The Russian church in Amsterdam will be separated from Moscow: It's not possible to offer such calmness

A Russian Orthodox church in Amsterdam has announced it will share with Moscow Patriarchate, which is considered the first known case of a Western-based church breaking ties due to Ukraine's invasion.

“Kler unanimously announced that it is no longer possible for them to operate within the Moscow Patriarchate and offer a safe spiritual environment for our faithful,”, the clergy said in a statement posted on their website.

This decision is extremely painful and difficult for all concerned. ”

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kiril, a trusted ally of Vladimir Putin, has refused to condemn the Kremlin's decision to invade his neighbour, referring to Russia's opponents in Ukraine as the “evil force”.

In a Sunday sermon last week, he also said the parades of pride of homosexuals organised in the West were part of the reason for the war in Ukraine.

The statement said that the Russian Orthodox parish of Myra's St. Nicholas had asked the Russian chief bishop of the Netherlands diocese, which is on display at The Hague, to provide the church “canonic default”.

The parish clergy said they had sought to join the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Istanbul-based Orthodox branch, seen as rival to the Russian Orthodox Church.

Kirille's position on war has brought concern among some Russian Orthodox priests, who oppose the invasion of a country often referred to as brotherly <x0).

More than 280 Russian Orthodox priests and church officials from around the world signed an open letter expressing their opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He said that the “eternal test” was waiting for those who gave up <x2-seconds murder”.

The Russian Orthodox Church in Amsterdam, which consists of four priests and a native, has been critical of Russia's role in war since the beginning of the occupation on February 24th.

She said last week she would no longer mention Patriarch Kiril's name in her liturgy because of his support for the invasion of Ukraine.

The Amsterdam Church held a closed session Sunday in which the parish leader reiterated the decision to break up with Moscow. We asked our former patriarch Kiril to stop the war. Unfortunately, this did not happen”, he said in a video address posted on the church page on YouTube.

Ukraine's Russian invasion has also been criticised by other Christian religious leaders, including the leader of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, Constantinople's Bartholomew I, and Pope Francescu, who on Sunday pronounced his most severe sentence on the occupation, saying that the <x0-seconds armed and unacceptable”. He needs to stop.