“Patriarch Kirill of Moscow has pledged the "unwavering" support of the Orthodox Church to Russian President Vladimir following a rebellion by the Wagner Group mercenary leader that the Kremlin hired to help fight Russia's war against Ukraine.”
“Pope Francis has launched his most pressing "appeal" to date for peace in Ukraine, explicitly referring to Vladimir Putin for the first time since Russia invaded its neighbor last February. "My appeal is addressed first and foremost to the President of the Russian Federation,”
“"Twenty days after the war began, I asked Cardinal Parolin [the Vatican's Secretary of State] to send Putin the message that I was ready to go to Moscow," Francis said in an interview published Tuesday in the Italian daily Corriere della Sera.”
“Pope Francis has challenged Patriarch Kirill over his support of the war in Ukraine warning that the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church “cannot become Putin’s altar boy”. ”
“A few years ago, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán rewrote the Bible outright...Donald Trump, meanwhile, appeared with Bible in hand for a photo opportunity during the clashes between police and Black Lives Matter protesters.”
“It is unfortunate that he has found an ally in the person of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow. Although the head of the Russian Orthodox Church is not part of the government, he always gravitates towards this closed circle.”
“On February 23, the day before the invasion, Kirill issued a statement from his residence at the Danilov Monastery, congratulating Putin on the celebration of the "Defender of the Fatherland" holiday.”
“Can we imagine Pope Francis blessing an unequal treaty whose effects would extend beyond Ukraine to the entire international order? And in so doing, de facto admitting that entire populations around the world are under the oppression of a brutal dictatorial and police regime,”
“The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I granted autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in 2019, thereby officializing its independence from the Russian Orthodox Church.”
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Patriarch pledges "unwavering" support to Putin following Wagner mutiny
Pope "implores" Putin to stop "spiral of violence and death"
Pope says he’s "ready to go to Moscow" to meet Putin
Kirill must not be 'Putin's altar boy' says Pope Francis
Pope faces down growing link between throne and altar
Putin’s closed circle
Kirill will end up breaking Orthodox unity
Can we imagine the pope approving such a regime, even implicitly?
How Putin is exploiting Orthodox rivalries in Ukraine
