Tag: Patriarch Kirill

RUSSIALINK: “Opponents of building church in Yekaterinburg hurl smoke charges near Moscow patriarchal residence” – Interfax

Central Asia, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Regions, Cities, Municipalities, Religion
Patriarch Kirill file photo

MOSCOW. May 16 (Interfax) – Two masked individuals staged a protest against building a church in a square in Yekaterinburg near Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Kirill’s Moscow residence on Thursday. “Two masked individuals unrolled a poster saying ‘Apologize for Yekaterinburg’ and hurled smoke charges. Their accomplices have recorded this event on a video, all of them got in […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Russian Orthodox Church accuses Patriarch Bartholomew of fulfilling U.S. order in Ukraine” – Interfax

Religion, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
File Photo of Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, adapted from image at cia.gov by Steven C. Welsh :: www.stevencwelsh.com :: www.stevencwelsh.info

MOSCOW. Dec 27 (Interfax) – Patriarch Bartholomew by his actions is fulfilling a U.S. order in Ukraine, Metropolitan Hilarion, the head of the external church relations department of the Moscow Patriarchate, said. “Patriarch Bartholomew is part of a big geopolitical project, a project aimed at further weakening Russia, at driving a wedge between the peoples of Russia and Ukraine. And […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Patriarch Kirill speaks out against Western-style globalization” – Interfax

Religion, Russia & the West
Patriarch Kirill file photo

MOSCOW. Nov 1 (Interfax) – Following the Western model of globalization would be a mistake because it has no room for traditional values, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia said. “The narrow paradigm of the New Time speaks of globalization as an inevitable process. Hidden underneath the word ‘inevitability’ is the western principle of global development which features liberal […]

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Patriarch Kirill’s ‘Fatal Inability to Compromise’ Costing Russia Influence Abroad, ‘Nezavisimaya Gazeta’ Says

Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Religion, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Patriarch Kirill file photo

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, October 21, 2018) The Moscow Patriarchate’s “categorical” unwillingness to reach any compromise with its opponents may make some Russians happy, the editors of Nezavisimaya gazeta say; but its approach under Patriarch Kirill not only violates Christian principles but undermines the possibility of maintaining Russian influence in churches abroad. Kirill and his church […]

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RUSSIALINK TRANSCRIPT: “[Putin at] Opening of Wall of Sorrow memorial to victims of political repression” – KremlinRu

History, Soviet Union, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Russia Map

(Kremlin.ru – October 30, 2017) Following the meeting of the Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, Vladimir Putin and the Council members attended the opening of the Wall of Sorrow memorial to victims of political repression on Akademika Sakharova Prospekt. The opening was also attended by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. President […]

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Bridging the Red-White Divide Is a Home Run for Putin

History, Soviet Union, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Religion
File Photo of Revolutionaries Marching in Moscow in 1917, adapted from image at state.gov

(Kennan Institute – wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – Maxim Trudolyubov – May 30, 2017) Maxim Trudolyubov, Senior Fellow with the Kennan Institute and editor-at-large with Vedomosti, has been following Russian economy and politics since the late 1990s. He has served as an opinion page editor for Vedomosti and editor and correspondent for the newspaper Kapita In an event infused with historical and moral […]

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Patriarch Kirill blames 1917 revolution on intelligentsia

History, Soviet Union, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Religion
File Photo of Revolutionaries Marching in Moscow in 1917, adapted from image at state.gov

MOSCOW. March 29 (Interfax) – Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has put the main blame for the 1917 revolution on the intelligentsia. “What happened in the 20th century, that meat-grinder, which ground the entire intelligentsia, is it not an organic consequences of the horrible crimes that the intelligentsia committed against faith, against God, against their people, against their […]

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TRANSCRIPT: [Putin and Patriarch Kirill at] Monument to Vladimir the Great opened in Moscow on Unity Day

History, Soviet Union, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Religion
Patriarch Kirill file photo

