompted a rebuke from a leader of the Greek Orthodox Church in the United States. “From the words and actions of Patriarch Kirill, we can conclude that he made the same deal with Putin and his cronies. This is indeed a sad moment for our Church and the whole world is watching,” Archbishop Elpidophoros said in a speech the following day.
Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, called on the World Council of Churches to expel Russia after the April 3 sermon.
Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
“The Riot Act needs to be read,” Williams said in an interview with the BBC.
“If a church actively supports a war of aggression and fails to condemn blatant violations of wartime ethics, then other churches have the right to raise the issue and challenge it – unless they can say something effective, something recognizably Christian, we need to revisit your membership.”
The sermon Kirill delivered on Sunday was attended by several representatives from Norilsk Nickel, the mining giant that helped build the church where the service was held. The group is headed by Vladimir Potanin, an oligarch close to Putin.
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