PATRIARCH KIRILL CALLS STATE DUMA TO RESIST VALUES THAT DESTROY INDIVIDUAL
Interfax-Religiia, 22 January 2015
Patriarch of Moscow and all-Rus Kirill urged Russian deputies to cooperate in the defense of standards of traditional morality.
"To a significant degree, the capacity of our country to stand in the face of modern false values that are destructive for the individual and human civilization as a whole will depend on the active position of Russian parliamentarians," the patriarch said on Thursday in the State Duma for the opening of the Christmas parliament meetings.
He declared his readiness for constructive dialogue and cooperation with the deputies. Having noted that the church is the mouthpiece for the aspirations of millions of fellow citizens, the patriarch expressed the hope that an understanding of this will be expressed in decisions adopted by the parliament.
The patriarch criticized attempts in many countries to reconsider "the fundamental, immutable standards of morality that are implanted by God in human nature and therefore are absolute and universal," and the concept of justice is interpreted "in accordance with dominant philosophical and even political tenets."
"The idea of the absolute priority of the value of freedom of choice and the rejection of the priority of a moral norm has become for western civilization a time bomb," the patriarch declared.
Last year the Christmas parliament meetings were organized in the Federation Council. The patriarch also spoke at their opening. Such meetings occur within the framework of the International Christmas Educational Readings. (tr. by PDS, posted 23 January 2015)
PATRIARCH KIRILL: STATE SHOULD PERMIT PEOPLE TO SELECT IDENTIFICATION FORM SO THAT EACH PERSON IS NOT UNDER TOTALITARIAN CONTROL
Interfax-Religiia, 22 January 2015
Patriarch of Moscow and all-Rus Kirill spoke out against the obligatory issue of plastic identification cards, seeing in them an instrument of totalitarian control over people.
"I am sure that people must have the right of choice in order to receive identification in the form of plastic electronic cards or in the traditional form using electronic indicators or without such," the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, who addressed the State Duma on Thursday, declared.
He considers that the use of automated means for collection, processing, and recording of personal data, especially of confidential information, should be conducted "only on a voluntary basis."
"In view of the fact that this is convenient for bureaucrats, one must not totally implement these technologies. Each of us could wind up enslaved to these technologies and under total control," the patriarch noted. He said that "if for somebody today these words may seem inapplicable, then after some time they will be applicable for each of us."
Patriarch Kirill thinks that people should have a choice and they must be offered alternative possibilities. "In such a case we always reserve the possibility of opting out of such totalitarian control," he said.
The patriarch reported that he has received thousands of appeals from citizens expressing, in his words, "disagreement with the introduction of new identification technologies without alternatives." At the same time, he emphasized that many such letters have been received by government agencies. (tr. by PDS, posted 23 January 2015)
PATRIARCH KIRILL SUGGESTS EXCLUDING ABORTIONS FROM SYSTEM OF COMPULSORY HEALTH INSURANCE AND BANNING THEIR ADVERTISING
Interfax-Religiia, 22 January 2015
Patriarch of Moscow and all-Rus Kirill suggested excluding operations for terminating pregnancy from the system of compulsory health insurance and also restricting or entirely prohibiting advertisement and promotion of abortions.
"One of the chief calamities of Russia remains the enormous number of abortions," the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church declared on Thursday in the State Duma within the framework of Christmas parliament meetings. "If we managed to reduce the number of abortions by two times, we would have steady and strong demographic growth," Patriarch Kirill emphasized.
The patriarch identified as reasons for termination of pregnancy "pressure from physicians and relatives and material and housing difficulties."
He said that overcoming "this evil" requires complex measures which should include aid for families in resolving housing problems, material support for families with several children, and introduction of a system of medical ethical norms which would encourage physicians to be concerned for preserving the life of a fetus.
To these measures the primate also added "curtailing of the advertising and promotion of abortions" all the way to their complete prohibition.
"I consider the elimination of operations for the artificial termination of pregnancy from the system of compulsory medical insurance, which are supported at the expense of taxpayers, including those who categorically reject abortions, to be morally justified," the patriarch declared.
He also noted that concern is evoked by several reproductive technologies that "intrude upon God's plan for humanity and demean human dignity and the value of human relations." "Thus, a moral consciousness cannot be reconciled with the permission at the level of law of so-called surrogate maternity that turns children and women into objects of commercial and noncommercial transactions," Patriarch Kirill said. In his opinion, surrogate maternity "distorts the very concept of mother."
The patriarch considers that an alternative to surrogate maternity could be adoption of orphans. "Take an orphan. That's how our people always acted. And raise an orphan," Patriarch Kirill said. (tr. by PDS, posted 23 January 2015)
PATRIARCH KIRILL URGED STATE DUMA TO EQUALIZE ORTHODOX AND SECULAR SCHOOLS IN REGARD TO FINANCING
Theology should be included in the list of academic disciplines
Interfax-Religiia, 22 January 2015
Patriarch of Moscow and all-Rus Kirill is dissatisfied with the way Orthodox schools and gymnasia are financed in Russia.
"Perhaps we should think about financing these schools, at least within the framework of the state education component, in the same way as any other school, because they give certificates of a state form," the patriarch declared on Thursday in the State Duma at the opening of the Christmas parliament meetings.
He said that the problem is that "all of this is financed in accordance with an obsolete principle, and it turns out that people are discriminated against on the basis of religious identity."
The patriarch also pointed out the importance of developing theological education, which has always been recognized in Europe. He noted that today there exists the possibility to study theology at the bachelor's and master's level "but for some reason this is impossible to do at the doctoral level." "One can be a master, but it is impossible to be a doctor, simply because someone refuses to include theology in the list of academic disciplines," he complained. (tr. by PDS, posted 23 January 2015)
PATRIARCH KIRILL WARNS GOVERNMENT AGAINST EXCESSIVE INTRUSION INTO THE LIFE OF FAMILY
Interfax-Religiia, 22 January 2015
Patriarch of Moscow and all-Rus Kirill thinks it important to guarantee the right of parents to train children in accordance with their values.
"The family is being seriously threatened, and that means society, also, with attempts to restrict the right of a father and mother and to deprive them of the possibility of training children in the spirit of their worldview and traditional moral values," the patriarch declared on Thursday in the State Duma at the opening of Christmas parliament meetings.
He said that often the rights of children are artificially placed in opposition to the rights of family and parents. At the same time, the patriarch noted, concern for protecting genuine interests of the child requires prioritizing "concern for the family, to define, recognize, and protect the right of parents to train their children."
"The government may interfere in the internal life of the family only in the most extreme cases, when the physical and moral health of the children is threatened by a real, proven danger," he emphasized. (tr. by PDS, posted 23 January 2015)
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