Patriarch Kirill celebrates the liturgy in Orel, Russia, in July 2016. Patriarch Kirill’s close relationship with the Russian government may expose him to Western sanctions. (Shutterstock/Alexey Borodin)

Why the EU Should Sanction Russia’s Patriarch

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The Russian Orthodox Church’s sanctification of Russia’s war on Ukraine has met with little retort from Europe.

As the European Union prepares a major sanctions package against Russian financial institutions, illicit oil trade, and military companies, a seemingly unrelated figure is also reportedly being considered: Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) leader Patriarch Kirill.

The EU attempted to impose sanctions on the Patriarch in 2022, but former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán vetoed the measure. While targeting a church leader for sanctions is an extraordinary measure, Kirill should be held accountable for serving as an apologist and propagandist for the Kremlin.

Kirill has told Russian soldiers that death in combat “washes away all sins,” turning battlefield sacrifice into spiritual redemption. He has supported Russia’s mobilization against Ukraine and cast the war as a civilizational clash with the West. As Russian morale has declined over years of grinding war with little progress, the ROC is actively involved in bolstering troop morale, now crucial to the war effort.

The fact is that the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) is an active participant in the Kremlin’s vicious war against Ukraine. Just as the United States and its allies sanction oligarchs and companies complicit in Putin’s aggression and atrocities, Kirill and the ROC should be viewed in a similar light.

The ROC now claims canonical jurisdiction over every Orthodox parish in the territory the Russian military holds. Kirill, whom Ukrainian prosecutors have........

© The National Interest