In his introductory remarks, His Holiness presented the agenda of the meeting.

The Council, which is meeting at the Supreme Church Council Hall at the cathedral Church of Christ the Saviour, will consider the progress made in implementation of the Council’s earlier decisions. The leaders of the synodal departments will report on the work plans of their structures for 2012. As Patriarch Kirill has reported, the plans and reports of synodal departments, which used to be considered by the Holy Synod, will now be put on the agenda of the Supreme Church Council.

Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, head of the Synodal Department for Church-State Relations, will make a report on ‘Celebrations to mark historical dates in 2012’. Mr. Demidov, head of the office for Basic Orthodox Culture of the department for religious education and catechism, will report on the results of the 20^th International Christmas Readings.

The meeting is attended by the following members of the Council:

Metropolitan Varsonofy of Saransk and Mordovia, chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate

Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the department for external church relations

Metropolitan Clement of Kaluga and Borovsk, chairman of the ROC Publishing Board

Archbishop Ioann of Belgorod and Stary Oskol, head of the synodal mission department

Archbishop Yevgeny of Vereya, head of the Holy Synod’s education committee

Archbishop Feognost of Sergiev Posad, head of the synodal commission for monasteries

Bishop Irinarch of Krasnogorsk, head of the synodal department for prison service

Bishop Sergiy of Solnechnogorsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s administrative secretariat

Bishop Tikhon of Podolsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s financial and economic administration

Bishop Kirill of Stavropol and Nevinnomysk, head of the synodal committee for cooperation with the Cossacks

Bishop Panteleimon of Smolensk and Vyazma, head of the synodal department for charity and social service

Archimandrite Tikhon Shevkunov, executive secretary of the Patriarchal Council for Culture

Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, head of the synodal department for church-society relations

Mr. V. Legoida, head of the synodal information department

Patriarchal Press Service/DECR Communication Service

Photos by Patriarchal Press Service

Concelebrating were archpriest Kirill Kopeikin, secretary of the Academic Board of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy; archpriest Vladimir Shmaliy, vice-rector of the Ss Cyril and Methodius Postgraduate School; hegumen Silvestr (Stoychev), professor of the Kiev Theological Academy; and clergymen – participants in the professional development course on modern natural science for the faculty of the theological schools.

During the Liturgy a DECR staff member Feodor Shulga was ordained deacon.

After the service Metropolitan Hilarion delivered a sermon, in which he reminded the worshippers about the Parable of the Tax Collector and the Pharisee: “This Parable tells us what we should feel when we come before God and start praying. Very often we think that we have some merits, at least in comparison with other people, whom we criticize for not living a life in the way our Lord has commanded. And if they are not Christians, we condemn them for not having faith in Christ. Even unwillingly, but we consider ourselves better than our neighbours.

At the same time we are very tolerant to our own ill deeds and are willing to justify ourselves. For example, if we miss the Sunday service or forget to say our morning and evening prayers, we will certainly find an explanation and an excuse: either we were tired or short of time.

The Tax Collector, who came to the church, didn’t try to justify himself, he didn’t compare himself with other people. He was just aware of being unworthy before God. And the only words he could utter were the words we often say: God, have mercy on me, a sinner. And God justified him, not for his deeds, but for his humility. If we treat our neighbours with humility, do not judge them, do not condemn them, we might be able to see them as they are – created in the image of God”.

Metropolitan Hilarion also noted that this day the Church “celebrates the commemoration day of the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia – these are tens and hundreds of thousands of people, who showed their courage, strong faith and great humility during the years of persecution against the Church.

One of the clerics of our Church, priest-martyr Konstantin Liubomudrov, suffered for his faith like many other Moscow priests: he was shot. Today we venerate him as a saint, we have his holy icon in our Church.

New martyrs and confessors, who showed the greatest feat of loyalty to God, shine forth in the Church and today we glorify them and pray to them as we believe in their constant intercession”.

His Holiness and Ambassador Barrow exchanged greetings.

