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it is eat. carole the first as the patriarch of moscow and all russia is more than a spiritual leader he embodies a religious entity that with its reach and influence wields a power barely perceived in the west the power of the russian orthodox church. is a church set on an expansion course even abroad like here in paris and twenty sixteen at the consecration of a new orthodox cathedral. as head of the russian orthodox church carol mingles with the mighty on the world stage with former u.s. president barack obama pope francis chinese president xi jinping syria's bashar al assad and of course the right. in leader vladimir putin. the

president and the patriarch are demonstrative little house allies two leaders united in their efforts to forge a new and ultraconservative russian identity. two leaders who share the same vision despite occasional differences in opinion. as a new act on the international stage the russian church is asserting its authority on both the spiritual and the political front. carol beautiful russians is the equivalent of the pope and a man hard to gain access to allowed our cameras to follow him for almost an entire year.

in the thirty years since the fall of communism moscow has shaken off its soviet era drab and emerged as a city glinting with gold and. nearly fifty churches have been built since twenty ten and there are plans for almost as many more. the russian orthodox patriarch hits also has its seats in the capital. behind these gates a center of soft power closely allied to russia's political leadership. the monastery watched over by a few cars that gods harbors a mysterious and seemingly impervious institution. a universe of its own and which killed presides over thirty six thousand parishes and more than a hundred million followers. carol

begins every morning with a prayer and then mass and church slavonic the liturgical language she is but it also talks church in russia was. that. it was. your. everything here reflects the eastern heritage of christianity the legacy of constantinople where the patriarch was practically the empress equal. if you give your life. the moscow patriarchate has existed for five centuries fifteen patriarchs headed it before carroll who was elected in two thousand and nine ever since he's had his sights set on one goal. for the kids really care only wants to turn the russian church into a universal polity the image in his mind is the power of the roman catholic church

system for a church that functions and whose powerful representatives operate around the while to get one if a judge she's influence is felt in all spheres of life in politics and society but also obviously internationally in other words a church with a truly global reach and just upload it to. you at his most co-residents carol makes it clear that he does not see his role confined to that of a spiritual leader. in a. note which is me sometimes i'm criticized for being too vocal in my position as patriarch. but i don't see any other option particularly in this secular day and age. that the religious figure a bishop and above all a patriarch. i must be in the position to represent the church or christianity in a dialogue with any individual regarding the support of their heads of state or

representatives from the area of politics business school culture and so on that place so this. very well if you're going. to. say. today the palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas is visiting the patriarch the two have met on numerous previous occasions. pressure that was the first that was the case for them we are very concerned about the situation in the middle east including syria and iraq was terrorism has not been eradicated and so the danger of terrorist activity in the middle east is still very real which obviously worries us in a vision of us but you will be moving it from us you will know what. you thought of naturally we know that many people have fallen victim to the terrorist

tactics of groups like islamic state. we stand side by side with all nations who want security and freedom especially russia to fight these extremists. following these paralyze introductory remarks the two sides retreat for closed door talks. two days city of the palestinian delegation had met with law to me a truce in. the talks were taking place shortly after president donald trump announced the u.s. would reno kate its israeli embassy to jerusalem. and palestinians looked. to moscow for support from the kremlin and the patriarch it's. only politics. saw through if you want to protect it so you want to protect a piece of the whole of the church play

a political role but doc is a leader with president put and he can talk is a little with it but the the powerful vatican he can talk with there but. we need him we need the support we need. for. that reason but with good luck if you got secret deal with the issues. you put them out there are those who are fortunate very good should it be then i would look at how was i like that because i know you're about to hear. when meeting mahmoud abbas kirill is not only playing the role of church leader he's also a negotiator there are many russian orthodox and christian palestinians for patriarch kirill russia's presence in the region is vital for the protection of christians in the middle east has also. to ground. zero but see.

another place central to carroll's duties in moscow is the cathedral of christ the savior converted into a swimming pool in the soviet era it was restored after nine hundred ninety five and is today a symbol of russia's religious renaissance. carol it's not here it's a real mess. in the cathedral scepter a name changes he made some of russia's most powerful men men from pleating in a circle. the speaker of the duma the russian parliament the first deputy chief of staff of the presidential executive office and the head of the constitutional court.

