Patriarch Kirill of Moscow facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Kirill |
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| Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' | |
Patriarch Kirill in 2023
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| Church | Russian Orthodox Church |
| See | Moscow |
| Enthroned | 1 February 2009 |
| Predecessor | Alexy II |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 7 April 1969 |
| Consecration | 14 March 1976 by Nikodim (Rotov) |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyayev |
| Born | 20 November 1946 Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Denomination | Eastern Orthodox Church |
| Alma mater | Leningrad Theological Academy |
| Signature |  |
| Coat of arms |  |
Kirill or Cyril (Russian: Кирилл, Church Slavonic: Ст҃ѣ́йшїй патрїа́рхъ кѷрі́ллъ, secular name Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyayev, Russian: Владимир Михайлович Гундяев; born 20 November 1946) is a Russian Orthodox bishop. He became Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' and Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church on 1 February 2009.
| Styles of Patriarch Kirill |
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| Reference style | His Holiness |
| Spoken style | Your Holiness |
| Religious style | Patriarch |
Prior to becoming Patriarch, Kirill was Archbishop (later Metropolitan) of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, and also Chairman of the Russian Orthodox Church's Department for External Church Relations. He has been a permanent member of the Holy Synod since 1989.
A close ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Kirill has described Putin's rule as "a miracle of God". According to Putin, Kirill's father baptized him. During his tenure as Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus', Kirill has brought the Russian Orthodox Church closer to the Russian state. Kirill's relationship with Bartholomew I of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch and the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide, has been tense. After Kirill lauded the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, clergy in other Orthodox Churches condemned his remarks, with Bartholomew I saying that Kirill's support for Putin and the war were "damaging to the prestige of the whole of Orthodoxy".
Contents
Early life and career
Kirill was born Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyayev in Leningrad (present-day Saint Petersburg) on 20 November 1946. His father, Rev. Mikhail Gundyaev, died in 1974. His mother, Raisa Gundyaeva, a teacher of German, died in 1984. His elder brother, Archpriest Nikolay Gundyaev, is a professor at Leningrad Theological Academy and rector of the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral in St. Petersburg. His grandfather, Rev. Vasily Gundyaev, a Solovki prisoner, was imprisoned and exiled in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s for his church activity and struggle against Renovationism.
After finishing the eighth grade (year 9), Vladimir Gundyayev obtained a job in the Leningrad Geological Expedition and worked for it from 1962 to 1965 as cartographer, combining work with studies at secondary school. After graduation from school, he entered the Leningrad Seminary and later the Leningrad Theological Academy, from which he graduated cum laude in 1970.
On 3 April 1969, Metropolitan Nicodemus (Rotov) of Leningrad and Novgorod tonsured him with the name of Kirill after saint Cyril the Philosopher and on 7 April ordained him as hierodeacon and on 1 June as hieromonk. From 1970 to 1971, Father Kirill taught Dogmatic Theology and acted as rector's assistant for students' affairs at the Leningrad Theological Schools and at the same time worked as personal secretary to Metropolitan Nicodem and supervising instructor of the first-grade seminarians.
Episcopal ministry
Archimandrite
On 12 September 1971, Kirill was elevated to the rank of 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 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.
Since 1994, Kirill has hosted a weekly Orthodox television program "Слово пастыря" (The Word of the Shepherd) on ORT/Channel One.
Archbishop
- On 14 March 1976, Archimandrite Kirill was consecrated Bishop of Vyborg, Vicar of the Leningrad diocese.
- On 2 September 1977, he was elevated to the rank of archbishop.
- From 26 December 1984, he was Archbishop of Smolensk and Vyazma.
- From 1986 – administrator of the parishes in the Kaliningrad Region.
- From 1988, he became Archbishop of Smolensk and Kaliningrad.
- On 13 November 1989, he was appointed chairman of the department for external church relations and permanent member of the Holy Synod.
- On 25 February 1991, Archbishop Kirill was elevated to the rank of metropolitan.
The Supreme Authority of the Church charged Kirill with the following functions:
- from 1975 to 1982 – chairman of the Leningrad Diocesan Council;
- from 1975 to 1998 – member of the Central and Executive Committees of the World Council of Churches;
- from 1976 to 1978 – deputy Patriarchal Exarch for Western Europe;
- from 1976 to 1984 – member of the Holy Synod commission for Christian unity;
- from 1978 to 1984 – administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in Finland;
- from 1978 to 1988 – member of the Millennium of the Baptism of Russia preparatory commission;
- in 1990 – member of the preparatory commission for the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church;
- in 1990 – member of the commission for assistance in overcoming the consequences of the Chernobyl accident;
- from 1989 to 1996 – administrator of the Hungarian Orthodox deanery;
- from 1990 to 1991 – temporary administrator of the diocese of the Hague and Netherlands;
- from 1990 to 1993 – temporary administrator of the diocese of Korsun;
- from 1990 to 1993 – chairman of the Holy Synod commission for reviving religion and moral.
