Patriarch Kirill of Moscow

Kirill or Cyril is a Russian Orthodox bishop. He became Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' and Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church on 1 February 2009.
Prior to becoming Patriarch, Kirill was Archbishop of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, and also Chairman of the Russian Orthodox Church's Department for External Church Relations. He has been a permanent member of the Holy Synod since 1989.
A close ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Kirill has described Putin's rule as "a miracle of God". According to Putin, Kirill's father baptized him. During his tenure as Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus', Kirill has brought the Russian Orthodox Church closer to the Russian state. Kirill's relationship with Bartholomew I of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch and the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide, has been tense.
Kirill has lauded the Russian invasion of Ukraine, justifying the war as a struggle against "forces of evil". The World Russian People's Council under his leadership described the conflict as a "Holy War". Clergy in other Orthodox Churches have condemned his remarks, with Bartholomew I saying that Kirill's support for Putin and the war were "damaging to the prestige of the whole of Orthodoxy".

Early life and career

Kirill was born Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyayev in Leningrad on 20 November 1946. His father, Rev. Mikhail Gundyaev, died in 1974. His mother, Raisa Gundyaeva, a teacher of German, died in 1984. His elder brother, Archpriest Nikolay Gundyaev, is a professor at Leningrad Theological Academy and rector of the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral in St. Petersburg. His grandfather, Rev. Vasily Gundyaev, a Solovki prisoner, was imprisoned and exiled in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s for his church activity and struggle against Renovationism.
After finishing the eighth grade, Vladimir Gundyayev obtained a job in the Leningrad Geological Expedition and worked for it from 1962 to 1965 as cartographer, combining work with studies at secondary school. After graduation from school, he entered the Leningrad Seminary and later the Leningrad Theological Academy, from which he graduated cum laude in 1970.
On 3 April 1969, Metropolitan Nicodemus of Leningrad and Novgorod tonsured him with the name of Kirill after saint Cyril the Philosopher and on 7 April ordained him as hierodeacon and on 1 June as hieromonk. From 1970 to 1971, Father Kirill taught Dogmatic Theology and acted as rector's assistant for students' affairs at the Leningrad Theological Schools and at the same time worked as personal secretary to Metropolitan Nicodem and supervising instructor of the first-grade seminarians.

Episcopal ministry

Archimandrite

On 12 September 1971, Kirill was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and was posted as a representative of the Russian Orthodox Church to the World Council of Churches in Geneva. On 26 December 1974, he was appointed rector of the Leningrad Academy and Seminary. Since December 1975, he has been a member of the WCC central committee and executive committee.
In 1971, he was appointed representative of the Moscow Patriarchate at the World Council of Churches and has been actively involved in the ecumenical activity of the Russian Orthodox Church since then.
Since 1994, Kirill has hosted a weekly Orthodox television program "Слово пастыря" on ORT/Channel One.

Archbishop

On 14 March 1976, Archimandrite Kirill was consecrated Bishop of Vyborg, Vicar of the Leningrad diocese.
On 2 September 1977, he was elevated to the rank of archbishop.
From 26 December 1984, he was Archbishop of Smolensk and Vyazma.
From 1986 – administrator of the parishes in the Kaliningrad Region.
From 1988, he became Archbishop of Smolensk and Kaliningrad.
On 13 November 1989, he was appointed chairman of the department for external church relations and permanent member of the Holy Synod.
On 25 February 1991, Archbishop Kirill was elevated to the rank of metropolitan.

The Supreme Authority of the Church charged Kirill with the following functions:

from 1975 to 1982 – chairman of the Leningrad Diocesan Council;
from 1975 to 1998 – member of the Central and Executive Committees of the World Council of Churches;
from 1976 to 1978 – deputy Patriarchal Exarch for Western Europe;
from 1976 to 1984 – member of the Holy Synod commission for Christian unity;
from 1978 to 1984 – administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in Finland;
from 1978 to 1988 – member of the Millennium of the Baptism of Russia preparatory commission;
in 1990 – member of the preparatory commission for the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church;
in 1990 – member of the commission for assistance in overcoming the consequences of the Chernobyl accident;
from 1989 to 1996 – administrator of the Hungarian Orthodox deanery;
from 1990 to 1991 – temporary administrator of the diocese of the Hague and Netherlands;
from 1990 to 1993 – temporary administrator of the diocese of Korsun;
from 1990 to 1993 – chairman of the Holy Synod commission for reviving religion and moral.
Foreign relations