at the patriots invitation they are attending the world russian peoples council. the annual forum was founded by carroll in one nine hundred ninety three two years after the collapse of the soviet union. its aim to foster unity in the nation with the church at its core. food in the whole of the clergy sits next to members of the military and representatives of nationalist groups but more importantly alongside representatives from keeping their sickle parties including pitons united russia as well as members of the far right and even the communist party. i to me a little more across the world russian peoples council is a perfect fit for this man's agenda and illustrates the way he sees his role and

the role of the church at the what you. read it visit the words kiril really views the church as a core around which to rally the entire russian people including the political elite. salame staunchest. british kalitta. this time the council's theme is russia in the twenty first century. russian society is threatened by the same problems and challenges as the family. the excesses of the juvenile justice system same sex marriage the inroads of transhumanism all attempts to distort the nature of human existence. i. the political forum where everyone sings the russian national anthem united in shared ultraconservative that. i. in the

centuries before the revolution the church played a dominant role in defining russian spiritual and cultural identity. alongside bizarre the patriarch was one of the most powerful men in russia. some fucked. even though it's a condition of the cause the mere fact that this comes so was founded is indicative of carol's position as one of russia's leading political figures but if you just get a few good rest if you look at unofficial lists of russia's most influential figures it's no coincidence that he's always in the top ten or it's in the south q sudanese is a slogan that the most for your state this assembly is also tremendously important . it gives it political legitimacy is. of going to get in must see. today that church lends the government an air of

respectability in return the government has helped the church restore much of its lost ground it's a strange reversal of history in a country that some seven decades ago saw to stamp out religion. between nine hundred seventeen and nine hundred thirty nine the russian orthodox church faced three waves of persecution the clergy was high on the list of enemies of the revolution in. egypt. those were destroyed and looted. in nine hundred twenty nine the practice and spread of religion became a crime members of the clergy was stripped of their civil rights many were arrested and deported to labor camps. by nine hundred thirty nine almost all of the churches

that existed before the revolution were either closed or destroyed. kerala is determined to ensure this chapter of russian history is not forgotten. every year he visits the sort of a ski islands. this is archipelago in northern russia essential to also docks efforts to ensure suffolk repression is never forgotten. that it. received. a centuries old monastery on the islands was incorporated into the bolsheviks first concentration camps a test site for the soviet penal system that served as a blueprint for the lax a symbol of religious repression. eighty thousand prisoners were sent to this

camp about a third perished inside its walls. if it bit of digital remembering the repression is a personal priority for the patriarch his grandfather was imprisoned in this very monastery because he was a priest. some missed me. shortly before his death the said fear nothing in this world fear only god and i put my faith in the words of this man who had spent more than twenty years in prisons and camps no worldly power has absolute control over humankind in this way we learned we could resist even the most powerful authority and still maintain our inner freedom with. their gay chip mean is an expert on the russian orthodox church. a former associate of carols he's

a moderate critical voice in orthodox circles he once ran the official journal of the moscow patriarchate. c m a pro hope it will be costly live aim of persecution is a recurring leitmotif in patriarchial speeches in new york and it's important to him to emphasize that it's not just part of the history of the country the people or the church but also part of his own family history. this history of persecution is also patriarchy personal history but he. version of guy need a church as a survivor of the persecution is a very important and mobilizing symbol used to call on russians to return to the fold or so young as your notes of turkey. in the one nine hundred sixty s. anyone who became a priest knew they'd be ostracized from soviet society still it's the path carroll chose like his father and grandfather before him. he entered the seminary in one

nine hundred sixty five six years later his superiors sent him to the geneva assembly of the world council of churches in this economical organization a kind of christian united nations promoting pacifism and religious diplomacy he learned the ins and outs of international relations under the tight control of the soviet state. on your syria cannot resolve in the soviet union as in all communist countries at the time it was nearly impossible to be a man. of the church not have ties to the state. and the communist state was synonymous with the police and the soviet union secret intelligence service the k.g.b. take a look usually put the keel up. that he had a blessed thing matriarch your career path in the church was meteoric on the guzzles of but it's getting a little put off at the age of twenty six or twenty seven became the representative of the russian orthodox church and spent three years in geneva. in the chain you

know naturally the k.g.b. will approve his appointment. and you wouldn't have been possible otherwise. it's all delegation members who went abroad a million particularly the delegations leaders wrote reports to the committee of religious affairs. and copies of these reports went to the k.g.b. . go each go he'll. so it is correct to say that from a young age cure all had ties with the k.g.b. chance of. the question is did he throw his collaboration betray any individuals or the interests of the church we just said. there are no straightforward answers to such questions. of the bill but it's the need to pay for your hero represented the russian orthodox church in religious

