Russian Orthodox Church Blames LGBTQ Pride Parades For Ukraine Invasion

The leader of a Russian Orthodox Church has suggested that the liberal pressure to hold gay pride parades was part of the reasons why Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the invasion of Ukraine.

During a sermon Sunday, Russian Orthodox bishop Kirill said the conflict in Donbas, Ukraine, was the result of liberal forces giving a “test for the loyalty” by seeing whether separatists in the region were willing to join “gay pride parades.” He claimed that anyone who resisted the demand was met with force.

“In order to enter the club of those 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 parade. And we know how people resist these demands and how this resistance is suppressed by force,” Kirill said.

The Russian Orthodox bishop also said the war in Ukraine was a struggle of “metaphysical significance” and that it occurred because humanity violated God’s laws.

“If we see violations of [God’s] law, we will never put up with those who destroy this law, blurring the line between holiness and sin, and even more so with those who promote sin as an example or as one of the models of human behavior,” he added.

Kirill is one of the most influential religious figures in Russia. In recent days, he has faced pressure to publicly denounce Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. However, the bishop’s language appears to be in support of the Russian president’s vision.

A number of Ukrainian Orthodox churches who had previously been loyal to Kirill have now excluded his name from their public prayers. Rev. Mykola Danilevich, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, said most priests have stopped commemorating Kirill in their services even before his most recent comments.

“The treacherous open invasion of Ukraine is a huge mistake of Russia ... People did not hear from the patriarch a clear assessment of this war and his call to stop this madness,” Danilevich told AP News.

Kirill’s comments come after Putin attempted to justify his invasion of Ukraine by saying the military operation was part of an attempt to “de-Nazify” Ukraine at the hands of its “drug-addled Nazi” President Volodymyr Zelensky.