State of Patriarch Kirill Forbes. The yacht of Patriarch Kirill. Where does Patriarch Kirill get a yacht from? What does the Russian Orthodox Church say about Patriarch Kirill's personal yacht? Land transport of Patriarch Kirill

Patriarch Kirill (Gundyaev Vladimir) - Bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, and also after the elections in 2009 by the Local Council - Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', Chairman of the DECR and a permanent member of the Holy Synod. Prior to his enthronement, he served as Metropolitan of the Smolensk and Kaliningrad churches.

Born in the autumn of 1946 in Leningrad. In high school, he combined his studies with work. After completing his studies, he entered the Seminary of the Clergy.

In the late 1960s he was tonsured, and a year later he graduated with honors from the Academy of the Clergy. Two years later, he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and in the same period became the representative of the Metropolitan Patriarchate in Geneva.

In the mid-1970s, he was elevated to the rank of bishop of the Vyborg diocese, and later assumed the office of archbishop. Since the beginning of the 90s, he has been chairman of the commission of the Holy Synod, and a year later he was elevated to the rank of metropolitan.

In early 2009, he became a candidate for the post of Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', and two days later he won the vote with 75% of the vote.

A significant event in 2016 was his meeting with Pope Francis, which took place on neutral territory in Havana.

Family

His mother worked as a foreign language teacher, and his father was the chief mechanic at the factory, but in the end he decided to take the priesthood. Grandfather was also close to the Orthodox faith and fought against the destruction of churches in Soviet time.

The elder brother - Nikolay, holds the position of archpriest and is the rector of one of the cathedrals, worked as a professor at the academy of the clergy. The younger sister, Irina, works as a director in a gymnasium with Orthodox education.

Where does Patriarch Kirill live?

The main residence is the estate located in the village of Peredelkino. On a plot of two and a half hectares, there is a main three-story building and separate buildings adjacent to it, including: personal apartments, reception halls, a house church, a hotel, utility rooms and a health complex, as well as a parking lot and a food storage box.

In addition, there is a pond and a park area with sculptures and households on the territory. household buildings.

The estate itself is furnished with luxury interior items brought from Italy, and the facade of the building resembles the Terem Palace in the Kremlin.

The DECR chairman travels a lot around the cities of Russia and conducts educational activities, so he does not have a permanent place of residence. The main places where he stops are: St. Danilov Monastery, the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, residences on Valaam and Chisty Lane for working meetings, as well as several mansions: on Solovki, in Trinity-Lykovo and on Rublevka.

A few years ago in Gelendzhik in the village of Praskoveevka, on an area of ​​just over 16 hectares, the construction of the Spiritual and Educational Center under the Russian Orthodox Church began. This construction was covered in different media in different ways.

According to one report, meetings and meetings of the Holy Synod will be held here, for whose members living quarters are also being built. In addition, this center will conduct educational work with youth and receive Primates and delegations from other churches.

According to other reports, this estate will serve as a dacha to a greater extent and is being built mainly for the summer holidays of the patriarch.

Apartment of Patriarch Kirill

While still a metropolitan, he for a long time lived in Serebryany Bor in a small wooden house. The land area is about 7,000 square meters. Outbuildings and buildings for educational and church activities are located on the territory, but the main house is small and already quite dilapidated.

During this period, President Boris Yeltsin and his entourage decided to improve their living conditions and presented the clergyman with a five-room apartment measuring 140 square meters. meters. The living space is located in the famous "House on the Embankment" on Serafimovich Street, house 2.

He does not live here and never has. Initially, the donated property was in very bad condition and not habitable. Over time, the apartment was put in order and a collection of rare books, which Kirill's father began to collect back in Soviet times, was moved here for storage.

The apartment is located on the top floor of the building and has a magnificent view of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. This is the only property officially owned by Vladimir Gundyaev.

According to CIAN, apartments at Serafimovicha, 2 are larger than 100 sq. meters cost from 95 to 300 million rubles.

The schedule of the Patriarch is such that, being next to him, you often do not understand how a person can accommodate and endure all this. But, on the other hand, being nearby, you see that His Holiness the Patriarch, first of all, draws his strength from his personal, very deep spiritual life, and it is in relation to it that he measures everything else. Arranges his life on a spiritual basis. The well-known Gospel truth comes to mind: “What is impossible with men is possible with God” (Luke 18:27). And prayer comes first.

Prayer, like any Orthodox person, begins his day. The Patriarch performs daily rules and divine services, hidden from human eyes, in the temple of his residence in Peredelkino. Here, in the Danilov Monastery, before the beginning of the working day and at the end of it, His Holiness enters the church, kisses icons and shrines.

But even this side is external. Inside, there is a complete realization that the Patriarch is in the hands of God. As His Holiness said several times, God does not give a cross beyond human strength, and if the life of the Primate of the Russian Church develops in this way, then there is an undoubted Providence of God both about him and, of course, about our entire Local Church. Probably, now, in the current conditions, a calm, measured way of life of the Primate, a gray-haired old man, who measures work with time for proper rest, is simply impossible.

Nevertheless, it would be interesting and useful for our readers to get acquainted with what time the Holy One gets up, how much he sleeps. People who occupy a fairly high position are well aware that without an established daily routine it is difficult to achieve something, even if you ask God for help.

I, as you understand, can only talk about things that I see myself.

The Patriarch gets up early in the morning and after the prayer rule and breakfast leaves for the Danilov residence. If you need to serve, and this happens quite often, he gets up even earlier.

In the first half of the day, His Holiness works with documents and meets with employees of the Patriarchate. In the second half, official meetings and negotiations begin. Various kinds of guests often come to the Patriarch: clergymen, and representatives of the Local Orthodox Churches, and representatives of other Christian denominations, other religious communities, various public and political figures. A lot of people want to meet him, they are waiting for these meetings. Therefore, the day of His Holiness is often scheduled to the minute, and, as far as I can see, the Patriarch practically does not have free time.

Meetings of this kind usually continue until six in the evening, after which the Patriarch again works with documents, has dinner, and leaves for home at seven, eight, and sometimes nine in the evening. Work with documents continues here and closer to midnight the working day ends.

