palm oil plantation. you're watching news coming to you live from berlin up next our documentary film with a look behind the scenes of the russian orthodox church so you'll find that and all our stories online of course at v.w. dot com i'm rita will be with you at the next the top at the top of the next hour thanks for being with us. here's what's coming up for the booklet this week you have plenty to talk about here on the job you know it's going to take a look at what all that means for the taper of course. the bundesliga every

weekend here on w. carol the first as the patriarch of moscow and all russia he is more than a spiritual leader he embodies a religious entity that with its reach and influence will to power barely perceived in the west the power of the russian orthodox church. and the church settlement 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 them i see 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 russian leader vladimir putin. the president and the patriarch are demonstrative little close 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 actor on the international stage the russian church is asserting itself farsi on both the spiritual and the political front. carol before 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 golden duns. nearly fifty churches have been built since twenty ten and there are plans for almost as many more. the russian orthodox patriarch it also has it 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 guards harbors a mysterious and seemingly impervious institution. a universe of its own and in which carroll presides over thirty six thousand parishes and more than a hundred million followers. carol

begins every morning with a prayer and then mass in church slavonic the liturgical language used by the also talks church in russia was was. everything here reflects the eastern heritage of orthodox christianity the next sea of constantinople where the patriarch was practically the empress equal. if you give me your ego but. 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. in the killings of the kero he 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 world exists one of our churches influence is felt in all spheres of life one in politics and society but also obviously internationally in other words a church with a truly global reach i just put it to. you at its most co-residents carol makes it clear that he does not see his role confined to that of a spiritual leader. in me and i could. not choose me sometimes i'm criticized for being too vocal in my position as patriarch. they should but i don't see any other option. in this secular day and age. a religious figure a bishop and above all

a patriarchal. 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 culture and so on that place so it is. true or if you. think. today the palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas is visiting the patriarch the two had met on numerous previous occasions. but that was interesting to see if you look at 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 and a vision invested for the motivation of people over. the years.

naturally we know that many people have fallen victim to the terrorist tactics of groups like islamic state. that. we stand side by side with all nations who want security and freedom especially russia to fight these extremists. following these polite introductory remarks the two sides retreat for closed door talks. today as it is the palestinian delegation had met with let me putin. it's also taking place shortly after president donald trump announced the u.s. would relocate its israeli embassy to jerusalem. and the palestinians looked. full support from the kremlin and the patriarch it's. only politics are intertwined saw through if you want to protect you want to protect

the peace of the whole of the church play a political role but doc is a leader with positive put and he can talk is only with the but the pope will vatican he can talk with the butt of jokes alone we need him we need the support we need. for. that reason but what good did he get secret deal with those of which he's very pretty i don't want to put them out there are those who are for sure it's very good should be ok then i would look at how was i think that is i don't know your theory but. when rating muslims our boss 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 for the protection of christians in the middle east has also

a horse. to crown grown here let's see. another place central to carol'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 to read mass. in the cathedral scepter a name changes he made some of russia's most powerful men men from puccini's 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 imitation they are attending the road 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. feet 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 so that the words kiril really views the church as a core around which to rally the entire russian people including the political elite. salim staunchest. british kalitta. this time the council's theme is russia in the twenty first century. 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.

the political forum where everyone sings the russian national anthem united in shared ultraconservative that. i. in the same streets before the revolution the church played a dominant role in defining russian spiritual and cultural identity. alongside the song the patriarch was one of the most powerful men in russia. it's a condition of the cars the mere fact that this comes so was founded is indicative of carroll'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. c.d.'s with your business law that i will start 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. churches were destroyed and looted. in the one 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. carroll is determined to ensure this chapter of russian history is not forgotten. every year he visits the sort of a island's. archipelago in northern russia essential to also docks efforts to ensure salvage repression is never forgotten. if you can do that if you. receive. 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 was sent to this camp about a third perished inside its walls. fifty four good digital remembering the repression is a personal priority for the patriarch his grandfather was imprisoned in this very monastery because he was a priest. being some experience shortly before his death he 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. no worldly power has. control over humankind in this way we learned we couldn't resist even the most powerful authority and still maintain our inner freedom to use what would. 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. zuma prohibited costly persecution is a recurring leitmotif in patriarchial speeches in new york and it's important to him the 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. version of shaft guy needed church as a survivor of the persecution is a very important and mobilizing symbol used to call on russians to return to the fold of young the circus in the one nine hundred sixty s. anyone who became

a priest knew they'd be ostracized from soviet society still it's the polish carol 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. nation 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. only your syria trip. in the soviet union as an all communist countries at the time it was nearly impossible to be a man of the church and 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 indication. could you get up with the key a lot of calls now could he have a blast to make career paths in the church was meteoric on the causal supports the

