Patriarch Kirill explained the sanctions imposed against him

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia said that he would not be frightened by the ban on entry into European countries, and explained the sanctions imposed against him by the fact that the Russian Orthodox Church is following a “different civilizational path of development.” He said this after the liturgy at the Church of the Miracle of the Archangel Michael in Khoneh.

“The Patriarch is prohibited from traveling to Europe - persona non grata. Why? Did the patriarch break laws or offend anyone? <...> Yes, all because today the patriarch spiritually leads the people, leads the church, which follows a different civilizational path of development,” he said. According to him, the Russian Orthodox Church challenges others with its value system.

“So, maybe it’s precisely because we represent a strong alternative that the patriarch is now prohibited from traveling abroad? As if they could scare us with this!” he said.

The Patriarch added that he is one of “the very few people who during their lives visited more than 120 countries on all continents, in different historical eras.”

After the start of the military operation in Ukraine, Canada , Great Britain , the Czech Republic and Lithuania imposed sanctions against Patriarch Kirill .

The EU excluded the patriarch from the sanctions list at the request of Hungary when discussing the sixth package, which was adopted in the summer of 2022.

The Patriarch stated in the same year that Russia “never attacked anyone,” but only “defended its borders.” “We don’t want to fight with anyone. Russia has never attacked anyone. It’s amazing that a great and powerful country has never attacked anyone - it only defended its borders,” he said.