Prayerful and Liturgical Aspects to be Central for Patriarch Kirill’s Visit to Ukraine – Moscow Patriarchy
According to INTERFAX, it was once again stated by the Russian Church that there was no political underpinning of the pastoral visit of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia to Ukraine.
“His Holiness Patriarch Kirill doesn’t go to Ukraine to resolve any political questions”, stated the head of the Synodal Informational Department of the Moscow Patriarchate Vladimir Legoyda on air of the radio “Moscow’s speaking”.
He emphasized that in the Russian Church no one doubted the independence of the Ukrainian state and the ability of the people of Ukraine to resolve their urgent political problems on their own.
V.Legoyda said that the program of the Patriarch’s visit consists mainly of the divine services, communication with the faithful and the trips to the monasteries. In particular, the Patriarch is to visit Pochayiv, which is especially important because of the 450th anniversary of bringing of the Pochayiv Icon of the Mother of God to Russia, celebrated this year.
“Therefore it is not only the First Hierarch’s pastoral visit, but also a pilgrimage”, he said.
Vladimir Legoyda also underscores that the Patriarch’s visit to Ukraine is not a working visit presupposing consultations, negotiations, interconfessional or interreligious discussions. “The prayerful and liturgical aspect is not just highly important, but is the most essential one”, said the head of Informational Department. According to him, it is especially important because the prayerful communication is to proceed in the places which are the cradle of the Russian civilization.
“This is the historical territory of the Kyivan Rus to which we all belong. And the patriarch has more than once emphasized that Kyiv is a southern capital of the Russian Orthodoxy. We refer to the unified spiritual space, which is much deeper and more long lasting than the political ones. The state borders may change, but there is a certain spiritual and intellectual space which cannot be destroyed, which transcends political reality”, V. Legoyda noted.
