“I do not understand
when religious representatives of Russia”
—here he meant the pro-Putin patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church—
“say they are faithfully empowering soldiers to kill Ukrainians.”
Worse,
“I cannot understand how a Christian country, the Russian Federation, with the largest Orthodox community in the world, will be killing people on these very days.”
During the Easter season, the Russians are planning “a great battle in Donbas,” the Russian-occupied region in Ukraine’s far east.
“This is not Christian behavior at all, as I understand it. On Easter they will kill, and they will be killed.”
Father Rassam notes that “Putin says, ‘We’re all one people. We’re related people.’ And that’s a historic truth. But if you think these people are your cousins or your brothers, well, then don’t bomb them. How do you call Kyiv the mother of Russian cities and then bomb it? This disturbs me.”
As he prepares for his Easter Liturgy, Polataiko said he will focus on giving people guidance to find inner peace and to trust that “good is always winning.”
“Trust that evil eventually will be defeated,” he said. “This is what Pascha is about. This is what the day of resurrection of Christ is about.”
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