Foreign relations
On 20 October 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". Kirill awarded Fidel and Raúl Castro the Order of St. Daniel of Moscow 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.
He was criticised by some for the ROC's failures in the Diocese of Sourozh and Ukraine.
Patriarch of Moscow
On 6 December 2008, the day after the death of Patriarch Alexy II, the Russian Holy Synod elected him locum tenens of the Patriarchal throne. On 9 December, during the funeral service for Alexey 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. On 27 January 2009, the ROC Local Council (the 2009 Pomestny Sobor) elected Kirill I of Moscow as Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus; with 508 votes out of 700.) He was enthroned on 1 February 2009.
Ecumenism
The conservative wing in the Russian Orthodox Church criticized Kirill for practicing ecumenism throughout the 1990s. In 2008, breakaway Bishop Diomid of Anadyr and Chukotka criticized him for associating himself with the Catholic Church. However, in a 2009 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.
On 12 February 2016, Kirill and Pope Francis, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, met at José Martí International Airport near Havana, Cuba, and signed a thirty point joint declaration, prepared in advance, addressing global issues including their hope for re–establishment of full unity, the persecution of Christians in the Middle East, the Syrian Civil War and church organisation in Ukraine. This was the first meeting between a pope and a Russian Orthodox patriarch.
On 3 September 2019, Kirill and Paulose II, the head of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, met at the Patriarchal and Synod residence in St. Daniel Monastery, Moscow. During this meeting, Kirill supported the proposals made by Paulose II for cooperation in academics pertaining to iconography, church choristers, monasticism, pilgrimages, summer institutes and academic conferences.
Administrative reform
Patriarch Kirill introduced significant changes in the administrative structure of the Church. On 31 March 2009, the Holy Synod, at its first meeting under the chairmanship of the newly elected Patriarch Kirill, reformed the DECR, forming new synodal institutions, which were entrusted with certain areas of activity previously dealt with by the DECR. The Department for Church-Society Relations, independent from the DECR, was created; this department was responsible for "the implementation of relations with legislative bodies, political parties, professional and creative unions, and other civil society institutions in the canonical territory of the Moscow Patriarchate." Dioceses, representative offices, metochions, monasteries and stavropegic parishes far abroad, which were previously under the authority of the DECR, were directly subordinated to the Patriarch of Moscow of All Russia; to manage them, the Moscow Patriarchate's Secretariat for Institutions Abroad was created. The Synodal Information Department was created. The post-graduate department of the Moscow Theological Academy, which operated under the DECR, was transformed into the All-Church postgraduate and doctoral school named after Saints Cyril and Methodius Equal-to-the-Apostles.
On 27 July 2011, the Holy Synod of the Church established the Central Asian Metropolitan District, reorganizing the structure of the Church in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. Since 6 October 2011, at the request of the Patriarch, the diocesan reform began, in which 2–3 dioceses were created on the territory of one region instead of one with the formation of a metropolis (Russian: митрополия, mitropoliya), administrative structure bringing together neighboring eparchies.
Foreign relations
Kirill "heartily congratulated" Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko for winning the Belarusian presidency in 2010 in a non-democratic election.
According to the Financial Times, "Keenly aware that Putin's actions severely undermined his authority in Ukraine, Kirill refused to absorb Crimea's parishes and boycotted a ceremony in the Kremlin to celebrate Russia's annexation."
During the Orthodox Church of Ukraine autocephaly controversy, Patriarch Kirill was the presiding chairman of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church when the decision was made to break Eucharistic communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate on 15 October 2018.
In 2019, he created a working committee with the Malankara Orthodox Church.
After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Kirill praised the invasion. Kirill blamed the conflict on "gay parades" and made baseless claims that Ukraine was "exterminating" Russians in Donbass, Kirill's remarks prompted clergy in some other Orthodox dioceses to condemn Kirill's remarks and seek independence from the Moscow church.
Relations with Vladimir Putin
Kirill is a long-time ally of president Vladimir Putin.
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When Kirill was elected Patriarch on 27 January 2009, by the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church by secret vote he gained 508 out of 702 votes and enthroned during liturgy at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Moscow on 1 February 2009 the service was attended, among others, by President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev and then prime minister Vladimir Putin.
The following day, Medvedev hosted a reception (a formal banquet) for the ROC bishops in the Grand Kremlin Palace, where 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.
On 8 February 2012, at a meeting of religious leaders in Moscow, Kirill contrasted the economic and social chaos of the 1990s with the 2000s and said "What were the 2000s then? Through a miracle of God, with the active participation of the country's leadership, we managed to exit this horrible, systemic crisis", and likened anti-government protesters' "demands to "ear-piercing shrieks" and said the protesters represented a minority of Russians."
