A statement by the clergy of the St. Nicholas parish of the Russian Orthodox Church (Diocese of The Hague) in Amsterdam was published on its website. The clergy stopped commemorating Patriarch Kirill in connection with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“We, the clergy of St. Nicholas parish, have already expressed our shock at the invasion of the armed forces of the Russian Federation into Ukraine. Seeing the brutal violence, destruction and suffering of the population of Ukraine, our community began a humanitarian campaign to help refugees.

We, as clergy, have signed an appeal to Patriarch Kirill with a call to break the silence on the conflict and intercede with the authorities for peace.

Patriarch Kirill broke the silence on the war. In a circular letter, he approved a prayer for peace, which places full responsibility for the war on foreign powers (“In a foreign tongue, scold those who want and take up arms against Holy Rus – forbid and overthrow their plans”). The prayer also contains a petition “instruct those in power for every good.”

We distance ourselves from the description of events expressed by Patriarch Kirill. In the light of the foregoing, we cease the commemoration of Patriarch Kirill at divine services. By doing this, we will follow the example of the Orthodox clergy of Ukraine, which in increasing numbers have ceased to commemorate Patriarch Kirill,” the message says.

The Russian Orthodox parish of St. Nicholas is a community located in one of the central districts of Amsterdam, Jordan, part of the Diocese of The Hague, which is part of the Moscow Patriarchate. Archimandrite Meletius (Webber) is the rector of the parish.

The parish was founded in 1974 by the efforts of a small group of Orthodox Christians – Russians, Serbs and Dutch. Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom) of Sourozh played an important role in the formation of the parish. The community was named after St. Nicholas of Myra, great saint of the Orthodox Church.