Moscow Patriarch Cyril plays his reputation
The Russian Orthodox Patriarch Cyril I celebrated his 75th birthday in November 2021 as a world-renowned, if not uncontroversial, prince of the church. Because of his attitude to Russia’s war against Ukraine, this reputation has been badly damaged not only in the West, but also in orthodoxy. Many patriarchal clergymen of Russia outside themselves continue to mention His name in worship. In the EU, he was quickly on a sanctions list, which was only prevented by the Hungarian government of Viktor Orban.
Now Kyrill would have had the chance to talk to numerous religious leaders at the World Congress of Religions in Kazakhstan in mid-September; Among them and especially with Pope Francis. For a long time it looked as if the difficult encounter would take place. On Wednesday evening the cancellation came from Moscow; Kyrill does not come to Nur-Sultan. A meeting with the Pope had to become an “independent event,” not a fringe event. The signs do not point to dialogue.
Loyal ally of Putin
From his point of view, Kyrill can look back on a successful career. Since his election as patriarch at the beginning of 2009, he has been able to double the number of his dioceses, especially abroad, and has continuously increased the influence of his church on politics and society. In him, President Vladimir Putin has a loyal ally with whom he shares many views – above all the ideology of the “Russian world” and his contempt for “the West”.
Citing this connection to a common past in the Soviet KGB, as some authors do, is perhaps too far-fetched. However, without the consent of the secret service and appropriate consideration, Kyrill could not have worked as the official representative of the Patriarchate at the World Council of Churches in Geneva from 1971 to 1974. Obviously, this period did not bring about a greater understanding of the western way of thinking and living in him.
Born on November 20, 1946 in Leningrad (Saint Petersburg), Vladimir Michailowitsch Gundjajew, his real name, grew up in a priestly family. His grandfather, father and an older brother were also priests. Full of admiration, he remembers that his grandfather Wassilij Gundjajew (1879-1969) fought against the closure of churches and for orthodox Christianity in the 1920s to 1940s. Even more than 20 years of imprisonment would not have broken him, but on the contrary, he would have been strengthened by advising his grandson: “Do not be afraid of anyone – except God.” .
After the guest performance in Geneva, he returned home and quickly rose through the ranks: first rector of the Leningrad seminary and the Theological Academy, he was ordained bishop in 1976, in 1988 he became archbishop of Smolensk and Kaliningrad and from 1989 until his election in addition to Patriarch, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Universal claim
As head of the church, he stages his universal claim, as a glance at the Patriarchate’s website shows. An audience here, a message there, congratulations or a message of condolence there. This also fits in with Kyrill’s love of expensive status symbols such as the luxury watch visible in a poorly retouched photo.
Nevertheless, he is only fifth in the ranking of Orthodox patriarchs worldwide. For years he has been making life difficult for the official honorary head of Orthodoxy, Bartholomew I of Constantinople. So he snubbed him in 2016 with the boycott of the orthodox council of Crete, which had been in preparation for decades, which thus ended in failure. Bartholomaios retaliated by granting independence to the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine” in 2018 – whereupon Kyrill broke off church relations with Constantinople and all those churches that recognized them.
On the one hand, the desire to further tie the Church in Ukraine to Moscow is understandable; after all, it not only forms the historical and spiritual origin of the Russian Church, but also accounts for more than a quarter of the believers, churches and monasteries. But Cyril’s uncompromising claim to power, who did not shy away from military conquest, had a fatal effect on this goal. Thus he may have gone down in history as the head of the church who lost Ukraine to Moscow; at least for a long time.