By INTERFAX.RU
September 12, 2014 Anno Domini
Translated from the Russian
The Russian Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill on Friday presented the leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Gennady Zyuganov with the Order of Glory and Honour of the III degree in connection with the politician’s 70th anniversary, the website of the Moscow Patriarchate reports.
“Despite the fact that there are different forces in the political life of the country, with which the Church never identifies itself, it always defends those fundamental values without which our people and our society cannot exist,” the patriarch said, presenting the award.
According to Kirill, when it comes to preserving basic values, “and these are the values of faith, morality, culture, unity of our people, then all political forces should be together.”
In turn, Zyuganov presented Patriarch Kirill with a commemorative medal of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation “70 years of the liberation of the Crimea and Sevastopol from the Nazi invaders.”
The Order of Glory and Honour was established in 2004 and is the second oldest order of the Russian Orthodox Church. It is awarded for a significant contribution to interchurch and interreligious cooperation, to the strengthening of peace and friendship between peoples.