Izvestia: “A Year as Patriarch”
Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Saviour hosted a sermon to celebrate the first anniversary of the ordination of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. President Dmitry Medvedev and his wife Svetlana attended the sermon. Later that day, the Patriarch met with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in the Throne Room of his suite.
Along with attending the sermon, the president sent an official message of congratulation. The message read that courses in religious culture and secular ethics in Russian schools, as well as the establishment of clergy working on a permanent basis in the Armed Forces, would cultivate moral values in the youth. The president referred to the Patriarch's efforts on this issue as "especially fruitful."
In his message, Vladimir Putin said that during his first year of service, the Patriarch "had accomplished much in strengthening the unity of the Russian Orthodox Church, in fostering the spiritual rebirth of the Fatherland and the moral recovery of our society."
The Patriarch himself was satisfied with the first year's results: "If during the year we made even a small step in explaining to our contemporaries what the Church's mission is, this is a small but real victory for us."
During the Divine Liturgy, Patriarch Kirill elevated Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Department for External Church Relations at the Moscow Patriarchate, and Archbishop Varsonofy of Saransk and Mordovia, chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate, to the rank of metropolitan. Bishop Mark of Yegoryevsk, the Patriarchate's secretary for the church's institutions abroad, and Bishop Yelisey of Surozh, head of the Moscow Patriarchate's diocese in Great Britain, were elevated to the rank of archbishops.
The Holy Synod presented the Patriarch with a set of patriarchal garments and the Moscow Patriarchate gave him a copy of the Theotokos of Vladimir. Patriarch Kirill presented the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour with a set of Eucharistic vessels.
About 3,000 people attended the sermon, including clergymen who arrived for the celebrations from all over Russia.
Boris Levich
