A Servant of Two Masters
Patriarch Kirill and His War Sermons
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
As head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill possesses great spiritual and moral authority in Russia. His open support for Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine carries weight. In his sermons in 2022, Kirill drew on a Russian nationalist reading of the past and present that is based on a theological and eschatological view of history. He derives the historical unity of Ukrainians and Russians from the baptism of Kievan Rus'. He justifies Russia’s war as the defence of “traditional values” against attacks from the liberal West, in which he sees the Antichrist. He guarantees devout soldiers who die on the battlefield a direct path to the kingdom of heaven.
(Osteuropa, 3-4/2023, pp. 221–234)