APPEAL OF THE CLERGY OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH CALLING FOR RECONCILIATION AND AN END TO THE WAR
Russian Priests for Peace News
March 1, 2022
We, the priests and deacons of the Russian Orthodox Church, each on our own behalf, appeal to everyone on whom the cessation of the fratricidal war in Ukraine depends, with a call for reconciliation and an immediate ceasefire.
We are sending this appeal after the Sunday of the Last Judgment and on the eve of Forgiveness Sunday.
The Last Judgment awaits every person. No earthly authority, no doctors, no guards will protect you from this trial. Caring for the salvation of every person who considers himself a child of the Russian Orthodox Church, we do not want him to appear at this court bearing the heavy burden of maternal curses. We remind you that the Blood of Christ shed by the Savior for the life of the world will be accepted in the sacrament of Communion by those people who give murderous orders, not into life, but into eternal torment.
We mourn the ordeal to which our brothers and sisters in Ukraine were unfairly subjected.
We remind you that the life of every person is a priceless and unique gift of God, and therefore we wish all the soldiers - both Russian and Ukrainian - to return to their homes and families unharmed.
We are bitterly thinking about the abyss that our children and grandchildren in Russia and Ukraine will have to overcome in order to start being friends with each other again, respect and love each other.
We respect God-given human freedom, and we believe that the people of Ukraine should make their choice independently, not at gunpoint, without pressure from the West or the East.
In anticipation of the Forgiven Sunday, we remind you that the gates of paradise are opened to anyone, even a person who has sinned heavily, if he asks for forgiveness from those whom he humiliated, insulted, despised, or from those who were killed by his hands or by his order. There is no other way but forgiveness and mutual reconciliation.
"The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the earth; and now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand," God said to Cain, who envied his younger brother. Woe to every person who realizes that these words are addressed to him personally.
No nonviolent call for peace and an end to war should be forcibly suppressed and regarded as a violation of the law, for this is the divine commandment: "Blessed are the peacemakers."
We call on all the warring parties to engage in dialogue, because there is no other alternative to violence. Only the ability to hear another person can give hope for a way out of the abyss into which our countries were thrown in just a few days.
Let yourself and all of us enter Lent in the spirit of faith, hope and love.
Stop the war.
Abbot Arseniy (Sokolov), representative of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia to the Patriarch of Antioch and the Whole East
Abbot Nektary (Morozov)
Priest Alexy Antonovsky
Abbot Nikodim (Balyasnikov)
Priest Hildo Bos
Priest Vasily Bush
Archpriest Stefan Vaneyan
Hieromonk Jacob (Vorontsov)
Priest Alexander Vostrodymov.
Priest Dionysius Gabbasov
Priest Andrey German
Archpriest Evgeny Goryachev (veteran of the Afghan War)
Hieromonk John (Guaita)
Priest Alexy Dikarev
Priest Alexander Zanemonets
Archpriest Vladimir Zelinsky
Archpriest Peter Ivanov
Archpriest George Ioffe
Deacon Ilya Kolin
Archpriest Andrew Kordochkin
priest Lazarus of Lenzi
Archpriest Andrei Lorgus
Abbot Peter (meshaninov)
Archpriest Constantine Momotov
priest Eugene frost
hieromonk Dimitry (Pershin)
father Alexander Piskunov
Archpriest Stephen Platt
Archpriest Dionisy Pozdnyaev
Archpriest George Roy
priest Nikolay Savchenko
hieromonk IBAS, instead (of Senchukov)
Archpriest Joseph Skinner
Archpriest Dimitry Sobolewski
deacon Pimen Trofimov
Archpriest Alexander Shabanov
hieromonk Cyprian (Countrymen)
priest John Leontiev
Archpriest Vitaly Shkarupin
Archpriest Sergiy Dmitriev
Archpriest Vladimir Korolev
Archpriest Sergey Titkov
Priest Artemiy Morozov
Priest Alexy Zorin
Archpriest Andrey Lvov
Archpriest Sergiy Storozhev
Priest Ilia Gavryshkiv
Archpriest Vitaly Fonkin
Priest Artemiy Kolyagin
Hierodeacon Elisha (Romantsov).
Priest Gleb Krivoshein
Deacon John Myzdrikov
Deacon Valerian Dunin-Barkovsky
Priest Vladislav Bogomolnikov
Archpriest Vladimir Drobyshevsky
Priest Vadim Karpenko
Archpriest Gleb Vechelkovsky
prot. Theodore van der Voort
Priest Fyodor Kosolapov
Priest Anthony Lynov
Priest Anthony Kovalenko
Archpriest Dionysius Kuznetsov
Priest Dmitry Lukyanov
Priest Pavel Kasperovich
Archpriest Valentin Bonilla
Hieromonk Onesimus
the priest Alexei Pichugin
Archpriest Oleg Shulgin
Archpriest Dionisy the wards
Archpriest Victor Teplitsky
Archpriest Anatoly Bark
priest Alexey Cosoleto
deacon Alexander Pushkarev
hieromonk Hilarion
Archpriest Alexander Dubovoy
Archpriest Pavel Serdyuk
priest John Burdin
father Alexander Kuchta
deacon Dmitry Korostelev
Archpriest Georgy Zavershinsky
Archpriest Andrey Kuzma
priest Paul Countrymen
father Dimitry Vinitsky
the priest George Khristich
priest Anthony Serafimovich
monk Laurel (Solomon)
Deacon Alexey Perunovsky
Archpriest Vasily Petrov
Deacon Stefan Kuzmin
Priest Dmitry Ushakov
Priest Yakov Korobkov
Priest Alexander Nasibulin
Archpriest Mikhail Ilyin
Priest Konstantin Lebedev
Hieromonk Peter (Belov)
Hieromonk Seraphim (Standhardt)
Deacon Andrey Georgievich Morozov
Deacon Alexy Khilko
Archpriest Mikhail Fast
Protodeacon Igor Panachev
Archpriest Mikhail Evgenievich Klochkov
Priest Alexander Lebedich
Deacon Vladimir Olshevsky-Davydov
Priest Vasily Maksimishinets
Archpriest Peter Korotaev
Archpriest Igor Precup
Archpriest John Gate
Archpriest Sergiy Markevich
Priest Oleg Usenkov
Priest Alexander Novikov
Priest Sergiy Voinkov
Priest Anthony Kopaev
Deacon Oleg Karlashchuk
priest Dimitri Savin
Archpriest Pavel Kivovich
Priest Mikhail Bakker
Archpriest Igor Tarasov
, Priest Sergiy Dudin
, Archpriest Andrey Lobashinsky
, Archpriest Mikhail Nemnonov
, Priest Roman Savchuk
, Priest John Terauds
, Abbot Varlaam (Borin)
, Abbot Anthony (Loginov)
, Deacon Oleg Ageenko
, Archpriest Alexy Shishkov
, Hierodeacon Kliment (Volyansky)
, Priest Vyacheslav Shafarenko
, Priest Sergiy Dyrman
Priests and deacons of the Russian Orthodox Church who wish to subscribe to the letter can write to russianpriestsforpeace@gmail.com"