Patriarch Kirill: Russian Orthodox Church must not serve political interests

Commenting on unrest in Ukraine, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church said that “the position our church has assumed-- and this position has remained unchanged for the past 25 years-- is that our church never yields to any political temptations and never serves anyone’s political interests”,Catholic World News report.

“It is our position of principle that the Church must remain above fighting,” Patriarch Kirill I of Moscow said in comments to ecclesial leaders on April 30. “It must preserve its peacekeeping potential, even when everyone thinks no peacekeeping potential exists anymore.”

“We must do the pastoral soul-caring work and reconcile people,” said the patriarch, according to the Interfax news agency. “But we must not in any case serve any of the political views, positions or concepts. In that case the Church, remaining above fighting, will be able to preserve its peacekeeping potential.”

Gabriela Baczynska from Reuter notes that Putin and Kirill have fostered increasingly close ties since the former KGB officer returned to the presidency for a third term in 2012 and took a more conservative stance on social matters.

Critics of the Russian Orthodox Church have said it is acting as a de-facto government ministry for Putin, including in foreign affairs, and have warned that such political engagement could backfire.

Kirill's church is aligned with Putin's drive to reunite the former Soviet space, with the Russian Orthodox Church exerting considerable influence through its 165 million members in Russia and other former USSR republics.