Brussels plans to include Patriarch Cyril, leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, on the new list of those convicted at the lowest point of his relationship with the Pope
Patriarch Cyril, leader of the Russian Orthodox Church and religious supporter of President Vladimir Putin, whose regime he described in 2012 as a “miracle of God”, will be included in the new package of sanctions approved by the European Commission against personalities who they support the Moscow-ordered invasion of Ukraine. Cirilo, 75 years old and whose fortune is estimated at between $4,000 and $8,000 million, will thus honor the nickname by which he is known in some circles, the “ecclesiastical oligarch”; although as has happened with other Russian magnates who have already been punished by Brussels, the sanctions may eventually even strengthen their position.
“They become a medal for the patriarch. He will present them as further justification for why Russia had to wage this war,” explains Stefano Caprio, professor of Russian history and culture at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome and a broad scholar of the Orthodox ecclesiastical world. “Although Ukraine is currently fighting over territorial and historical issues, the real confrontation for Russia is against the West, to try to stop globalization and its liberal ideology,” said this expert, author of the essay ‘The Glass Tsar’, published in Italian.
Before confirming the approval of the sixth package of sanctions against Russia, the Moscow Patriarchate has already spoken out against the possibility of denying Cirilo access to the territory of the European Union and the freezing of its assets, penalties that Brussels justifies by claiming it is “one of the main proponents of military aggression against Ukraine”. It’s something the Patriarch demonstrates in his sermons, where he states that Russia “has never attacked anyone in its history”, limiting itself to “protecting its borders”.
Vladimir Legoyda, spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church, believes that only someone who is “completely” ignorant of the history of this religious community would think that its members would be “intimidated” by sanctions imposed by the European Union. Union . “Ciri comes from a family whose members, during the days of militant communist atheism, came under repression decades ago for their faith and moral position, without fear of imprisonment,” the spokesman warned.
The Patriarch was elected in 2009 to lead the approximately 150 million faithful of the Russian Orthodox Church around the world and experienced persecution in his family as both his father and grandfather were priests serving under the Soviet dictatorship. Among Russian Orthodox priests, celibacy is not obligatory, as it is with Catholics.
European sanctions against Moscow’s spiritual leader are at their lowest point in recent years in relations between that church and that of Rome. They received a historic boost in 2016, when Cyril and the Pope met in Havana, an unprecedented event that marked a milestone in ecumenical dialogue following the 1054 schism between the Churches of the East and West.
In another example of the current distance between the two religious leaders, Francis was highly critical of the Patriarch’s support for the invasion of Ukraine in a recently published interview by ‘Corriere della Sera’. He even claimed that Cyril had become “Putin’s altar boy.”
While Jorge Mario Bergoglio maintained a balance by also reprimanding NATO for “barking at Russia’s doors”, the interview provoked protests from the Russian church, calling it “deplorable”. For example, he believed that the Catholic leader used “a wrong tone” towards Cyril, which hinders a “constructive dialogue” between the two churches.
However, it would have been surprising to Professor Caprio that Pope Francis did not express himself in those terms: «Francis is very angry about the Patriarch’s position on Ukraine. He tries to maintain relationships, but has forced the tone a bit to try and stop the war. That is why he has also shown his intention to meet Putin.
In the opinion of the professor of Russian history and culture at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, Bergoglio’s words do not imply a “serious offense” and it is foreseeable that relations between the Vatican and the Moscow Patriarchate will be rebuilt once the fighting ceases. “To get out of the isolation he has been left with by the war, Cirilo needs the Pope, who can act as a mediator to show that Russia does not accept the prevailing mentality in the West of a globalization led by the United States” , he says. Capri.
In this antagonism to Washington, Moscow hopes to seduce the rest of the world, for which the Holy See will be very helpful. “Many countries in Latin America, Africa or Asia can align with the Russian view of the world. They are the countries where the Catholic Church has the most believers, so Rome could join that idea.
Source: La Verdad
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