Translated material
According to Patriarch Kirill, the Russian intelligentsia tends to view the Church “as folklore” - and this is one of the reasons for the rejection of the public activities of the Russian Orthodox Church
9 April 2011, in the program "The Word of the Shepherd", Patriarch Kirill answered a number of issues related to the wary attitude of the public towards public activities Russian Church.
He stressed that “ the time has come when the Church is actively involved in dialogue with society - and with the intelligentsia, and with political forces, and with creative unions, and with trade unions, and with individuals; and participates in this dialogue is active, not as a led, weak start , but by offering ideas, often very bright, attractive, which are actively discussed .
Criticism of church activity, in his opinion, is not justified and is associated only with "internal rejection sermons of the Church.
" When the Church was in a confined space , he believes, when she was in her temples, when no one heard her word, then the majority, including of our intelligentsia, was romantically indulgent attitude to the Church as to some kind of folklore , as to some part of the cultural traditions. Then the Church was somewhere out there, far away. But when the Church turns today to people and preaches Christ in such a way that it becomes audible, then this sermon many are not satisfied, because it diverges, in principle, from their life settings and.
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