“If good relations between the church and the state are developing today not only in Russia but throughout the canonical space of the Moscow Patriarchate, it is not because the church has gained some leverage over the government and the state, but because there has become more Orthodox people among politicians and important public figures,” RIA Novosti quotes Kirill as saying.
The miraculous Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, Hodegetria was brought to the cathedral for the special ceremony.
President Vladimir Putin as well as Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev congratulated the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill on his enthronement.
Dmitry Medvedev also said that the church has an important social mission, implementing large-scale projects aimed at the preservation and development of historical, cultural and spiritual traditions of our country.
