Pro-Putin holy man Patriarch Kirill, 75, tests positive for Covid with leader of Russian Orthodox Church suffering from ‘severe symptoms’
- Kirill, 75, cancelled all of his planned trips and events according to the Church
- His symptoms require bed rest and isolation but condition is ‘satisfactory’
- Putin ally supports the war in Ukraine and champions conservative social values
Pro-Putin holy man Patriarch Kirill has tested positive for Covid, with the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church suffering from ‘severe symptoms.’
Kirill, 75, has cancelled all of his planned trips and events, according to the church, as he was suffering the symptoms, which require bed rest and isolation.
The Church said that his condition was ‘satisfactory.’
Under Kirill, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and supporter of the war in Ukraine, the Russian Orthodox Church has become a powerful political player, championing Russia’s turn towards conservative social values.
Patriarch Kirill, 75, pictured, has cancelled all of his planned trips and events, according to the church, as he was suffering the symptoms, which require bed rest and isolation. Kirill is a full-blooded supporter of the invasion of Ukraine
Kirill is a close ally of Putin and his leadership of the church has seen it champion Russia’s turn towards conservative social values
It comes after the Pope previously cautioned Kirill against serving as Putin’s altar boy because of his support of the invasion in Ukraine.
Kirill sees the war as a bulwark against a decadent West – particularly over the acceptance of homosexuality – that threatens his vision of a ‘Russky Mir’ (‘Russian World’) that includes Belarus and Ukraine.
‘We (the Pope and Kirill) are pastors of the same people of God. That is why we have to seek paths of peace, to cease the fire of weapons. The patriarch cannot become Putin’s altar boy,’ Francis was quoted as saying.
The 85-year-old pontiff also told Italy’s Corriere Della Sera newspaper that he had communicated to Moscow via Vatican diplomats that he sought a meeting with Putin three weeks into the conflict, but did not receive a response.
Pope Francis previously met Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and was told by the far-right leader – Putin’s principal ally in the EU – that ‘the Russians have a plan, that everything will end on May 9’, referring to the anniversary of the end of the Soviet Union’s involvement in World War II.
Francis had communicated to Putin that he was willing to make the trip to Moscow in May.
‘Certainly, it was necessary for the Kremlin leader to allow an opening. We have not yet received a response and we are still insisting,’ Francis said.
He added: ‘I fear that Putin cannot, and does not, want to have this meeting at this time. But how can you not stop so much brutality?’
The Pope has walked a delicate tightrope over the conflict, condemning ‘unjustified aggression’ and lamenting atrocities against civilians, but had refrained from officially pointing the finger at Russia and Putin until May.
Francis also appeared to suggest NATO was in part to blame for Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, which began when the Russian tyrant ordered his troops across his neighbour’s border on February 24.
Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, left, conducts the Easter service accompanied by President Vladimir Putin, background right, at the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow in April
Patriarch Kirill conducts a liturgy at Danilov Monastery in Moscow on September 12
He said that while he would not go as far to say that NATO’s presence in nearby countries such as Poland and the Balkans ‘provoked’ Russia, he said that the military alliance ‘perhaps facilitated’ the invasion by ‘barking’ as Putin’s door.
NATO and other countries supporting Ukraine have insisted that Moscow has been the aggressor, massing its troops on the border in the months before the invasion before launching its invasion of a sovereign country.
It had been reported on Russian Telegram channels that Putin is very sick with a triple whammy of cancer, Parkinson’s and ‘schizophrenic symptoms’, which might go some way to explaining his implacable bloodlust towards Ukraine.
Instead the head of the Catholic Church had been dealing with Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church, who is a full-blooded supporter of the violent conflict.
Russian President Vladimir Putin – reported to be suffering from cancer, Parkinson’s and ‘schizophrenic symptoms’ had snubbed all entreaties from the Pope to discuss stopping the war
The war in Ukraine strained relations between the two churches and caused a split among Orthodox Christians around the world.
In the interview, Francis said that when he had a 40-minute video conference with Kirill on March 16, the patriarch spent half of it reading from a sheet of paper ‘with all the justifications for the war’.
In April, he announced that he had scrapped plans to meet Kirill in June. He told Argentine newspaper La Nacion in an interview that he regretted that the plan had to be ‘suspended’ because Vatican diplomats advised that such a meeting ‘could lend itself to much confusion at this moment’.
The RIA news agency in Moscow quoted Metropolitan Hilarion, a senior Russian Orthodox Church official, as saying the meeting was postponed because ‘the events of the last two months’ would have created many difficulties in its preparation.
In June, Kirill was sanctioned for his prominent support for the war in Ukraine.
TV host Vladimir Solovyov – known as ‘Putin’s Voice’ and one of Russia’s chief propagandists – said the ‘place for [Liz Truss] is hell’ after the move, and suggested the foreign secretary was ‘declaring a religious war against Russia’.
TV anchorman Vladimir Solovyov (centre) – known as ‘Putin’s Voice’ and one of Russia ‘s chief propagandists – said the ‘place for [Liz Truss] is hell’ after the UK imposed sanctions against Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church
Vladimir Solovyov suggested that by sanctioning Kirill, Truss is ‘organising the persecution of Christians’ before attacking Britain for ‘betraying faith’
Truss, then foreign secretary, said the 75-year-old cleric has ‘repeatedly abused his position to justify the war’ on Ukraine.
‘Today, what we’ve long expected has happened,’ an outraged Solovyov said during his own show ‘An Evening With Vladimir Solovyov’ on Russia’s Channel 1.
‘And now she, imagining herself who knows what, is trying to persecute the holiest patriarch? Is Liz Truss declaring a religious war against Russia? A war against all Orthodoxy?’ he asked his pundits, again rhetorically, as they nodded along.
Liz Truss, then foreign secretary (pictured) said the 75-year-old cleric – who is also a longtime ally of Putin’s – has ‘repeatedly abused his position to justify the war’ on Ukraine
His diatribe continued: ‘This poorly educated citizen, who graduated from a decent institute of learning, she has such delusions of grandeur? Such phantasmagoric [sic] audacity has been unheard of since the times of Tatars and Mongols.
‘Who does she think she is? Who is she? She can make history only by persecuting the holiest Patriarch. The place for such is in hell, obviously,’ he declared, while lifting his arm up in front of him – as if to perform some kind of blessing.
Moscow describes its action in Ukraine as a ‘special operation’ to demilitarise and ‘denazify’ its neighbour.
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