As for rest... On the one hand, the Patriarch does not come to the Danilov residence every day: he has days when he works at home, in Peredelkino. On the other hand, you can’t call it a vacation, because then he takes suitcases of documents with him. His Holiness should read about 300 pages of various texts daily. And that's not counting meetings, worship services, sermons and preparation for them.

It takes a tremendous amount of intellectual and emotional stress to keep up with such a schedule.

Yes, this is not a novel. These are diverse texts, documents of the different levels, direction and scale, and each of them needs to be reacted differently, very quickly switch from one to another.

In my opinion, this is a normal phenomenon, a natural consequence of the gigantic work that is now taking place in the Church under the leadership of His Holiness the Patriarch.

If we talk about where the Patriarch learned all this, then this is also reflected in his many years of experience in the Department for External Church Relations (His Holiness took part in almost all key events of church life over the past 40 years), but also, of course, a huge spiritual and life experience.

Worship and Prayer Rule

A lukewarmness is now developing in Christians: many lay people do not go to vigils, they even miss Sunday liturgies. In this sense, His Holiness, of course, sets an example for all of us. How often does he serve?

The patriarch serves every Sunday plus one or two services on weekdays - an average of two or three services per week. Probably, the parish priest serves more often, but for the Patriarch, with all his busyness and deeds, this is a lot. Over the past year, he performed 237 services, which is almost eight months of daily services. In my opinion, this is a very serious volume, taking into account all other concerns, and what is also very important, taking into account the fact that many of these services are performed not in Moscow, but on difficult trips. The usual schedule of the trip is a flight, arrival, evening service and a word to people who are waiting for the Patriarch. Then a dinner with the episcopate and representatives of local authorities is also always a sermon, because the Patriarch uses this kind of informal meetings again for a frank conversation about the Church, about pastoral ministry. There is never some empty talk about the weather or local customs here. In the morning Liturgy, sermon, blessing of the faithful, a short break, visits to churches and some other components of the program of the visit, another plane, flight. This is not the easiest thing to do, but in the center of it is always worship and preaching.

And when you ask yourself where the forces come from for all this, you need to understand that any divine service that the Patriarch performs (first of all, of course, the Liturgy) is a huge spiritual event for him personally. I always pray at the altar when His Holiness celebrates the Eucharist, and I have never seen him celebrate it with fatigue, indifference, or, as they say, in a “regular manner”. He always draws strength from the worship itself, it is easy for him in the service.

The Patriarch always reads aloud the prayers of the Eucharistic Canon, secret and priestly prayers. This is an old Petersburg tradition. It helps people who are at the service to understand and realize, on the one hand, the service itself, on the other hand, the tension with which the Patriarch is immersed in prayer. At this moment you yourself are forced - and there is simply no other possibility - to pray purely. And of course it's worth it!

Every time, even if the liturgy is performed by him every day for a certain period of time, the Patriarch serves it as if for the first time. With a very strong feeling. And this, of course, gives a great impetus to those who pray with him.

From a conversation with the head of the Patriarchal Press Service, Deacon Alexander Volkov

At a meeting of abbots and abbesses of the Russian Orthodox Church on September 22 in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Patriarch Kirill (Vladimir Gundyaev in the world) criticized the leaders of monasteries for striving for comfort and luxury. He forbade them to decorate wands with “jewelry trinkets” and instructed everyone to order simple wooden staffs upon their return home.

In addition, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church said that although ministers in monasteries need to have pocket money, there should not be a formal salary there. He explained the call for such modesty by the fact that the abbots and governors of monasteries should “think more about the ascetic feat.”

To make the exhortations of the patriarch to church servants about the rejection of luxury and worldly goods sound more convincing, Open Russia recalls how “ascetically” the most holy Vladyka himself lives.

Real estate

It is authentically known about a 5-room apartment of 144.8 square meters registered in the name of Vladimir Gundyaev in the "House on the Embankment" overlooking the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. In 2012, the patriarch, in an interview with journalist Vladimir Solovyov, said that President Boris Yeltsin allocated this housing to him. At the same time, at that time, Gundyaev lived in a wooden service residence in Serebryany Bor and did not need a new living space. But in Yeltsin's entourage, they considered that the patriarch lives in a "wrecked building" and gave him an apartment in the center of the capital.

According to Gundyaev, he never really lived in the “House on the Embankment”, but moved there “many thousands of rare library of his father, who spent all his salary on the purchase of rare books.” According to The New Times magazine, the patriarchal penthouse was bought in 2002 and is the only property registered in his real name.

However, over time, the patriarch acquired an impressive list of real estate provided to him by the state or the church: a working residence in Chisty Lane, chambers in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra (in a separate building), a residence in the Danilov Monastery, a palace near Gelendzhik, a residence on Valaam, houses in Trinity -Lykovo, on Solovki and on Rublyovka next to Dmitry Medvedev's dacha.

The permanent residence of Gundyaev is the Kolychev-Bode estate in Peredelkino. For its construction, several houses of local residents had to be demolished. The facade of the building is similar to the Terem Palace in the Kremlin. But, as the media say, the patriarch does not like this estate: it is too close to the railway, and getting here is inconvenient and long. He does not like to live in the center of Moscow, where the environment is bad. And Serebryany Bor is too crowded: the plot area is only 7723 square meters.

The patriarch likes to live in a newly decorated palace in the Danilov Monastery. Or in a residence near Gelendzhik, not far from "Putin's palace" in Praskoveevka. For the construction of this patriarchal palace, which is officially called the "spiritual and educational center", it was necessary to cut down part of the reserve with trees listed in the Red Book, as well as greatly expand the territory, "capturing" a piece of the coastal zone and cutting off the road to the cemetery from local residents.

Through various companies (including those using the benefits provided by the church) and intermediaries, Patriarch Kirill at various times tried to get into other markets. For example, in the oil industry in the second half of the 1990s. It is believed that this business brought him the largest income, which is not exactly known.

In 2000, Vladimir Gundyaev began to deal with seafood - caviar, king crabs, shrimp. He earned about $17 million from this.

