| Kirill | |
|---|---|
| Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' | |
Kirill I, Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus', at his enthronement on 1 February 2009 |
|
| Church | Russian Orthodox Church |
| See | Moscow |
| Enthroned | 1 February 2009 |
| Reign ended | Incumbent |
| Predecessor | Alexy II |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 7 April 1969 |
| Consecration | 14 March 1976 by Nikodim of Leningrad |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyayev |
| Born | 20 November 1946 Leningrad, Soviet Union |
| Profession | Civil Servant, Russian Federation |
Kirill, or Cyril (Russian: Кирилл, secular name Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyayev (Russian: Владимир Михайлович Гундяев; born 20 November 1946) is a Russian Orthodox bishop who has been Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' and Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church since 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 Orthodox Church's Department for External Church Relations and a permanent member of the Holy Synod beginning in November 1989.
Contents |
Kirill was born in Leningrad; his father Mikhail and grandfather Vasiliy were Russian Orthodox priests. As a young man he was active in the Komsomol (League of Communist Youth) and was a talented basketball player. In 1969, he took monastic vows on April 3 and was ordained Hierodeacon on April 7 and Hieromonk on June 1. In 1970, Kirill I completed a degree from the Leningrad Theological Academy where he was retained as a professor of dogmatic theology and aide to the Academy’s Inspector. He was made a personal secretary to Nikodim (Rotov), Metropolitan of Leningrad on August 30, 1970.
On 12 September 1971, Kirill became an archimandrite and was posted as a representative of the Russian Orthodox Church to the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva. On 26 December 1974, he was appointed rector of the Leningrad Academy and Seminary. Since December 1975, he has been a member of the WCC Central Committee and Executive Committee.
In 1976 Kirill was consecrated Bishop of Vyborg. In 1977, he became an archbishop. Since 1978, he has been the manager of the Patriarch's parishes in Finland. In 1984, he became Archbishop of Smolensk and Vyazma. The title was changed to Archbishop of Smolensk and Kaliningrad in 1989. In 1991, he became Metropolitan bishop.
From 1974 to 1984 he was the rector of the Leningrad Spiritual Academy and Seminary.
In 1971 he was appointed representative of the Moscow Patriarchate at the World Council of Churches and has been actively involved in the ecumenical activity of the Russian Orthodox Church since then.
In 1978, Kirill was appointed deputy chairman and, in November 1989, he was appointed chairman of the External Church Relations Department of the Moscow Patriarchate and permanent member of the Holy Synod.
He was criticised by some for the ROC's failures in the Diocese of Sourozh and Ukraine.[1][2][3]
On 27 January 2006, Kirill was given the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky by Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia.
On 6 December 2008, the day after the death of Patriarch Alexy II, the Holy Synod elected him locum tenens of the Patriarchal throne. On 9 December, during the funeral service for Alexy II in Christ the Saviour Cathedral (which was broadcast live by Russia’s state TV channels), he was seen and reported to have fainted at one point.[4][5] On December 29, when talking to journalists, he said he was opposed to any reforms of a liturgical or doctrinal nature in the Church.[6]
Kirill was elected Patriarch on January 27, 2009, at the ROC Local Council, and enthroned during a liturgy at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Moscow on February 1, 2009. The service was attended, among others, by President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.[7]
The following day, Russia President Dmitry Medvedev hosted a reception (a formal banquet[8][9]) for the ROC bishops in the Grand Kremlin Palace, whereat Patriarch Kirill held forth about the Byzantine concept of symphonia as his vision of the ideal of church-state relations, though acknowledging that it was not possible to fully attain to it in Russia today.[10][11][12]
The conservative wing in the Russian Orthodox Church criticized Kirill of practicing ecumenism throughout the 1990s. In 2008, breakaway Bishop Diomid of Anadyr and Chukotka criticized him for associating himself with the Catholic Church.[13] However, in a recent statement, Kirill stated that there could be no doctrinal compromise with the Catholic Church, and that discussions with them did not have the goal of seeking unification.[14]
On October 20, 2008, while on a tour of Latin America, he had a meeting with First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Fidel Castro. Castro commended Metropolitan Kirill as his ally in combating "American imperialism".[15][16][17] Kirill awarded Fidel Castro and his brother Raúl Castro on behalf of Patriarch Alexy II in recognition of their decision to build the first Russian Orthodox Church in Havana, to serve the Russian expatriates living there.[18]
Since 1994 Kirill has hosted a weekly Orthodox television program "Слово пастыря" on ORT/Channel One.