(Kremlin.ru – November 4, 2016) Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia opened a monument to the Holy Great Prince Vladimir, Equal of the Apostles, and Christianiser of Russia, on Borovitskaya Square. The monument was erected at the initiative of the Russian Military-Historical Society and the Moscow City Government. It was sculpted by Salavat Shcherbakov, People’s Artist […]

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Russians consider meeting between Pope, Patriarch useful, support their further contacts – poll

Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Religion
Saint Peter's Basilica

MOSCOW. March 9 (Interfax) – Russians consider further meetings between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia to be necessary, and support the idea of closer relations between the two churches without their unification, sociologists said, citing the results of a poll conducted by the All-Russia Public Opinion Research center (VTsIOM). In accordance with the poll results, […]

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Putin Pulls Levers As Russian Patriarch, PM Head Abroad

Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Religion
Patriarch Kirill file photo

(RFE/RL News Analysis – rferl.org – Steve Gutterman – February 11, 2016) With the Russian patriarch and prime minister both holding big meetings abroad, this weekend presents a chance for President Vladimir Putin to soothe a world still stunned by Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine and dismayed by its bombing campaign in Syria. Russian Orthodox Church chief Kirill holds historic talks […]

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Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis agree upon joint declaration

Religion
Pope Francis file photo, adapted from image (c) VIS

(Interfax – February 11, 2016) Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and Pope Francis have agreed upon the text of their joint declaration, which they will sign at their historic meeting in Havana on Feb. 12. “The text of the declaration was negotiated by the sides until late last night. The final amendments were introduced. It is necessary to […]

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Russian bombing of Syria “defensive” and just, top cleric says

Middle East, North Africa, Military, Religion, Syria
Patriarch Kirill file photo

(Interfax – Moscow, January 7, 2016) Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill has expressed support for the Russian military operation in Syria. “What is happening today in Syria, which appears to be far away but is in actual fact literally our neighbour [as received], is what the defence of the Fatherland is about,” the patriarch said in the interview […]

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Patriarch Kirill sees no tragedy in current economic crisis

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Religion
Patriarch Kirill file photo

(Interfax – January 7, 2016) Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia has called on people not to despair over the economic problems in Russia. “Problems are now generally relative: people earn a little more or a little less (only God forbid that the economic situation should worsen), but generally there is currently no tragedy in the country,” the patriarch said […]

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Interfax : Russian patriarch appeals to Putin, Poroshenko over Ukraine conflict

Religion
Patriarch Kirill file photo

(Interfax – July 27, 2015) Patriarch of Moscow and All-Russia Kirill has written letters to the presidents of Russia and Ukraine expressing deep concern over events in eastern Ukraine, privately-owned Interfax news agency reported on 27 July. “Reaching the peace agreements in Minsk put the escalation of the conflict on hold and inspired hope for a full ceasefire between the […]

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Interfax: “Russian world” not political, wider than Russia, includes Ukraine – church head

Belarus, Religion, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Patriarch Kirill file photo

(Interfax – Moscow, July 20, 2015) Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has expressed concern over attempts to politicize the notion of the Russian world. “Unfortunately, our opponents use the words ‘Russian world’ as a kind of bogey, as a scarecrow, as they allege that it is a kind of doctrine which serves exclusively the interests of the Russian […]

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The Russian Orthodox Church under Patriarch Kirill

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Religion
Patriarch Kirill file photo

Under Patriarch Kirill, the Russian Orthodox Church has become an integral element of the hegemonic narrative that has been created in Putin’s Russia, to inoculate the country from pernicious outside influences. (opendemocracy.net – Victoria Hudson – March 31, 2015) Victoria Hudson obtained her PhD from University of Birmingham in 2013 for a thesis on contemporary Russian soft power in Ukraine. […]

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Russian Patriarch Says Halving Abortions Will Help Solve Population Crisis

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Patriarch Kirill file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber – January 23, 2015) Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, crossed Russia’s shifting line between Church and politics in his first-ever address to the State Duma on Thursday, calling on lawmakers to ensure that traditional moral values are safeguarded in the country’s legislation. The Russian Orthodox Church is known to entertain close […]

