Patr. Kirill Publishes New Book on Metaphysics of War

MOSCOW — The Publishing House of the Moscow Patriarchate has released a new book by Patr. Kirill titled "War: Beyond Visible Causes and Consequences," examining war through what the Russian Orthodox primate describes as a spiritual and metaphysical perspective.

The book explores concepts including sacrifice, heroic struggle, patriotism and victory, while also addressing what Patr. Kirill describes as the “redemptive” meaning and consequences of war. He discusses Russia’s perceived historical and metaphysical objectives and addresses what the book calls the racial dimension of war.

A release from the Moscow Patriarchate states:

Since everything in the world arises from the encounter between good and evil, the outcome of war is determined by God, the Patriarch argues, and victory belongs to the side that stands with the light. Our earthly calling, he writes, is to be warriors of the Lord, to oppose evil, and to uphold high moral ideals.

While asserting that the Russian people possess the strength to achieve victory, the Patriarch also points to the great responsibility of not shirking what he describes as their historical duty to be victorious.

The table of contents is as follows:

• Metaphysical Struggle
• No One Is Good—God Alone Is Good
• “That They May Know You, the Only True God”
• Sacrifice—the Highest Expression of Love
• Heroic Deed as a Phenomenon of the Spirit
• The Spiritual Essence of Patriotism
• The Redemptive Meaning of War
• Victory on the Brink of the Impossible
• War Against Evil Embedded in Human Life
• The Racial Dimension of War
• “In War, God and His Righteous Ones Are Victorious”
• The Consequences of War
• Russia’s Metaphysical Frontiers
• The Church and War
• The Religious Dimension of the Ukrainian Conflict
• Holy War

In 2024, a council chaired by Patr. Kirill took place at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. The council produced a document titled, "The Present and Future of the Russian World," which was approved by His Holiness. It should be noted that this does not constitute an official act of the Church's Synod, despite the attendance and participation of several hierarchs and priests of the Moscow Patriarchate.

In regard to the "special military operation" in Ukraine, the document states the following:

From a spiritual and moral perspective, the Special Military Operation is a Holy War, in which Russia and its people, while defending the unified spiritual space of Holy Rus’, are fulfilling the mission of the “Restrainer”—protecting the world from the advance of globalism and from the victory of the West, which has fallen into Satanism.

After the conclusion of the Special Military Operation, the entire territory of present-day Ukraine should fall within Russia’s exclusive sphere of influence. The possibility of a Russophobic political regime hostile to Russia and its people existing in this territory, as well as of a political regime controlled by an external center hostile to Russia, must be completely eliminated.

At the same council held a year later in 2025, His Holiness stated:

Attempts to erase the memory of the Great Victory of 1945 and to distort the role of our country as the victor over fascism and its liberator are nothing less than overt attempts at revanche. Of course, the pride of those who champion Nazi ideology has been wounded—their arrogance demands that memories of the events of that Great War be erased from human memory as quickly as possible, stripping the peoples of Russia of their aura as victors.

That is why we are compelled to view the events in Ukraine not only as an extremely grave tragedy of our people, divided by an evil external force, but also as a continuation of that unfinished war in which we achieved the Great Victory in the spring of 1945, but failed to eradicate the evil of Nazism completely.

The book can be purchased here.

Previously, the UOJ reported that the EU had dropped the possibility of sanctioning Patr. Kirill.