Patriarch Kirill: “Our common task is to counter demonization of Islam”

On July 21, at their meeting at the Kazan Kremlin, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill and Muslim clerics of Tatarstan talked about  counteraction to external threat and terrorism.

“Our president Vladimir Putin, who is an Orthodox Christian, while answering the question from a journalist about relation of Orthodox Christianity to Catholicism and Islam, said ‘We are closer to Islam’. I think so, too. In terms of traditions and morality, we are closer to Islam than to some of the Western Christian communities,” he said.

“Christianity is being destroyed in the West. Not in some dogmatic sense, but literally, in terms of morality. You know that under the influence of external factors, political, ideological, some protestant communities legalise same-sex marriages and even develop rituals to bless the marriages. Religious morality is being changed dramatically,” he commented on his point of view.

“Both Islam and Christianity belong to the same Oriental group. It so happened that the East is less susceptible to novelties in religious life,” the Patriarch continued. “As Islam, Orthodox Christianity stands firmly on its feet and looks with caution at the religious life of the West. It is degenerating. I think this is what largely contributes to tensions between the Muslims and so-called Christians. When pious Muslims see what happens, they cannot understand that. This causes new misunderstandings, when even basic morals are absent.”

“In Tatarstan, I note with satisfaction that practical cooperation is well developed. People of various nationalities and religions grow up together. Their views of life are being formed collectively,” Primate of the Orthodox Church of Russia pointed out.

"There may be deviations. There are Muslims who behave themselves inappropriately. There are Orthodox Christians, who forget about their faith. Terrorism is a deviation from Islamic and Christian principles. The Muslim world is a strong world, and other centers of power, fearing it, seek to demonize Islam. It is worth remembering that a man, who choses murder, betray his religion and discredit it. Together we have to defeat the propaganda machine directed against our moral values, and to counter the demonization of Islam in the name of its future," the Patriarch admitted.