organizations in the west. he had little opportunity to betray people with their lights. on like the clergy and church leaders back home. with the k.g.b. inside the soviet union i see what they say it's called. even today the k.g.b. remains the common denominator among a large section of russia's ruling elite. gullible. during a time in geneva he was naturally expected to perceive a very specific course of action. that proved a great educational opportunity in which to hone his political skills in this call of pilots a queue. at the end it's this shared soviet past that enables the patriarchy role to speak the same language as today's politicians and civil servants you can you. know music you. will continue. his ascent in the church then two decades

into his career the soviet universe collapsed in the ruins of post soviet russia a religious resurgence that had begun with perestroika picked up momentum parishes had already been reopening since one thousand nine hundred eighty eight the millennial anniversary of russia's conversion to christianity which also saw baptism numbers saw. this live the one nine hundred ninety s. the church moved to fill a new void emerging through a lack of symbols identity and models. of prophecy but that wasn't easy to say because the entire communist operators during the transition period remain a deeply until clerical and atheist book so the church had to assert itself it got its break when putin came to power because he understood that he wouldn't be able to build a new russia or claim that communism had been albeit just

a small mistake in the history of this great nation without getting the church on board where and from that moment on an alliance of sorts was forged at the highest level of power. today the russian orthodox church has returned to its former glory. in twenty seventeen for celebrations to mark this in tendering of the patriarchates restoration it rolled out all of the pomp and ceremony of an established and institutionalized church. on this occasion carol has invited the primates of fourteen churches here together the fields the docks world. was. ever was. four hundred bishops

and thousands of faithful. but the ceremony is just a prelude to the single day religious and your political meeting that follows. all of the orthodox church leaders are received by vladimir putin at his presidential residence. thirty kilometers from moscow and it's basically an outpost of the kremlin. if you get to could take the view this is for the simultaneous translation civilian you have to believe you do unfortunately in the second decade of the twenty first century we are again confronted with something that seemed to have long since been condemned and down dated namely religious persecution bodies of christians have also been targeted. christiane but of course the situation in syria warrants special attention many christian churches and

monasteries have been plundered and destroyed. for several years the russian state quickly gathered with the russian orthodox church and other religious organizations which has been providing humanitarian aid to the victims in syria. in the context. of the protection of the protection of middle eastern christians and the preservation of christian values has afforded to turn the opportunity to cast himself in the role of benefactor and defend he presents himself as an honorable and internationally recognized politician who can negotiate peace deals he wants once and for all to dispel his image as a dictator dictator. cool from the president putin for president putin or the church provides an opportunity to exert influence. uses this opportunity by demonstrating his closeness to

patriarch kirill but also by presenting himself as a devout orthodox christian awesome it all send. off the ducks for example when he trades in icy water on the feast of russian orthodox epiphany in a ritual that marks the baptism of jesus he's doing what all russians do at him today he can speak directly to the russian people because he is just like that just like to ask you to come. here that patriarch kirill is very keen on the secularizing russian society he wants to empower the church on all levels politically socially and economically i knew that when you they know very well that they need each other and they know very well that this relationship has a high symbolic value in there for years for whom it's part of a mechanism lending him legitimacy and of course also for carol because he needs the support of the state. of course at the by difficult.

carol does indeed need state support because although eighty percent of the population professes to be russian orthodox only focus and a regular church guys numbers that mira attendance rates in the west and won't. help push mom between states and church accelerated amid mass anti-government protests in the winter of twenty eleven and twelve. forty. five. protesters condemned alleged ballot rigging in parliamentary elections and demanded a rerun directing their anger at the kremlin. it was in this context that the activist group pussy riot performed its punk premiere crisis

a because people in moscow with the him like opening referencing traditional also talks music exploded into a rant against cruel and above against putin i. think it needed even. if you think. of it. was the video of the foreman's went viral it landed two of the activists sentences to two years in a prison colony igniting contentious debate in russian society i. think it was in that spot that saw my glove with the right store and the main reason pussy riot ran into trouble was the line mother of god banished putin. in that the. thing his name crop up in a prayer was totally unexpected for two and. he found it so unpleasant and accept.

