World Council of Churches does not agree to XXV WRPC's Decree

WCC head, pastor and doctor of theology Jerry Pillay. Photo: religionnews.com

Rev. Prof. Doctor Jerry Pillay, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, on behalf of WCC member churches, said that the WCC cannot reconcile the Decree of the XXV World Russian People's Council describing the conflict in Ukraine as a “Holy War”, according to the WCC website.

On 27 March, under the chairmanship of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, the Decree of the XXV World Russian People's Council "The Present and Future of the Russian World” was approved. The decree, which is addressed to the legislative and executive authorities of Russia, has raised grave concerns among WCC member churches.

"Among other concerns arising from the recent decree," Pillay said, "the World Council of Churches cannot reconcile the statement that 'the special military operation [in Ukraine] is a Holy War' with what we have heard directly from Patriarch Kirill himself, nor with relevant WCC governing body policy pronouncements, nor indeed with the biblical calling for Christians to be peacemakers in the midst of conflict.”

The World Council of Churches also expressed concern about statements by Patriarch Kirill that could be interpreted as support for the war in Ukraine.

In May 2023, during a meeting with the WCC General Secretary, Patriarch Kirill stated that any mention of a "holy war" in the current context relates to the metaphysical realm, rather than to the physical armed conflict in Ukraine. He agreed with the WCC General Secretary that no war involving armed violence can be "holy". "The decree contradicts this position," Pillay noted.

“In light of the established positions of WCC’s highest governing bodies, the WCC cannot accept the decree’s presentation of Russia’s illegal and unjustifiable invasion of its sovereign neighbour Ukraine as ‘a new stage of the national liberation struggle of the Russian people against the criminal Kiev regime and the collective West behind it, conducted in the lands of South-Western Russia since 2014,’ or the perspective that ‘all territory of modern Ukraine should enter into a zone of exclusive influence of Russia,’ ” said Pillay.

The General Secretary of the WCC therefore requested an urgent meeting with Patriarch Kirill to discuss whether this decree should be understood as an expression of the position of the Russian Orthodox Church, how such positions can be accepted by member churches of the World Council of Churches, and how they can be compared with what he heard directly from the Patriarch.

As reported by the UOJ, in the wake of the XXV WRPC Congress, the Department for External Church Relations of the UOC published a statement, which underscores that "the Ukrainian Orthodox Church dissociates itself, categorically does not share, and condemns the ideas set forth in this document."

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