Interview with the Patriarch of Moscow Kirill: the Havana's Summit and the new phase of relations between Catholics and Russian Orthodox: today it is necessary to "narrate the Church not as a museum of medieval ideas"
"Until our encounter with Pope Francis, the "monstrous" condition of Christians in the Middle East was almost invisible. After that, the situation has changed substantially." His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and all Russians, speaks slowly. He recalls the historic summit that took place at the airport of the Cuban capital in February 2016. In this interview with Vatican Insider he says that today, it is necessary to "narrate the Church not as a museum of medieval ideas, or a reserve of losers unable to fit in modern life, but as a "source of living water".
Your Holiness, little more than a year has passed since your embrace with Pope Francis in Cuba. What remains from that meeting?
"The meeting should not be judged only in the context of the bilateral relations between Catholicism and Russian Orthodoxy. The main subject of the discussion was in fact the "monstrous" condition of Christians in the Middle East and North Africa, a much wider topic than the bilateral agenda. It is a global issue. It is unbelievable that an authentic genocide of Christians can be happening today, in the "civilized" 21st century. Our brothers are stripped from their homes, their goods, and their means of survival... life itself, only because they believe in Christ. And the greatest result of our encounter with the Pontiff is the recognition from the whole world of this challenge to humanity, whose past, present and future is impossible without Christianity.”
Is the world aware of what is happening to Christians?
"Until our meeting with Pope Francis, this topic was almost invisible on international media, and we also saw a great deal of indifference from many international organizations. Afterwards, the situation has changed substantially. I hope that after the acknowledgments of the seriousness of the problem, some concrete steps to resolve it will follow. For now, of course, progress is not as quick as we would like: just think of the recent events in Egypt and Syria. However, I do not lose hope and pray for the persecuted's fate to be alleviated. We will continue to raise our voice and support our words with concrete help, where possible, to persecuted Christians. Today, we Christians, regardless of our confession, are faced with a serious systemic challenge. It is not just the explicit violence I have just mentioned. It’s also about the old problems of European civilization, that have ripened today: the destruction of the family, the ideology of trans-humanism and so many others. Making the Gospel of Christ current to our times is an extraordinary difficult task. This was another important topic discussed in the Havana meeting. "
What is the state of the relationship between the two Churches today? What are the results of your meeting?
"I hope there will be a follow-up to the exchange of experiences, within the identification of new points of interaction, within the debate on the forms that Christian testimony must take in this new context. Thus, we can talk about the existence of a potential development of our bilateral relations, of that new phase begun in the sixties of the past century. I have been able to take part in numerous initiatives of dialogue that have involved Catholic and Orthodox hierarchies over the decades. We appreciate the acquired experience, which is unprecedented over the history of the division of Christianity in the East and the West. The encounter in Havana has been a very important event in our long-standing interaction, despite the persistent theological divergences. The meeting with Pope Francis testifies our willingness to defend together the future of Christian communities in the modern world and to contribute to establishing a solid and just peace in the places where today there is bloodshed"
Today the world is living what Francis calls the "Piecemeal Third World". How can it be countered?
"First of all, in the sincere prayer for peace to the Creator:" Blessed are the peacemakers for they are called children of God. " We know that Christian's main weapon is indeed prayer. By responding to a sincere prayer born from faith, the Lord performs miracles that overcome common logic and the laws of politics. Faith without the works is dead, and every prayer must be supported by action. We must not take part in what is called the "Piecemeal Third World" which begins with hatred and selfishness that take us over. Let's get them out of our heart, our family, our community, and the conflict will not strike us. Choosing truth, love, and charity is the shortest path to peace. Nothing brings man and mankind to conflicts more than the exclusive worry of one’s own sake, of caring solely of satisfying one’s own passions, sided by the unstoppable growth of consumerism. By acting in this direction, we immediately lose the battle with the enemy of humankind. "
What is, in your opinion, the main contribution of Christians to peace?
"Christianity is not only in words, but in the presence of God in our works. Therefore, the main task of Christians is to remain faithful to Christ, to preserve peace as a particular state of the spirit. Serafin of Sarov, a holy Russian honored throughout the Christian world, expressed a brilliant principle of Christian life: "Acquire the spirit of peace and a thousand souls around you will be saved." This is our response as peace workers. Christianity frees mankind from fear, from suffering, from death. The important thing is to remain with Christ in prayer and in the works of love, and then not even the most adverse circumstances will make us vacillate on the path of salvation in the name of which we walk our earthly journey. "
For the ecumenical path, can we take as example the first millennium during which Catholics and Orthodox were one in a single Church?
"History does not know the conditional tense. You can not go forward with your head turned backwards. Any attempt to mechanically transpose something from past centuries to modernity is condemned to failure. But this does not mean that we can forget what history has taught us and the experience of the undivided Church of the first millennium. "
And what can be learnt from this past?
"The division of Christians was largely dictated by the shifting of spiritual priorities, the rigorous observation of the Gospel, and the attempt to trace and fix the boundaries of the influence and power of the Church. Consequently, the improvement of our relationships must not be based on the erasure or concealment of the differences between orthodoxy and Catholicism formed over the centuries, but on unanimous aspiration to live according to the Gospel in the contemporary world. "
What is Christians’, of different confessions, main task today?
"Today, as never before, it is important to find a language to give living testimony of Christ and narrate the Church not as a museum of medieval ideas, or a reservation of losers unable to fit in modern life, but as a" source of living water", around which revolve crowds tormented by thirst, unaware that their salvation is within in a few steps. In this sense, the situation of the Church, in the East as in the West, does not differ much from Christianity in the early centuries. What do the ancient church and the present church have in common, Eastern and Western Christianity, what hasn't changed in the past millennia? It is not a "What", it is a "Who": the Founder and Guide of the Church, Christ, who "is the same of yesterday, today and forever". It is in Him that we are called to look as example at all times of our lives. "
