US Christian leaders urge Russian Patriarch Kirill to stop Putin’s war
As Russian forces carry out their offensive across Ukraine and move closer to the capital city of Kyiv, nearly 100 Christian leaders in the United States have sent an open letter to Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill urging him to withdraw his support for the invasion that has led to “tragic and terrible loss of innocent civilian life.”
The open letter signed by the heads of denominations and charities, as well as prominent writers and activists, is an “earnest plea” that Kirill, who is believed to be close to President Vladimir Putin, use his “voice and profound influence to call for an end to the hostilities and war in Ukraine and intervene with” Russian authorities to do so.
During a sermon on March 5, Kirill echoed Putin’s propaganda that Ukraine was engaged in the “extermination” of Russian loyalists and described the war as a spiritual struggle against the West’s “so-called values,” including LGBT indoctrination, Georgetown University and Center on Faith + Justice noted in a statement announcing the letter.
In response, the statement said, Christian leaders told Kirill, “We are in the season of Lent. In that Lenten spirit, we ask you to prayerfully reconsider the support you have given to this war because of the horrendous human suffering it has unleashed.”
Source: christianpost.com
