“We are troubled by the suffering that our brothers and sisters in Ukraine have been undeservedly subjected to,” writes a group of two hundred thirty-three priests and deacons of the Russian Orthodox Church and addresses a strong appeal to all those whose actions can end the war in Ukraine, which they refer to as "fratricidal".
Russian priests and deacons remind us that the life of every person is a unique and invaluable gift from God and that everyone will face the final judgment. “No earthly power, doctor, or guardian will protect us from this verdict. We are concerned for the salvation of every person who considers themselves a son of the Russian Orthodox Church, and we do not want them to face this judgment burdened by the weight of a maternal curse. Let us not forget that the blood of Christ, shed by the Savior for the life of the world, received by a murderer in the sacrament, will lead not to life, but to eternal damnation.”
“The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. Therefore, be cursed, and cast out from the fertile land, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. Thus spoke God to Cain, who was envious of his younger brother. Woe to every person who realizes that these words are addressed to them personally.”