need to put all of that as the age of twenty six or twenty seven became the representative of the russian orthodox church and spent three years in geneva. naturally the k.g.b. will have approved his appointment. it would have been possible otherwise. them. all delegation members who went abroad particularly the delegations leaders wrote reports to the committee of religious affairs. chil to come and copies of these reports went to the k.g.b. . go each go he'll see you so it is correct to say that from a young age cure all had ties with the k.g.b. your chance of. the question is did he go through his collaboration betray any individuals or the interests of the church we just said. there are no straightforward answers to such questions. of the kill bill

but it's the paisley or the hero represented the russian orthodox church and religious organizations in the west. he had little opportunity to betray people. about the chief unlike the clergy and church leaders back home raided with the k.g.b. inside the soviet union you know he. even today the k.g.b. remains the common denominator among a large section of russia's ruling elite. already a methadone bill. during a period of time in geneva he was naturally expected to pursue a very specific course of action. that proved a great educational opportunity in which to hone his political skills all the pilots e.q. . 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 and you can. 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 lin the one nine hundred ninety s. the church moved to fill a new void emerging through a lack of symbols identity and morals being movie buff assumed but that wasn't easy because the entire communist operators during the transition period remain deeply until clerical and atheist. 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 with 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 the same ten ring 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 who together the fields the docks world. was. was ever

was. four hundred alj bishops and thousands of faithful. but the ceremony is just a prelude to the singing of a religious and your political meeting that follows. all of the orthodox church leaders are received by vladimir putin at his presidential residence. says he is from moscow and it's basically an outpost of the kremlin. that it could take you this is for the simultaneous translation. you have to believe you do unfortunately in the second decade of the twenty first century we are again confronted with something that seems to have long since been condemned dating 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 to gather with the russian orthodox church and other religious organizations has been providing humanitarian aid to the victims in syria. the protection the cut off the all of the products all the protections middle eastern christians and the preservation of christian values has afforded 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 to. pull from the president putin for president putin or the church provides an opportunity

to exert influence. uses this opportunity. demonstrating his closeness to patriarch kirill but also by presenting himself as a devout orthodox christian awesome it all send. off to knox last year for example when he bathes in icy water on the feast of russian orthodox epiphany in the 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 them just like to ask you to come and. look at 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 their four 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. at the by difficult. carol does indeed need state support because although eighty percent of the population professes to be russian orthodox only four percent are regular churchgoers now is that mira attendance rates in the western world. the hapless mom between stays and church accelerated and that mass anti-government protests in the winter of twenty eleven and twelve. but the. protesters condemned alleged ballot raking in parliamentary elections and demanded everyone directing their anger at the kremlin.

it was in this context that the activist group pussy riot performed its punk prayer crisis. say the cathedral in moscow with a him like opening referencing traditional also talks music exploded into a rant against clear over and above against putin. if you think. the video the four minutes went viral it landed two of the activist sentences to two years in a prison colony igniting contentious debates in russian society i. think. that's like that song my glove with the push the right store and the main reason pussy riot ran into trouble was the line mother of god banished putin yes some of

abortion that the saying his name cropped up in a prayer was totally unexpected for him to any key to slice life he found it so unpleasant and unacceptable he let you know down felt everyone needed to feel the severity of his ultimate lee unfounded reaction or stuff he and i get a night's sleep. that the. church was willing to sweep all this under the carpet and not pay much attention to such performances this. anybody though like. everything that happened subsequently was the result of a personal insult to the president of slovenia ladyhawke sample but the new procedure. called a nationwide day of prayer designed to hue divisions night bebai the pussy riot protest. she. was only see what you are. but yet at least i thank you we have been attacked by

persecuted i suppose. 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 our modern society let me just walk. away. 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 end of the year so left all this with a kind of spectacle performed for a single spectator. for putin with the approach in the. way that his mother tomorrow today debated a number of bills one designed to protect religious feelings was passed in

a second reading deliberate and public insults to believe his feelings now carry fines of up to three hundred thousand rubles and prison sentences are 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 bow paves the way for the conviction of a russian due to the who was sentenced to three and a half years on probation after filming himself playing talk among those in church . with the help of parliament the orthodox church has increasingly exerted its influence on social debate since twenty twelve the church has tightened its grip on society. for example through a new mandates in 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. we covered just this in particular that there was talk of same sex partners not being allowed to adopt children it was and so on again year. every year to mark national unity day on november fourth carol and fusion opened in may to exhibition celebrating the russian nation. this time this scene is russia's future. played such a long way to introduce my project this is an organic water purification facilitating a better place for 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 manufacture a kalashnikov cut open motorbike and go into production in the first half of the next year play the expose he sells for history 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 say so but this modernization is only possible if it is anchored within russia spiritual and traditional values spirit trail where i just said that at least such values presented in this exhibition in a rather peculiar way a film illustrates an alleged threats to the russia of tomorrow and seems would be of the beholder and me the.

