Banned Russian priest stands by condemnation of 'brother killing brother' in Ukraine
World
Banned Russian priest stands by condemnation of 'brother killing brother' in Ukraine
KARABANOVO, Russia (Reuters) - For years until the outbreak of war in Ukraine, Father Ioann Burdin served as a priest in the Russian village of Karabanovo, 370 km (230 miles) northeast of Moscow. Now he is a convicted heretic, banned from conducting services and hounded from his parish.
In spring 2022, Burdin denounced the conflict in a sermon to his parishioners and comments online, saying Christians could not just stand by, "when a brother kills a brother".
He said the blood of Ukrainian civilians would be in the hands of Russia's rulers, its soldiers, and everyone who approved of the war or simply kept silent.
As a consequence, he was fined for "discrediting the Russian army", and in June 2023 banned from conducting services by a Russian Orthodox Church court that convicted him of "heretical" pacifism and of undermining trust in Patriarch Kirill, head of the church and a close Kremlin ally.
But speaking to Reuters at an undisclosed location in Russia, Father Burdin said he does not see his preaching as anti-war, instead invoking the Biblical injunction against murder.
"From my perspective, it was a Christian sermon, not an anti-war one," he said. "We are all Christians, and we should not kill each other."
Any murderer, he said, "bears the sin of Cain", who killed his brother Abel in the Old Testament.
The Church hierarchy, strongly loyal to the Kremlin, has thrown its support behind Russia's war effort and ordered priests since September 2022 to recite a special prayer for victory during services.
Burdin is among dozens of priests punished for opposing the conflict, according to Christians Against War, an online group uniting believers in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus.
