The Russian Orthodox Church does not share the opinion of the head of the Anglican Church, Archbishop Justin Welby, who, in the midst of protests against the murder of African American George Floyd, said that Christ was also black.
“If this kind of rhetoric is now used to reconcile people of different races, then maybe there are some good intentions behind it, but we can hardly use this kind of rhetoric seriously,” said Metropolitan Hilarion, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, in the program “Church and the World”.
In his opinion, it would be more correct to speak about Christian teaching in those countries where racial unrest occurs: about forgiveness, about not avenging an evil act, about the fact, that any indignation can be expressed as constructive criticism, which will lead to positive results, and about the fact that all Christians are called to pray: both for those who live on earth and for those who have moved to another world.
Returning to the theme of Christ’s skin color, the metropolitan stated that there are many theories about who the Savior was and where He came from, but, according to all four Gospels, He came from the Jewish people.
“We don’t know what His skin color was, but it is completely impossible to assume that He was black, because He was not African, and those people who live in the region, where He lived, have either white skin or dark skin, but not black skin,” said Metropolitan Hilarion.
At the same time, he noted that it does not matter what the color of Christ’s skin was for Christians, because He is revered as God incarnate.
