Russian Orthodox Patriarch Cyril said Russians who sacrificed their lives on the battlefield in Ukraine had washed away “all their sins.”
“We know that today many are dying on the internal battlefields. The Church prays that this battle ends as soon as possible, so that as few brothers as possible die in this fratricidal war,” the Russian patriarch said in a sermon. delivered on Sunday night, quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency.
Cyril added that the Russian Orthodox Church “realizes that if someone, moved by a sense of duty, by the need to fulfill his oath, remains faithful to his vocation and does what he believes to be his duty and if, in the discharge of this duty, he who dies, then undoubtedly commits an act equivalent to a sacrifice for others”.
“We believe that this sacrifice washes away all the sins that a person has committed,” said the Russian patriarch, who also prayed for a quick end to the “internal battle” in Ukraine and for the victory of Russia.
“The Church, which exercises its pastoral ministry towards the peoples of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and so many other peoples in the immensity of historical Russia, today suffers especially and prays especially for the immediate end of the internal struggles,” he said.
Cyril also prayed for “the triumph of justice, because without justice there can be no lasting peace, for the reestablishment of fraternal communion, for the overcoming of everything that has accumulated over the years and has led to this bloody conflict.
The military offensive launched on February 24 by Russia in Ukraine has already caused the flight of more than 13 million people -more than six million internally displaced persons and more than 7.4 million to European countries-, according to the latest data from the UN, which places this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since the Second World War (1939-1945).
The Russian invasion – justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by the generality of the international community, which has responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing them on Russia. political and economic sanctions.
The UN presented as confirmed since the beginning of the war 5,916 dead and 8,616 wounded civilians, underlining that these figures are far below the real ones.
Source: TSF