During the talk, His Holiness mentioned that the first person from abroad who paid an official visit to the Moscow Patriarchate after the Revolution was Archbishop Cyril Forster Garbett of York. It happened in 1943, during the Great Patriotic War. “Ambassadors accredited in Moscow did not visit the leaders of our Church, and that was the first contact with the Embassy of Great Britain. We remember it and appreciate good relations between the Moscow Patriarchate represented by the Department for External Church Relations and the Embassy of Great Britain,” the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church said and continued by expressing his hope for the development of these relations with direct participation of Ambassador Barrow. He wished the diplomatic representative of the United Kingdom success in his mission “for the benefit of relations between our nations.”

The book in Russian written by the Patriarch, at that time Metropolitan, was first published in 2004. Translation into Estonian was timed to the celebration of the 3^rd anniversary of the enthronement of the Primate of the Russian Church. In his address to the readers His Holiness wrote: ‘Our Church performs her ministry not only in Russia and not only for Russian people. The Moscow Patriarchate undertakes canonical responsibility for many independent states with language, national culture and customs of their own. Estonia, certainly, is among them. It is a country with long European traditions, in which people belonging to different Christian confessions have lived as neighbours for centuries.’

The new edition was prepared by the St. George the Victorious Charity Foundation, Estonia, in cooperation with the St. Gregory the Theologian Charity Foundation, Russia. The Society of St. Isidore translated the book.

Speaking at the presentation were Yuri Polyakov, director of the Centre of Russian Culture; Tomas Vitsut, chairperson of the Tallinn City Assembly; and archpriest Iuvenaliy Kaarma, member of the Synod of the Estonian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate.

Concluding the presentation, Metropolitan Korniliy of Tallinn and All Estonia told the participants about publication plans of the Estonian Orthodox Church.

Thanksgiving with Many Years to the Patriarch was celebrated after the Divine Liturgy at the Church of St. Ignatius the God-Bearer – Metochion of the Russian Orthodox Church in Damascus. Archimandrite Alexander (Yelisov), representative of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia to the Patriarch of Antioch, sent a congratulatory address to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill on behalf of the Russian Orthodox faithful living in the canonical territory of the Patriarchate of Antioch. Reception on the occasion was given after the divine service.

Thanksgiving was celebrated at the Church of St. Alexandra of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem. Hegumen Feofan (Lukianov), deputy head of the mission, officiated. The worshippers sang Many Years to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill.

Hegumen Filipp (Vasiltsev), rector of the Metochion of the Russian Orthodox Church in Sofia and archpriest Nikolai Neshkov celebrated the Divine Liturgy and moleben with Many Years to His Holiness.

Clergymen and laymen offered up prayers at the St. Nicholas Patriarchal Cathedral in New York, thanking God for the election and enthronement of Patriarch Kirill. Many Years was sung to His Holiness and his flock saved-by-God children of the Russian Orthodox Church living in the Fatherland and beyond its borders.

Thanksgiving and Akathistos “Glory be to God for all things” in Church Slavonic and Icelandic were sung at Church of St. Nicholas stavropegic parish in Reykjavik.

On February 1, the 3rd anniversary of the enthronement of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill was celebrated in many parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate in different countries.

Accompanied by His Holiness, the high guest made a tour of the recently-restored building of the Synodal Residence.

After the tour, the Primate of the Russian Church and the Chairman of the Government had a talk. Mr. Putin extended congratulation to His Holiness on the 3d anniversary of his enthronement and presented him with an icon of the Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow.

Mr. Putin thanked Patriarch Kirill for the enormous contribution he made to the reinforcement of the spiritual foundations of society and development of relation with the far abroad. According to Mr. Putin, for those who live there it is important to feel inseparable ties with the Russian Orthodox Church.

Patriarch Kirill expressed cordial gratitude to the guest for his warm words and pointed to the considerable contribution Mr. Putin made to the development of church-state relations.