He was also involved in the extraction of Ural gems, the establishment of banks, the purchase of shares and real estate.

Another of his business was related to cars. But all that is known about this is that he, as the ruling bishop of the diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate in the Kaliningrad region, participated in an automobile joint venture in Kaliningrad. His business team included Archbishop Kliment (Kapalin) and Archpriest Vladimir Veriga. They also gained fame as defendants in the "tobacco" scandal.

For me, he is just Cyril

- You didn't ask him why he became a monk?

Cyril said that Metropolitan Nikodim, his teacher and mentor, pushed him to this step. After all, Cyril grew up as a believing boy from childhood. At school he refused to join the pioneers, and did not become a member of the Komsomol. Then fate brought him to Nicodemus. He, in turn, advised him to enter the seminary. And then the mentor said: “If you want to reach a high position, then you have to be a monk.”

- Have you met Metropolitan Nikodim?

Yes, we met in Geneva. He came there as part of a delegation. Kirill warned him that I was a consul, but I was related to the special services. I was afraid of this meeting, I knew that Nicodemus hated the organs. But, oddly enough, the first thing the metropolitan said upon meeting him was: “That's it, Vadim Alekseevich, you are with us, with us!”.
...
- Father Cyril always aspired to power?

Yes, and did not hide. But it's natural! If you're an officer, why don't you be a general!
...
Spouse Melnikova Tamara Konstantinovna.

He was generally kind, Cyril. When my husband crashed his car, he gave him a thousand francs to fix it. [mid 1970s. K.Ru]. And when we tried to return the debt, Cyril flatly refused! [...]

Irina Bobrova

The Russian Orthodox Church chooses its Patriarch from former KGB agents

Geneva. 1975

[...] Materials from the archives of the KGB, studied in 1992 by a parliamentary commission headed by the dissident priest Fr. Gleb Yakunin, revealed that most of the church hierarchy was connected with the secret police.

Metropolitan Philaret, who was appointed Metropolitan of Minsk in 1978, was head of the Department for External Church Relations in the 1980s. In 1989, this powerful structure was headed by Metropolitan Kirill.

Clement, who graduated in 1974, made official visits to the United States and Canada in the 1980s. Antoine Niviere, editor of the Paris-based Orthodox Press Service, recalls him as "a man from the shadows, a man of the system"

In 1992, a former KGB officer named Shushpanov admitted that most of the employees of the Department for External Church Relations were agents, and were required to report on contacts with foreigners, both in the country and abroad. [...]

Metropolitan Kirill made in the Soviet years fast-paced career. Already at the age of 22, while studying at the Leningrad Theological Academy and serving as secretary to the powerful Metropolitan Nikodim, Kirill began to travel abroad regularly. He occupied major positions in the leadership of the World Council of Churches, the Conference of European Churches, and peace organizations. Already at the age of 28 he was the rector of the Leningrad Academy, and at 30 - the archbishop of Vyborg.

The Commission of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of Russia in early 1992 officially drew the attention of the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church to the "deep infiltration of intelligence agents" into the Church, which "represents a serious danger to society and the state." In the same year, meeting with students of Moscow State University, Kirill stated: "The fact of the meeting of the clergy with representatives of the KGB is morally indifferent." Indeed, this fact soon became "indifferent", because the page called "Mikhailov" in the biography of Kirill was replaced by a page called "Tobacco".

In 1996, the DECR, through its Nika Foundation, under the guise of humanitarian aid (without customs duties) imported more than 8 billion cigarettes to Russia, pushing importers who paid duties out of the market. This story was first dug up by a soon closed and forgotten small business newspaper, and then there was a whole wave of publications in Moskovsky Komsomolets and Moskovskie Novosti.

Actually, the tobacco kings began the first campaign of exposing, as they believed, an unscrupulous competitor. On nicotine, the media and evil tongues in the Church itself claimed then, Cyril made up start-up capital- several hundred million dollars, after which financial scandals poured on him, as if from a cornucopia. He was involved in the duty-free export of oil, the catching of king crab, the extraction of Ural gems, the establishment of banks, the purchase of shares and real estate. Specific (with a hint of "pastorship") connections in the political leadership and the business community quickly brought Kirill to the first place in terms of personal assets among the hierarchs of the ROC MP. In 2004, Nikolai Mitrokhin, a researcher at the Center for the Study of the Shadow Economy at the Russian State Humanitarian University, published a monograph on the shadow economy. economic activity ROC. The fortune of Metropolitan Kirill was estimated in this work at $ 1.5 billion. After 2 years, the journalists of Moskovskiye Novosti tried to count the assets of the head of the Church Foreign Ministry and came to the conclusion that they already totaled $ 4 billion. Neither the metropolitan himself nor the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church commented on these data .

Elite membership requires a specific set of attributes. In 2002, Metropolitan Kirill bought a penthouse in the House on the Embankment overlooking the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. By the way, this is the only apartment in Moscow registered specifically in the name of the Metropolitan, by his secular surname Gundyaev, about which there is a corresponding entry in the cadastral register. The media also reported on the purchase of a villa in Switzerland by the Metropolitan. At the same time, the metropolitan engaged in active and in many respects unprecedented educational activities for a church hierarch through television: he hosts programs on various television channels, appears daily in news releases, and is served by several news agencies and magazines.[...]

Andrey Ofitserov

Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad - Patriarchal Locum Tenens, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate

Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyaev, better known as Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, was born in Leningrad on November 20, 1946.

Metropolitan Kirill's father was a Leningrad priest (ordained in 1947), but he also did not escape the fate of a prisoner and passed through the Magadan camps. Mother is a school teacher of German. Metropolitan Kirill recalls his childhood rather sparingly, but invariably in an emphatically positive and even moralistic vein. He says that from an early age he was sure that he would also have a chance to "sit for the faith", he did not join the pioneers and the Komsomol on principle, although he did not become a dissident. Explaining this by his love for the Soviet country and people, Metropolitan Kirill believes that dissidence could destroy the unity of the people, which is why he never spoke out against the authorities. True, he immediately exclaims that “thank God that the Church is called to tell the truth - both in tsarist times, and in Soviet times, and today. And the proclamation of the truth always requires courage, some readiness, if not to go to prison, then to be unpopular, unknown, unrevered", which in the past, and even more so in our time, does not pose a particular threat to the lord.