such. as the least. this is not the way to peace to be achieved. with such a. decent. putting this issue she was the source of. the story. so the issues are. easy since she. or she skin the shit in your book so what les says is the russian population has to unite around the government and isolate

people from the west. and there's just one topic that clearly unites the church and the government and separates them from the west's the most nots 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 you to get this should you not still possible after twenty twelve when the states began using the topic of gay marriage for propaganda purposes we saw a rise in anti european sentiment she wrote a piece get shoes which said i she 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 porcelain so your things taken the wrong turn and gone down the wrong path so but we've stayed on course you know. what the lawyer preview june 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 ukraine and russia continues to rank number one in the world when it comes to abortions which. mom but

the reality on the ground counts with little in the wind would tend to say pression identity. in contrast to the west. russia is but trade is exemplary. the church is strongly involved in promoting this image. just when we lived in an atheistic society one least in which we orthodox christians and the faithful in general body least identified more closely with the west than with our own society but the most of that why it would be different if because people there could go openly to churches and religious practice was respected but there was also i was not switched off as the complete opposite is happening. we now see that the west is losing what united us. make peace that we no longer see western society. as one that shares our values opus look at.

me. resisting developments in the west has become synonymous with the promotion of traditional values 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 alliances movements that are not only sponsored by the state office but also religious or even political movements all generally based on traditional values or. on a visit to france in december twenty sixth seen the patriarch gives an impromptu press statement at the russian orthodox seminary in epping this was enough asked about same sex marriage carol reiterates response. when you think. that she and yeah we're not demanding that people with any particular sexual orientation be treated more strictly. categorically oppose giving such relationships the same status as the god sanctified covenant of marriage from which

children emerge ensuring humanity's continued existence what. the law is 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 close of the uncle tell him it's part of a spiritual and cultural center built up to the intervention of both latin a person and then french president nicolas sarkozy. financed by the russian state it cost one hundred fifty million euros. just 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 the strong after seventy years of communism russia is completely rebuilding itself no image of a russia that is once again in a position to be a global player is inextricably linked to 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 and it's what sets it apart from the rest of the world. as. cool as you might. say on looks and on visits to the west curial is pursuing two objectives he wants to revenge allies 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 the orthodox christians of the russian tradition must now be subordinate to the jurisdiction of the moscow patriarchate. the neighbors 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. said get into it and she does have to be on this could be draw is a soft power tool because it can be used to mobilize and reunite the old russian diaspora that resulted from the revolution. and. a new diaspora that dates from the one nine hundred ninety s. from which the parish church draws its members. through eclipse in the orthodox

church and with it russian state institutions want to restore the last unity of the russian world and we need to belgian human knowledge. at the knees it's and we're 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 and we have a duty to provide pastoral guidance so jim crow did 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 on who protested the garage was converted into a church you know imagine that but as a whole and for. in actual fact there's long been an orthodox church in paris opened by russian exiles after the nine hundred seventeen revolution. that it is under the patriarch case of constantinople regarded as the first among

equals in the eastern orthodox church. accumulates hero is the head of the largest orthodox church but the formal head of the orthodox world is the ecumenical patriarch of constantinople. carol is not at all happy about this paradox like the bridge and keira 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 with the interferes and that creates tension. in his power struggle with constantinople carol uses his political promise and his community's numerical superiority to his advantage but he has one big weak point crane the country has the third largest also just population in the world in recent years after centuries under the moscow patriarchate it began turning its back on

carroll's touch. 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 when russia annexed crimea and moscow backed separatists seize territory in eastern ukraine today kiev and moscow remain locked in a tense stand off. ukraine is a sensitive subject for patriarch kirill. it's an existential threat to carol addressing this dispute publicly is problematic because it's a taboo subject. so this should also apply split church which believed 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. 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 was worth it yesterday . what 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 folk lobel influence. his funds is far from over.

quadriga the international talk show for journalists to discuss the topic of the week will a lot in the piled quest for ultimate digital copyright infringement or dr philip free expression published. that's our topic on the trigger this.

quadriga thirty minutes on w o. nobody can escape there's. no. doubt body clocks. research lab studies have shown. our sense of time is rooted in. what happens if we destroy. this week's edition is to push each of the upcoming switch to daylight savings time in europe took two to. twenty minutes. what secrets lie behind these memos. to find out most of experience and explore fascinating and cultural heritage sites that would be the d w world

heritage three sixty two the get. this is deja vu news coming to you live from above and a bit to break the briggs's deadlock debate has started at residents to as lawmakers prepared to vote on part of terrorism is the dregs of d.c. it's a last ditch effort to secure the country's border the big doors from the peace deal also coming up other countries have done is it elected t.v.

stuff into the highest office in the land now ukraine might follow suit in elections this weekend.