The prime minister accepted Patriarch Kirill’s invitation to take part in the meeting of representatives and leaders of traditional religions in Russia to take place in the Church of Christ the Savior, the Patriarchal Press Service has reported.

DECR Communication Service

On February 1, 2012, after the Divine Liturgy at the Church of Christ the Savior, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia met with the acting president of Moldova, Mr. Marian Lupu, and his wife. They were joined in their talk by Metropolitan Vladimir of Kishinev and All Moldova, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s department for external church relations, and Mr. A. Negutsa, Moldovan ambassador to Moscow.

Mr. Lupu extended congratulations to the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church on the 3d anniversary of his enthronement as patriarch, saying, ‘Your Holiness, for us it is a great pleasure and honor to be with you on this day joyful for all the Orthodox community. I would like to congratulate you, on behalf of our family, leaders of the Republic of Moldova and all the Moldovan people, on the 3d anniversary of your patriarchal enthronement’. He wished His Holiness sound health and strength for many years to continue the mission entrusted him by God.

This mission is important not only in Russia but also in other countries and in the entire Orthodox world, he said and stressed that he remembered the words of Patriarch Kirill that the Church is separated from the state but cannot be separated from society.

‘I hope that your visit to our country has left you with very good memories. I would like to inform you that, according to sociological polls, your visit rates as one of the most important events in the last year in the Republic of Moldova. It is the opinion of not only experts but the whole society, the opinion of our fellow citizens. With great love and honor we are looking forward to your visits to our country in the future’, he said.

Patriarch Kirill thanked Mr. and Ms Lupu for their participation in the celebrations. He said he remembered his visit to Moldova with warmth. Such visits involve various activities including festive services, meetings with the country’s leaders, talks with clergy and the people. If there are very many events in one’s life, their details may leave one’s memory after some time, he said, ‘but I will always remember the warmth of human hearts and sincerity’.

‘I experienced a surge of grace when I was in Moldova, and this grace is certainly a result of the life of the devoted and faithful people of Moldova. Through this inner existential experience of mine I would like to say that the difficulties encountered by a country on the political and economic levels cannot be permanent or eternal in the context of such people. The Lord leads us through hardships in order to make us stronger.

‘But the most important thing is that, while going through hardships, one should not destroy oneself by betraying one’s values, ideas and principles. The Moldavian people have really preserved their Orthodox faith as the highest value, and it is my profound conviction that, having gone through the difficulties of today, they will come out on a straight and bright path. I am convinced that the Church of Moldova and the whole Russian Orthodox Church will pray for it’.

Addressing his high guest, Patriarch Kirill said, ‘I would like you to convey to all the people of Moldova that I love them, that they are my people in the spirit, though not in the blood. These are the people with whom I speak in the same language of prayer and the same language of religious sentiments. This is the most important thing that I have brought from my visit to Moldova’.

Mr. Lupu on his part testified that ‘your visit has left a deep impression on the consciousness of the Moldavian people, our society and our country’.

Speaking about the crisis that has hit the Moldavian society, he expressed the opinion that ‘all these crises, both political and economic, cannot be compared with a crisis of morality, a crisis of common human values, because if a society is strong in its spirit, faith, culture, education, then it is strong enough to overcome all other crises. Your visit to our country has been a great contribution of the consolidation of the faith, as it gave a very important strategic message to our society, which makes ever more successful our common efforts to strengthen common human values in Moldova and to enhance their role in the development of our society’.

DECR Communication Service

On February 1, 2012, the 3d anniversary of the enthronement of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the Divine Liturgy was celebrated at the Church of Christ the Saviour.

