Statements by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Cyril about the war against Ukraine show that the top cleric is actually calling for religious terrorism, according to philosopher, religious scholar, and professor at Loyola Marymount University (LA) Kyrylo Hovorun told Radio NV.
“Patriarch Kirill sends Russians to war to kill Ukrainians, whom, by the way, he himself called ‘brothers’ in his other sermons. From the point of view of Orthodoxy, how can you evaluate such a, sorry, bipolar disorder?” Hovorun said.
“It is really about a bunch of internal contradictions in Patriarch Cyril’s statements, when he says one thing today and another tomorrow. It is systematically repeated, on the one hand. And on the other hand, some statements, in particular the ones you mentioned, completely contradict the Orthodox tradition and Orthodox teaching,” the expert noted.
There have already been attempts in the history of the church, Hovorun recalled, to justify casualties during war and promise soldiers the kingdom of heaven, forgiveness of sins, etc.: “It happpened in much better times, for example, in Byzantium, where such attempts were made by some emperors. But they were rejected by the church, and the church never went to consider that the sins of soldiers who perished during the war, whether it was a just war or an unjust one, were forgiven.”
“What Cyril said is somewhat reminiscent of the statements of some religious leaders of radical Islam, who, for example, call on the faithful to sacrifice their lives, take the lives of others and promise them paradise for this. Again, it is not about classical Islam, but about radical Islam, which mixes two concepts – martyrs and terrorists. The same confusion is evidently mentioned in the statements of Patriarch Cyril,” the expert noted.
Martyrs in Christianity and other religious traditions sacrificed their lives for their faith, for what they believed in, but they did not take other people’s lives. Terrorists, religious ones in particular, are ready to sacrifice their lives, but at the same time they take the lives of other people, and this is the fundamental difference between martyrdom and religious terrorism. In fact, what the Russian church is calling for now is religious terrorism on the territory of Ukraine, according to the scholar.