In any case, when jokes and tales are told about a person, this is a sure sign of that special popularity that makes him a legend during his lifetime. Metropolitan Kirill did not escape such popularity. One of these anecdotes, which even had to be heard from the Metropolitan's former mentors, is cited in her article "The Star of Metropolitan Kirill" by journalist Natalya Babasyan. He "in particular, tells about the churching of the future metropolitan and looks like this:" Vovka-koshkoder runs along the Nevsky, holding a cat in each hand and suddenly poking into someone's stomach with a run. "Stop, lad," - bass, grabbing Vovka by the collar, a huge bearded person who turns out to be Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov). - "Who are you?" - "Vovka-koshkoder", - answers. - "And what is your last name?" - the metropolitan is interested. - "Gundyaev". - "Give up your cats, Vovka Gundyaev. From now on, you will be a fisher of people."

However, this sarcastic text, the author of which remains unknown, is unlikely to have a factual background and was most likely invented in order to express in an understandable way for a wide audience the rigid style of work inherent in the metropolitan, "catching people." The metropolitan really does not like cats (in different interviews he says that he has dogs that he walks every day), but it is unlikely that the priest's son was "converted to the faith" by Metropolitan Nikodim. Most likely, the young man, who grew up in a traditional church family, did not experience any special moment of "conversion". However, it is reliably known, from the words of Metropolitan Kirill himself, that Metropolitan Nikodim, who is considered the leader and ideologist of the "liberal wing" in the ROC MP in the 1960s-70s, an active propagandist of the ecumenical movement and rapprochement with Catholics, persuaded the young Volodya Gundyaev to stand on path of priesthood. In the last grades of the school, Vladimir became interested in physics and mathematics and decided to take a blessing from Metropolitan Nikodim to enter the university. However, the metropolitan rather categorically answered the young man: good physicists there are many in the USSR, but there are not enough good priests. "The call of Metropolitan Nikodim predetermined the further fate and lightning-fast career of Vladimir Gundyaev, who at the age of 29 became a vicar bishop at his" Abba ". True, recalling his childhood games, the chairman of the DECR The MP says that he began to "serve" at the age of three, and by school age he knew the sequence of individual services by heart.

However, already in his school years, the future chairman of the DECR MP was very confident in himself and could stand up for himself, even when the teachers and the director tried to persuade him to renounce the faith: “I always won,” he recalls, “because in Soviet times our the teachers were not ready for such discussions [about religion], but I tried to be ready." Nevertheless, some of those who knew him from an early age said that the boy was quite normal - that is, mischievous, and even received a beating from his parent for cigarettes found in his possession.

According to the version of Metropolitan Kirill himself, at the age of 15 he left his parents' house, entered an evening school and got a job. According to another version, this happened because Volodya, who did not join the Komsomol and had a rather difficult relationship with teachers, was simply not taken to the 9th grade, and he had to find a job. At the same time, he got the opportunity to get rid of the painful control of his parents and join all the delights of adult life. He gained experience in geological expeditions, in particular, in the structure of the North-Western Geological Administration. Four years later, without getting into the Soviet army for unknown reasons, Vladimir, under the patronage of Metropolitan Nikodim, was admitted to the Leningrad Theological Seminary, after which he graduated from the Academy.

According to the situation that existed in those years, young men who had already passed urgent military service, which was then at least three years. Thus, the admission of Vladimir Gundyaev to the seminary at the age of 19, and even more so, the postponement or release from military service, except for the reason of a serious health disorder or the fact of a criminal record, could only take place thanks to the special care of Metropolitan Nikodim. Already on April 3, 1969, Vladimir was tonsured a monk with the name Cyril, four days later he was ordained a hierodeacon, and a couple of months later, a hieromonk. Further, after graduating from the Leningrad Theological Academy in 1970, Hieromonk Kirill became a professorial scholarship holder, teacher of dogmatic theology and assistant inspector. At the same time, he represented the ROC MP in the international Orthodox youth organization "Syndesmos", through which he began to travel abroad. He made his first trip abroad at the age of 23, visiting Prague in the retinue of Metropolitan Nikodim. The recruitment of Fr. Kirill Soviet secret services, in the documents of which he goes under the operational undercover pseudonym "Mikhailov".

Since August 30, 1970, Hieromonk Kirill has been listed as the personal secretary of Metropolitan Nikodim of Leningrad and Novgorod. On September 12, 1971, at the age of 24 (!), he became an archimandrite, and a little later - a representative of the ROC MP at the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva. On December 26, 1974, at the age of 28, Archimandrite Kirill was appointed rector of the Leningrad Theological Academy and Seminary. In June of the following year, he heads the Diocesan Council of the Leningrad Metropolis, and since December 1975 has been a member of Central Committee and the executive committee of the WCC. In the same 1975, the future metropolitan was included in the commission "Faith and Order" of the All-Russian Church, from March 3, 1976 - in the Synodal Commission of the ROC MP on Christian unity and interchurch relations.

Already a member of the Synodal Commission, on March 14, 1976, Archimandrite Kirill became Bishop of Vyborg, Vicar of the Leningrad Diocese, and a year later - Deputy Patriarchal Exarch Western Europe with the elevation to the rank of archbishop. Since 1978, Archbishop Kirill has been managing the Patriarchal parishes in Finland and has become deputy chairman of the Department for External Church Relations. Since 1983, he has been teaching at the postgraduate course at the MTA, since December 26, 1984 - the Archbishop of Smolensk and Vyazemsky, since 1988 - the Archbishop of Smolensk and Kaliningrad. And, finally, in 1989, replacing Metropolitan Philaret (Vakhromeev) in this position, he was appointed chairman of the DECR MP, a permanent member of the Holy Synod of the ROC MP. In 1990, he also headed the commission of the Holy Synod for the revival of religious and moral education and charity and became a member of the Synodal Biblical Commission.

