Patriarch Kirill Meets with Sister Orthodox Primates
Patriarch Kirill meets with Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem
July 23, 2013 – His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia met with His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem, who has brought a delegation of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem to the celebrations marking the 10th anniversary of the Baptism of Russia. They met at the patriarchal and synodal residence in the St. Daniel Monastery in Moscow.
Patriarch Kirill welcomed Patriarch Theophilos at the entrance to the Chapel of All Saints Who Shone Forth in the Russian Land. Addressing Patriarch Theophilos in the chapel, Patriarch Kirill said in particular, ‘Contacts between heads of Local Churches and fraternal relations between them are of great importance for preservation of the unity of Orthodoxy and our cooperation. Your recent peace visit has left a deep mark in the life of the Russian Church and our people. It was excellently covered by the mass media including central TV channels. There were many positive responses but, along with the response of the press and society, what is important is the response of our pious people who feel special love for the Church of the Holy City of Jerusalem’.
Speaking about the 1025th anniversary of the Baptism of Russia, His Holiness Kirill underlined, ‘It is a very important date in our history. Twenty five years ago, your late predecessor took part in the celebrations devoted to the Millennium of the Baptism of Russia. At that time, all the participants in the celebrations could feel that something new was happening in the life of the Soviet Union. Nobody knew where the country was going to and what would happen to the Church, but people had great hopes. And in spite of the fact that the Church was under control and was not free at that time, the celebrations resulted in a tremendous manifestation of the faith that lived in secret in the depths of our people.
‘Twenty five years have elapsed. These have been very difficult but at the same time beneficial years in the life of our Church. And we thank God for all that has happened in this time. Our episcopate and our people fervently wished that we lift up this gratitude to God together with primates of Local Churches, because we are one Church and our division is theoretical’.
Speaking about the future, Patriarch Kirill said, ‘We still have to do much in the vast lands of Holy Russia. There are tremendous tasks before us, perhaps more complicated than those we have managed to fulfil for the last 25 years. I mean the real inchurching of people so that the faith may become an important part of the life of each who was baptized in Orthodoxy. This presupposes an enormous program not easy to carry out. Therefore, we all need devoted directions. That is why it is important that we as heads and representatives of Local Orthodox Churches should come together today so that we may receive support of Orthodox Churches and their prayers’.
Patriarch Theophilos, on his part, thanked Patriarch Kirill for the warm welcome accorded him in ‘the land of martyrs’. ‘We are feeling special joy and trepidation because our recent peace visit is still fresh in our memory, because we witnessed the high spirituality of the Russian Orthodox Church; we saw her in her development and were introduced to her social work’, he said.
His Holiness Theophilos also said he was greatly impressed by the constructive church-state relations and cooperation for the benefit of the society he witnessed during his visit to the Moscow Patriarchate.
He also mentioned the difficult situation in which the Church found herself in various parts of the world including the Middle East and stressed the great responsibility that lies on the Orthodox Church not only in pastoral but also social and other spheres.
‘Our message of hope is that we are not alone. Just as we share others’ joys and pains so other Orthodox Churches share our joy and pain’, he said, pointing out that people in the Middle East pin great hopes on Russia.
The two patriarchs also discussed bilateral relations between the Churches of Jerusalem and Russia, the development of pilgrimage and the state of inter-Christian relations.
They considered the situation in Syria and the Middle East as a whole, focusing on the problem of preservation of Christian presence in the Holy Land and the importance of Russia’s support in protecting Christians in the Middle East.
In conclusion of the meeting, Patriarch Kirill presented Patriarch Theophilos and members of his delegation with high awards of the Russian Orthodox Church ‘in acknowledgement of their work for the benefit of the holy Church and in connection with the 1025th anniversary of the Baptism of Russia’. His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem and All Palestine was awarded the Order of Glory and Honour, 1st degree.
Patriarch Kirill’s meeting with Archbishop Chrisostomos of Cyprus
July 23, 2013 – His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russian met with the delegation of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus who came for the celebrations devoted to the 1025th anniversary of the Baptism of Russia. The delegation is led by His Beatitude Archbishop Chrisostomos of Cyprus.
Welcoming Archbishop Chrisostomos, Patriarch Kirill said, ‘We cordially thank you for having responded to our invitation to share the joy of the celebrations held on the occasion of the 1025th anniversary of the Baptism of Russia in Moscow, Kiev and Minsk. Your predecessor took part in the celebrations marking the Millennium of the Baptism of Russia. We all remember that event very well as it opened a new page in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church and our Motherland. At that time, we could feel imminent changes but nobody was given to know what would happen as a result of those changes. Now, a quarter of a century later, we can see that the changes have happened in the first place in the spiritual life of our people. A great mercy has been given to our people through the intercession of the host of new martyrs and confessors, and people’s spiritual life, which was banned over 70 years ago, has now transformed both our Church and our country.
‘In these anniversary days, we would like to thank the Lord for these changes together with Primates of Local Orthodox Church and to ask His blessing upon our Church’s further historical journey for the good of the spiritual prosperity of our people. The Orthodox Church is one Church. The boundaries between us are theoretical. So, the 1025th anniversary of the Baptism of Russia is a feast for the entire Orthodox world’. Patriarch Kirill pointed to close relations existing between the Churches of Russia and Cyprus and recalled his visit to Cyprus in 2012.
