Metropolitan Kirill expresses his condolences on the occasion of Boris Yeltsin’s death

In the message to Boris Yeltsin’s widow Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations expressed his condolences on the occasion of her husband’s death. Below is the full text of the message.

Dear Naina Iosifovna,

On this day I express my deepest condolences on the occasion of your husband’s death.

Boris Nikolaevich’s life was not an easy one. The end of 1980s and the beginning of 1990s was a hard time. At the moment when Russia had to choose its destiny he could feel the nation’s will to the new life. He was at the head of the state at a difficult crucial moment, which involved courage and decisiveness. As head of state Boris Nikolaevich supported a new model of relations between the Church and the state which can be described as a determination to cooperate. As much as he could he facilitated the restoration of a due role of the Russian Orthodox Church in the nation’s life.

Sharing the pain of the loss with you and your relatives, I hope that the Lord grants you spirit and strength to go through this ordeal with dignity.

Yours faithfully,

/+Kirill/

Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad

Chairman

Department for External Church Relations

Moscow Patriarchate