VRNS chaired by Kirill called the war in Ukraine “sacred”

On the website of the Moscow Patriarchate on March 27, the so-called order of the World Russian People’s Council – a public organization chaired by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia – was published on the website of the Moscow Patriarchate, in which the war in Ukraine is called “sacred” and it is stated that “the entire territory of modern Ukraine must enter the zone of exclusive influence Russia”.

Formally, the document is not related to the Russian Orthodox Church, however, many church hierarchs and church-related public figures participate in the work of the Russian Orthodox Church. As stated in the publication, the document was approved during the synodal congress, which took place on March 27 in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow under the chairmanship of Patriarch Kirill. The document is called “an order addressed to the bodies of the legislative and executive power of Russia.”

The first section of the document is devoted to war (in the document it is called “Special military operation”). The war is declared “a new stage of the national liberation struggle of the Russian people against the criminal Kiev regime and the collective West behind it, waged on the lands of South-Western Russia”, and from a “spiritual and moral point of view” – “a holy war in which Russia and its the people, protecting the unified spiritual space of Holy Russia, fulfill the mission of the “Sustainer”, protecting the world from the onslaught of globalism and the victory of the West, which has fallen into Satanism” (the spelling of the original has been preserved – RS).

The document also reveals the concept of “Russian world”. It says that the borders of the Russian world “as a spiritual and cultural and civilizational phenomenon” are “significantly wider than the state borders of both the current Russian Federation and the great historical Russia.” About the Russian world, it is also said that its function is to be a universal “Sustainer”. According to the authors of the text, Russia should “act as a bulwark of security and a just world order in the new multipolar world.” The document also talks about the “trinity of the Russian people” and that Belarusians and Ukrainians should be recognized only as Russian sub-ethnic groups. It is also proposed to provide asylum in Russia “for millions of foreigners who defend traditional values.” It is also proposed to reform education and “revision of the mass of humanitarian knowledge, generally accepted theories and concepts on the basis of their correlation with the system of worldview ideas and moral values ​​of Russian civilization”.

Konstantin Malofeev, a businessman, founder of the TV channel “Tsargrad” and one of the sponsors of pro-Russian separatists of Ukraine, was Kirill’s deputy in the State of Ukraine. He adheres to ultra-conservative views, which are actually recounted in the so-called order. In particular, the idea of ​​Russia as a “Retainer” or “Catechone” was expressed by a number of conservative church figures in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including to justify the preservation of the absolute monarchy and the state church. This doctrine is closely related to other ideas about the exclusive mission of Russia, such as “Moscow – the Third Rome”.

The other day, Malofeev announced that he intends to leave his post and create a foundation that would promote so-called traditional values.

Immediately after the large-scale Russian invasion, Patriarch Kirill did not directly support him. However, over time, he began to speak more and more often condemning Ukraine and the West, talking about a certain spiritual meaning of the war. Subsequently, he ordered the so-called prayer for Saint Russia to be read in all churches, in which it is said that “Saint Russia” will send victory. Priests who refuse to do this are subject to sanctions up to and including dismissal.