Kirill I of Moscow
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| “ | We do not want to fight with anyone. Russia has never attacked anyone. It is surprising that a large and powerful country has never attacked anyone, it has only defended its borders. | „ |
| ~ Patriach Kirill |
Kirill (Russian: Кирилл, secular name Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyayev, Russian: Владимир Михайлович Гундяев; born 1946) is a Russian Orthodox bishop. He became Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' and Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church on 1 February 2009.
Prior to becoming Patriarch, Kirill was Archbishop (later Metropolitan) of Smolensk and Kaliningrad beginning on 26 December 1984; and also Chairman of the Russian Orthodox Church's Department for External Church Relations and a permanent member of the Holy Synod beginning in November 1989.
He was born in Leningrad on 20 November 1946.[citation needed] His father, Rev. Mikhail Gundyaev, died in 1974. His mother, Raisa Gundyaeva, a teacher of German, died in 1984. His elder brother, Archpriest Nikolay Gundyaev, is a professor at Leningrad Theological Academy and rector of the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral in St. Petersburg. His grandfather, Rev. Vasily Gundyaev, a Solovki prisoner, was imprisoned and exiled in the 20s, 30s and 40s for his church activity and struggle against Renovationism.
On 8 February 2012 at a meeting of religious leaders in Moscow, Kirill described the Vladimir Putin era as "a miracle of God" and criticised his opponents. He said that those who were demonstrating for democratic reform and the rule of law were emitting "ear piercing shrieks"
According to the conclusion of the Commission of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of Russia to investigate the causes and circumstances of the State Emergency Committee (published in March 1992), headed by Gleb Yakunin and Lev Ponomarev, there was “unconstitutional use by the Central Committee of the PCUS and the KGB of the URSS from a series of ecclesiastical bodies for their own purposes by recruiting and sending KGB agents”. A private definition of the commission, speaking of the activities of KGB agents “through the Department of External Church Relations” indicates that “the nature of the tasks they carry out attests to the inseparability of the specified Department from the state, to its transformation into a hidden center of KGB agents among the believers”.
Kirill has referred to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine as "current events" and has avoided using terms like war or invasion, thereby complying with Russian censorship law. Kirill approves of the invasion, and has blessed the Russian soldiers fighting there. As a consequence, several priests of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine have stopped mentioning Kirill's name during the divine service. The Moscow patriarchate views Ukraine as a part of their "canonic territory". Kirill has said that the Russian army has chosen a very correct way. The clergy of the Sumy diocese of the UOC-MP accused Patriarch Kirill of “not condemning the aggressive actions of the Russian authorities” and decided to stop the liturgical commemoration of his name.
Kirill sees Gay pride parades as a part of the reason behind Russian warfare against Ukraine. He has said that the war is not physically, but rather metaphysically, important.
Representatives of the Vatican have criticized Kirill for his lack of willingness to seek peace in Ukraine. In March 2022 the former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams urged senior Orthodox leaders outside Russia to call for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and the re-opening of diplomatic engagement.
The Russian-Orthodox St Nicholas church in Amsterdam, Netherlands has declared that it is no longer possible to function within the Moscow patriarchate because of the attitude that Kirill has to the Russian invasion, and instead requested to join the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The Russian-Orthodox Church in Lithuania has declared that they don't share the political views and perception of Kirill and therefore are seeking independence from Moscow.
On April 10, 93 priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate decided to appeal to the primates of the Orthodox Churches with a lawsuit against Patriarch Kirill. The clergy claim that Patriarch Kirill preaches the "Russian world" doctrine, which does not correspond to Orthodox teaching and should be condemned as heresy.
his counterpart the Ukrainian Patriarch Epiphanius I of Ukraine accused him of being a state authority and that if he was not going to help the people of Ukraine he would at least repatriate the Russian corpses of Ukraine.
In May this year, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church split from the Russian Orthodox Church.The patriarch seemed to understand the decision of the Church.The european union sanctions on the patriarch were blocked by Viktor Orbán, a close ally of putin. Although the UK imposed its sanctions package on him anyway. Patriarch Kirill, head of the church of the Moscow Patriarchate, fell during the worship. He slipped on the holy water the June,25.[1]