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Putin, Patriarch Kirill Kick Off Orthodox Christmas Celebrations

Religion
Patriarch Kirill file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – January 7, 2015) The Russian Orthodox Church’s Patriarch Kirill prayed for peace in Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin attended mass at a village church in southern Russia, as Russia’s Orthodox believers celebrated Christmas on Wednesday. Russian Orthodox Church holidays are marked according to the old Julian calendar, with Christmas falling on Jan. 7, when it […]

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Interfax: Russian church leader calls on people to join forces amid sanctions

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Religion, Sanctions
Patriarch Kirill file photo

(Interfax – November 4, 2014) Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has criticized the West over attempts to play havoc with the minds of the Russian people through the sanctions it had imposed against Russia, Gazprom-owned Russian TV channel NTV reported on 4 November. “One should make the economic situation worse to play havoc with minds. We are now […]

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Interfax: Patriarch Kirill finds commercialization of Christmas in West dangerous

Religion, Russia & the West
Patriarch Kirill file photo

Moscow, January 7, Interfax – Ousting the true sense of Christmas from public space, including its substitution with other names, can have dangerous consequences, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has said. “This is a political action, a purposeful act to oust Christian values, including Christian holidays from the lives of people. This is spiritual disarmament of the masses. […]

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Interfax: Medvedev greets Patriarch Kirill on Christmas, thanks for spiritual patronage

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Religion
Patriarch Kirill file photo

Moscow, January 7, Interfax – Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has greeted Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia on Christmas, the government website reported on Tuesday. “This holiday presents the light of faith, the warmth of love and the happiness of hope. It consolidates the moral foundations of our society helping people to learn Christian values of kindness, mercy and […]

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Orthodox countries joining EU should not change values – Russian church

Europe, EU, Religion
Patriarch Kirill file photo

(Interfax – Moscow, November 28, 2013) The Moscow Patriarchate has called on Orthodox countries, including Russia, not to allow EU influence to change them as they conduct dialogue, but to suggest the EU itself change. “Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria, as members of a strong and self-sufficient civilization, have a right, when they gain accession to the […]

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Interfax: Too early to discuss time, place of meeting of Patriarch Kirill, Pope Francis – Russian Orthodox Church

Religion, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Saint Peter's Basilica

MOSCOW. Nov 27 (Interfax) – Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis could meet but only after issues in the relations between the two churches are resolved, the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations said on Wednesday. The unresolved conflict between the Orthodox and Greek Catholics in Ukraine remains the main obstacle – almost all churches were taken from the Moscow […]

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Interfax: Patriarch Kirill opposed to any forms of convergence of church and state

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Religion
Patriarch Kirill file photo

SMOLENSK. Nov 25 (Interfax) – The Russian Orthodox Church will advocate its independence, its head Patriarch Kirill has said. “The church is defending its freedom because it is sure that only its independence gives it the possibility of being a full-scale spiritual authority. Any form of convergence of the church and state is dangerous for the cause of God. Only […]

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RIA Novosti: Russian Orthodox Church, Vatican Ready for Collaboration

Religion
Pope Francis Portraits on Four Vatican Stamps

MOSCOW, November 13 (RIA Novosti) ­ The head of the Russian Orthodox Church and a powerful Roman Catholic Church cardinal on Tuesday voiced readiness for collaboration ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to the Vatican for a meeting with Pope Francis on November 25. “We live at an epoch when many of our historic differences should stop playing the […]

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RIA Novosti: Putin Gets Orthodox Award for Boosting Russia’s Global Role

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Religion
Patriarch Kirill file photo

MOSCOW, November 4 (RIA Novosti) ­ The head of the Russian Orthodox Church on Monday awarded Vladimir Putin with a prize in recognition of the president’s policies intended to make Russia a leading world power. The award was established this year by the World Russian People’s Council, a public organization under the aegis of the Russian Orthodox Church. Patriarch of […]

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Interfax: Patriarch Kirill: Biryulyovo events demonstrate government unwillingness to solve excessive migration problem

Migrants, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Race, Ethnic, Extremism, Xenophobia, Religion
Patriarch Kirill file photo