Metropolitan Kirill has been in his current rank since February 25, 1991 - he received this award from Patriarch Alexy II when for the first time in the patriarchal dignity he celebrated the day of his namesake. Already a metropolitan, Kirill becomes co-chairman (since 1993) and deputy (since 1995) of the head of the World Russian People's Council - Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus'.

Over the past 10-15 years, due to the growth of the political activity of the Moscow Patriarchate, the office of Metropolitan Kirill is gaining particular relevance, and the head of the OVCC is beginning to be called the "Minister of Foreign Affairs", and sometimes even the "Prime Minister" of the Russian Church. It is the DECR that represents the ROC-MP in the most representative secular Russian and international organizations and forums. Since 1994, Metropolitan Kirill has been the honorary president of the World Conference "Religion and Peace", a member of the Synodal Theological Commission. In the period from 1995 to 2000, he presides over the Synodal working group on the development of the concept of the ROC on issues of church-state relations and the problems of modern society. This concept, later called "The Foundations of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church", was adopted in 2000 by the Jubilee Council of Bishops of the ROC MP and reflects the "neo-conservative" ideology of its main creator. For several years after the adoption of the Fundamentals, Metropolitan Kirill actively spoke in various cities of Russia and abroad, in scientific and university audiences, with the promotion of the main ideas of this document.

In addition, Metropolitan Kirill is the author of several books and more than half a thousand publications in the Russian and foreign press. TV presenter and honorary member of several foreign theological academies, full member of the Academy of Russian Literature and the Academy of Social Sciences and Humanities. Awarded with the Order of St. equal to ap. book. Vladimir II degree, teacher. Sergius of Radonezh I and II degree, St. blgv. book. Daniel of Moscow, 1st class, St. Innocent, Mr. Moscow and Kolomna, II degree, orders of other Local Orthodox Churches, state orders "Friendship of Peoples", "Friendship", "For Merit to the Fatherland" III degree, medals "50 years of victory in the Great Patriotic war 1941-1945", "300 years Russian fleet"," In memory of the 850th anniversary of Moscow "and others.

Among the hobbies of the metropolitan, there are also activities that are atypical for a hierarch and a monk: skiing, water skiing, high-speed driving and love for dogs.

Such is the official part of the biography of this in many ways extraordinary hierarch of the ROC MP, who is considered in the church environment as one of the possible heirs to the patriarchal throne in the ROC MP.

However, journalistic narratives about Metropolitan Kirill are not always limited to the facts of his official biography and quotes from his ceremonial speeches. In the mid-90s, most publications about Metropolitan Kirill were of a scandalous and "revealing" nature, at the beginning of the 3rd millennium, with the onset of the "Putin era", the percentage of such publications decreased in direct proportion to the narrowing of the general space for freedom of speech in the Russian media as they return to the "vertical of power", to its propaganda pool. However, even today, one can periodically come across new accusations and "revelations" of Metropolitan Kirill, mainly related to his commercial activities or interfaith contacts. We will not enter into an assessment of the reliability of this information, nor will we reproduce in detail each of the accusations. We confine ourselves to a cursory and superficial review of them.

1. Private life. This side of the unofficial biography of Metropolitan Kirill is the least studied - fragmentary information about it appeared mainly in the foreign press and almost never published in Russian. The metropolitan himself, talking about his hobbies, prefers to limit himself to the above list of hobbies, most of which are quite aristocratic in nature and require a high level of income. It is known, in particular, that, in order to satisfy his passion for skiing, the chairman of the DECR MP stays at his own house in Switzerland. There are suggestions that he has real estate in other countries, but in most cases it is not registered directly to the metropolitan. In Moscow, by his own admission, the hierarch lives in a spacious apartment in one of the "Stalinist" skyscrapers, but often stops at the DECR dacha in Serebryany Bor, a picturesque dacha village within the city.

A couple of times vague allusions to the "family" life of the head of the DECR leaked into the press. At first, a German magazine called him " exemplary family man", then one Russian publication tried to suggest what is behind such rumors circulating in the church environment, including within the Department, which is headed by Metropolitan Kirill. According to the Ogonyok version, we can talk about Metropolitan Kirill's long-standing acquaintance with Lydia Mikhailovna Leonova , the daughter of the cook of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the CPSU. "For 30 years they have been connected by the warmest relations," the magazine article said. Currently, Lidia Mikhailovna lives in Smolensk and a number of commercial enterprises.

At the same time, among the ill-wishers of Metropolitan Kirill in the ROC-MP and beyond, mainly representing radical conservative church movements, there is a widespread opinion that the head of the DECR MP is no coincidence patronizing church activists of "non-traditional orientation", including former employees DECR, currently occupying various episcopal sees. But, despite the abundance of rumors about the "blue lobby" in the episcopate of the ROC-MP, practically not a single accusation of this kind was documented and recorded in the court verdict. Many experts also find indirect signs of the existence of this phenomenon convincing enough - for example, the story of Bishop Guriy (Shalimov) being recalled from Paris, who was accused of "sexual harassment" by his own subdeacons (one of them now heads the unrecognized Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in the rank of metropolitan) and parishioners. Having listened to these accusations and punished the bishop, the DECR and the Holy Synod of the ROC MP gave grounds to speak about their justice and validity.

