The head of the ROC, Kirill Gundyaev, is spreading the narratives of the “Russian world” and the “Holy Russia” among schoolchildren. In particular, recently, the publishing department of the Moscow Patriarchate released an Orthodox schoolboy calendar for 2024 with the ambiguous title “Patriarch to children: the victory that started the liberation.”
The calendar is dedicated to the so-called Battle of Kulikov and the pious Grand Duke Dimitrii “Donsky”, for his victory in it, Russian media report.
In the preface to the publication, Gundyaev emphasizes the importance of the battle and “spiritual authority”, which had a strong influence on the formation of courage and heroism. “I mean, first of all, the blessing of Saint Sergius of Radonezh, given to Grand Duke Dimitrii. This formed the true spiritual strength of our army, which prevailed in the historic battle,” the Moscow patriarch explained to the children.
In addition, Gundyaev laments that the “church perspective” is not accepted in secular history. According to Kirill, this is a shame because “it is this approach to history that illuminates the most important thing – the spiritual dimension in the lives of people and the state, without which victory, in the conditions of fading faith and spirit, becomes impossible.”
In the conclusion, Kirill emphasized that the ROC “prays to God that He pacifies Russia, stops internecine wars, so that Holy Russia is reunited – in the sense that today no disputes and divisions torment the heirs of the one and only Holy Russia!”
In this way, Kirill once again proved himself as a church propagandist who stands in defense of the Russian chauvinist policy pursued by the Kremlin. Both Gundyaev himself and his servants were engaged in this before. Now church propaganda is targeting children.
The very name of the mentioned calendar resonates with the objectives of the war against Ukraine declared by the Russian aggressor. Calls for the reunification of “Holy Russia” indicate nothing more than a desire to capture and enslave Ukraine. This is exactly what the Moscow Patriarchate is praying for.
Therefore, we have another piece of evidence of the Russian Church’s interest in the war against Ukraine. As we have already said before, the Moscow Patriarchate acts as an ideological ally in it. Its competence includes the ideological justification of Russian aggression, which, as we can see, is now carried out among schoolchildren as well.
Such actions by the Russian Church drive another nail in its own coffin. After all, by doing so, they completely destroy their church authority and prove to be an ideological squad of the Kremlin.
By the Spiritual Front of Ukraine
