Lithuania announced a ban on Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, from entering the country.
Kirill, who holds the title of patriarch of Moscow and all Rus’, was privately added to a list of unwanted people on June 23, but the announcement of his ban was made Wednesday, according to Lithuanian National Radio and Television. The primate of the Russian Orthodox Church had previously been removed from a list of EU sanctions over the insistence of Hungary, which held that it was an issue of religious freedom.
PATRIARCH KIRILL FACES RISK OF EXPULSION FROM COUNCIL OVER PUTIN SUPPORT
“Patriarch Kirill, a close associate of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin, is one of the most active supporters of the war against Ukraine, and has repeatedly spoken publicly and positively about Russia’s aggression,” Lithuania’s Interior Ministry said in a comment. The agency further claimed that Kirill denies Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
Vladimir Legoyda, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Synodal Department for the Church’s Relations with Society and Mass Media, said before the newest announcement that Kirill isn’t concerned about personal sanctions but is concerned about the effect they might have on foreign parishioners of the Russian Orthodox Church, according to TASS.
Although Kirill hasn’t directly spoken publicly about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, numerous statements by the primate are widely interpreted as giving spiritual justification for the invasion, according to the Los Angeles Times. On March 20, Kirill gave a wide-ranging sermon stressing the oneness of the Russian people, under which he explicitly included Belarus and Ukraine. However, he also mentioned the “grievous suffering of the people on Ukrainian soil” and asked congregants to pray for peace.
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Kirill is widely seen as a key Putin ally and member of the Russian president’s inner circle, but the United States has avoided sanctions against him due to religious liberty concerns, according to Politico. The patriarch is the head of 100 million believers in Russia, the largest single share of the 260 million-member Eastern Orthodoxy.