2. Commercial activity. Metropolitan Kirill's first attempts to do business through cooperatives subordinated to the Smolensk diocese took place as early as the late 1980s, but they did not bring any significant income. By 1994, the business of the DECR MP, which is not always possible to separate from the private business of Metropolitan Kirill, reached serious turnover. Taking advantage of the tax incentives provided for business structures established by religious organizations or deducting part of their profits for the activities of religious organizations, the DECR MP acted as the founder of the Peresvet commercial bank, the Nika charitable foundation, JSC International economic cooperation"(MES), Free People's Television JSC (SNT) and a number of other structures. The Nika Foundation turned out to be a key link in the famous "tobacco scandal", which is still remembered by the metropolitan by his most irreconcilable opponents, who are trying to secure the nickname for the chairman of the DECR MP "Tobacco". "Nika" carried out the bulk of the wholesale sales of cigarettes imported into Russia by the DECR MP under the guise of humanitarian aid and therefore exempt from customs duties. The amount of tobacco products imported by Metropolitan Kirill's structures amounted to billions of cigarettes, and the net profit - hundreds of millions of US dollars. Having captured a significant part of the market, the structures of Metropolitan Kirill caused serious damage to the business of other tobacco importers, who were forced to pay customs duties and therefore could not compete on equal terms with church cigarette dealers. , which became the subject of journalistic investigations in dozens of Russian and foreign publications, having considerably undermined the reputation of the chairman of the DECR MP. However, despite the scandal, the turnover of the DECR-MP tobacco business continued to grow: in just 8 months of 1996, the DECR-MP imported into Russia about 8 billion duty-free cigarettes (these data were made public by the Commission of the Government of the Russian Federation on International Humanitarian and Technical Assistance), which amounted to 10% of the domestic market of tobacco products. The piquancy of this scandal was given by the fact that traditionally in the church environment, especially Russian, tobacco smoking is condemned as a sin, and from diseases caused by this bad habit Hundreds of thousands of people die every year in Russia. At the same time, every tenth smoked by Russians in 1994-96. the cigarette was brought into the country through the "humanitarian" corridor of the DECR MP. The "customs clearance" and the implementation of "humanitarian aid" were directly supervised by the deputy chairmen of the DECR MP Archbishop Kliment (Kapalin)(now managing director of the ROC MP, member of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation) and Archpriest Vladimir Veriga - a kind of commercial director in the team of Metropolitan Kirill.

When the "tobacco scandal" broke out at full capacity, Metropolitan Kirill tried to shift the responsibility to the Russian government. In an interview, he stated: “The people who were doing this (that is, Metropolitan Kirill himself, Archbishop Clement and Archpriest Vladimir Veriga) did not know what to do: burn these cigarettes or send them back? We turned to the government, and it made a decision: recognize it as a humanitarian cargo and provide an opportunity to implement it." Sources in the government of the Russian Federation categorically denied this information, because of which Patriarch Alexy II had some difficulties in relations with the authorities. As a result, the Commission for Humanitarian Aid under the Holy Synod was created, headed by the vicar of the Patriarch, Bishop Alexy (Frolov), and which was granted the exclusive right to contact the government for humanitarian assistance.

Another, even more profitable business, with which Metropolitan Kirill was associated, was the export of oil. Bishop Viktor (Pyankov), a business partner of the Metropolitan, who now lives as a private person in the United States, was a member of the Board of Directors of JSC MES, which exported several million tons of oil a year from Russia in the mid-90s. The annual turnover of the company was about $ 2 billion. Under the petitions of the MES to the government of the Russian Federation for the exemption from duties of the next hundreds of thousands of tons of export oil, the signature of the Patriarch himself often stood, who, thus, took part in this business. The scope and extent of Metropolitan Kirill's involvement in the oil business is currently unknown, because such information in "Putin's" Russia is no longer available to journalists. However, the voyages of Metropolitan Kirill's business partners (for example, Bishop Feofan (Ashurkov)) to Iraq on the eve of the US and its allies' operation against the Hussein regime give some grounds for supposing that this business has gone wider than in the mid-90s, international level.

In 2000, information appeared in the press about Metropolitan Kirill's attempts to penetrate the market of marine biological resources (caviar, crabs, seafood) - the relevant government structures allocated quotas to the company established by the hierarch (JSC "Region") for catching king crab and shrimp (total volume - more than 4 thousand tons). The profit from this enterprise is estimated at 17 million dollars. Crab meat went mainly to the United States, since half of the company's shares belonged to American partners. A few years ago, in his interviews, Metropolitan Kirill spoke with an ironic grin about how his ill-wishers were so mad that they even tried to accuse him of trying to destroy several valuable species of crab. It is hard to disagree that, compared to other financial sources, the profits from the crab trade look ridiculously low.

The journalists also found out that the Metropolitan, as the ruling bishop of the diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate in the Kaliningrad region, participated in the automobile joint venture in Kaliningrad. In addition to the already mentioned Archbishop Kliment and Archpriest Vladimir, the metropolitan's business team also includes other people: for example, a former KGB general who personally heads a number of affiliated commercial structures.

The DECR MP is the founder of a number of media outlets, but these are mostly small-circulation church publications. In the mid-1990s, Metropolitan Kirill established Free People's Television, which claimed to be the 11th decimeter channel in Moscow, but never appeared on the air. With the participation of the head of the DECR MP, the "Orthodox Information Television Agency" was created, later transformed into the ROC News Agency, which produces the program "The Word of the Shepherd" on Channel One. The Office of Metropolitan Kirill controls the main part official information The ROC MP, through the DECR MP Communication Service, which regularly issues press releases and bulletins, accredits journalists for church events, arranges press conferences and interviews with Metropolitan Kirill, and maintains the most active of the ROC MP official websites. The Chairman of the DECR MP willingly participates in rating talk shows on popular TV channels and gives interviews to major Russian and foreign media.

3. Political activity Metropolitan Kirill can be conditionally divided into two parts: church-political (relations with other Churches and personnel policy within the ROC-MP) and secular political (contacts with top Russian officials, influence on the political leaders of the country). In both directions, there are both successes and failures.

