“We are meeting here during a time when Russian-American relations are enduring quite a difficult period. The lexicon and phraseology of the ‘Cold War’ time have entered our life. The Church does not conduct political activities, but it has always been called to perform peacekeeping activities,” the Patriarch stated during his meeting with Metropolitan Tikhon, Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, in Moscow today.
Interfax, the Russian news agency, has reported that His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, stated that he had recently met with the new U.S. Ambassador in Moscow and noted during that meeting that not merely Orthodox Christians, but other Christians of both countries “have had the courage and capacity to do something in order to change the situation for the better” even in the difficult period of the “Cold War.” The Patriarch pointed out that during that time, Christians of the USA and the Soviet Union were united in understanding that they shared the same values, “but today many things have changed for the worst.”
“Today we cannot state that we share the same values that numerous Christians in the United States do. We feel how this spiritual and moral affinity that united us in the difficult time of the ‘Cold War’ is being destroyed today,” His Holiness Patriarch Kirill noted.
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and Metropolitan Tikhon will concelebrate the Divine Liturgy at the Dormition Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin tomorrow.
