OPAC Statement on The Russian Patriarch: “Does he owe his position and the lucrative benefits he receives to Vladimir Putin?

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PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 15, 2022

OPAC STATEMENT ON THE RUSSIAN PATRIARCH

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill arrive for a meeting with Russian Orthodox church bishops in Moscow. Thomson Reuters
The Orthodox Public Affairs Committee (OPAC) is deeply concerned that Patriarch Kirill of Russia is, contrary to his high office as a Shepherd of the Church and a religious leader to millions in both Ukraine and Russia; enabling the war by giving religious cover to this unconscionable and unjustified conflict.  Ukraine represents at least one third of the Moscow Patriarchate’s clergy and laity.  Kirill’s statements ring hollow and have the stench of direct government interference. Is this because he owes his position and the lucrative benefits he receives to Vladimir Putin? Why does he not speak out for his Ukrainian Flock? Why does he endorse the Russian military, even presenting them with a holy icon?
Orthodox Times Article )Russia is no longer an empire. It is a nation state that tried to recover from the legacy of the economic misery and humanitarian failures of the Soviet Union. Patriarch Kirill owes his allegiance to Jesus Christ, not to Vladimir Putin, an ever-increasing tsar-pretender.Whether he should be sanctioned like many other kleptocrats and oligarchs remains to be seen, but OPAC believes that for the sake of the Orthodox Church, nothing should be off the table and once again calls on Patriarch Kirill to act like the religious leader he is and decry the fratricide taking place in Ukraine.

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OPAC
The Orthodox Public Affairs Committee (OPAC) provides public advocacy for the global Orthodox Christian Church and promotes, supports, defends, and champions Christian communities worldwide in the face of persecution, exclusion, and prejudice. We are committed to defending sacred space, whether it is physical, intellectual, moral, or spiritual; to speak for the voiceless, to listen to the unheard, and to manifest the righteous causes of Christian faithful everywhere.

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