The Russian Orthodox Church has reiterated its intention to defend those who haven’t in fact asked for it and may not even need protection from the Russians.
Speaking on the issue of maintaining the Christian presence in the Holy Land, Mospatyarch Kirill (Gundyaev) in his Christmas interview expressed support for the Patriarch of Jerusalem in connection with the actions of radical Judaic groups seeking to expel Christian communities from Jerusalem.
Dwelling on the topic, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church stressed that the Russian Church will defend the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. And it’s precisely these words that should be a wake-up call for the Jerusalem Patriarchate as the whole world is well aware of what Moscow’s help really is about.
It’s long been no secret that the most brutal acts of aggression were committed under the guise of “protecting” someone. The Third Reich, declaring its readiness to defend the Germans, occupied Poland. Putin’s Russia, declaring its will to protect the Russian speakers, occupied the Ukrainian Crimea and parts of Ukraine’s eastern regions.
Over the last two years, the Kremlin has transformed what once was an independent Belarus into yet another autonomous district of the Russian Federation under the slogans of “protection from the West.” The Kremlin is now also attempting to take over Kazakhstan through the “peacekeeping forces” of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.
The ROC, which is an integral part of Putin’s regime, declared the need to protect the Orthodox faithful of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and went on to commit an act of spiritual occupation of 102 parishes across Africa.
And now the ROC is again declaring readiness to “protect” someone abroad…
Perhaps Jerusalem would not refuse some assistance. However, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem is surely not ready to allow the ROC to invade its own canonical territory, at which Patriarch Kirill (Gundyaev) so subtly hinted.
Another confirmation that “Russian aid” is just a nice wrapper of the occupation can be found in the words of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who, based on known historical facts, said it’s hard to get Russians to leave once they’re in your home.
So is the Patriarchate of Jerusalem ready to take such a reckless step to accept the “assistance” of the Russian Orthodox Church?
There is no answer to this question at the moment.
Authored by Oleksandr Yefremenko, a Ukraine-based religious expert
