[Orthodox Patriarch Kirill spoke directly to the Russian invasion of Ukraine but situated it in the context of Russians and Russian separatists who have been fighting the Ukrainian government in the region of Donbas prior to the current war. The Donbas is the easternmost region of Ukraine bordering Russia. The region’s unofficial capital is Donetsk.]
For eight years there have been attempts to destroy what exists in the Donbas. And in the Donbas there is rejection, a fundamental rejection of the so-called values that are offered today by those who claim world power.
Today there is a test for the loyalty to this new world order, a kind of pass to that ‘happy’ world, the world of excess consumption, the world of false ‘freedom.’ Do you know what this test is? The test is very simple and at the same time terrible — it is the Gay Pride parade. The demands on many to hold a gay parade are a test of their loyalty to the new world order; and we know that if people or countries reject these demands, then they do not enter into that world order, they become strangers to it.
This [gay pride] is a sin that is condemned by the word of God, both the Old and the New Testament. Moreover, the Lord, condemning sin, does not condemn the sinner. He only calls him to repentance, but not to ensure that through a sinful person and his behavior, sin becomes a life standard, a variation of human behavior regarded as respected and acceptable.
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“If humanity starts believing that sin is not a violation of God’s law, if humanity agrees that sin is one of the options for human behavior, then human civilization will end there. And Gay Pride parades are designed to demonstrate that sin is one of the legitimate variations of human behavior.
That is why in order to enter the club of those ‘free’ countries, it is necessary to hold a Gay Pride parade. Not to make a political statement ‘we are with you,’ not to sign any agreements, but to hold a Gay Pride parade. And we know how people resist these demands and how this resistance is suppressed by force. This means that we are talking about imposing by force a sin condemned by God’s law, and therefore, to impose on people by brutal force the denial of God and his truth.
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We are talking about human salvation, about where humanity will end up, on which side of God the Savior, who comes into the world as its Judge and Creator, on the right or on the left, we will be. Today, out of weakness, stupidity, ignorance and most often out of unwillingness to resist, many go there, to the left side. And all that is connected with the justification of sin, condemned by the Bible, is today a test for our faithfulness to the Lord, for our ability to confess faith in our Savior.
— Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, Baptist News Global, As Putin bombs children, Russian Orthodox patriarch names the root of Ukraine’s sin: Gay Pride parades, March 10, 2022
