Press Release – January 6, 2023
For Immediate Release
OPAC CALLS OUT THE HYPOCRITICAL CEASEFIRE UNILATERALLY PROPOSED BY PUTIN
While we support and encourage an end to hostilities in Ukraine, albeit even temporary, the Orthodox Public Affairs Committee (OPAC) calls out the 36-hour unilateral ceasefire proposed by Putin as nothing more than a hypocritical act of self-serving desperation, in the face of continual defeats at the hands of the Ukrainian military.
No such ceasefire was proposed for Holy Week and Easter of 2022, and the bombing of innocent civilians continued through the holidays. This staged piety related to the Old Calendar Christmas (January 7) is clearly designed to win points with the despondent, disappointed, and angry people of Russia.
Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church, who is complicit in this criminal and unprovoked aggression, should take this opportunity to call for a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of all Russian troops from Ukrainian territory. The specious claims of the “Russian World” have been revealed to be what they really are – rank prejudice and an excuse for ethnic cleansing. The Russian government and Russian Orthodox Church have no right to appeal to the Prince of Peace unless they themselves practice peace.
OPAC again calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and an end to this unprovoked war.
Truth Lives in Light!
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Media Contact: Info@OrthodoxPac.org