PATRIARCH KIRILL CALLS UKRAINE NOT TO POLITICIZE TERM "RUSSIAN WORLD"
Interfax-Religiia, 20 July 2015
Patriarch of Moscow and all-Rus Kirill expressed concern because of attempts to politicize the concept of the "Russian World."
"Unfortunately, our opponents use the words 'Russian World' as a kind of bogeyman or scarecrow, declaring that this supposedly is some kind of doctrine that serves exclusively the foreign policy interests of the Russian federation," the patriarch said at a ceremonial reception in the Holy Trinity St. Sergius lavra, which was held on the occasion of the day of commemoration of Saint Sergius of Radonezh, the patriarchal press service reported on Monday.
The primate emphasized that nothing "is further from the truth than to identify the Russian World exclusively with the Russian federation. The Russian World is simultaneously both the Ukrainian World and the Belorussian World. It is the world of the entirety of Rus. It is the world that was created through baptism in the Dnepr; it is the world of Prince Vladimir; it is a system of values that has penetrated into the culture and into the experience of our people," he declared.
"Despite that just a mention of the Russian World has already become in Ukraine almost a crime within the framework of the current political doctrine, we will continue—quietly, calmly, but persistently—to bear witness to this truth, the truth of the Kievan font of baptism and the creation by our ancestors of the entire East-Slavic civilization, which we conventionally call the Russian World," Patriarch Kirill declared.
He mentioned the "Tale of By-gone Years," which at the very beginning has the words: "From whence is the Russian land." "There is no mention there of Ukraine, Russia, or Belorussia; there is the 'Russian land.' And do we really have the right, for the sake of political moods, to reject our history, our ideals, our saints, our monasteries, our liturgy, and our common language?" the patriarch said.
At the same time he noted that if the role of Russian is weakened, then among Ukrainians, Russians, and Belorussians, like among many other peoples also, "communication will be frequently complicated, because language is the natural means of maintaining mutual relations among peoples belonging to the same cultural and spiritual community." (tr. by PDS, posted 20 July 2015)
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