Archbishop Chrisostomos, on his part, thanked Patriarch Kirill for the invitation to take part in the festivities and shared his memories of his visit on the occasion of the Millennium of the Baptism of Russia in 1988 as member of the Church of Cyprus delegation. ‘Today we have an opportunity to see that for the years which have passed since that time, serious changes have taken place in the life of the Russian Orthodox Church. We wholeheartedly wish that the Russian Church may grow from strength to strength for the good of her flock. We have come to bear witness to the unity inherent in the One Holy Apostolic Church’, he said.
‘I cannot avoid mentioning the support the Russian state has rendered to our island for many years’, he continued, ‘We thank you for the contribution you have made to the settlement of our Cyprus problem and express our confidence that you will always support us in our search for a just solution of this problem. We wish abundant blessings from the Lord to you personally as Primate of the Russian Church and to all the Russian people’.
The two primates discussed the Russia-Cyprus relations, the actions to be taken by the Churches in the difficult time of economic crisis, the aid to the needy, and the situation of Orthodoxy in such regions as the Balkans and the Middle East. They expressed deep concern for the suffering and threats to the life of Orthodox Christians in Kosovo and Syria. Archbishop Chrisostomos noted the especially important role Russia plays in the process of the Middle East settlement, underlining that Christians in the region pinned great hopes on Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church.
In a spirit of fraternal understanding, they also discussed issues of general Orthodox significance related to the preparations for the Pan-Orthodox Council and to the consolidation of unity of holy Orthodoxy, as well as methods of inter-confessional dialogue, re-affirming their unanimous approach to this matter.
After the talks, Patriarch Kirill presented Archbishop Chrisostomos and members of his delegation with awards of the Russian Orthodox Church in acknowledgment of their work for the good of the holy Church and on the occasion of the 1025th anniversary of the Baptism of Russia. Archbishop Chrisostomos was awarded the Order of Glory and Honour, 1st degree, Metropolitan George of Pathos with the Order of St. Alexis of Moscow, 2d degree, Bishop Christopher of Karpatia with the Order of St. Vladimir Equal-to-the-Apostles, 2nd degree, and Deacons Cyprian Kindourisou and Christos Koukliotis with the same order, 3d degree.
Meeting between Primates of Russian and Georgian Orthodox Churches
July 23, 2013 – His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia met with His Holiness and Beatitude Iliya II, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, who leads a delegation of the Georgian Orthodox Church to the celebrations marking the 1025th anniversary of the Baptism of Russia.
In welcoming the guests, Patriarch Kirill shared his memories about the celebrations held 25 years ago to mark the Millennium of the Baptism of Russia, saying,
‘The Millennium celebrations made a beginning of the decline of atheistic rule not only in Russia but also in the countries historically bound up with her as part of the one state. That was followed by the revival of Orthodoxy in the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Byelorussia, Georgia and other countries in the post-Soviet space. So in some sense today’s anniversary is our common event as it marks 25 years since our Churches began to revive. This gives us an opportunity to thank the Lord for his mercy for us and to ask his forgiveness for what we have failed to achieve in these 25 years and to pray together that the further development of church life both in historical Russia and Georgia may be successful and conducive to the further initiation of the people to the Church as they need to find a spiritual support in Orthodoxy as strongly as never before.
‘We live at a difficult time of confrontations, temptations, absolutely anti-Christian ideologies which have found their way into the political life of both individuals and society. We are witnesses to the situation where borderlines between truth and falsehood, sin and holiness, are obliterated, where attempts are made to use laws to justify sin and lawlessness. We are faced with great tasks. When I say ‘we’, I mean the One Catholic and Apostolic Orthodox Church, united and indivisible. The boundaries between us are historical, not ecclesiological and for this reason we see in each other members of one Church, brothers in the service of the one episcopate of the Orthodox Church, which is called today to make special efforts for the consolidation of Orthodoxy’.
Patriarch-Catholicos Iliya, on his part, thanked for the invitation to come for the celebrations and said, ‘We have covered a difficult path, the part of the formation of our Church, the path of severe trials. We live in an era of globalization when many spiritual and cultural values seem to lose their power, but actually they save us and our peoples. Faith, hope and charity, our culture and literature – all this should be preserved so that our Churches and peoples could develop in the future’.
In a spirit of fraternal understanding, the sides discussed a wide range of issues including bilateral relations and common Orthodox cooperation.
After the talks, Patriarch Kirill presented the Primate of the Georgian Orthodox Church and members of his delegation with awards of the Russian Orthodox Church. His Holiness and Beatitude Iliya was awarded the Order of Glory and Honour, 1st degree, and Metropolitans Theodore, Gerasim and Dimitry and Archimandrite David and Vakhtang as well as Sister Alexander with the Order of St. Vladimir Equal-to-the-Apostles, 3d degree.
Patriarch Iliya thanked the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church for the high awards and invited him to visit Georgia.
