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Elias of Finland: The Church does not bless weapons of mass destructiontranslated

August 5, 2026 · 1 min read

"Shocking" the Archbishop of Helsingborg and all Finland Mr. Ilias characterizes the fact that the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Mr. Cyril associates the blessing of a weapon of mass destruction with the name of Saint Seraphim of Sarov.

The occasion for His Eminence's comment was the recent sermon of the Patriarch Mr. Kirillou, who, among other things, connected the development of Soviet nuclear weapons in Sarov with the ascetic life and prayers of Saint Seraphim of Sarov.

In his statement, Archbishop Elias emphasizes that holiness cannot be used to morally legitimize military power, underlining that "this is not a matter of theology, but of a political agenda".

The Archbishop points out that Saint Seraphim was a symbol of peace, humility and forgiveness and recalls his well-known teaching: "Obtain peace of soul and then thousands around you will be saved." Contrasting this message with nuclear weapons, he characteristically notes: "One nuclear warhead and thousands around you are destroyed. There is no interpretative distance between the two."

Referring to the history of Sharov, he recalls that the…

Source: Orthodoxia News Agency · Read the full story →

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💬 Comments (10) 🌐 Show original

Elena Florea

It is not the Church's job to bless bombs. Saint Seraphim spoke of peace in the soul that saves, not of missiles that destroy thousands. Archbishop Ilia said clearly and rightly, it's politics, not theology.

Katarina Simić

Saint Seraphim was a monk who lived in silence and prayer, not in some laboratories. When he says "find peace in your soul and thousands around you will be saved", it has nothing to do with rockets turning everything to ashes. Archbishop Ilija is right, this is not theology but politics.

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დავით ბერიძე

We all remember Seraphim's words "acquire peace of mind and thousands around you will be saved", but when combined with a bomb that destroys those same thousands, there really is nothing left to share. Chief priest Ilya correctly said that this is politics, not theology. The church does not bless weapons, especially such.

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ალექსანდრე დოლიძე

Katarina Jovanović

I completely agree, Katarina. St. Seraphim was hiding in the forest near Sarov, not building bombs. That quote about peace of mind has always been the strongest for me, and here they literally turn it upside down. Why do you think some people so easily confuse the saint with everyday politics?

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ლელა ჯავახიშვილი

Seraphim's word is indeed remembered by all of us, Alexander, and you rightly pointed out that it is incompatible with the bomb. But you still wonder, for some reason they say that the factory was built in the very place where the saint prayed - was it a coincidence or something else?

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ნანა ბერიძე

Lela, that's a really interesting question. Building a factory in the place of St. Seraphim also always seemed strange to me - probably it was Soviet "practicality", because there was already a monastery there and the place was "ready". But as it is written in this article, we cannot combine Seraphim's word with bomb, I agree with you unequivocally.

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სალომე ნოზაძე

Lela, that's a really good question. I think the Soviet authorities simply did not care about the memory of the saint, that's why they chose the buildings and land there. But how to combine Seraphim's words "acquire peace" with a bomb is another matter. What do you think, was it a coincidence or intentional?

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მარიამ მამულაშვილი

Indeed, Salome, the Soviet authorities did not care at all about the name of the saint, it was just that the place was convenient. But tying Seraphim's speech directly to the bomb on Cyril's Sunday is intentional, not accidental. What do you think, why do they need to justify the story in the name of a saint?

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თორნიკე კვარაცხელია

Salome, the pairing of Seraphim's word with a bomb is definitely intentional, because the saint was talking about peace, not the orthodoxy of force. I think using it politically is more damaging to your own church. What would you say, how should we ordinary believers deal with this?