Head of Phanar: Patriarch Kirill's words contradict teachings of the Church

Patriarch Bartholomew, the head of the Church of Constantinople, said that the words of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow about the forgiveness of sins in death on the battlefield do not comply with the teachings of the Church, Die Tagespost reports.

In an interview with German journalists, the head of the Phanar said that he was “particularly shocked by the sermon” of Patriarch Kirill, in which the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church “draws a parallel between the Russian soldiers who died in Ukraine and the sacrificial death of Christ on the Cross.”

“The fact that Patriarch Kirill said that all who die in this war will immediately enter the Kingdom of God as martyrs is something that does not correspond to Orthodox teaching,” the head of the Phanar emphasized.

According to Patriarch Bartholomew, the Primate of the Russian Church called the war in Ukraine "holy". “But I call it an unholy and diabolical war,” stressed the head of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

He also said that he was "very saddened" by the current state of relations between the Patriarchates of Constantinople and Moscow, "which were severed by the Russian side."

At the liturgies served by the Patriarch of Constantinople, the commemoration of Patriarch Kirill continues, “although Metropolitan Epifaniy of Ukraine asked to convene a Pan-Orthodox Council so that we condemn him,” the head of the Phanar summed up.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that Patriarch Kirill commented on the mobilization in the Russian Federation.

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