Franklin Graham under fire for 'facilitating' Putin's vision to create a new Russian empire

In a column for the Religious News Service, a professor of religion took evangelical leader Franklin Graham to task for what he described as his years of boosting the presidency of Vladimir Putin, which has culminated in an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and countless civilian deaths.

According to Mark Silk of Trinity College, Graham not only needs to be held to account over his friendship with Putin, but needs to come out and strongly condemn his actions.

As Silk notes, he's not holding his breath.

"Four days before Russia invaded Ukraine, Franklin Graham tweeted, “Pray for President (Vladimir) Putin today. This may sound like a strange request, but we need to pray that God would work in his heart so that war could be avoided at all cost," he wrote before snarkily adding, "I think we can mark that prayer down as unanswered."

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"I’ll go out on a limb and say that to invade a country without provocation and promiscuously kill its civilians is to stand against Graham’s God and Scriptures," he wrote before going on to make the case that Graham has allied himself for years with Putin because they share some of the same goals.

Noting Putin's alliance with Kirill, the current patriarch of Moscow, and his crusade against the LGBTQ community, Silk pointed out, "Putin’s goal of reestablishing the Russian empire dovetailed perfectly with Kirill’s messianic ambition for his church."

"Along the way, Graham has been there to facilitate the cause, meeting with Putin in 2015 and with Kirill in 2019," he noted before quoting Graham tweeting, "I’ve been in Moscow this week & had the privilege of meeting w/Patriarch Kirill of Moscow & All Russia. It was also a blessing to meet w/evangelical leaders & other officials while there. Pray for them & for more opportunities to share the truth, hope, & life found only in Jesus.”

"It seems obvious that, however the war in Ukraine turns out, Putin will have turned himself into an international pariah. The same is likely true for Kirill, who has thus far served as the war’s foremost religious apologist," Silk wrote before questioning when Graham will stand up to Putin.

You can read his whole piece here.