Atlantis Online
March 28, 2024, 10:40:50 am
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
News: Towering Ancient Tsunami Devastated the Mediterranean
http://www.livescience.com/environment/061130_ancient_tsunami.html
 
  Home Help Arcade Gallery Links Staff List Calendar Login Register  

Metropolitan Kirill, Russian Orthodox Interim Leader Elected Patriarch

Pages: [1]   Go Down
  Print  
Author Topic: Metropolitan Kirill, Russian Orthodox Interim Leader Elected Patriarch  (Read 180 times)
0 Members and 52 Guests are viewing this topic.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« on: January 27, 2009, 01:44:09 pm »



             

















                                      Russian Orthodox interim leader elected patriarch






     
MOSCOW
Jan. 27, 2008

– The interim leader of the Russian Orthodox Church has been elected as the new patriarch of the world's largest Orthodox Christian church.

A church official says Metropolitan Kirill easily beat out a more conservative rival in a vote Tuesday by electors who included clerics and laymen. He received 508 of the 700 votes cast.

Kirill will be installed Sunday as the successor to Moscow Patriarch Alexy II, who died in December after leading Russia's dominant faith in a powerful post-Soviet revival.

Kirill served for years as the church's external relations chief. He is seen as a modernizer more likely than his rivals to seek a measure of independence from the state and better relations with the Vatican.
« Last Edit: January 27, 2009, 01:47:38 pm by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #1 on: January 27, 2009, 01:52:47 pm »



Chrysostomos II and Metropolitan Kirill (in the light vestments and crown) of Smolensk and Kaliningrad,

Photo taken from
Русская Православная Церковь
« Last Edit: January 27, 2009, 01:54:47 pm by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #2 on: January 27, 2009, 01:58:35 pm »




             
Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #3 on: January 27, 2009, 04:29:10 pm »










                                       Outspoken Kirill elected new Russian patriarch





         
Stuart Williams –
Jan. 27, 2009
MOSCOW
(AFP)

– The Russian Orthodox Church on Tuesday selected 62-year-old Metropolitan Kirill as its new patriarch, an outspoken figure who analysts say could prove a headache for the Kremlin.

A seasoned operator after long service as head of the church's foreign relations section, Kirill was elected by an overwhelming majority in a ballot of church leaders in Moscow's ornate cathedral of Christ the Saviour.

Kirill, Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, received 508 votes in a secret ballot of the Church Council in Moscow while his challenger Metropolitan Kliment of Kaluga and Borovsk won 169 votes.

"I accept and thank the Church Council for my election as Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia," Kirill said solemnly after the results were announced, before leading the congregation in an Orthodox liturgy.

Addressing the incense-filled gathering earlier, Kirill had made a strident call for church unity and urged the faithful to resist Protestant and Catholic proselytizing, dampening hopes of a transformation in poisonous ties with Rome.

About 700 bearded and robed bishops and laity from both Russia and diocese abroad had the right to participate in the first such vote of the post-Soviet era, following the death of Alexy II last month.

Gathered outside on the freezing Moscow street were about 100 of the faithful, some holding banners and icons and chanting.

Kirill's comments echoed the tough approach of his predecessor, who resisted attempts by late Polish pope John Paul II to reach out to Catholics in ex-Soviet lands and who refused to countenance a papal visit to Russia.

In the post-Soviet era "the most active proselytizing was by missionaries of all manner of Protestant denominations but we also noticed with bitterness representatives of the Catholic hierarchy," Kirill said.

"We must attentively follow developments and where necessary quickly and decisively react to threats," added Kirill, who after Alexy's death was appointed "Guardian of the Throne" temporarily in charge of the church.

Metropolitan Kirill, who has hosted his own weekly television programme "Words of a Pastor" for the past 10 years, is seen as something of a loose cannon in political circles, analysts say.

"Among the bishops, he's the only real politician. If I were president, I'd be afraid of such a man," said religious affairs expert Sergei Filatov of the Russian Academy of Sciences, referring to Kirill.

Russia's politicians "can't tell what he's going to do. If (the economy) all goes pear shaped they don't know what Patriarch Kirill would do. They'd prefer someone they had control over," said religious affairs analyst and journalist for the Forum 18 religious news agency Geraldine Fagan earlier.

Kirill, whose crushing victory had been widely predicted, takes over a church that went from strength to strength under Alexy after being repressed in the Soviet era.

Prime Minister Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev both attend church on feast days, as do other Slavic leaders such as Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko.

The church's relatively rapid election of Kirill, without resorting to a run-off, and the withdrawal of a third candidate just before voting began were indicative of its desire to make a show of unity at a crucial moment.

The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour is a symbol of the church's resurgence. Dynamited under Stalin, it was then replaced by an open air swimming pool before an exact replica was rebuilt in the 1990s.

In an interview with the Trud newspaper published Monday, Kirill said the church was thriving but could still play a greater role in daily life, including education.
Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Pages: [1]   Go Up
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by EzPortal
Bookmark this site! | Upgrade This Forum
SMF For Free - Create your own Forum
Powered by SMF | SMF © 2016, Simple Machines
Privacy Policy