Church is not fused with the state, but it won't be driven into ghetto

     

Moscow, February 2,  - Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia is pleased with the development of the dialogue between the Church and the state.

"Today, the dialogue among the Church, the state and the society is truly developing. Perhaps, this development toughen hearts of those people who believe that the Church should live in its own ghetto," the patriarch said after the liturgy celebrated at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on Sunday, the sixth anniversary of his enthronement.

He stressed that the Church cannot be driven into a ghetto as the Savior said: "Go and make disciples of all nations."

"If today relations between the Church and the state are friendly developing not only in Russia, but in the entire canonical territory of the Moscow Patriarchate, it happens not because the Church has acquired leverages of influencing authorities and state, but rather because the number of Orthodox and enchurched people among state officials and public figures has dramatically increased," Patriarch Kirill said.

According to him, "here is the answer to the question, whether the Church is fused with the state."

"It is not fused. It is impossible to fuse two phenomena of a different nature. However, if there are more and more believers in the state, it means that that people's hearts perceive words of the Church, and Christian onsets penetrate into the life of our society," the primate said.