Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of committing “heresy” after the Russian leader suggested that his country’s military actions were being carried out at divine direction.
Williams, who led the Church of England from 2002 to 2012, made the remarks in a recent interview with The Independent while responding to a speech Putin delivered earlier this month to Russian troops during celebrations marking Orthodox Christmas.
According to reports, Putin told soldiers that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a “holy mission” and said their actions in the neighboring country were taking place “as if at the Lord’s behest.”
“I’d certainly say we’re talking about heresy,” Williams told The Independent in comments published Sunday.
“We’re talking about something which undermines a really fundamental aspect of religious belief, of Christian belief, which assumes that we have to defend God by violence.”
Williams pointed to John 18:36, where Jesus is recorded as saying, “my kingdom is not of this world,” adding that “if it were of this world, my servants would fight.”
“The idea that death in battle for your country equates to Christian martyrdom seems to be the most bizarre and unjustifiable interpretation you could take,” Williams said.
“There is something really, really disturbing about the systematic, comprehensive rebranding of Christianity as Russian national ideology.”
Williams’ remarks come at a time when diplomatic efforts toward a possible peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia continue, even as fighting between the two nations persists.
Earlier this month, Putin released a statement in honor of Orthodox Christmas in which he drew parallels between the salvation offered by Jesus Christ and service in the Russian military.
“Today we are celebrating a wonderful and bright holiday of the birth of Christ. We often refer to Christ as the Savior because He came into the world to save all people,” Putin said, according to an official transcript.
“And the warriors, Russian warriors, always carry out this very mission as if by the command of the Lord, a mission of defending the Fatherland, defending our country and its people. People in Russia have always treated their warriors as those who, acting at God’s command, carry out this holy mission.”
Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church has also drawn criticism for portraying the invasion as a “holy” struggle against what he has described as Western “satanism.”
