Patriarch Kirill’s new book turns Russia’s war into a sacred battle against evil. We read it so you don’t have to.
In late July, the Moscow Patriarchate’s publishing house released Patriarch Kirill’s new book, Za predelami vidimykh prichin i sledstviy (“War. Beyond Visible Causes and Effects”). Meduza asked Ilya Venyavkin, author of Khram voiny (“The Temple of War”) — a book about the ideas that made Russia’s invasion of Ukraine possible — to read it and explain the ideology Kirill lays out and how he…
In the fifth year of Russia's war against Ukraine, Patriarch Kirill has released a new book titled War: Beyond Visible Causes and Effects. The book, a product of the Moscow Patriarchate's publishing house, attempts to articulate the ideology behind the conflict. However, the book is plagued by repetition, bureaucratic language, and a lack of narrative flow.
It mainly focuses on World War II, portraying it as a sacred event that led to a return to Christian faith for the Soviet people. The war is presented as a means to atone for past anti-religious campaigns and to reaffirm the Soviet cult of Victory. Kirill emphasizes the religious significance of sacrifice and heroism in the war, turning military actions into acts of religious meaning.
The text, however, lacks context and specific details, focusing instead on repeating themes like sacrifice, heroism, evil, victory, homeland, and faith.
Written by urgent.news from Meduza (English)'s reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