The main achievements of Metropolitan Kirill in the field of church politics can be considered "reunification" with the ROCOR (L) on the terms formulated by the DECR MP, the rapid growth in the number of parishes of the ROC MP in far abroad countries, including the exotic North Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Iran, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates , South Africa, Iceland, etc., preventing the transfer of most parishes of the Diocese of Sourozh (Great Britain) to the Patriarchate of Constantinople and curbing the growth of the Russian Exarchate of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the relative stabilization of relations between the ROC MP and the Vatican after the death of Pope John Paul II. A certain success for Metropolitan Kirill is the retention of the membership of the ROC MP in the World Council of Churches, which ROCOR(L) and some conservative bishops in the ROC MP itself insisted on leaving three or four years ago. This membership is important both in terms of maintaining the overall geopolitical positions of the ROC MP, and from a purely practical point of view - the main part of humanitarian programs to support the ROC MP from abroad is carried out through the WCC. Undoubtedly, the main direction of the foreign policy of the ROC MP under Metropolitan Kirill is the fight against the "pro-American" Patriarchate of Constantinople for leadership in the Orthodox world, where Moscow's position began to weaken after the collapse of the socialist bloc (within the boundaries of which 8 local Orthodox Churches operated) and after a large-scale church schism in Ukraine. It can be recognized that the ROC MP still has a tactical advantage in this competition, but the strategic positions look more preferable near Constantinople. The latter won a number of minor but symbolically important victories during Metropolitan Kirill's leadership of the external relations of the Moscow Patriarchate: the recognition of two "parallel" jurisdictions in Estonia (due to a dispute over jurisdiction over parishes in this country, Moscow and Constantinople even broke canonical communion in 1996) , the acceptance into the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the "fugitive" Bishop of the ROC MP Vasily (Osborne) together with a group of parishes in Great Britain, the beginning of the recognition of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Church through the acceptance into the jurisdiction of Constantinople of the hierarchy of this Church in the diaspora. Obviously, Ukraine will become the main field for the struggle of the two patriarchates in the coming years, since jurisdiction over this country provides one or another patriarchy with numerical leadership in the Orthodox world.

Within the ROC MP, Metropolitan Kirill has significantly strengthened his position over the past four years. First, the role played in the church life by its Department, the most organized and professional subdivision of the ROC MP, continues to grow. The department generally oversees all contacts of the ROC MP with the outside (for the Church) world: political, economic, cultural. Secondly, in 2003, against the backdrop of a long serious illness of the Patriarch, a “personnel revolution” took place in the top leadership of the ROC MP, which significantly strengthened the position of Metropolitan Kirill. The influential metropolitans Sergius and Methodius were removed from their posts, they were considered as fairly balanced competitors of Metropolitan Kirill in the struggle for the patriarchal throne. The former first deputy of Metropolitan Kirill, Metropolitan Kliment (Kapalin), became the manager of the affairs of the ROC MP, who, however, took a relatively independent position in his new position. Along with the improvement of Metropolitan Kirill's image within the ROC-MP due to the radicalization of his conservative rhetoric, these factors make him the most likely candidate for the Patriarchate should it become necessary to elect a new primate of the Moscow Patriarchate.

The contacts of the head of the DECR MP with the highest authorities in Russia are twofold: on the one hand, they support the business of the "church oligarch", and on the other hand, they ideologically support officials, supply them with concepts that serve the policy of "conservative synthesis" and imperial revenge in modern Russia. A vivid example of the last function of these contacts is the popularization among senior officials of the "Fundamentals of the Social Concept" of the ROC MP developed under the leadership of the Metropolitan. As the Russian Constitution turns into a decorative declaration, clearly anti-constitutional statements by the chairman of the DECR MP, such as this: “We should generally forget this common term: “multi-confessional country.” Russia is an Orthodox country with national and religious minorities, become more and more popular. Although, in the event of excessive inter-confessional and inter-ethnic tension in Russia, Metropolitan Kirill willingly softens such formulations. Supporting radical church and social movements (such as the "Union of Orthodox Citizens" or the "Eurasian Movement"), the head of the DECR MP often makes very radical calls: to restitute church property, to introduce the study of Orthodoxy in secular schools, the institution of military clergy, church taxes, etc. .P. Often Metropolitan Kirill's ideas are formulated or voiced by his deputy in charge of public relations, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin.

The chairman of the DECR MP has considerable political ambitions - at his insistence, a provision on the possibility of civil disobedience of Orthodox authorities was introduced into the Fundamentals of the Social Concept, Orthodox concepts of human rights and economic activity were developed, and recently the metropolitan admitted that he was thinking about nominating his candidacy in elections President of the Russian Federation in 1996. However, in the fall of 2005, observers noted some cooling in Metropolitan Kirill's relations with the Kremlin, which was most clearly expressed in the refusal to include him in the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation. However, in recent months these relations have normalized and even intensified.

Luxurious transport always causes envy and unfounded talk. Especially when it comes to the ministers of the church. So the yacht of Patriarch Kirill in 2011 made a lot of noise.

The most beautiful yacht in Russia

You can't stop billionaires from spending their money on luxury ships and stylish sea yachts. But what if such an expensive transport is seen in the possession of a servant of God? We are talking about the most beautiful yacht "Pallada". This is a chic black boat with tinted windows. The cost of such a “toy” is $4,000,000. The numbers are shocking, and the question arises: "Is this the personal yacht of Patriarch Kirill, or did he just decide to ride with the breeze?"

The ship was built back in 2003, it was designed by the architect Guido de Grota. The total length of the yacht is 32 meters, its width is 7.45 meters. Initially, this ship was listed for the president Russian Federation. Today it is the yacht of Patriarch Kirill. It has four crew members who live in two cabins. The ship can also accept guests, but in the amount of 8 people.

What's inside the yacht?

The yacht of the Patriarch of Moscow Kirill is equipped with the most powerful instruments. The design of each cabin is royal. It is impossible not to mention the elite white wood, which was used for interior decoration. The designers also used mahogany and oak. All furniture is made according to special sketches of expensive material, sheathed with genuine leather.

The snow-white deck goes well with the dark hull. The yacht "Pallada" of Patriarch Kirill regularly receives guests from all the churches of the world. High-ranking spiritual leaders relax in a luxurious living room. There is not only a bar, but also the best home theater. The room is well insulated, so it is pleasant to be in it, even when the weather is raging outside.

Eight people can dine in the dining room. Each bedroom has a royal bed. In the bathroom you can take all the necessary water procedures and even enjoy the warmth of the sauna. For those who cannot imagine life without physical activity, a full-fledged fitness room is provided.

Where did the Patriarch of Moscow get the yacht from?

The personal life of the leaders of the Orthodox world is always of interest to ordinary people. And when strange news about luxury vehicles or expensive accessories appears, the people begin to criticize and accuse every minister of the church of dishonesty. This is exactly what happened when the yacht of Patriarch Kirill was discovered.