The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church was assisted by Metropolitans Vladimir of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, Juvenaly of Krutitsy and Kolomna, Vladimir of Kishinev and All Moldavia, Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, Hilarion of the Volokolamsk, head of the department for external church relations; Hilarion of Eastern America and New York, the First Hierarch of the Russian Church Outside Russia; Agafangel of Odessa and Izmail, Gerasim of Zugdidi and Taishi (Georgian Orthodox Church); Bishop Nektarios of Karpasia (Orthodox Church of Cyprus), representatives of Local Orthodox Church to the Moscow Patriarchate including Metropolitan Athanasios of Kyrenia (Orthodox Church of Alexandria), Archbishop Niphon of Philippopolis (Orthodox Church of Antioch), Archimandrite Stephan (Dispirakis) (Orthodox Church of Jerusalem), Archimandrite Feoktist (Dimitrov) (Bulgarian Orthodox Church), Archpriest Alexy Yuschenko, rector of the Moscow Representation of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, as well as high-ranking church officials, abbots of patriarchal monasteries and Moscow clergy.

Among worshippers were Protopresbytor Matfey Stadnyuk, rector of the Cathedral of the Epiphany in Moscow, abbesses of convents, clergy and members of parish councils in Moscow.

Present at the service were Mr. Lupu, acting president of Moldova, Mr. A. Beglov, deputy head of the Presidential Administration, Mr. L. Slutsky, vice-chairman of the State Duma committee for international affairs, and Mr. A. Negutsa, Moldovan ambassador to Russia.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin extended congratulations to His Holiness in the sanctuary.

After the liturgy, Metropolitan Juvenaly led a thanksgiving.

Then Metropolitan Vladimir of St. Petersburg read out a congratulatory address from the Holy Synod and presented Patriarch Kirill with an icon of Our Lady of Kazan, the Patriarchal Press Service has reported.

The Primate of the Russian Church delivered a primatial homily.

DECR Communication Service

It is the second attack committed against Christians in Syria comitted in the recent days. Fr. Basil Nassar of the Antiochean Orthodox diocese of Epiphany was shot down by bandits on January 26 at the town of Ham while giving aid to the wounded.

Archimandrite Alexander Yelisov, Moscow Patriarchate’s representative to the Patriarch of Antioch, called to the head of the Orthodox Church of Antioch, who is on a visit to Lebanon at present. Fr. Alexander shared with His Beatitude Ignatios IV, Patriarch of Great Antioch and All the East, his concern and assured him of the prayerful support of the Russian Orthodox Church in the hardships experienced by the church people in Syria today.

DECR Communication Service

Discussed were questions pertaining to the difficult socio-political and economic situation in Greece. Ambassador Spinellis expressed gratitude to the Russian Orthodox Church for its decision to participate, together with the Archbishopric of Athens, in arranging soup-kitchens for the disadvantaged sections of the population.

His Majesty ABDULLAH II

King of Jordan

Your Majesty:

Please accept my heartfelt greetings with Your jubilee 50th birthday.

During the years You have been leading Jordan, You have won sincere love of Your people and have deserved deep respect and recognition in the entire Arab world and beyond it. It is gratifying to know that You are exerting many efforts aimed at the early diplomatic settlement of conflict situations in the Middle East countries.

There are many sites in Jordan which Christians hold sacred, and many pilgrims from all over the world come to them. The number of believers from the Russian Orthodox Church coming to venerate these holy sites has increased recently. It is a great pleasure to know that warm hospitality is always accorded to pilgrims coming to Your country. I hope that this good tradition will be kept up.

I would like to express to Your Majesty a particular gratitude for the handing over of a plot of land by the River Jordan to Russia. The Russian Orthodox Church highly appreciates the efforts of the Royal family to arrange a historical-religious reserve on the site. I am confident that this will bring a substantial contribution to the strengthening of friendly relations between our states.

On this festive solemn day I wish You, Your Majesty, spiritual and physical health, success in Your work and help from the Almighty, and to all people of Jordan – peace and prosperity.

With deep respect,

/+KIRILL/

Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia

On 30 January 2012, Hegumen Philaret, vice-chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations (DECR), met with Howard Solomon, deputy minister counsellor for political affairs of the US Embassy in Russia.
Attending the meeting were archpriest Sergiy Zvonarev, DECR secretary for far abroad countries, and Vakhtang Kipshidze and Yegor Murog, DECR. Accompanying Mr. Solomon were Kevin Covert and Jeremy Richart, political officers of the Embassy.
Discussed were problems of the freedom of conscience regularly presented in the annual reports of the US State Department on religious freedom in the world.
Hegumen Philaret gave particular attention to the cases of discrimination and persecution against Christians in the world which have provoked concern of the authorities of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Among the worshippers was Bishop Kliment of Krasnoslobodsk and Temnikov.