MOSCOW. Oct 31 (Interfax) – The latest events in Moscow’s Biryulyovo district show that only the forces seeking to destroy Russia will gain from further disregard of the opinion of the Russian majority, said Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia. “The latest clashes in the Moscow Biryulyovo district demonstrated that a deaf ear turned by the authorities to the […]

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Patriarch Kirill thanks Putin for constructive dialogue with Orthodox Church

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Religion
Patriarch Kirill file photo

(Interfax – Moscow, July 26, 2013) Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has thanked Russian leaders represented by President Vladimir Putin for their respectful attitude towards the Russian Orthodox Church. “We have been developing church-state relations since 2000. This model was not handed down from the above and its outlines – mutual respect, non-interference in each other’s affairs and, […]

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Interfax: Recognition of same-sex marriages leads humanity to end of world – Patriarch Kirill

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Religion
Patriarch Kirill file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW. July 22, 2013) Head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill regards the recognition of same-sex marriages in Western countries an omen of the end of the world. “Lately we have been facing enormous temptations when in a number of countries the choice of sin is approved and justified by law, and those who do as their […]

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Patriarch Kirill conducts Romanov Dynasty 400th anniversary service in St. Petersburg

History, Soviet Union, Religion
Romanov Family Photo

(Interfax – St. Petersburg, July 12, 2013) Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia presided over a religious service marking the 400th anniversary of the House of Romanov at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg on Friday. Hundreds of worshippers gathered at the cathedral and in the square in front of it for the service, an Interfax correspondent […]

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Orthodox Patriarch Says Russians Having Too Much Fun

Religion
Valaam file photo showing Monastery church on wooded island

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – July 11, 2013) Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill has urged Russians to have less fun and spend more of their free time in seclusion. On July 11, Kirill said there was “more fun than needed” in the life of Russians. He said people spent a lot of their energy working and should occupy their time in isolated, […]

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Russian Church Will Never Accept Gay Marriages, Patriarch Says

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Religion
Patriarch Kirill file photo

(RIA Novosti – Moscow, May 21, 2013) The Russian Orthodox Church will never recognize same-sex marriages, even though it respects people’s free choice even if it is sinful, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia said on Tuesday (21 May) at a meeting with the secretary-general of the Council of Europe, Thorbjoern Jagland. “If people choose such a way of […]

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Church-state partnership level is lower in Russia than in U.S., Europe – Patriarch

Religion
Patriarch Kirill file photo

(Interfax – Moscow, April 26, 2013) Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia thinks that the level of relations between the church and the state does not match its potential. “The level of church-state partnership in Russia is much lower than in Germany where the state collect taxes for the Church, France where the president appoints bishops in the Alsace-Lorraine […]

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Patriarch Kirill on four years as patriarch: a lot has been done, a lot remains to do

Religion
Patriarch Kirill file photo

(Interfax – February 1, 2013) Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill served a liturgy in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on the fourth anniversary of his enthronement as patriarch. “These four years were full of so many events that would be enough for forty years and even more,” the patriarch said after the liturgy. A lot was done […]

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Kirill Moving Russian Church from Feudalism to ‘Enlightened Absolutism,’ Mitrokhin Says

Religion
Patriarch Kirill file photo

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, January 24 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/01/window-on-eurasia-kirill-moving-russian.html) Patriarch Kirill over the last two years has been working to transform the administration of the Russian Orthodox Church from that of “the late Middle Ages” into another one resembling “enlightened absolutism,” according to a leading specialist on the Russian church. In an article in “Vedomosti” yesterday, Nikolay […]

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NEWSLINK: Russian patriarch says religion law must not go too far

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Religion
Patriarch Kirill file photo

(Russian patriarch says religion law must not go too far – Reuters – Alexei Anishchuk – January 6 – click here for full article) In the aftermath of the Pussy Riot prosecution, Reuters covers the Russian Orthodox reaction to Russia’s law on anti-religious offenses: Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and a long-standing ally of President Vladimir […]

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