# Patriarch Kirill frames war in Ukraine in sermon on 'gay parades'

Date: 2022

On 6 March 2022, eleven days into Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, [Patriarch Kirill](/people/patriarch-kirill) gave a Forgiveness Sunday sermon in Moscow without condemning the invasion. He portrayed the conflict in Donbas as resistance to Western values, describing gay pride parades as a loyalty test imposed by those claiming world power, which the region had fundamentally rejected.

## People

- Patriarch Kirill: https://factrail.ai/people/patriarch-kirill

## Sources

- https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/03/07/russian-church-leader-appears-to-blame-gay-pride-parades-for-ukraine-war-a76803
- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/13/russian-orthodox-church-in-amsterdam-announces-split-with-moscow

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/kirill-forgiveness-sunday-sermon-ukraine-2022-03-06