After the service, His Eminence Hilarion delivered an archpastoral homily, saying:

‘Today, dear brothers and sisters, we heard the Gospel’s story about the Lord Jesus Christ who passing by a fig tree noticed the tax collector Zacchaeus who climbed up the tree in order to see the Saviour (see, Lk. 19:1-10). The Lord said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today’. And Zacchaeus, full of joy because the Lord himself would come to his house, answered, ‘I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.’ Then the Lord uttered these words, ‘Today salvation has come to this house’.

This story can serve as a lesson in many matters but it reminds us in particular of our house and that the Lord should be present in our house. Indeed, we do not doubt that the Lord is present in church. We come to church; our hearts seeks Him because we feel the presence of God here especially strongly. Here the Lord Jesus Christ offers us His Own Self in the sacrament of the Eucharist, and we take in His Body and Blood.

The church is a special place of God’s presence, and it should not be forgotten that our house should be a continuation of the church and that God’s presence we feel here should remain in our life also at the time when we are at home or in another place where the Lord ordains us to be. Be it in a house or in a flat, an office or other place where we live, work, rest and where there are other people with us, the Lord will be present if we ourselves, like Zacchaeus, accept Him with open hearts. The Lord wants to be present in our life and He does not shun any human dwelling, be it a mansion of a rich man or a modest communal flat shared by several families, be it an office of a large company president or a modest office of, by a human measure, a third-rate, civil servant.

The tax collector Zacchaeus was not a great man. He was short and his profession was disdained. However, when the Lord saw his faith and that he was not shy to climb a tree, though those around him laughed at him because they were taller and could see the passing-by prophet, the Lord did not shun him and addressed to him His saving word and came to his house. This is how the Lord visits people who, with pure and open heart, come to meet Him. For the Lord, there are no rich or poor, short or tall, well-off or unsuccessful people. For Him all are equal. And even when in our country there were estates, nobility and base estate, both worshipped together in church because for the Church and God all are equal.

God sometimes opens His grace in a special way to those who, by earthly measures, are so despicable that people do not even notice them and pass them by. But the Lord never passes by a person. He always looks at his heart because for the Savior each human being is precious.

Let us think today about bringing God’s presence we feel in church to our home, to our working place, to our family and our colleagues. Let us think of making our life a continuation of the Liturgy and our home a continuation of church. And then the Lord will always and everywhere be with us and will help us in our family and professional life, in our relations with our superiors and subordinates and with our relatives with whom it is so difficult to find a common language.

The Lord will come Himself and put everything in its place if only our heart is open to Him. Let us ask the Lord to give us the open heart, to be always with us and help us wherever we are, in our homeland or in a journey, in church or at home, in office or at rest. Amen’.

Metropolitan Hilarion told the parishioners that the icon of Sts Peter and Febronia with part of their relics would henceforth be kept in their church. In summer 2011, the relics of the saints were handed over to Metropolitan Hilarion by Mother Superior Tavifa of the Convent of the Holy Trinity in Murom. Their icon as patrons of family life was executed at the initiative of the church’s youth club. The shrine will be kept at the side-chapel of St. Varlaam of the church of Our Lady the Joy to All the Afflicted.

DECR Communication Service

Q. Your Holiness, as you know, Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija have recently appealed to President Medvedev to grant them Russian citizenship, and his answer is already known. The Serbs appealed to you as well, and their desire was dictated by despair and helplessness in the situation in which they have been caught. The recent initiatives of Serbs in Kosovo for Russian citizenship have given a powerful signal that should be heard not only in Russia but throughout Europe.

