Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad speaks against an exhibition insulting religious feelings of the believers

METROPOLITAN KIRILL OF SMOLENSK AND KALININGRAD SPEAKS AGAINST AN EXHIBITION INSULTING RELIGIOUS FEELINGS OF THE BELIEVERS

Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad answered questions of the journalists at a press-conference held in the Russian ‘Novosty’ Informational Agency on 20 January 2003 and expressed his opinion on the incident in the Sakharov museum at the exposition under shocking name ‘Beware of Religion! on 18 January 2003.

Metropolitan Kirill did not support the extremists, who smashed up the exposition of blasphemous depictions of the Savior, the Mother of God and Christian saints. He underlined that such methods are unacceptable for the faithful.

At the same time the DECR Chairman called the exhibition, which insults religious feelings of the majority of Russian population, a provocation. ‘We must be sensible to the convictions of other people and never allow the national sentiments to be insulted and the religious discord to be aroused’, – Metropolitan Kirill said. ‘According to Russian legislation, any provocation, which insults the feelings of the faithful and stirs up religious enmity, must be qualified as a crime ‘.

Metropolitan Kirill expressed his hope that the organizers of such expositions would consider the opinion of the believing Muscovites.

See also:

Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate