Patriarch Kirill: The war with Ukraine is devil work

On March 9, 2022, Patriarch Kyrill said in his homily after the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts that conflicts arise as a result of sin.

“Now we are going through a conflict between Russia and Ukraine,” the Patriarch said. “Let's think of what can really divide us. But the enemy of the human race – through specific people, through specific associations of people – throws a lie into relations between our peoples, and on the basis of this lie, a conflict develops. And we know that this is not just a quarrel between neighbours, but this is a conflict that involves states, that is institutions that have the legal right to use force, forcing their citizens to obey if they violate the laws, or forcing other countries if they see there is a threat in them to ensure that there is no such threat.”

The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church said that he “especially prayed for His Beatitude Onuphry, for the episcopate, for the clergy, for the believing people of Ukraine so that the Lord will save them from the wiles of the evil one, preserve them in the understanding that any war between Orthodox brothers belonging to one Church is the work of the devil, not of God."

According to the Patriarch, the Church "should pray today for peace, for an end to internecine strife as St. Sergius did, as our Russian Church did when the Russian princes were engaged into internecine strife, destroying each other."

As reported, the meeting between Patriarch Kirill and the Pope will take place in Latin America.

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