In Tilt toward Kremlin, Patriarch Kirill Fails This Year to Commemorate New Russian Martyrs

Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 21 – In another sign that Patriarch Kirill does not want to make any move that might trouble the Kremlin, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church has taken one that is certain to offend many of the faithful: For the first time ever except during the pandemic, he has failed to take part in the commemoration of the new martyrs shot at Butov in Stalin’s time.

            Instead of taking part in a ceremony which the faithful have long viewed as an indication that the ROC MP is prepared to criticize the Soviet state for what it did to believers, Kirill this year has gone to St. Petersburg to celebrate the 300^th anniversary of the beginning of religious education there (ng.ru/faith/2022-05-22/3_8441_patriarch.html).

            Asked why Kirill had failed to show up, the head of the Patriarchate’s press service could only say that he was out of town; but it would not have been difficult for him to return to Moscow for this important service given that he has come back in time to lead services the next day in the Russian capital’s Christ the Savior Cathedral.

            That response suggests that Kirill took this step for political reasons, namely his calculation that pleasing Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin is more important than speaking out for the victims of Soviet anti-religious policies, victims that many Orthodox Christians still view as holy martyrs.