Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, said in a sermon this month that Russia has a right to "eradicate" Ukraine.

"If we see [Ukraine] as a threat, we have the right to use force to ensure the threat is eradicated," the holy man said.

"We have entered into a conflict which has not only physical but also metaphysical significance. We are talking about human salvation, something much more important than politics."

The "metaphysical" aspect of the war lies in Kirill's rejection of so-called "Western values" – namely tolerance for LGBTQ people, sex outside of marriage, and reproductive choice.

In a March 6 sermon, ironically on a day called "Forgiveness Sunday" in the Russian Church, Kirill said the war is about "which side of God humanity will be on." He specifically cited Gay Pride events – noting that Western governments not only allow but participate in them – and their opponents in Russian-backed eastern Ukraine.

"Pride parades are designed to demonstrate that sin is one variation of human behavior. That's why in order to join the club of those countries, you have to have a gay Pride parade," he said.

Kirill characterized Gay Pride parades as a "loyalty test" to Western governments, which Ukraine's breakaway Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics have "fundamentally rejected."

Unlike the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Churches are decentralized. Kirill, with the title Patriarch of Moscow, is head of one of many autonomous national churches. He is considered to be close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and even closer to traditionalist thinkers in Putin's entourage.

Kirill's Russian nationalism has provoked a sort of civil war within the Orthodox churches. Early on in the war, other Orthodox churches condemned Kirill's warmongering as heresy, and some Russian churches outside Russia – notably the multinational St. Nicholas parish in Amsterdam – left Kirill's jurisdiction and affiliated with the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople (based in Istanbul, Turkey).

Benjamin, the current patriarch of Constantinople, infuriated Kirill with his 2019 decision to recognize the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as independent of Moscow. Kirill retaliated by striking Benjamin's name from the list of Orthodox bishops he mentions in his prayers.

Kirill has been noteworthy for his antics as head of the Russian church. In 2017, for example, he sprinkled holy water on all the computers in the Kremlin – the seat of the Russian government – to ward off ransomware attacks.

He is also a long-time enemy of Russia's embattled LGBTQ community. He was one of the first public figures in Russia to call for criminalization of same-sex relations.