(LifeSiteNews) — Joining me on this special two-part episode of The John-Henry Westen Show from Russia is Father Fyodor Lukyanov, a Russian Orthodox priest who serves as chairman of the church’s Patriarchal Commission for the Protection of the Family, Motherhood, and Childhood. We discussed how Russia has become more pro-life since the fall of the Soviet Union, the influence of the Orthodox Church, the need for Western Christians to unite with their Russian brethren, and more.
After briefly discussing his background, I opened Part 1 by asking Lukyanov about how abortion has changed in Russia since the Communist government legalized the murder of the unborn in 1920. The priest first emphasized that during the height of the Soviet era, a whopping 5 million abortions were committed in Russia each year.
Then he noted that those numbers have rapidly decreased since the fall of the Soviet Union to half a million abortions committed annually, and some regions of the country have banned abortion almost completely, thanks in large part to the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church.
“Since 1992, certain measures were taken by our patriarch, by our bishops, and by our commission,” the priest said.
“Millions of special … papers calling (on) women to stop abortions were disseminated among all the medical departments of our ministry of health,” he added. “In some regions now, due to the agreement of our church and the governance of these regions … (they) have almost fully banned almost all abortions, like Vologda and Crimea, especially in the private industry, which is the most problematic.”
READ: Russia’s ‘Lila Rose’: Christ must be at the center of the pro-life movement
Lukyanov noted that even chemical abortions have been banned in these regions, underscoring that all of these efforts have led to an increased birth rate in these regions.
“In these regions, we now see (a growing) birth rate…. Speaking about the total numbers … 700 private clinics in Russia refuse to make abortions due to our work with the local administrations.”
I opened Part 2 of our conversation by noting that in the United States, Canada, and most Western countries, the pro-life movement tends not to be religious so as not to “exclude” atheists or LGBT activists, whereas in Russia, Christ is at the center of the pro-life movement. Lukyanov underscored that Christ must be at the heart of the pro-life movement for it to have a real impact.
“Small children come to a priest and ask him, ‘Why should I be good? My father says I should be moral, (and) my mother says I should be a moral person. What for? … This small child (must understand) that his Father, his Heavenly Father, is good and he is the son or she’s a daughter of Heavenly Father. That’s why … we should be good,” the priest said.
“So our moral constitution is based on our relations with God…. Religion is the heart of pro-life movement,” he added. “If you take out the religion, the heart will stop and the pro-life will stop (across) the whole world.”
READ: ‘They treat children like gold’: Catholic father explains why his family moved to Russia
Lukyanov further stressed how seriously Russian Christians work to promote not only the sanctity of life but also to combat same-sex “marriage.” He urged Christians from Western countries to work together with their Russian brethren on these critical moral issues.
“We are ready to work together because we know that we will (have to) give our testimony to our Father, how we used this weapon we have … the ability to change the world which we Christians have,” he said. “So that’s the alliance we should have together because a lot of our foreign friends from America, from Britain, from other countries, we are all children of our Lord.”
The priest added that it’s critical for Western Christians to put aside their differences with Russia so that we can unite against our common enemy, the globalist elites, who don’t share our Christian or national values.
“So we should locate this enemy to make our nations bigger, stronger, and … religiously more conscious to protect the innocent,” he said. “Because God, our Father, gives His blessing to those nations who care about the unborn lives, who (care) about (multi-child) families. This is the blessing for every nation…. So we should unite for (the) protection of our natural family values.”
To hear more from Father Fyodor Lukyanov, tune in to this two-part episode of The John-Henry Westen Show.
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