Your words have always been a great moral support for our people and country. What message could you convey to all the Serbian citizens, especially Orthodox faithful, and encourage them in this grave period of history?

A. The Serbs who live in Kosovo and Metohija have become hostages in a major political game. Given the indifferent attitude of many states, they are forced to stay in closed enclaves, experiencing everyday anxiety because of the hostile people around who are aware of their impunity. Our brothers in faith have a great courage not to abandon their much-suffering land and holy places and have to live like concentration camp inmates who are denied even the basic right to life. Here we see a glaring injustice, double standards and lies of the policy declaring commitment to the ideal of humanism and human rights protection while shutting its eye to the hell created by extremists with support from their foreign sponsors.

The Lord says to St. Paul, ‘My power is made perfect in weakness’ (2 Cor. 12:9). When all the human resources are exhausted, when there seem to be no hope, then we see the help of God about which the Lord told to his apostle. In Russian history we see many examples when the country was on the verge of enslavement and destruction – in the Time of Trouble in 1612, and during the Polish intervention, in 1812 when Napoleon’s army invaded the country, and in 1941 when the Hitler’s armadas advanced with lightning speed in the territory of the Soviet Union. Not once the enemy was close to his aim but contrary to the logical development, Russia hurled back those invasions and rose from ruins and ashes. In this the believer sees God’s providence and His help.

I have no right to give any political advice to the Kosovo Serbs but will offer a counsel relevant in all times: turn to the Lord God with sincere prayer for help. And your brothers and sisters in faith in Russia will lift up their prayers together with you, and I believe the whole Universal Church will do the same. In the Gospel, our Lord Jesus Christ repeats these words: ‘Do not be afraid!’ The fear of dangers and threats is a natural human feeling. But the Lord is always with us and He says to the Serbs in Kosovo today: ‘Do not be afraid!’

I am deeply thankful to the Kosovo Serbs for their letter to me and to the Russian state leaders, to ‘the Russian people and brothers’. Scores of thousands of people put their signatures under this letter. It has left no one of those who read it indifferent. Our hearts are deeply moved by the trust and love for Russia manifested in this letter. In response I would like to say: the Russian Church, the Orthodox Russian people will never turn away from you. No earthly gains, no changes in the current political situation will make us forget about our ages-old spiritual kinship.

Q. Russia, within her diplomatic and political resources, has given support to the Kosovo Serbs who have been caught in a difficult situation in all respects, socio-economic, legal, psychological. What support can the Serbs from Kosovo expect from the Russian Orthodox Church?

A. The Russian Federation has really given a considerable support to the Kosovo Serbs. For instance, by the decision of the Russian authorities, funds have been allocated through UNESCO for the restoration of ruined churches in Kosovo. This initiative deserves every encouragement. Other actions are taken as well to relieve the situation of our Serbian brothers who live in Kosovo, including the supply of humanitarian aid.

The Moscow Patriarchate has invariably supported the position taken by the Serbian Church with regard of the status of Kosovo. On the international arena, much was done for the protection of the Serbian population of the region by my predecessor, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II. In particular, he devoted to this problem a considerable part of his address to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly in 2007. I, too, will never stop making efforts for defending the Serbian brothers in their struggle to live in the land of their fathers.

It is very important that the holy places in Kosovo should not be abandoned. It would be a real spiritual catastrophe and would do a serious damage to Europe’s Orthodox heritage. Priceless are the monuments created by the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija, and they are alive as long as prayers are lifted up in churches and the feat of monasticism is performed in monastery cells. I have approved the action program which will be implemented in 2012.

I have been to Kosovo several times and talked with local people and could see their difficult situation with my own eyes. What I saw made a strong impression on me. The Russian Orthodox Church was and will be in solidarity with the Kosovo Serbs. Our compatriots empathize with them and lift up ardent prayers for a speedy regulation of life in the Kosovo region. There is my voice too among these numerous voices of prayer.

Q. How do you assess the new calls of some Montenegro politicians to divide the Serbian Orthodox Church? The former prime minister of Montenegro, Milo Jukanovic, has recently stated the history will show the validity of his call to divide the Serbian Church.

