Moscow, August 19, 2024.
August 19, 2024 marked the 24th anniversary of the great consecration of Christ the Savior Cathedral. At a meal after the Divine Liturgy on the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia shared his memories of how in the 90s of the last century, through the joint efforts of the Church and the Moscow City Government, the Cathedral was revived.
"Today the Cathedral of Christ the Savior stands in the center of Moscow as an amazing monument. A monument to the fact that even people seemingly far from the faith, but connected with the faith by their origin, upbringing, simply by belonging to our people, at some point realized the urgent need to rebuild churches in the capital," His Holiness Vladyka said, in particular.
"I told Yuri Luzhkov about the colossal lack of churches in Moscow, which ranked among the last in the country in the number of temples per capita. When I presented the figures to him, he was horrified. And I suggested that we start building new temples - two hundred at first, and then as God wills. That's how the program of building 200 new temples came into being," Patriarch Kirill continued.
"I thank our current mayor S.S. Sobyanin for the fact that he has fulfilled all his obligations and is fulfilling them, and today we have already built hundreds of churches," the Primate added.
"Moscow is the only metropolis in the world where so many Orthodox churches are being built. And this testifies both to the faith of our people and to what modern Russia is. When all over the world temples are closed, converted into casinos or restaurants, and in our country temples are built, recreated and filled with people, it is a sign of God, indicating the special Providence over our country and the special faith of our people. Because, having gone through terrible persecution of the faith, we have survived - we as the Church, as the Orthodox people", - said His Holiness Patriarch.
"And now we rejoice at this wonderful temple, which has become a symbol of revived Orthodoxy, and in a sense - a symbol of revived Russia. We are happy that our churches are filling up with people. But we must always remember that we are still at the very beginning of our journey," the Primate added.
"We must think about the real churching of our people - today it is still a very small percentage. We must not limit our preaching to the confines of the temple. Why I insist that there should be Orthodox gymnasiums, schools, that our clergy should go to universities, colleges, schools. Because there are young people there who have no idea why they should go to the temple. But when they meet an intelligent, educated, calm and, most importantly, a priest who looks at them with love, they will think about the need to go to church," the Patriarch is convinced.
"I say this, my dear lords, fathers and brothers, so that each of us understands: wherever we serve, wherever we work as pastors, we bear great responsibility for our people. Not only for the parishioners who come to us, but for all our people, - emphasized the Primate. - Because if not us, then who? The Russian Orthodox Church is the spiritual mother of the people. Before God we bear this historical and, if you like, eschatological responsibility for our Fatherland and for our people.
"Therefore, I wanted to I would like to once again expand the horizons of your pastoral thinking, your pastoral focus. You are responsible not only for those who come to your churches, not only for the churched Orthodox - although they are, of course, first and foremost. You are responsible for all the people, at least those who live on the territory of your parish or your district," His Holiness addressed the clergy.
"If we set such tasks for ourselves, our agenda will change very much. We will realize where and why we should go. Of course, much has already been done, so I thank the vicars, bishops, rectors and all those who carry out the orders of the Local and Bishops' Councils of the Russian Church and the Patriarch's instructions," the Primate concluded.
