"Please accept my congratulations on your name day," Putin smiled at Patriarch Kirill and handed him the main gift – the icon of Our Lady of Tikhvin.
Patriarch Kirill thanked the prime minister and kissed the icon.
Vladimir Gundyayev, a student at Leningrad Religious Academy received the name Kirill on April 3, 1969 when he was ordained by Metropolitan Nikodim, the famous church figure of the past century.
"Today we are celebrating one more holiday – Slavonic Language and Culture Day. The church is doing a great deal to promote Russian culture and language," Putin noted.
"You are a co-chairman of the Organising Committee," the patriarch recalled. "We worked together to organise these events, and hopefully it will help preserve our roots. For without this no cause can succeed, as I said in my speech to the young people. This involves every person, society in general and the state; our young people need to understand this."
"Young people get more and more interested in our history and culture and display more respect for our country," Putin observed.
Yelena Chinkova