The Orthodox Christian Laity (OCL) Board of Directors announces the adoption of the following Resolution at its recently concluded Annual Meeting on October 14, 2022:
The Orthodox Christian Laity (OCL) denounces the horrific and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by the Russian military under the orders of President Putin and the misguided attempt to bestow religious legitimacy to the war by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow.
The indiscriminate and unjustifiable bombing of innocent civilian population centers including schools and hospitals, the rapes, mass executions and war crimes committed by Russian soldiers have shocked the entire world. Millions have been forced to flee their homes as refugees from a brutal war in which Orthodox Christians have been ordered by their political and religious leaders to terrorize and kill Orthodox Christians and other Ukrainian citizens.
We call upon Patriarch Kirill and all faithful Orthodox Christians in Russia to follow the courageous example of St. Tikhon of Moscow, formerly Bishop of the Aleutian Islands and Alaska and Archbishop of North America, and other martyrs of Orthodoxy by demanding an immediate end to the killing and destruction of their brothers and sisters in Ukraine. Let us pray that they will use every means at their disposal to swiftly turn the swords into plowshares by opposing persistently and unequivocally the dehumanizing violence and destruction in Ukraine.
[OCL is a 35-year old 501(c)(3) educational ministry advocating for the administrative unity, accountability, transparency and conciliar governance of all Orthodox Christian jurisdictions in America as one local, autocephalous Church.]
CONTACT: David Oancea, Executive Director / ocladmin@ocl.org / 517-795-7784.