The chief ecumenical-affairs officer of the Moscow Patriarchate has assured European Catholic leaders that the Russian Orthodox Church is offering a “special prayer for the earliest restoration of peace” in Ukraine.

Metropolitan Hilarion conveyed that assurance in a message to Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, the president of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE). COMECE had asked Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill for a statement of opposition to the war. The Russian prelate has been careful not to criticize the Russian invasion.

The response from Metropolitan Hilarion also avoided any direct criticism of his country’s leadership. He observed that Orthodox priests have been “offering prayers for the cessation of the conflict in the Ukrainian land” for several years— thus affirming Moscow’s claim that Russia was intervening to stop an ongoing military conflict. His reference to “the Ukrainian land” might also be seen as a refusal to recognize that country’s independence.

Metropolitan Hilarion did acknowledge the “crucial importance to render aid to refugees and all those affected by the hostilities.”