Israeli President Shimon Peres says 'Russia truly saved the world', at meeting with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill in Jerusalem
“Russia truly saved the world from total destruction. We will never forget that she also saved our people.”
Jerusalem, November 12, 2012
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| His Holiness Patriarch Kirill met with the President of the State of Israel Sh. Peres |
The meeting of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia with Israeli President Shimon Peres took place on November 11, 2012 at the residence of the Head of State in Jerusalem, the DECR communication service reports.
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| Shimon Peres noted that he was glad to greet His Holiness Patriarch Kirill as the spiritual leader of millions of people |
In his address to the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, Shimon Peres noted that he was glad to greet His Holiness Patriarch Kirill as the spiritual leader of millions of people. “We appreciate and respect your activities,” he said.
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“Your visit, Your Holiness, is a wonderful opportunity to express the deepest respect that we have for the Orthodox faith,” the President noted. He emphasized that the State of Israel is ready to do everything in order to provide the Orthodox and representatives of other religions with the opportunity to live and pray in peace and security on this land in accordance with their establishments. Shimon Peres also shared his impressions of his recent visit to Russia. “I came back deeply impressed. Russia has not only geographical scope, but also historical greatness. People are already used to it, but this will not change the fact that Russia is one of the greatest countries in history and today.”
In his opinion, the fact that Russia, together with its allied countries, won the Second World War and paid the highest price for it, cannot be forgotten: “Russia truly saved the world from total destruction. We will never forget that she also saved our people.”
Responding to the greeting, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' said: “I thank you for the kind words you addressed to me. They have great wisdom, great experience and great cordiality.”
His Holiness said that he was visiting the Holy Land in accordance with the tradition that each Head of the Local Orthodox Church, after his election, pays visits to other Orthodox Churches. “For centuries, the Russian Church has maintained good relations with the Jerusalem Patriarchate,” His Holiness further noted. – These relations go back to the deepest antiquity, they were very intense in the Middle Ages, and the Russian Church has always taken the life of the Jerusalem Patriarchate to heart. Today I enjoy the fraternal hospitality of His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilus, with whom we pray together at the holy places of Jerusalem and talk about many things brotherly.”
His Holiness the Patriarch also thanked the authorities of the State of Israel for their assistance in organizing the visit. "I am very touched by the signs of attention to my visit and would like it to make its modest contribution to the development of relations between Israel and Russia."
Noting the high level of relations between the two countries, Patriarch Kirill said: “Of course, political changes at the end of the 20th century played a big role. But there are two more factors that bind our countries and peoples in a very special way today. There is practically no other non-Slavic country in the world where such a large number of people would speak Russian fluently, and not just speak, but also preserve the culture and good attitude towards Russia. The second factor is the large number of pilgrims who come to the Holy Land today. After the wise decision to abolish the visa regime, today the number of people who come on pilgrimage is measured in tens, hundreds of thousands of people.”
In a conversation with the President of Israel, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' spoke about the interaction of the four traditional religions of Russia - Orthodoxy, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism: “For a thousand years of the joint existence of communities, there has not been a single religious war. People have always been able to live together. And today, in the conditions of complete religious freedom that exists in Russia, we not only live together, but also cooperate. There is an Interreligious Council in Russia, where we jointly make the most important decisions concerning our relations with the state and with society. In a sense, this is a unique experience of interaction between representatives of religious communities, and the initiators of this cooperation were the religions themselves. No one invited us to this cooperation, no one pushed us to it.”
Patriarch Kirill called morality, which stems from the Bible, the basis for interaction, noting that the Ten Commandments of Moses correspond with the moral nature of man. “Based on this basis, we can jointly evaluate what is happening in the world around us,” His Holiness noted. “We make joint statements, we defend the religious dimension of life, because today there are people and forces who do not consider it essential for a person. We are convinced that this is a big mistake, because faith elevates a person, strengthens his moral side of life.”
One of the main topics of the conversation was the ways to achieve peace in the Middle East region. Shimon Peres stressed the importance of the spiritual factor in establishing peace and harmony in the region.
For his part, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church expressed the opinion: "Religious leaders can help spread the belief that renunciation of the use of force is the only way to solve the problems of the Middle East."
During the meeting, issues related to the activities of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem were also discussed.