Gender transitions ‘smell of apocalypse’ – Russian Church leader

Russia poses a civilizational challenge to the West, which has abandoned faith and moral principles, according to Patriarch Kirill

The acceptance of gender reassignment surgeries in the West “smells of apocalypse,” the head of the Russian Orthodox Church said in a televised interview on Tuesday. 

Patriarch Kirill criticized these trends as signs of moral decay and reaffirmed Russia’s commitment to preserving its spiritual traditions.

In the interview, aired on January 7, when Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas, he contrasted what he called the moral decline of the West with the strength of Russia’s spiritual traditions.

“What is happening there smells of apocalypse,” he said, referring to the normalization of gender transitions in Western nations. He emphasized that such practices were “against God’s law” and would never be accepted in Russia as long as its people remain faithful to their millennia-old cultural and spiritual heritage.

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Kirill highlighted Russia’s growing prominence as a spiritual counterweight to the West. “They are astonished that we are building churches – 400 in Moscow alone,” he stated. He contrasted this with the situation in the West, where churches are being repurposed, “in the best case into mosques, and in the worst case into entertainment venues.”

In November, Russia banned the adoption of children to countries that permit gender-reassignment procedures. A decree signed by President Vladimir Putin prohibits individuals from these countries – whether they allow gender changes through medical interventions such as surgery and puberty blockers or through simple changes to identity documents without medical involvement – from adopting Russian children.

Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the lower chamber of Russia’s parliament, defended the move, calling it a necessary step to shield children from “destructive” Western influences. He specifically criticized policies in some Western nations that allow minors to undergo gender reassignment, describing these practices as harmful to children’s well-being.

This decision came after Russia introduced harsh restrictions on gender reassignment procedures in 2023. The legislation, aimed at curbing what lawmakers branded the “transgender industry,” banned legal and medical gender transitions except in serious medical cases, such as those involving birth abnormalities.