Since 1970, the federal police of Switzerland had classified him as a KGB agent, under the name Mikhaïlov.
In cultural and social affairs, the Church under Kirill has collaborated closely with the Russian state under President Vladimir Putin.
Patriarch Kirill has backed the expansion of Russian power into Crimea and eastern Ukraine. Despite calling for the "speedy restoration of peace", Patriarch Kirill also referred to Moscow's opponents in Ukraine as "evil forces", stating "we must not allow dark and hostile external forces to laugh at us."
He has been described as a "committed nationalist of the imperial variety", as someone "who thinks nothing of using the familiar words of a faith to their most egregious effect".
Personal life
Wealth
According to a Forbes article in 2006, Kirill's wealth was $4 billion, and a 2019 Novaya Gazeta report estimated his worth at $4 billion to $8 billion, although the figures have not been verified. According to a 2020 investigation by Proekt, Kirill and two of his second cousins owned nine separate pieces of real estate worth $2.87 million in the Moscow Region and St. Petersburg.
In 2009, Kirill was photographed wearing a $30,000 gold Breguet watch. Officials associated with the Moscow Patriarchate airbrushed the watch (but not its reflection on the table at which Kirill was sitting) out of the photo, while Kirill claimed that the watch had been doctored into the image. Kirill later admitted that he did in fact own the watch.
Honours and awards
Church awards
- Russian Orthodox Church
- Order of St. Prince Vladimir 2nd class (16 September 1973)
- Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh, 1st and 2nd class
- Order of the Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow, 1st class
- Order of St. Innocent Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna, 2nd class
- Order of St. Alexis the Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia, 2nd class
- Named Panagia (1988) – for active participation in the preparation and conduct of the Jubilee celebrations of the 1000th anniversary of Christianity in Russia
- Order of Saint Anthony and Theodosius of the Caves, 1st class (UOC-MP, 2006)
- Order of Saint Stephen the Great pious governor, 2nd class (Orthodox Church of Moldova, 2006) – in recognition of diligent service, and the glory of the Orthodox Church in Moldova
- Silver Jubilee Medal of St. Apostle Peter (St. Petersburg diocese, 2003)
- Order in honour of the 450th anniversary of bringing the land Pochayiv Volyn icons (UOC-MP, 2009)
- Order of St. Theodosius of Chernigov (Ukrainian Orthodox Church, 2011)
- Awards of local orthodox churches
- Order of Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Georgian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Hellenic, Poland, the Czech Lands and Slovakia, Finland and America.
- Order of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, I degree (Antiochian Orthodox Church, 2011)
- Gold Medal of St. Innocent (2009, The Orthodox Church in America)
- Awards of other churches and denominations
- The Order of St. Gregory of Parumala (Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, India, 2006)
- Order of St. Gregory the Illuminator (Armenian Apostolic Church, Armenia, 2010)
- Order "Sheikh ul-Islam" (Caucasian Muslims Office, 2011)
Awards of the Russian Federation
- Order of Merit for the Fatherland;
- 2nd class (20 November 2006) – for his great personal contribution to the spiritual and cultural traditions and strengthening friendship between peoples
- 3rd class (11 August 2000) – for outstanding contribution to the strengthening of civil peace and the revival of spiritual and moral traditions
- Order of Alexander Nevsky (7 January 2011) – for outstanding personal contribution to the Motherland in the preservation of spiritual and cultural traditions
- Order of Friendship (28 December 1995) – for services to the state, the progress made in implementing a comprehensive program of construction, reconstruction and restoration of historic and cultural sites in Moscow
- Order of Friendship of Peoples (1988)
- Medal "50 Years of Victory in Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945."
- Jubilee Medal "300th Anniversary of Russian Navy" (1996)
- Medal "In memory of the 850th anniversary of Moscow" (1997)
- Gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation (14 August 1995) – for active participation in the preparation and conduct of the 50th anniversary of Victory in Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945
- Diploma of the State Duma of the Russian Federation (2001)
Foreign awards
- Order of Honour (Azerbaijan 2010)
- Order of the Republic (Moldova, 2011)
- Medal "65th anniversary of Victory in Great Patriotic War" (Transnistria, 2010)
- Order of the Republic of Serbia (2021)
Honorary citizenships
Lukoyanovsky District of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast (2000), Smolensk Oblast (5 February 2009), Kaliningrad Oblast (5 March 2009), Kemerovo Oblast (2010), Smolensk (2003), the selo of Rizskoye of Smolensk Oblast (2004), Neman of Kaliningrad Oblast (2006), Vyazemsky District of Smolensk Oblast (2006), Kaliningrad (2006), Khoroshyovo-Mnyovniki 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).
See also
In Spanish: Cirilo de Moscú para niños
- List of Metropolitans and Patriarchs of Moscow
- Vsevolod Chaplin