Journalists on the Internet began to talk indignantly about expensive apartments and how they would affect the prayerful mood of all those present. But the very first question that each person asked was very logical: "Where did Patriarch Kirill get a yacht from?"

Gifts from oilmen

In 2005, on July 25, the former yacht of Vladimir Vladimirovich was seen at the pier of Krestovsky Island. The Valaam Monastery received such water transport through intermediaries. The ship was donated by a well-known oil

The monastery has long had its own fleet of ten vessels. But there was no status vessel in this collection. Guests with a special spiritual status are supposed to ride on special yachts. Therefore, the gift came to the court, and it is not at all scary that the name is pagan.

An attraction of unknown generosity?

The yacht of Patriarch Kirill made a lot of noise. What the ROC (Russian Orthodox Church) says about her is still unknown. Its representatives prefer to simply remain silent and shrug. Of course, this is a gift, but it is not customary to condemn for gifts.

The press secretary of NK Lukoil Dmitry Dolgov gave interviews to many printed publications. That's just about why they give such gifts, he is silent. The man only said that the yacht was not used by the company itself. It was specially purchased for Gundyaev, who represents the entire community of the clergy of our country.

Who is Pallas?

Athena's milk sister was named Pallas. This pagan name was baptized on a yacht destined for the leader of the state. No one paid attention to this until the yacht became owned by the RCP. In 2007, the ministers of the church promised that they would change the name to a Christian one - "The Tsaritsa". That's what the icon is called. Mother of God. But so many years have passed, and the yacht still has not changed its name.

Journalists often asked church ministers questions about this. Those, in turn, found strange explanations for such behavior. Another special indignation is caused by the coats of arms of the Russian Federation located on the ship. As you know, the state emblem cannot be used by the RCP.

Land transport of Patriarch Kirill

In order to carry the word of God to the masses, it is necessary to move all the time. The yacht of Patriarch Kirill added to the collection, which is on the balance sheet of the Russian Orthodox Church. According to the gift itself from oil company came in handy. This is despite the fact that church leaders already had ten courts at their disposal. The yacht, of course, is a noticeable transport, but there are others that are not inferior to the vessel in terms of luxury and assembly:

• Vehicle fleet required to move on land. In the collection of the Patriarch of Moscow - "Mercedes" deluxe series S, Toyota Land Cruiser, limousine and even the Soviet rarity "Victory".
• Armored wagon with an icon on the facade.

Other generous gifts

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow regularly receives gifts from thousands of parishioners. Among them there are quite wealthy people who can afford gifts for $30,000. This is how much a Breguet watch costs. In them, the leader of Christianity repeatedly appeared in the frame, but sometimes they were removed by diligent editors. After all, such accessories will cause outrage among many people.

And the dacha in the form of a temple still shocks everyone who happened to be next to it. These mansions are located on the coast of the Krasnodar Territory. For the sake of their erection, hundreds of trees of the state forest fund were cut down.

Another yacht of the patriarch

Before people had time to forget about the generous gifts from the oil workers to the minister of the church, as in September 2015 the new scandal. In the center of events - again the ship, the cost of which is about 600,000 dollars. Patriarch Kirill spotted on a yacht in August local residents, but the information was leaked to the World Wide Web on 22.09. Even photographs were taken. They show that the gray-haired old man is at the helm. Further, photographs were taken showing the bathing of the patriarch. The action takes place in the Blue Bay, which is located near the village of Divnomorsky (Krasnodar Territory).

Journalists with particular zeal began to call everyone who could confirm the presence of Kirill on the Azimut yacht. But the rest of the clergy preferred to remain silent about the patriarch's boat trip. Silence only added questions, therefore, this could be. It is also known that ministers of rural churches repeatedly wrote letters to Patriarch Kirill himself. They accuse him of encouraging debauchery and turning a blind eye to expensive gifts that are inappropriate for all who serve the Christian faith.

But Alexey Nevzorov (a well-known publicist) openly points out that all the leaders of the clergy live on the money of parishioners and taxpayers. People simply put unimaginable sums into the purse of the RCP, buying candles, icons and other church paraphernalia. He also writes that behind all these cassocks are hiding ordinary mortal men and women who like luxury, expensive cars and large sums on accounts. They are people who have forgotten what sin is and how to give their property for the good of faith. These people simply promote righteous views, but are not ready to throw gold and status off their shoulders.

This is how scandals arise when Patriarch Kirill rides on a yacht. The refutation appeared immediately after the unscrupulous accusations on the Internet. But in these words there was a lot in common and little information on the fact of Cyril's bathing in the Black Sea.

How does the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' live?

In 2014, in an interview, Kirill said a phrase that spread all over the Internet: "We live today as richly as we have never lived after the revolution." This statement caused a lot of comments. People tried to decipher what exactly the minister of the church had in mind. Perhaps the proposal was addressed to the Russian Orthodox Church. Since the people live quite poorly, especially in 2014, when the financial crisis began in the yard. The country's economy was also in at its best, after all, commodity prices fell at a catastrophic rate. The state budget was replenished by taxes and fines.

Today, the Patriarch of Moscow also lives well. Especially if he cuts the waves of the Black Sea on a yacht, the cost of which is about 600,000 dollars. His close associates claim that this person has no time to be distracted by the holidays and entertainment of ordinary mortal people. He prays every day for the salvation of Russia and all its people. And the fact that there are several best cars in his fleet, the yacht of the Patriarch of Moscow Kirill Gundyaev is at the pier, and the car is made of bulletproof material - these are just the costs of his life. He is a public person, so you need to match the status.

Of course, whether to condemn the patriarch or not is a personal matter for everyone. No one knows what secrets this person keeps and how exactly he communicates with the Creator. In any case, his word is believed, and thousands of Christians are ready to follow him. And cars and yachts are the basic needs of civilized people. He should not live in an adobe hut and ride a cart. Moreover, the yacht has become an ordinary gift. So the rest of the transport was presented as a gift or purchased with the money of the Russian Orthodox Church. The budget in this treasury is far from small. Cyril has said many times that all the transport he uses is not his property. It remains only to believe the words of this great man, until the next provocative pictures leaked to the Internet.