On 20 October 2008, while on a tour of Latin America, he had a meeting with First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Fidel Castro. Castro commended Metropolitan Kirill as his ally in combating "American imperialism". Kirill awarded Fidel and Raúl Castro the Order of St. Daniel of Moscow on behalf of Patriarch Alexy II in recognition of their decision to build the first Russian Orthodox Church in Havana, to serve the Russian expatriates living there.
He was criticised by some for the ROC's failures in the Diocese of Sourozh and Ukraine.

Patriarch of Moscow

On 6 December 2008, the day after the death of Patriarch Alexy II, the Russian Holy Synod elected him locum tenens of the Patriarchal throne. On 9 December, during the funeral service for Alexey II in Christ the Saviour Cathedral, he was seen and reported to have fainted at one point. On 27 January 2009, the ROC Local Council elected Kirill I of Moscow as Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus; with 508 votes out of 700. He was enthroned on 1 February 2009.

Ecumenism

The conservative wing in the Russian Orthodox Church criticized Kirill for practicing ecumenism throughout the 1990s. In 2008, breakaway Bishop Diomid of Anadyr and Chukotka criticized him for associating himself with the Catholic Church. However, in a 2009 statement, Kirill stated that there could be no doctrinal compromise with the Catholic Church, and that discussions with them did not have the goal of seeking unification.
On 12 February 2016, Kirill and Pope Francis, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, met at José Martí International Airport near Havana, Cuba, and signed a thirty point joint declaration, prepared in advance, addressing global issues including their hope for re–establishment of full unity, the persecution of Christians in the Middle East, the Syrian Civil War and church organisation in Ukraine. This was the first meeting between a pope and a Russian Orthodox patriarch.
On 3 September 2019, Kirill and Paulose II, the head of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, met at the Patriarchal and Synod residence in St. Daniel Monastery, Moscow. During this meeting, Kirill supported the proposals made by Paulose II for cooperation in academics pertaining to iconography, church choristers, monasticism, pilgrimages, summer institutes and academic conferences.

Administrative reform

Patriarch Kirill introduced significant changes in the administrative structure of the Church. On 31 March 2009, the Holy Synod, at its first meeting under the chairmanship of the newly elected Patriarch Kirill, reformed the DECR, forming new synodal institutions, which were entrusted with certain areas of activity previously dealt with by the DECR. The, independent from the DECR, was created; this department was responsible for "the implementation of relations with legislative bodies, political parties, professional and creative unions, and other civil society institutions in the canonical territory of the Moscow Patriarchate." Dioceses,, metochions, monasteries and stavropegic parishes far abroad, which were previously under the authority of the DECR, were directly subordinated to the Patriarch of Moscow of All Russia; to manage them, the Moscow Patriarchate's Secretariat for Institutions Abroad was created. The was created. The post-graduate department of the Moscow Theological Academy, which operated under the DECR, was transformed into the.
On 27 July 2011, the Holy Synod of the Church established the Central Asian Metropolitan District, reorganizing the structure of the Church in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. Since 6 October 2011, at the request of the Patriarch, the diocesan reform began, in which 2–3 dioceses were created on the territory of one region instead of one with the formation of a metropolis, administrative structure bringing together neighboring eparchies.

Foreign relations

Kirill "heartily congratulated" Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko for winning the Belarusian presidency in 2010 in a non-democratic election.
According to the Financial Times, "Keenly aware that Putin's actions severely undermined his authority in Ukraine, Kirill refused to absorb Crimea's parishes and boycotted a ceremony in the Kremlin to celebrate Russia's annexation."
During the Orthodox Church of Ukraine autocephaly controversy, Patriarch Kirill was the presiding chairman of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church when the decision was made to break Eucharistic communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate on 15 October 2018.
In 2019, he created a working committee with the Malankara Orthodox Church.
After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Kirill praised the invasion. Kirill blamed the conflict on "gay parades" and made baseless claims that Ukraine was "exterminating" Russians in Donbass, Kirill's remarks prompted clergy in some other Orthodox dioceses to condemn Kirill's remarks and seek independence from the Moscow church.