Patriarch Kirill, leader of the Russian Orthodox Church
has said that there is no question of the church and state uniting in
Russia.
"The Church is defending its freedom because
it is sure that only its independence gives it the possibility of being a
full-scale spiritual authority.
Any form of convergence of the Church
and state is dangerous for the cause of God. Only the word of a free
Church sounds loud and convincingly," he said in an interview with newspaper.
He
has repeatedly denied that church and state are becoming too closely
aligned, saying that clergymen are strictly forbidden from assuming any
government functions while, at the same time, the state does not have
direct influence over the Church.
"We don't want the
repetition of history because we are convinced that the bloody
developments of the beginning of the 20th century and the persecution of
the Church that followed them largely resulted from its enslavement by
the state" Kirill said.
He stressed that the Church
is not trying to influence politics, although judging by recent events
this is arguable. He said it only addressed the political issues while
"trying to bring it home to every person that life without God is
senseless and useless."
The patriarch also recognised
that Russia is still experiencing the effects of the period of atheism
during the Soviet era. "In order to cure the spiritual wound inflicted
by atheism we should all help people take the path of new church-going.
And I believe that God will be with us on this road," he said, adding
that the current church reforms are being conducted with this purpose.
Earlier
this year President Vladimir Putin said that Russia was a secular state
and that church and state were distinct entities. At the same time he
said that the nation would be based on Christian values. He then said
that he wanted to ban hijabs in schools and ban discussion of
homosexuality (at the behest of the Orthodox Church) "People in many
European countries are ashamed, and are afraid of talking about their
religious convictions. [Religious] holidays are being taken away or
called something else, shamefully hiding the essence of the holiday",
the "secularist" Russian president added.
No comments:
Post a Comment