Steinmeier accused the Russian Orthodox Church of supporting the war in Ukraine

Germany’s Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier criticized the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) for supporting the war in Ukraine. On Wednesday, August 31, DW reports.

He spoke about the church’s negative role in the war in his speech at the meeting of the World Council of Churches, which was taking place in Karlsruhe, Germany.

“The ROC justifies the war in Ukraine – against their own kind, against their own brothers in faith. This propaganda against the free rights of citizens of other countries, this nationalism, which arbitrarily declared the God’s will for the sake of the imperial dreams of a dictatorship, must meet our resistance,” said Steinmeier.

The President of Germany spoke his words when representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church were in the hall.

“I hope from this meeting that the truth about this brutal war and criticism of the role of their church leadership will not escape them,” he added.

The President recalled that many war crimes took place in Ukraine against religious places in Ukraine, and many civilian buildings were destroyed. Therefore, he called the path the ROC is now taking “blasphemous infidel”.

“Not a single Christian who still has faith, reason and feelings cannot consider God’s will here,” Steinmeier added as a result.

Patriarch Kirill is known to justify Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine and called on the Kremlin to continue implementing its plans.

Recall that Canada imposed sanctions against the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill.

Earlier it was reported that the UK also imposed restrictions on the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.