he let you know down felt everyone needed to feel the severity of his ultimately unfounded reaction or can i get a night. when you hope that the. church was willing to sweep all this under the carpet and not pay much attention to such performances of . anybody though like. everything that happened subsequently was the result of a personal insult to the president of slovenia ladyhawke sample but the nature of being you. seriously say could a nationwide day of prayer designed to hew divisions night better by the pussy riot protest. that we see what your i've got to be so that you can see we have been attacked by persecutors. this attack is not comparable to the attacks we have experienced in

the past. the danger lies in the fact that blasphemy sacrilege and derision of the sacred are championed does lawful expressions of human freedom that must be protected in a modern society where you just get up what. if used it was a showcase prayer services like that not only drum together all of moscow's clergy but brought in entire bus loads from neighboring regions and your of a year or so left all this with a kind of spectacle performed for a single spectator. for putin to live with the approach in the. us mother to my today debated a number of bills one designed to protect religious feelings was passed in a second reading deliberate and public insults to believers feelings now carry fines of up to three hundred thousand rubles and prison sentences or up to one year

these offenses inside the church allow files of half a million roubles or three years in prison. in the wake of the church's response to the pussy riot performance the duma passed a law in twenty thirteen making it a crime to offend the religious feelings of the faithful. the bill paves the way for the conviction of a russian you choose who was sentenced to three and a half years on probation after filming himself playing poker mungo in church. with the help of parliament they all sit ups church has increasingly exerted its influence on social debate since twenty twelve the church has tightened its grip on society. for example through low mandating the teaching of religion in schools russian legislation has grown increasingly conservative. but.

this was followed by a number of further changes to the final. code of justice in particular that there was talk of same sex partners not being allowed to adopt children and so on again yeah. every year it's a mock national unity day on nov fourth kill and fusion open a major exhibition set of racing the russian nation. this time the scene is russia's future. place the tell i'm going to introduce my project this is an organic water purification facilitating education. and this helmet is for people who can no longer move or talk they can use it to communicate and train their brains cut you know let's see if we'd like to show you this motorcycle by the manufacturer

a kalashnikov plug. up the motor bike and go into production in the first half of next year play not expose he still sort of to the exhibition on the future of russia is extremely interesting because it presents a double challenge and the first is modernization in a russia that must exhilarate its pace in order to catch up with the west or even overtake it to see some of this modernization is only possible if it is anchored within russia spiritual and traditional values spirits when we have to say that it was such values presented in this exhibition in a rather peculiar way the film illustrates alleged threats to the russia of tomorrow and seems would be of the beholder in the. such. limit as the. eastern.

see this is not waging peace for you she's a. teacher. but this is. the. way this is. going the way you saw. the story. today. so the mission is to go. back. to something she. used to. be jean each or she's going to shoot in iraq so what les says is the russian population has to unite around the government and isolate people from the west. virginia and there's just one topic that clearly unites the church and the government and separates them from the west's and wish thoughts and least that was

the case between twenty twelve and twenty sixteen and that is the topic of sexuality. heterosexuality that he and homosexuality forced to get this should not still persist after twenty twelve when the states began using the topic of gay marriage for propaganda purposes we saw a rise in anti european sentiments you get a piece get shoes which that i should russia was depicted by the propagandists not as a counterweight to europe clock but rather as the real old europe because the issues that are your world are several europe has taken the wrong turn and gone down the wrong path so what we've stayed on course you know. with the way of preventing and yet if we look at the numbers and every day behavior of russians and we didn't we see of course the christian values are much more present in every day european life than is often the case in russia and russia continues to rank number one in the world when it comes to abortions. long. but the reality on the ground counts with little in the line to attempt to shape russian identity. in contrast to

the west. russia is portrayed as exemplary. the church is strongly involved in promoting this image. yet when we lived in an atheistic society we orthodox christians and the faithful in general body please identify more closely with the west than with our own society but the most of the why that would be different if because people there could go openly to churches and religious practice was respected but there was also i was just not the complete opposite is happening. we know see that the west is losing what united us. make peace that we no longer see western society. and as one shares our values opus look at. me for kid here look. at resisting developments in the west has become synonymous with the promotion of traditional values over

there it's a way of regaining a lost identity and at the same time offers geo political leverage because it paves the way to me line stance movements that are not only sponsored by a stay off but also religious or even political movements all generally based on traditional values or. on a visit to france in december twenty sixth scene the patriarch gives an impromptu press statement at the russian orthodox seminary in epping this is enough asked about same sex marriage carol reiterate so stance. but when you. look we're not demanding that people with any particular sexual orientation be treated more strictly. categorically oppose giving such relationships the same status as their god sanctified covenant of marriage from which children emerge either spend suring humanity's continued existence what would you. long to god's

