KADRI PAAS ⟩ Patriarch Kirill's cryptic message: The Russian state should be interested in making the situation better

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Kirill. Photo: Postimehe arhiiv

• Kirill has threatened countries that want to rid themselves of the Moscow Patriarchate's influence.
• Churches rented out to the Moscow Patriarchate should be taken back by the state or government.

On November 3, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow met with participants in the «Time of Heroes» program at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. «Time of Heroes» consists of veterans who fought in Ukraine and survived, or occupiers, depending on the perspective. During the meeting, Kirill answered what were likely pre-arranged questions from the «heroes», journalist Kadri Paas writes.

However, just like at the so-called public press conferences of war criminal Putin, where questions are known in advance, it is the answers that are much more telling. Kirill's answers probably also explain why and how the Kuremäe Convent, which is under the Kremlin's control, ignores the instructions and wishes of the Estonian government.

The following should be read in the context that the priests and members of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate largely share Kirill's imperialist views and the worldview of the Russian World. Kirill also directly threatened countries wishing to free themselves from the Moscow Patriarchate's hostile influence with intervention from the Russian state.

Patriarch Kirill reiterated that there is no Ukrainian state or people. «The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is a martyr, preserving unity with our church. A non-independent state should have a non-independent church. But this contradicts a tradition from a thousand years ago! We have always been one people and one church. And since this is a very large country, with enormous territory and a strong church, our strategic opponents understood that we cannot be defeated on the battlefield,» the patriarch of the Russian church said.

Patriarch Kirill emphasized that the Russian people are the entire historical Russia. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Russian Empire was the second-largest state in the world, after the British Empire, and its territory included Finland, Poland, and the Baltic states. «To weaken our people—the Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, our historical people from historical Russia—it was necessary to lay mines under international relations. And they started doing this immediately, beginning with Simon Petliura and all the others. But what they needed was not an independent Ukraine, but Ukraine that would become anti-Russian. Ukrainian independence has always been linked to fighting against Russia in the minds of its ideologues,» Kirill said.

According to Kirill, who himself is an instrument of the master of the Kremlin, the patriarch of Constantinople is not independent. «He is on Turkish territory and cannot exist without the direct support of the United States—both financial and political support. Therefore, he acts as a mediator for these political forces. And the fact that Constantinople allegedly gave 'canonical' support for the schism led to us breaking off communication with Constantinople. The patriarch of Constantinople brought the schism to our canonical territory. He tore away part of the Ukrainian Orthodox believers, giving them illegal legitimacy. All of this was due to the influence of powerful political forces on Constantinople, which has long been concerned about the Russian church's influence on Eastern Mediterranean churches and Orthodox churches in the Middle East,» Kirill said.

The patriarch also referred to his ties with special services. «I once came across very interesting documents that contained the thoughts of Western partners speculating about the influence of the Soviet Union and later Russia on several countries. The Soviet Union and later Russia kept the Eastern Mediterranean and parts of the Middle East under their influence, using soft power, and this soft power is the Russian Orthodox Church. When I read this, I understood: the blow is aimed at weakening the Russian church's influence over the Greek churches and the churches of the Eastern Mediterranean,» Kirill said.

The Kremlin's subordinate emphasized that the Russian church cannot allow further alienation of its historical ecumenical Orthodox parts. «But the goal of our political and strategic opponents to limit Russia's soft power in the East is coming true. Not completely, not as they would like, but it is becoming a reality. And our task is to overcome this situation. It is the task of church diplomacy, but I believe that the Russian state should also be interested in making the situation better,» the patriarch said, probably also referring to the Estonian government's efforts over several years to limit the activities of the local branch of the Moscow Patriarchate, that is the Russian special services.

As long as the congregations in Estonia that follow Kirill's words and the Kremlin's efforts are active, this continues to be an ever-growing threat to Estonia's identity.

Among other things, the patriarch noted that Russia is not a state. «We are a continent. We sing in the service as follows: 'From the rising of the sun to its setting, let the name of the Lord be praised' (Psalm 113:3). Here, 'from the rising of the sun to its setting' is Russia, the only country in the world. Therefore, of course, anger, envy arise, and the desire to enslave and use our resources. By God's grace, nothing like that was allowed in Tsarist Russia or the Soviet Union. But there was a very dangerous period when we were ready to sacrifice our sovereignty to please others. At the right time, a leader came who turned our country's development from a very bad course to the right one. Now we are moving in that right direction,» the head of the Russian Orthodox Church stressed.

The veterans also inquired about the sanctions and restrictions imposed by the «declining West». «They do this because they are afraid of us, and not even because we are strong with weapons. Let me tell you why they are afraid! We are an alternative to civilizational development. Russia, with its values, faith, patriotism, and willingness to sacrifice. And that is the most terrifying thing for them. They understand that this alternative may be very attractive to the whole world. They understand that they cannot defeat us economically or militarily. Their desire to isolate themselves from us is a desire to isolate themselves from our influence,» explained the patriarch, who once went by the KGB agent name Mikhailov.

Thus, as long as the Ministry of the Interior pleads for the local Kremlin church to break free from the heretical patriarch's influence, nothing will change. Too many times have local priests and those behind the border ignored the Estonian government's will and openly ridiculed it.

How many more times do we have to hear from the leader of the Russian church, who directly controls both the Kuremäe Convent and Nevsky Cathedral in Toompea, that Russia has no independent border states? There is only historical Russia with its subjects, who need guardianship and protection, which must be provided by the Russian state.

As long as the congregations in Estonia that follow Kirill's words and the Kremlin's efforts are active, this continues to be an ever-growing threat to Estonia's identity. I do not know how much more time we have to reclaim our Orthodox churches—most of the churches rented out to the Moscow Patriarchate belong to the Estonian state and/or local governments—but based on the messages from Defense Chief Andrus Merilo, it seems that we should hurry.