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It is the first time that the European Commission proposes to impose sanctions on a religious authority.
The hypothesis, which is part of the sixth package of punitive measures by Brussels against Moscow in response to the war in Ukraine, arose from new statements of the Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow Kirill.
“We do not want to fight anyone. Russia has not attacked anyone. It is astonishing that a great and powerful country has never attacked anyone, but only defended its borders. May God grant that by the end of this century, our country will be like this: strong, powerful and at the same time loved by God “- he said.
This statement is in tune with Kirill’s earlier blessings to the war waged by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine. A repeated stance, which as Pope Francis pointed out, disrupted the face-to-face meeting between the two religious leaders held in Havana in year 2016.
Bergoglio clearly explained his decision for Corriere della Sera: “I talked to Kirill for 40 minutes through the Zoom platform. The first twenty minutes with a letter in hand he read me all the excuses for the war. I heard him and said to him: I do not understand any of what you are saying. Brother, we are not clergy of the state, we can not use the language of politics, but that of Jesus, we are shepherds of the same holy people of God. Therefore we must ask the path of peace, to end fighting.
The patriarch cannot become Putin’s servant. I planned to meet with him in Jerusalem on June 14th. It would be the second face-to-face meeting, and it has nothing to do with war. But now he also agrees: “For the time being, let ‘s not meet, as it could be misinterpreted.”
Immediate was the response of the Russian Orthodox Church to the European Commission. “Kirill – said the spokesman of the Moscow Patriarchate, Vladimir Legoyda – comes from a family whose members have been subjected to oppression for decades, because of their faith and moral position during the days of communist militant atheism, without fear of imprisonment and repression. “Only those who do not know the history of our Church can believe that they can intimidate the clergy and its faithful by including them in some lists.”
For now, no one in the Vatican agrees to comment on the hypothesis of sanctions against the Moscow Patriarchate. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, who was once a KGB informant, has a fortune exceeding $ 4 billion. An accusation that the Patriarch has always denied. However, there are those who hypothesize that his fortune could be almost double, $ 8 billion.
These billions have been amassed thanks to Russian state tax exemptions. “He created this wealth during the 2000s,” says journalist Anne-Sylvie Sprenger, “when he was head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s foreign affairs and when Iraq was under a US embargo.” At the time, Russia backed Iraq by sending medicine and other basic necessities.
The cigarette trade was entrusted to the Russian Church, which received 1/10 of the profits. In this way Patriarch Kirill strengthened his personal legacy. He owns a house in Switzerland, in the canton of Zurich, as a child he was an avid skier. Together with his brother, who has long been the representative of the Moscow Patriarchate to the Ecumenical Council of Churches, they have established deep ties with Switzerland. “There should also be a bank account.”
On the one hand, the Vatican certainly can not bless the sanctions against Cyril, especially openly because it would really cause a religious war. On the other hand it is clear that all attempts made so far by the Pope to negotiate with the Patriarch ending the conflict in Ukraine have failed.
Hence Francesco’s willingness to speak directly with Putin, as all other interlocutors closest to him, from the Russian ambassador to the Holy See to the Russian Foreign Minister to Cyril, have failed. to support his reasoning.
It is certainly a very disturbing signal to the Holy See that the head of a Christian Church, who shares the same Gospel with Catholicism, has such clear and public support for the war in Ukraine, even supporting its motivations.
It’s very significant what the Pope explained to the Patriarch in their online conversation, in an attempt to persuade him to withdraw from his approach and work with him for peace: “The church should not use the language of politics, but the language of Jesus. We are pastors of the same holy people who believe in God, the Holy Trinity, in St. Mary. “For this we must unite in efforts to help peace, to help those who suffer, to seek the path of peace, to stop fighting.”
He added: “Those who pay the war bill are the people, the Russian soldiers and the people who are being bombed and killed. As pastors we have a duty to stand by and help all people suffering from war. There was once talk in our churches of holy war or just war. Today we can not talk like that. Christian consciousness has developedeabout the importance of peace. “
But those words fell on deaf ears again, persuading Francesco to postpone the meeting so as not to cause a very dangerous diplomatic incident: “I am sorry that the Vatican canceled a second meeting with Patriarch Cyril, which we had planned for June in Jerusalem.
But our diplomacy thought that a meeting between us at this time, could lead to many misunderstandings. I have always promoted interfaith dialogue. When I was archbishop in Buenos Aires, I brought Christians, Jews, and Muslims together in a fruitful dialogue. It was one of the initiatives I am very proud of. I promote the same policy in the Vatican. “For me, the agreement is superior to the conflict.”
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