A. History shows that attempts of particular political forces to put pressure on the Church in order to change her canonical order lead to nothing good.

Fortunately, in Montenegro there are many reasonable political leaders who share this point of view. In February 2009, I met with Montenegrin President Philip Vujanovic. I remember that during that meeting Mr. Vujanovic said that for him the Metropolia of Montenegro and Primorje was the only Orthodox canonical institution in Montenegro and pointed to the importance of the Metropolia’s taking pastoral care of the Serbs and Montenegrins.

All the Local Orthodox Churches consider Montenegro to be part of the canonical territory of the Serbian Patriarchate and this generally-shared Orthodox conviction should be respected.

Q. We know that representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church in their talks with representatives of the Vatican paid attention to the fact that it would be good for the Pope to voice and openly demand the protection of monuments and Christians themselves in Kosovo. The then Pope did not listen to the wise advice from Moscow. Is the situation changing in this respect with the coming of a new Pope?

A. When the discussion on the Kosovo problem began, the Pope Benedict XVI of Rome, as is known, took a well-considered stand on this problem. The Holy See still refrains from an official recognition of this part of Serbia as an independent state. Moreover, on the eve of the declaration of the independence of Kosovo, the Pope called the international community not to hurry to make the final decision on the status of that territory, emphasizing that the Orthodox monasteries there have a special historical and spiritual significance for the Serbs.

Exactly four days after the declaration of Kosovo’s independence in February 2008, Benedict XVI received in audience the Serbian ambassador to the Holy See. In the course of the meeting, the Pope underscored that the Serbs suffered much in the conflicts of the last decades and expressed concern for their situation in Kosovo. Since then he has repeatedly spoken for the protection of the rights of the Serbian minority.

Q. How will you explain the fact that Western Christians, that is, Catholics, did not show desire to defend old Orthodox, that is Christian, churches in Kosovo? These churches were burnt down and destroyed exactly at the time when Western peace-makers came in Kosovo?

A. Regrettably, the Western world, during the intervention of the NATO troops in the territory of former Yugoslavia, was subjected to a massive information attack and, to a considerable extent, was mislead. For long months, the Western mass media played up deliberately distorted information about ‘the atrocity of Milosevic’s regime’ committed against Kosovo Serbs, grossly exaggerating the number of victims of ‘ethnic cleansings’ carried out by the Serbian police in the region.

However, the hostilities themselves in Kosovo provoked in the Western Christian world a reaction far from unequivocal. Many Christians in the West were outraged by the inscription ‘Happy Easter!’ on bombs made by the American military.

Nevertheless, a number of Catholic bishops did come out in support of Kosovo’s automony, motivated by hopes for an improvement in the life of the Catholic community in the region, which were not to become true.

Other representatives of Western Christian churches and communities have repeatedly expressed concern for the vandalism of NATO’s military and for Albanian militants with their extremist attitude to the old shrines in Kosovo. Therefore, I believe, the Western Christians as a whole should not be blamed for the actions of the military. These actions were not dictated by religious beliefs.

Q. Many newspapers have recently reported on your possible meeting with Pope Benedict XVI. Do you still insist that all the disputed questions should be resolved first, because otherwise this meeting is meaningless?

A. Yes, I still believe that for this meeting to be a success it is necessary, if not settle the conflict problems in full, but at least to try to settle them more energetically.

The mass media have stressed only the sensational aspect of a possible meeting, but I do not like it at all to be reduced to sensational. To make it really beneficial for the further development of relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church it is necessary to radically improve the atmosphere of these relations through joint efforts for settling the problems existing in our relations.

Q. Under the former Pope, representatives of the Vatican often said they could not influence the Greek Catholics in Ukraine who captured Orthodox churches. Has the situation changed now or things have remained the same?

