HH wants to be a pastor, NOT a government minister…
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On Friday, Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev, the First Hierarch of the Patriarchate of Moscow and all the Russias, shot back at critics that accused him of confusing the roles of the state and the Church, as allegedly evidenced by a draft bill criminalising religious offences, by saying, “The Church isn’t interested in obtaining state powers or even state status as in certain European countries”, in an apparent reference to the legal privileges of Lutheran churches in Scandinavia. However, His Holiness said that demands to separate Church and state often mask an attempt to force the Church to give up its ministerial mission, and that believers should abandon their civil rights and responsibilities. He spoke at a conference at Moscow State University, which students reported earlier to be forced to attend, a move that drew rebuke from Church leadership.
A bill proposing punishing offences against religious sentiment with jail terms of up to three years is currently pending review in the RF Gosduma, where observers expect all four major parliamentary factions to back it. The bill’s critics say it discriminates against unbelievers and is aimed at strengthening the union between the Kremlin and the Church, which flourished after Kirill backed Putin’s presidential bid earlier this year.
28 September 2012
RIA-Novosti
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20120928/176281203.html
Voices from Russia 
HH sez the Church Has No Interest in Taking over the State’s Role
Tags: blasphemy, Christian, Christianity, Duma, Eastern Orthodox Church, Government of Russia, Kirill I of Moscow, Moscow, Moscow Patriarchate, Moscow State University, Orthodox, Orthodoxy, Patriarch Kirill, Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev, Patriarch Kirill I, political commentary, politics, Religion, Religion and Spirituality, RF Gosduma, Russia, Russian, Russian Orthodox Church, Scandinavia, State Duma, Vladimir Putin
HH wants to be a pastor, NOT a government minister…
______________________________
On Friday, Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev, the First Hierarch of the Patriarchate of Moscow and all the Russias, shot back at critics that accused him of confusing the roles of the state and the Church, as allegedly evidenced by a draft bill criminalising religious offences, by saying, “The Church isn’t interested in obtaining state powers or even state status as in certain European countries”, in an apparent reference to the legal privileges of Lutheran churches in Scandinavia. However, His Holiness said that demands to separate Church and state often mask an attempt to force the Church to give up its ministerial mission, and that believers should abandon their civil rights and responsibilities. He spoke at a conference at Moscow State University, which students reported earlier to be forced to attend, a move that drew rebuke from Church leadership.
A bill proposing punishing offences against religious sentiment with jail terms of up to three years is currently pending review in the RF Gosduma, where observers expect all four major parliamentary factions to back it. The bill’s critics say it discriminates against unbelievers and is aimed at strengthening the union between the Kremlin and the Church, which flourished after Kirill backed Putin’s presidential bid earlier this year.
28 September 2012
RIA-Novosti
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20120928/176281203.html