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In the evening of October 9, 2011, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia met with Moldova’s acting president and chairman of the parliament Mr. M. I. Lupu, at the presidential residence.

Participating in the meeting were also Metropolitan Vladimir of Kishinev and All Moldova, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s department for external church relations, Bishop Sergiy of Solnechnogorsk, director of the Moscow Patriarchate’s administrative secretariat, and Archpriest Nikolay Balashov, a DECR vice-chairman.

Greeting Mr. Lupu His Holiness Kirill said in particular, ‘I would like to thank you for the warm welcome which the state of Moldova has accorded me during my pastoral visitation to your country. This visitation has no political functions whatsoever, nor does it pursue any political consultation. It is aimed to help develop the spiritual life of people regardless of the political conjuncture in such a way that the devoted Orthodox people of Moldova may live on the basis of the spiritual and moral principles which every generations of the Moldavians has taken in with their mothers’ milk. These principles are asserted by the Orthodox Church in Moldova headed by His Eminence Metropolitan Vladimir.

‘In the complex situation of political misbalance and divisions, Moldova has virtually managed to preserve her church integrity. We will not discuss the circumstances that hamper this integrity – it is not a matter of church-state relations. It is a matter of relations between two Patriarchates. I very much hope that by God’s mercy, since we are two fraternal Orthodox Churches, Russian and Romanian, we will find points of contact and try to resolve these conflict situations. It is not easy to do because we as believers live in specific political contexts, but, rising above these contexts and motivated by church canons and our commitment to church tradition will achieve much.

‘From my heart I wish peace and prosperity to the independent Moldavian state. I wish spiritual growth and firmness to the Moldavian people. I wish prosperity to the Moldavian authorities in the sense that this prosperity should correspond exactly to the prosperity of the people and then the authorities will enjoy a great authority among people. Allow me to thank you once again for the hospitality and the opportunity to meet with you and share my thoughts. Thank you for your approach to the solution of very important problems in the life of Moldova and relations between East and West. All this can become a very important factor in building peace, welfare, prosperity and cooperation between people who belong to different states, nations, cultures and religions. May the Lord bless you and Moldova’.

Mr. Lupu thanked His Holiness for the warm words and noted that his country had covered a long way for the twenty years since she gained independence. Moldova’s political leaders, he said, attached special importance to cultural, intellectual and religious values and gave high value to the role of the Church in strengthening morals.

‘There are fundamental values on which the life of society as a whole depends. These are the values of family, relations between parents and children and mutual respect of generations. Here the state and the Church have a common mission. I am glad to note that we have always had very good cooperation and mutual understanding with the Metropolia of Moldova and very good relations with the Metropolitan of Kishinev and All Moldova for the benefit of the people’, he said and assured Patriarch Kirill that the state of Moldova wished to continue ‘to carry out the tasks of development and progress in the Republic of Moldova’ together with the Church.

Patriarchal Press Service/DECR Communication Service