UOC hierarch: The Church cannot speak of the "sacredness" of war

Metropolitan Yevlohiy. Photo: Orthodox Sumshchyna

Metropolitan Yevlohiy (Hutchenko) of Sumy and Akhtyrka published on his Facebook page a detailed statement about the inadmissibility of religious justification of war.

According to the hierarch, the Church can pray for warriors, comfort the suffering and support those who defend their land, but has no right to declare war itself sacred or equate death on the battlefield with martyrdom for faith. The metropolitan emphasized that mixing patriotic duty with religious feat is a theological error, which can harm both the Church and society. "War is a tragedy, not a triumph," the archbishop noted.

"Patriarch Kirill's statements about the war in Ukraine as a 'sacred war,' about the allegedly redemptive nature of death on the battlefield, and about the inapplicability of the commandment 'thou shalt not kill' to what is happening require sober and responsible consideration in light of Holy Scripture, Holy Tradition, and the canonical teaching of the Church," the metropolitan emphasized.

He stated that the very wording "sacred war" is alien to Orthodox theology. "The Church of Christ has never known or accepted the idea of sacralizing armed violence. In the history of Christianity, war has always been perceived as a tragedy, as a consequence of the fall of the human race, and not as a path to salvation or a means of fulfilling divine purpose. Even in cases where it concerned the defense of the homeland, the Church spoke not of the 'sacredness' of war, but of indulgence toward human weakness," the archbishop said.

He also criticized the position that participation in war and death in it "wash away all sins."

"Such a thought destroys the very foundation of Christian soteriology, replacing repentance and personal turning to God with the external fact of death. The Church confesses that forgiveness of sins is granted through repentance, through the Sacraments, through the change of mind and heart, and not automatically through certain circumstances of a person's death. No holy father taught that physical death itself, apart from the feat of repentance, cleanses a person from sin," Metropolitan Yevlohiy emphasized.

Earlier, the UOJ analyzed what kind of patriotism is taught in the ROC. 

Read also