Patriarch Kirill’s congratulations to Mr. Herman van Rompuy on his election as President of the European Union

The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church sent to Mr. Herman van Rompuy the following letter congratulating him on his election as President of the European Union:

Your Excellency,

I would like to offer you my heartfelt congratulations on your election to the important post of President of the European Union. Your talents and vast experience account for the high confidence in you shown by the leaders of united Europe who unanimously supported you nomination.

The reform of the European Union, which has resulted from the developing integration processes, does not remove from the agenda the question of common values called to consolidate the European space. The founders of the European Union were people who attached great importance to the European cultural and religious identity as an important component of the common European home.

I hope that in exercising your high authority, you will be able to give attention to the values dialogue between European international structures and traditional religious communities in Europe to which the Russian Orthodox Church belongs. This dialogue has already started and I believe it will lead us to the awareness that the future of the European continent is unthinkable without reliance on the Christian heritage.

Respectfully,

+ Kirill

Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia