Delegates at the Local Council at Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow, 27 January 2009
Metropolitan Kirill Gundyaev of Smolensk and Kaliningrad was elected the new Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, the sixteenth in the list of patriarchs, by the Local Council that just passed in Moscow. At the election, he won 508 votes, comprising 72 percent of the delegates to the Council, that is, he won a majority of the votes, as is stated in the regulations. The election of Kirill as patriarch did not cause a sensation, because, after the death of the previous Patriarch, Aleksei II, he was the Patriarchal Locum Tenens. Indeed, on the first day of the Archpastoral Council, he scored nearly half the votes of the bishops of the MP (97 out of 198).
The other candidate for patriarch, Metropolitan Kliment Kapalin of Kaluga and Borovsk, received only 169 votes, 24 percent of the ballots cast at the Council. A third contender, Metropolitan Philaret Vakhromeyev of Minsk and Slutsk and all Byelorussia, as Expert Online has already reported, withdrew his name from consideration about two hours before the vote candidacy in favour of Metropolitan Kirill. 702 delegates were authorised to vote, 700 out of that number actually cast a ballot, of which 677 were found valid and 23 were judged invalid. Metropolitan Isidor of Yekaterinodar and the Kuban, the head of the Accounts Commission of the Local Council, announced the results of the vote from the pulpit of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.
President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin both telephoned their congratulations to Patriarch-elect Kirill. On the announcement of the election of the 16th Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, the bells in the belfry of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour rang out. First, the great Tsar Bell was rung; then, all the remaining bells were rung in the rhythmic style of the 18th century. At the same time, church bells in the Kremlin were rung in an ancient manner known as the “Reut”. At the entrance to the hall of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, several hundred people gathered with banners reading, Ваше Святейшество, поздравляем! (Your Holiness, congratulations!) and Кирилл – патиарх! (Kirill – Patriarch!). After the news about the election of Metropolitan Kirill as the First Hierarch of the MP, the crowd spontaneously exploded with shouts of Ura! and they began to chant Наш патриарх Кирилл – Господь благословил (Our Patriarch Kirill – Lord, bless him!), and they also shouted Многая лета! (((Lord, grant him) many years!) for the newly-elected patriarch. Many embraced and kissed each other.
“With full awareness of the responsibility involved, I take this lot that is handed to me, the patriarchal ministry. It is great, it is responsible, but, in the heart of this ministry is the cross of Christ, a cross of such a size that only the one who bears it can understand and feel the full weight of it”. With these words, the newly-elected patriarch addressed the more than 700 delegates of the Local Council assembled at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. He cited the words of his predecessor, the late Patriarch Aleksei II, “who repeatedly spoke of the great cross of the Patriarchal ministry. But, the First Hierarch bears this cross, not through his own strength, but, the archpastors, pastors, and the People of God bear this cross together with him, because the Church itself bears this cross together with the patriarch. So, as the bearing of the cross is shared, so, the responsibility is shared, and the glory is shared as well”, the newly-elected patriarch said. “Assuming from your hands this manifestation of the Will of God, I beg you to forgive my weaknesses, help me with your wise counsel, and aid me in bearing the patriarchal ministry”, Vladyki Kirill added.
Episcopal Delegates to the Local Council at Christ the Saviour Cathedral on 27 January 2009
The newly-elected First Hierarch emphasised, “Most of all, it was due to your petitions and prayers in the days leading up to the decision of the Local Council, uttered by innumerable people, coming from loving and faithful hearts”. After that, each of the bishops approached the newly-elected patriarch and congratulated him. Then, Vladyki Kirill went amongst the believers, who met him with rejoicing. The new patriarch blessed the gathering and thanked them for their prayers, support, and labour.
Let us recall, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad (in the world, Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyaev) was born 20 November 1946 in Leningrad. From the third generation of priests in his family, Kirill was religiously-inclined from an early age. He likes to tell how, when he was only three or four, he liked to “serve” at home, wearing vestments that his mother made for him, and when he was six or seven, he could already “serve” a molieben or litiya without errors. At school, Volodya Gundyaev was the only student who was not in the Young Pioneers. After graduating from high school, he enrolled in the Leningrad Theological Seminary, and, then, he studied at the Leningrad Theological Academy, graduating with honours in 1970. Metropolitan Kirill is considered part of the school of Nikodimovtsev, the disciples of the famous Metropolitan Nikodim Rotov of Leningrad and Novgorod, which laid the foundations of the modern dialogue of Christians of different confessions.
Many of the bishops of the MP were students and disciples of Metropolitan Nikodim, including the late Patriarch Aleksei II. Specifically, Vladyki Nikodim convinced Vladimir Gundyaev to enter seminary, and tonsured him into monasticism on 3 April 1969 with the name of Kirill. The Sixteenth patriarch of the MP has passed many steps on the religious “career ladder”. Starting with a position of an instructor of dogmatic theology and the Assistant to the Inspector of the Leningrad Theological Academy and Seminary (LDAiS) (at the same time was the personal secretary of the Metropolitan Nikodim), he then became the representative of the MP at the World Council of Churches in Geneva. Then, for ten years, from 1974 to 1984, he worked as the rector of the LDAiS. In 1976 he became Bishop of Vyborg, and, a year later, he was elevated to the dignity of Archbishop. On 26 December 1984, he became Archbishop of Smolensk and Vyazemsk. Since 1986, he has ruled the parishes in Kaliningrad oblast. In 1988, his title became Archbishop of Smolensk and Kaliningrad. From 13 November 1989 he was the Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the MP. On 25 February 1991, he was elevated to the dignity of metropolitan.
Metropolitan Kirill has taken an active part in the development of the fundamental documents of the church in recent years, in the process of the reunification of the MP and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, and in establishing relations with the Catholic Church. He is also known as an eloquent speaker. On 6 December 2008, the day after the death of Patriarch Aleksei II, Metropolitan Kirill was elected the Patriarchal Locum Tenens.
The formal installation of the new Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia will be held on 1 February.
28 January 2008
Expert Online
As quoted in Interfax-Religion
http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=radio&div=1074
Editor’s Note:
Kirill’s close relationship with Nikodim Rotov bothers many, including me. Nikodim was an equivocal figure at best, and he was known to be soft on the papists. God willing, Kirill shall not sell us out to the papists or be a “moderniser” as some ignorant Western press sources are claiming. As I say, the jury is still out. I shall stand with Kirill as long as he holds the traditional Orthodox Faith full and entire. If he were to “modernise” or sell out to Rome…
BMD
Voices from Russia 
You must be logged in to post a comment.