Warsaw, March 2, 2022
Your Holiness,
Thank you for the words expressed in yesterday’s letter from Metropolitan Hilarion. I share Your Holiness's view that hostility towards any nation is always unacceptable. We are all brothers, and therefore we perceive every misfortune of the Ukrainian or Russian people as our own. Hence, we pray wholeheartedly for peace in Ukraine.
However, for our prayer not to be seen as a manifestation of hypocrisy, it must be accompanied by actions. I believe, Your Holiness, that you are a peace-loving person. Our Lord Jesus Christ taught: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” (Mt 5:9). Therefore, I ask you, Brother, to appeal to Vladimir Putin to stop the senseless fighting against the Ukrainian people, in which innocent people are killed and both soldiers and civilians – especially women and children – suffer. A single person can stop the suffering of thousands with a single word – and that is the President of the Russian Federation. I humbly request that you call for the withdrawal of Russian troops from the sovereign state, which is Ukraine.
No reason, no justification can justify the decision to initiate a military invasion of an independent country, to bomb residential areas, schools, or kindergartens. War is always a defeat for humanity. As I have already written in my previous letter, this war is all the more senseless because both nations are close and have Christian roots. Is it permissible to destroy the cradle of Christianity on Slavic soil, the place where Russia was baptized?
I would also like to ask you to urge Russian soldiers not to participate in this unjust war and to refuse to obey orders, which, as we have already seen, lead to numerous war crimes. Refusing to obey orders in such a situation is a moral obligation. There will come a time when these crimes will be brought to justice, even before international courts. And even if someone manages to evade this human justice, there is a court that cannot be avoided. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” (2 Cor 5:10)
I believe that many Russians sent to war are noble people. “We don’t know who to shoot at, they all look like us...” – said one of your soldiers. Therefore, I ask you to urge them to return home as quickly as possible, without having stained their hands with innocent blood.
As disciples of Christ, we know that the main weapon of struggle available to the church is spiritual weapons. “This kind of evil spirit cannot be driven out except by prayer and fasting.” – we read in Saint Matthew (cf. Mt 17:21; Mk 9:29). In Poland, in response to Pope Francis's call, we have declared today a day of prayer and fasting for the establishment of a just peace in Ukraine. I ask you, Brother, to urge all Orthodox brothers and sisters in Russia to engage in similar spiritual work. I believe that the Lord God will not remain indifferent to our prayers and sacrifices. I believe that fasting and prayer change the hearts of people.
In Christ
+ Stanisław Gądecki, Archbishop Metropolitan of Poznań