A. While stressing their loyalty to the see of Rome, the Ukrainian Greek Catholics have insisted on their own autonomy. When in 1990 a quadruple commission was set up including the Vatican, Moscow Patriarchate, Ukrainian Orthodox Church and Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, in order to settle the situation in western Ukraine, the Greek Catholics actually wrecked its work. We have recently suggested that this commission be resumed but the Catholic side has been perfectly indifferent to our proposal.

In the course of regular contacts with leaders of the Roman Catholic Church, we have continually raised the question concerning the need to resolve the situation with regard to Orthodox churches in western Ukraine. Both the Pope of Rome and heads of respective Vatican congregations have expressed appreciation of our concern but the problem remains unresolved.

Q. The Russian Patriarch and the Pope were supposed to meet in 1997 in Graz, Austria. Ten days before the meeting, they in the Vatican deleted the part of the document to be signed concerning the harm of proselytism and conflict between the Orthodox and the Uniates in Ukraine. Since the 90s, Catholic churches have been opened in more than 200 Russian cities. Have the positions of Moscow and the Vatican become closer when proselytism is discussed now, or everything has remained the same?

A. It should be noted that the situation in the Orthodox-Catholic relations in Russia have noticeably improved in the last 10 years. The problem of proselytism is not as acute now as it was in the 90s when Catholic missionaries came to Russia to carry out their active work here. A positive role has been played by the Joint Group for Considering Problems in Relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church in Russia, which was set up in 2004. It has become a good platform for an open and honest discussion between representatives of the two Churches on concrete complicated problems and for a joint work to make recommendations for their solution.

It is necessary to develop cooperation between the Orthodox and the Catholics who have been guardians of the Christian tradition and who have similar views of personal and social ethics, scientific and technological progress, bioethics and other issues of today. Among the problems which have become increasingly relevant is Christianophobia, the persecution of Christians for their faith. In the area of the protection of the rights of Christians, I believe close Orthodox-Catholic cooperation to be promising, important and timely.

The Primate of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia departed from Moscow for Prague on January 28, 2012. At Sheremetyevo airport His Beatitude was seen off by Bishop Savva of Voskresensk, Archpriest Sergiy Nikitin, dean of the Deanery of All Saints in Moscow, Archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, Department for External Church Relations secretary for inter-Orthodox relations, and A. Khoshev and S. Selivanov, DECR. There was also Archpriest Alexy Yuschenko, rector of the Moscow representation of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia.

Metropolitan Christopher was on a visit to Russia from January 20 to 28 at the invitation of His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.

On January 21, Metropolitan Christopher visited St. Sergius’ Laura of the Trinity to venerate the monastery’s shrines.

On January 22, the commemoration day of St. Philip of Moscow, Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria and All Africa and Metropolitan Christopher celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Church of Christ the Savior.

On the following day Metropolitan Christopher attended the opening of the 20th International Christmas Readings and presented a paper on ‘The present state of religious education and Czechia and Slovakia’.

After that he had a brotherly talk with Patriarch Kirill in the patriarchal residence in Chisty Pereulok. They discussed various aspects of bilateral relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia.

In the evening of that day Metropolitan Christopher was present at the closing concert of the 2nd Christmas Festival as an honorary guest.

From January 25 to 27, the delegation of the Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia visited the diocese of Khanty Mansiysk. Assisted by Bishop Pavel of Khanty Mansiysk and Surgut, Metropolitan Christopher celebrated the liturgy at the church of the Holy Transfiguration. After that he had a meeting with the city mayor and visited the Orthodox school.

On January 26, Metropolitan Christopher had a talk with Mr. D. Mizgulin, honorary consul of the Czech Republic in the Khanty Mansy autonomous region. They discussed cooperation in the sphere of religion, culture and education.

On January 27, the Czech church delegation met with Ms. Komarova, governor of the Khanty Mansy Autonomous Region. They discussed the religious education of young people.

Metropolitan Christopher also visited the University of Yugra and the Yugra TV Company.

On January 28, the delegation led by Metropolitan Christopher visited the Novospassky Monastery in Moscow.

DECR Communication Service