plan must not be corrected by any politically motivated doctrine or action. but the real reason for carol's visit to france is the consecration of the russian orthodox trinity cathedral in paris. at the first of the uncle tower it's part of a spiritual and cultural center built up to the intervention of both lot of inclusion and then french president nicolas sarkozy. financed by the russian state it cost one hundred fifty million euro rounds. and. was quite sure but just genius of exemplifies the alliance between the church and the state. so. so the church the new cultural center and the embassy form an entity with diplomatic status. basically this is a miniature edition of russia and the russian orthodox church with in france we have given you i sought to destroy india's only group after seventy years of

communism russia is completely rebuilding itself the image of a russia that is once again in a position to be a global player is inextricably linked to all the dogs iraq because nothing embodies russian identity more than its religion. the u.s. has hollywood and coca-cola russia has its liturgies with icons incense and elaborately rope to priests it's russia's way of making its mark of them and it's what sets it apart from the rest of the world. as. cruel as you will. see it on the casino on visits to the west curial is pursuing two objectives he wants to read about july's the west which is in danger of demise taking me the idea being that it's up to russia to show people an alternative path to american liberalism and also he believes that orthodox christians of the russian tradition

must now be subordinate to the jurisdiction of the moscow patriarchate. the nearest members of the russian community are attending the consecration. one of the reasons this church was built was to win greater influence over this diaspora. sit getting behind it and she does have to help us get beyond this cathedral is a soft power tool because it can be used to mobilize and reunite the old russian diaspora that resulted from the revolution that. and the new diaspora that dates from the one nine hundred ninety s. from which the parish church draws its members. to eclipse in the orthodox church and with that russian state institutions want to restore the last unity of the russian world green on which. if they nice it said they were

not using it to demonstrate its presence in any way not at all but very many russians and very many russian orthodox christians live in france he said yes and we have a duty to provide pastoral guidance suggest throughout almost the entire twentieth century since the first wave of russian immigration in following the revolution up until recently we only had a church in a garage ongoing protests at the garage was converted into a church imagine that to ask. them for. an actual fact this long been an orthodox church in paris opened by russian exiles on to the one nine hundred seventeen revolution. that it is and that the patriarch case of constantinople regarded as the first among equals in the eastern orthodox church.

hero is the head of the largest orthodox church but the formal head of the orthodox world is the ecumenical patriarch of constantinople. piro is not at all happy about this paradox like the bridge and cure lays claim to speaking for the orthodox world in talks with rome he wants all orthodox churches to follow his lead when it comes to values it's that way but the patriarch of constantinople is not his ally in this enterprise or what the interferes and that creates tension over him and has been even appears right now. in his power struggle with constantinople carroll uses his political process and his community's numerical superiority to his advantage but he has one big weak point ukraine the country has the third largest all sort of population in the world in recent years after centuries under the moscow patriarchate it began turning its back on carol's church. the twenty fourteen my done protests in the capital kiev erupted in the division over

whether ukraine should face east or west the crisis escalates had when russia annexed crimea and mosco backed separatists seized territory in eastern ukraine today kiev and moscow remain locked in a tense standoff. ukraine is a sensitive subject for patriarch kirill. buster druggists an existential threat to carol addressing this dispute publicly is problematic because it's a taboo subject. so the show also a plus for the church which will lead it had entered into a perfect partnership with the state on matters of foreign policy is reaching the limits of its power here last year when it comes to ukraine the two entities have conflicting interests until a small. group it's election day in russia vladimir putin is certain to win the only question is how high voter turnout will be carol is playing his pass and

calling on russians to go to the ballot box. just because we know the slogan for modern advertising because i want it yesterday. it would and i say that our people are worth it our nation deserves to have a new and better future may god protect russia i see. far removed from the advertising slogans of western corporations carol continues his church's fight for the soul of russia and will influence. his funds is far from.

stuck in traffic for hours spoiled cargo she says. that could be a trucker eric hearing's new reality after briggs it. focus on europe takes a road trip from brussels to britain. chaos at the border like oh good brakes it turned into a nightmare. in ninety minutes on d w. sarno

just couldn't get this song out of his head. musicologist began searching for the source of these captivating sounds. and deep in the rain forest in central africa. the by a couple. of. nothing else. and letting. my little. goodbye their culture stay. only a promise to. the jungle and return to the concrete and glass jungle but. the result reverse culture. the prize winning documentary from the forest starts first on t w.

player. play play play. this is d w news coming to you live from britain's disorderly lawmakers votes on breaks that alternatives. to the tissue but options are rejected that entry somebody says she'll resign if parliament will finally pass her deal. also on the program china's disappeared dissidents. feels like you've been locked up and held. your.