Metropolitan Cyril proposes to legislatively consolidate the special role of four traditional faiths in Russia

The Chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate (MPC MP) Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad Kirill (Gundyaev), who is considered to be the second in the influence of the hierarch in the Russian Orthodox Church , said that in Russia it would be useful to consolidate at the legislative level a special relations of the state with four leading religious faiths of the country.

"Today there are such Orthodox countries as, for example, Greece and Georgia, whose constitutions enshrine the special position of the Orthodox Church, since the vast majority of the population of these states is Orthodox. In my opinion, there is nothing bad and threatening freedom of people of other faiths if the state publicly declares its special relations with the religions of the majority of their country," the interfax quoted the Metropolitan of the French journal Diplomatie .

In this case, he believes, clear and clear rules of church-state relationships, which are better amenable to public control, appear clear and understandable.

“It would be that it would be useful to determine such special relations with the four traditional religions of our country: Orthodoxy , Islam , Judaism and Buddhism ,” the metropolitan said.

In his opinion, this would allow the state and religious communities to cooperate in various social spheres in proportion to the number of believers belonging to a particular traditional religion.