ROC Patriarch: It is very hard to see a brother killing his brother today

At a sermon on the day of the Exaltation of the Cross, the Primate of the Russian Church, Patriarch Kirill, said that it was very hard for him to see how the fraternal peoples of Ukraine and Russia are fighting among themselves today. The text of the sermon was published by the ROC website.

“You can imagine my state as the Patriarch of All Rus, when today a brother kills a brother. Probably, someone having extreme political views will say: how can he preach pacifism at a time when ...

Not pacifism, but with these words I simply testify to our common duty before God – to pray for an end to internecine strife, to do everything to restore fraternal relations between the two parts of united Russia, and also to pray that the Lord will deliver, especially our youth, from their lives being cut short in this internecine strife. For this end, it is necessary to put a stop to fighting,” said the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church.

He urged Russian saints to pray so that "we all simultaneously move along the path of reconciliation and restoration of the spiritual unity that was formed in the depths of the single Russian Orthodox Church."

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church urged the Russians not to consider Ukrainians as enemies.

Read also

Spiritual growth is a lifelong process – His Beatitude Onuphry

The Primate wished the faithful that, through the prayers of Saint Olga, the Lord would strengthen them on the path of salvation and help them preserve the virtues for which the saint was glorified.

Odesa prayerfully marks anniversary of UOC cathedral’s destruction by shelling

Over the two years since the tragedy, a significant portion of the restoration work on the destroyed shrine has been completed.