Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has forwarded a message to U.S. President Barack Obama, urging him to drop the plans to launch a military operation against Syria.
“The Russian Orthodox Church knows the price of human sufferings and
losses since in the 20th century our people survived two devastating
world wars which claimed millions of lives and ruined many people’s
lives. We also regard as our own pain the pain and losses the American
people suffered in the terrible terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001,”
Patriarch Kirill said in his message to Obama.
“On the eve of the anniversary of that sad date, I appeal to you to
lend your ear to the voices of religious leaders who unanimously oppose
any military interference in the Syrian conflict and to make every
effort for the soonest commencement of peace negotiations,” he said.
“Syria today has become an arena of the armed conflict. Engaged in it
are foreign mercenaries and militants linked with international
terrorist centers. The war has become an everyday Golgotha for millions
of civilians,” he said.
“We were deeply alarmed to learn about the plans of the U.S. army to
strike the territory of Syria. Undoubtedly, it will bring ever greater
sufferings to the Syrian people, first of all, to the civilian
population. An external military intervention may result in the radical
forces coming to power in Syria who will not be able and will not wish
to ensure inter-confessional accord in the Syrian society,” he said.
The patriarch expressed his special concern “for the fate of the
Christian population of Syria, which in that case will come under the
threat of total extermination or banishment.”
The patriarch insisted that the ongoing crisis in Syria calls for the international community’s involvement to be settled.
“In this regard, I consider it important to use the opportunities
which have opened for a diplomatic settlement of the conflict. These
opportunities imply the international community’s control over the
chemical weapons in Syria,” he said.
