The Acts of Convention

House of Bishops

The House of Bishops Committee on Social Justice and International Policy presented its Report #12 on Resolution D032 (Condemning Patriarch Kirill of Moscow for Promoting War in Ukraine) and moved the resolution, recommending rejection.

Original Text of Resolution:

(D032)

Resolved, the House of Deputies concurring,

That the 80th General Convention condemns Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, for providing religious justification for Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and promoting Russian aggression as a “holy war”; and be it further

Resolved, That this Conventions praises the courage of the more than 300 priests of the Russian Orthodox Church who signed a letter condemning the aggression and expressed their grief over the ordeal of the Ukrainian people, calling for an end to the war; and be it further

Resolved, That this Convention calls for Patriarch Kirill to repudiate his comments, make true repentance, and call for an end to the bloodshed in Ukraine by arriving at a just peace; and be it further

Resolved, That this Convention directs that until Patriarch Kirill repudiates his comments, or his comments are repudiated by his successor, the Episcopal Church shall not engage in any official ecumenical outreach with the Russian Orthodox Church, including the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia; and be it further

Resolved, That this Convention directs the Secretary of General Convention or their designee to send a copy of this resolution to Patriarch Kirill; the Rev. Prof Ioan Sauca, Acting General Secretary of the World Council of Churches; Metropolitan Hilarion, Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York and First-Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia; and Bishop Teresa Jefferson-Snorton, Chair of the National Council of Churches.

Motion defeated

Resolution rejected

(Communicated to the House of Deputies in HB Message #116)