Speech by metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, Chairman of the Department for external church relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, at the 6th World Russian People’s Council

SPEECH BY METROPOLITAN KIRILL OF SMOLENSK AND KALININGRAD,
CHAIRMAN OF THE DEPARTMENT FOR EXTERNAL CHURCH RELATIONS OF THE MOSCOW PATRIARCHATE,
AT THE 6TH WORLD RUSSIAN PEOPLE’S COUNCIL

Your Excellency, Highly Esteemed Vladimir Vladimirovich,
Your Holiness,
Dear participants in the Council:

The World Russian People’s Council is a powerful public movement uniting people who are Russian not only by blood but also by culture. Once a year it convenes a conciliar meeting to discuss the most pressing problems in the life of Russia and the world. The tragic events of September 11, 2001, have raised as acutely as never before the question of relationships among various faiths and civilizations.

The explosions in the American cities cannot be regarded as a “normal” act of terror. Indeed, when terrorists commit an outrage, they always make demands for a ransom, drugs, political concessions or release of prisoners. This time however nobody let it be known for what that monstrous outrage was committed and nobody assumed responsibility for it. Nevertheless, it is quite clear that the blow was not struck against just important financial and military objects, but against symbols of Western civilization familiar throughout the world. The terrorists, without sparing their own and others’ lives, tried by force to impose on another nations, and perhaps on the whole world, a religion and worldview of their own choice.

The sacred hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church have most resolutely condemned this crime and expressed condolences to the relatives and friends of the victims of this terrorist action, to the government of the United States and to the Russian Orthodox Church in America, declaring that the American people have the right to retaliate in order to prevent the threat of new crimes. Holy Scriptures has this to say about it: “All who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Mt. 26:52).

The implication of the attack is evident: the terrorists decided to show to the world their intention to enter into confrontation with the model of Western civilization and to declare their intention to offer humanity their own alternative. Unfortunately, such aspirations are characteristic of not only radicals from the Islamic world. We, for instance, remember very well how only recently the Soviet leaders tried to export “socialist revolution” to other countries. Finally, it is not for the first decade that the world has seen an expansion of secular liberal humanism – an ideology based on the priority of the temporal interests of sinful man over faith, over religious and moral values, over the idea of the state’s integrity and sovereignty and over patriotic sentiments.

Today some politicians, intellectuals and commentators predict and even provoke the so-called “clash of civilizations”, first of all Christian and Islamic. Actually, it is worthwhile to speak rather of a conflict of traditional values, including religious ones, with secular humanistic values. In fact, there is a certain contradiction here as for a truly religious man it is more dreadful to betray his faith than to die. Martyrdom is based on this. It is natural therefore that a believer seeks by all possible means to guard his kin and his nation against the sin of apostasy, even if it contradicts the humanistic ideals of “rights and freedoms”.

Let us take another example: the conflict between liberal humanism and the so-called civic faith, that is, patriotism. It is often said that the Chechen problem and the preservation of Russia’s integrity involved in it are not worthy a single human life. But the will of the people is disposed differently. We, and not only we but also most of the nations in today’s world believe that it is better to die defending one’s motherland by resorting to armed forces than to allow it to fall to pieces or to be enslaved. It means that in our society there are values that morally surpass the value of our life.

Nevertheless, it is precisely the non-religious, de-ideologized liberal standard that is offered today to the world community as a universal model for building up the life of the individual and state. However, many peoples seek to stand up for their own traditional way of life, believing it to be not a property of the past but a basis for the future. The situation has been aggravated by the negative consequences of globalization. In order to prevent a conflict of civilizations the world order should be rebuilt in such a way as to give every nation an opportunity to develop freely within its own cultural, historical and religious tradition, while taking an active part in making important international decisions.

It is my profound conviction that every nation has the right to have the religious or other traditional factors of its way of life to be taken into account in forming a common vision of world civilization. For a world based on only one civilization model common for all cannot be sustainable. International law and inter-state organizations should take into account the actual variety of worldviews existing in humanity.

The new world order should become multi-polar and multi-form. Globalization presupposes the growing role of international organizations to which national governments voluntarily delegate part their powers. It is important that in this process a balance should be established between decisions made by international organizations and the will of the states, nations and governments.

Multiformity should be asserted also on the level of cultural and civilizational values. It should be admitted that external freedom, secularl welfare and the political and economic model of development dominant today are not at all axioms or imperatives but only some of the ideological and cultural options of humanity. If a society believes other values to be more important, its option should be respected.

What place in building a new world order should belong to Russia? I am convinced that our country is capable of playing an important role in this process. Certainly, we should not try to dictate our will to the world, but at the same time, the experience of Russia may form the foundation for the formation of a unique civilization, equally entitled to participate in shaping the destiny of humanity no less than Western countries, China, India, Africa, Latin America, the Islamic or Jewish world.

Thus, Russia should become one of the centers of today’s world order. Many would reasonably ask: do we have sufficient grounds to claim such an important role in the global process? Indeed, present-day Russia does not have even a one tenth of the financial resources of the West. Besides, our population is much smaller than that of China and India, while domestic productivity is still in crisis. How can we gain the right to be regarded as a great civilization? Of course not by the force of arms, as our recent rulers hoped. I hope and believe that what will secure a worthy place for us in the new world order is the spiritual and intellectual potential of our people. We are capable of inventing not only new technologies, but also new political, economic and philosophical models. We are able to teach many things to the restless world of today, for it is no coincidence that Russian culture has always inspired both East and West. Finally, we are able to offer the world a new system of interaction between nations and civilizations – a system based on sufficient representation of all nations in global power structures, on the harmonious co-existence of faiths and worldviews, on more equitable economic relations.

We have an age-old tradition of interreligious dialogue and cooperation. Moreover, I would like to hope that our Russian civilization could become a mediator between the Western world and the world of Islam. There is a number of reasons for it. We will not repeat the commonly accepted fact that tens of millions of Russian Orthodox Christians have always lived in peace with millions of Muslims and that the Russian land has never been tainted by religious war. There is another reason to call us a bridge between the two civilizations. This reason lies in the twofold nature of Orthodoxy as Christianity of the East. We are Christians and therefore receptive to the religious sources of the Western civilization. On the other hand, we are rooted in Eastern culture with its commitment to traditional values, a certain way of life and the time-honoured ideas of family values, unshakable moral rules and the power and significance of patriotic sentiments. We appreciate both the concern of the West for human dignity and rights and the zeal of the East for the faith of the forefathers and for traditions. I hope that our call to equal and unprejudiced dialogue of the two civilizations will be heard precisely now when the processes of integration and globalization are gathering momentum in Europe. It is important that the common house being built today should not become a house where Eastern peoples are not made welcome. The Eastern cultural tradition should be fully represented in the civilization model that forms the basis of European and world integration.

The world will soon need the ideals characteristic of Russian civilization, such as self-limitation, the priority of the spiritual over the material, self-sacrifice and duty over consumerism and egoism, love and justice over the “rule of the strong”. The world will also need the Russian experience of co-existence of various cultures, beliefs and religions. It has never been characteristic of the Russian people to seek to alter other nations by force, deceit or cunning. There will be a demand for the energy of our people and their commitment to the service of humanity rooted in our history, spirituality and culture, in our service of God and His Truth.