In the early 1990s and later on, Kirill was accused of having links to the KGB during much of the Soviet period, as were many members of the Russian Orthodox Church hierarchy, and of pursuing the state’s interests before those of the Church.[19][20][21][22][23][24] His alleged KGB agent’s codename was "Mikhailov".[25]
Journalists of the newspapers Kommersant and Moskovskij Komsomolets accused Kirill of profiteering and abuse of the privilege of duty-free importation of cigarettes granted to the Church in the mid-1990s and dubbed him "Tobacco Metropolitan".[26] The Department for External Church Relations was alleged to have acted as the largest supplier of foreign cigarettes in Russia.[27] Kirill’s personal wealth was estimated to be $1.5 billion by sociologist Nikolai Mitrokhin in 2004, and at $4 billion by The Moscow News in 2006.[24][28] However, Nathaniel Davis noted that "...There is no evidence that Metropolitan Kirill has actually embezzled funds. What is more likely is that profits from the importation of tobacco and cigarettes have been used for urgent, pressing Church expenses."[27] The duty-free importation of cigarettes ended in 1997.[27] In his 2002 interview with Izvestia, Metropolitan Kirill called the allegations about his profiteering a political campaign against him.[29]
Lukoyanovskogo District of Nizhny Novgorod Region (2000), Smolensk region (5 February 2009), Kaliningrad Region (5 March 2009), Kemerovo Region (2010), Smolensk (2003), Rizskoe Vyazemsky district of Smolensk region (2004), Kaliningrad region of the Neman (2006), Vyazemsky district of Smolensk region (2006), Kaliningrad (2006), Khoroshevo-Mnevniki North-Western Administrative District of Moscow (2006), Republic of Mordovia (2011 - for outstanding contribution to the preservation and development of domestic spiritual and moral traditions, strengthening of interaction of church and state).
Guest of honour of Aubert (2006, Argentina)
Honorary member of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy (1986) Honorary Doctor of Theology of the Theological Academy in Budapest (Hungary, 1987) Professor Emeritus of Military Academy of Air Defense Army (1996) Honorary Doctor of Political Science, State University of Perugia (Italy, 2002) Honorary Doctor of the Christian Theological Academy in Warsaw (Poland, 2004) Professor Emeritus of Smolensk Humanitarian University (2004) Professor Emeritus of the University of Astrakhan (2005) Honorary Doctor of the Russian State Social University (2005) Honorary Professor of the Baltic Naval Institute named after Admiral Fyodor Ushakov (2006) - a major theoretical and practical contribution to improving the educational process, content and pedagogy development Orthodox world [3] Honorary Doctor of St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University (2007) Honorary doctor of theology of the Kiev Theological Academy (2009) [27] Honorary Doctor of Science Institute of Theology of the Belarusian State University [28]. Honorary Doctor of the Russian Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation (2009) [29]. Honorary Doctor of the National Nuclear Research University "MiFi" (2010) [30] Honorary Doctor of Yerevan State University (March 11, 2010) [31] Honorary Professor of the Military Academy of Strategic Missile Forces them. Peter the Great (April 5, 2010) [32]. Honorary Doctor of National University "Odessa Law Academy" (Ukraine, 2010) [33].
Honorary Doctor of the Dnipropetrovsk National University named after Oles Gonchar (Ukraine, 2010) [34]
Honorary Doctor of the Moscow Theological Academy (October 11, 2010) - a multilateral and research activities and contribute to the development of theology [35] Honorary Doctor of Voronezh State University (August 31, 2011) - for outstanding contribution to the development of domestic and international socio-political processes, the justification of basic moral values, to create a model of interaction of Church and State at the present stage [36]. Honorary Doctor of the Moscow State University named after MV Lomonosov Moscow State University (2011) - for services in the education of youth and fruitful cooperation with Moscow State University [37].
Medal of the Soviet Peace Fund (1988) Peace Prize Lovizskogo forum (Finland, 1993) The award named after St. Brother Albert (Christian social union of Poland, 1995) The sign "For merits in development of the Olympic Movement in Russia" (Russian Olympic Committee, 2003) Special Prize of the newspaper "Trud" (2003) Medal "For Merit" (MGIMO, 2004) Gold medal of Russian State Social University. Peter the Great "For noble works" (2005) Commemorative Medal "Decade of the Russian Nobility Association" (2005) Silver Rose of St. Nicholas (University of Fribourg, Switzerland, 2006) European Prize for Culture for 2006 Award of St. John Chrysostom (the World Russian People's Council, the Union of Russian Writers' Union of Artists of Russia) Gold Medal academic ANBakulev (Research Center for Cardiovascular Surgery. Bakulev Medical Sciences, 2006) Cross "In memory of a descendant of Russian nobility of the Union - the Russian Nobility" (2006) Plaque Hagia Sophia (the Assembly Business, 2006) Diploma of the Russian Olympic Committee (2006) International Order of "The Star of Friendship" (Roszarubezhcentr at the Russian Foreign Ministry)
The title of "Man of the Year - 2006" according to the survey of the newspaper "Smolensk News" (2007)
Gold Medal "for peacemaking and charity" (The Russian Peace Foundation, 2007) Badge of Honor and an honorary certificate "For merits in development of Dynamo movement" (VFSO "Dynamo", 2007) Silver Medal "From Understanding to unity" (St. Petersburg Society for the Protection of Russian Culture, 2007)
The award "Man of the Year" in the category "Religion" (Russian Biographical Institute, December 2009) - for outstanding contribution to the spiritual revival of Russia [39] International Prize of St. Andrew "For Faith and Loyalty" (2010) [40] Award "Themis" (February 12, 2011) - for the selfless service, bright preaching peace and civil harmony, concern for maintaining compliance with the law and order [41]
| Orthodox Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Alexy II |
Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia 2009–present |
Incumbent |
|
|||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||